RIP Tony Hart

[DanaC]

I know this should probably go in the celebrity deaths thread...but Tony Hart was a living legend over here. Nobody over the age of 25 can possibly have navigated their childhood and not been touched (not literally) by Hart.

A brilliant children's presenter who gave most of us our earliest intoduction to the sheer breadth of available things to do that could come under the term 'art'. I watched his programmes avidly. They included little animation sequences featuring a plasticine man called Morph. Morph is a key figure in the 1970s/80 British childhood. Instantly recognisable.

Tony Hart was such a gentle man. He had vanished from our screens in recent years as his age crept up into the 80s. But he'll be remembered by my generation with fondness for many years.

The other thing that makes this so sad, is that it comes so shortly after the death of Postgate; the creator of a huge chunk of our most loved and important children's programmes. He also was an integral component of the 70s and 80s childhood (and earlier). His programmes still rerun and still sell wildly on dvd. Bagpuss and the Clangors, Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog.

So. Rest in Peace Tony Hart. You gave a lot to kids like me. And we thank you for it.