Another part of my childhood gone.

Here here.

Very sad about this. He was an inspiration to millions of kids between the 50's and the 80's. He had a charming quiet nature and made everything he did look so easy and effortless.

God bless Tony. I think i saw every one of your programmes. Can anyone else remember "Vision On ?" You came across as one of Tellys nicer folk.

Very sad to hear of Tony's death. Yes, Vision On was a children's TV classic. I think it was the only show which catered for deaf and hearing kids on an equal level.

Plus, Tony was a regular on Swap Shop, and he created Morph.

A sincere man with a gentle nature and a huge amount of natural talent. We don't see his like very often.

Fondly remembered.

Trust BBC News to screw up royally.

At the end of the page of the news of Tony's passing it asks...

"Did you ever send him pictures of your artwork? Do you still have them? Send your pictures to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124."

Whoever wrote this obviously never watched his shows. I'm sure everyone who did will remember Pat Keysall (in sign language of course) and later on, Tony himself saying in every episode of Vision On, Take Hart, Hartbeat etc, that all pictures submitted could not be returned... so how can anyone still have the paintings and drawings they sent in?

Sadly there will never be children's presenters like Tony Hart and Jimmy Saville again, nowadays they all have to be stylised good looking young men and women between 20 and 35. There are no real characters in children's tv anymore.

robbiex wrote:
Sadly there will never be children's presenters like Tony Hart and Jimmy Saville again, nowadays they all have to be stylised good looking young men and women between 20 and 35. There are no real characters in children's tv anymore.

Sad, but very true. Where Tony Hart excelled was in the fact he had many years of experience in TV both in front of and behind the camera... he did a lot of work in the 50's as an illustrator, and he did the cartoons for the old Gerald Campion "Billy Bunter" series. He understood the medium and thanks to his age and manner, he appealed to all generations - not just kids but their parents and Grandparents as well.

Now, years of training and experience count for nothing so we have too many "young" faces being thrown on screen who simply don't cut the mustard. Heaven help them if it's live TV... they wouldn't have a clue.