TONY BASTABLETony Bastable, who has died aged 62, will be remembered chiefly as the youthful presenter of Magpie, the ITV children's show which briefly rivalled Blue Peter.A local journalist by background, he moved into television in the mid-60s and was one of Magpie's original co-presenters along with Susan Stranks and Pete Brady.Billed as a groovier alternative to Blue Peter, the show contained items on pop music and fashion and made full use of Mr Bastable's populist style of presentation.After four years he moved on to become the producer of the programme which won large audiences despite never vanquishing the BBC's more firmly established show.Anthony Leslie Bastable was born on 15 October, 1944, at Hexham in Northumberland. Educated at University College School at Frognal, north London, he worked in local newspapers and as a teacher before spotting an advertisement for a television news reporter at Southern Television, one of the country's larger regional broadcasters.He applied but was judged too youthful in appearance and manner to carry the necessary gravitas for news reporting, and instead was given a job presenting one of the station's children's programmes.Within 18 months he was working with the Midlands-based national television company ATV as a presenter of children's shows and later of sports magazine and schools' programmes, before joining Thames TV and Magpie in 1968.After leaving Magpie, Mr Bastable wrote, produced and presented numerous one-off historical and current affairs programmes including 1776, ITV's celebration of the bi-centenary of American Independence. Subsequently he fronted the consumer protection series Money-Go-Round, which ran for nine years, and co-presented the motoring show Drive-in and its sequel, Wheels Matter.In Mind over Matter, which he devised with Kit Pedler, he presented the first-ever television investigation of paranormal phenomena. He was both editor and presenter of Thames's Database throughout its four series, and also of its Channel 4 sister programme For Computer Buffs. In Could do Better? Eventually he moved into independent production and produced numerous training and promotional films for clients such as the Ford Motor Company, the National Bus Company, the Royal Navy, the Department of Transport and the Institute of Advanced Motorists.In addition to his broadcasting and film work, Mr Bastable was the co-author of two books for children and wrote biographies of John Cabot and Ferdinand Magellan (both published in 2003).A qualified cricket umpire who founded a breakaway umpires' "trade union," healso enjoyed watching old films and West End musicals and messing about with his classic Morgan sports car.Tony Bastable died of pneumonia on 29 May. He married first, in 1969, June Buchan. They divorced two years later and he married secondly, in 1974 (dissolved 1992), Jackie Colkett, with whom he had a daughter.In 2001 he married Anita Westwood, who survives him with his second wife and his daughter.
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