Tony Bastable
| Tony Bastable | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 October 1944 Hexham, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 29 May 2007 (aged 62) Redhill, Surrey, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Television presenter and producer |
Anthony Leslie "Tony" Bastable (15 October 1944 – 29 May 2007) was an English television presenter who was best known for being one of original presenters of the children's programme Magpie.
Bastable was born in Hexham, Northumberland, in 1944. After moving to Wembley, Middlesex, he attended Wembley Manor School from 1952 to 1955 and University College School in Frognal, London, before briefly working for local newspapers. Whilst working as a freelance reporter he also taught British history, part-time, at Buckingham College, Harrow.
In the early 1960s, Bastable applied for a job as a television news reporter for Southern Television, but was turned down for being "too young". Instead he was given a job presenting a children's programme. Within 18 months he was working for ATV as a presenter of children's shows, sports magazines and schools' programmes. In 1968, he moved to Thames Television and begun presenting Magpie, a new children's programme, with Susan Stranks and Pete Brady.Magpie was seen as a "groovier" version of the BBC's Blue Peter. In 1972, he moved to become Magpie's producer. During his career, Bastable produced and presented many one-off programmes, including historical documentaries and current affairs programmes, and presented and commented on many outside and sporting events. For nine years Bastable presented the consumer protection series Money-Go-Round, and also presented shows such as Drive-in, Mind Over Matter, a programme he devised with Kit Pedler that investigated the paranormal, and the computing series Database , as well as 4 Computer Buffs . In addition, he was often a panellist on radio shows and he narrated the Channel 4 nature programme "Profiles Of Nature".
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