# Tony Bastable > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Bastable > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tony_Bastable.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bastable > Source revision: 1311749589 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|British television presenter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Use British English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = Tony Bastable | image = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|10|15|df=yes}} | birth_place = [Hexham](/source/Hexham), [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland), United Kingdom | death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|05|29|1944|10|15|df=yes}} | death_place = [Redhill](/source/Redhill%2C_Surrey), [Surrey](/source/Surrey), United Kingdom | occupation = [Television presenter](/source/Television_presenter) and [producer](/source/television_producer) | spouse = {{plainlist| * June Buchan (1969 - 1971) (divorced) * Jacqueline Colkett (1974 - 1992) (divorced) * Anita Westwood (2001 -2007) (his death) }} | children = 1 }} '''Anthony Leslie Bastable''' (15 October 1944 – 29 May 2007) was an English television presenter, who was one of the original presenters of the children's magazine programme ''[Magpie](/source/Magpie_(TV_series))''. ==Early life== Bastable was born in [Hexham](/source/Hexham), [Northumberland](/source/Northumberland), in 1944.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1553333/Tony-Bastable.html|title=Tony Bastable - Obituary |work=[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph) |date=2 June 2007 |access-date=27 July 2019}} After moving to [Wembley](/source/Wembley), [Middlesex](/source/Middlesex), he attended Wembley Manor School from 1952 to 1955 and [University College School](/source/University_College_School) in [Frognal](/source/Frognal), London. On leaving school he trained to be a school teacher, teaching British History part-time at Buckingham College School in [Harrow](/source/Harrow%2C_London), Middlesex, whilst also working as a reporter for local newspapers.{{cite news |first=Dennis |last=Barker |author-link=Dennis Barker |title=Obituary for Tony Bastable |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date=5 June 2007 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jun/05/broadcasting.guardianobituaries |access-date=27 July 2019}} ==Television career== In the early 1960s, Bastable applied for a job as a television news reporter for [Southern Television](/source/Southern_Television), but was turned down for being "too young". Instead he was given a job presenting a [children's programme](/source/Children's_television_series). Within 18 months he was working for [ATV](/source/Associated_TeleVision) as a presenter of children's shows, sports magazines and schools' programmes. In 1968 he moved to [Thames Television](/source/Thames_Television) and began presenting ''[Magpie](/source/Magpie_(TV_series))'', a new children's programme, with [Susan Stranks](/source/Susan_Stranks) and [Pete Brady](/source/Pete_Brady_(presenter)). ''Magpie'' was effectively a "groovier" version of the [BBC](/source/BBC)'s ''[Blue Peter](/source/Blue_Peter)''. In 1972, he became ''Magpie'''s producer. During his career, Bastable produced and presented many one-off programmes, including historical documentaries and [current affairs](/source/Current_affairs_(news_format)) programmes, and presented and commentated on many outside and sporting events. These included: ''Problems'' (1976–77), a programme on sexual issues, firstly with [Claire Rayner](/source/Claire_Rayner) and then with Jenny Conway and [Paul Brown](/source/Paul_Brown_(presenter)); ''Drive-In'' with [Shaw Taylor](/source/Shaw_Taylor) (1973–78) and its successor ''Wheels'' (1980–81); ''Miss Thames Television''; ''1776'', a ITV programme on the [US bicentenary](/source/US_bicentenary); and the award-winning historical series ''English Garden'', narrated by Sir [John Gielgud](/source/John_Gielgud). For nine years Bastable presented the [consumer protection](/source/consumer_protection) series ''Money-Go-Round'', and also presented shows such as ''Mind Over Matter'', a programme he devised with [Kit Pedler](/source/Kit_Pedler) that investigated the paranormal, and the computing series ''Database'' as well as ''4 Computer Buffs''. In addition, he was a panellist on radio shows and he narrated the [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4) nature programme ''Profiles Of Nature''. ==Later life== Bastable later moved into independent production, and he presented training and promotional films for companies such as the [Ford Motor Company](/source/Ford_Motor_Company), the [National Bus Company](/source/National_Bus_Company_(UK)), the [Royal Navy](/source/Royal_Navy), the [Department of Transport](/source/Department_for_Transport) and the [Institute of Advanced Motorists](/source/Institute_of_Advanced_Motorists). He also wrote mini-history books for children on the 15th and 16th-century nautical explorers [John Cabot](/source/John_Cabot) and [Ferdinand Magellan](/source/Ferdinand_Magellan). ==Personal life== Bastable was a qualified [cricket umpire](/source/Umpire_(cricket)) and founded the [Institute of Cricket Umpires and Scorers](/source/Association_of_Cricket_Umpires_and_Scorers). In 1972 he founded The Magpies, a wandering cricket team taking its name from the TV programme.{{cite web|title=Obituaries index: A-E|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/story/378005.html|website=ESPNcricinfo|date=12 November 2008 |access-date=6 May 2018}} He married three times. His first marriage was in 1969 to June Buchan, from whom he was divorced in 1971. In 1974, he married Jackie Colkett. They had a daughter, but divorced in 1992. He married for the third time, to Anita Westwood, in 2001. ==Death== Bastable suffered from [emphysema](/source/emphysema) in his final years, and died at the age of 62 from [pneumonia](/source/pneumonia) at the [East Surrey Hospital](/source/East_Surrey_Hospital), [Redhill](/source/Redhill%2C_Surrey), in [Surrey](/source/Surrey) on 29 May 2007.{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6709139.stm|title=First Magpie host Bastable dies|publisher=[BBC](/source/BBC)|date=31 May 2007}} ==Publications== *''John Cabot'' (Pub. World Almanac Library, 2003). *''Ferdinand Magellan'' (Pub. World Almanac Library, 2003). ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Portal|Children's literature}} *{{IMDb name|id=1304134|name=Tony Bastable}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastable, Tony}} Category:1944 births Category:2007 deaths Category:English biographers Category:English children's writers Category:English television presenters Category:English television producers Category:People educated at University College School Category:People from Hexham Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England Category:20th-century British biographers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tony Bastable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bastable) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bastable?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.