Take Hart

There have been a spate of sad deaths lately, from the wonderfully laconic John Mortimer to the brilliant, panther-like villain of many a film (including the Star Trek and Naked Gun

series), Ricardo Montalban. But my heart sank the most when I heard about the death of Tony Hart at the weekend. I think for many young artists of the time, his children's TV programme Take Hart introduced the genius of drawing to a whole younger generation. This, coupled also with excellent use of the medium - such as overhead cameras to capture his work in progress. A spin-off from the children's TV series Vision On, it more than held its own, and the cluster of work that children would send in to "The Gallery" was testament to the programme's popularity. Its success led to other incidentals being thrown in, such as the slightly awkward comedy sidekick Mr. Bennett, and best of all, the animated plasticine character Morf (the creation of one of the Aardman Studio's maestros, Peter Lord), residing in a pencil case on the artist's table, with whom Mr. Hart interacted beautifully, even though it was all put together in the editing room of course. To be honest, I think my first immediate reaction when I heard of his passing was the sadness that there wouldn't be any Morf & Chas anymore. In reality of course, Tony Hart had retired from television presenting some years before - whereas Morf on the other hand has since been very much in the public conscience. Along with Rolf Harris in the 1970's, a pivotal figure in the world of popular television art, done in a fun and brilliantly accessible manner. We shall miss him.

Some Highlights of 2008

Cultural Highlight of the Year: Oh What a Lovely War - Headgate Theatre


Favourite Play of 2008 (as audience): Someone Who'll Watch Over Me

Favourite Films: Lust, Caution and WALL-E

Favourite TV/Radio: all the tribute programmes to Humphrey Lyttelton, both before and after his death in April 2008.

Favourite TV ad: Actimel, starring Bobby Charlton.

Favourite Music of 2008: Mahler's 5th Symphony, at St. Paul's Cathedral (right).

Favourite Books: I don't generally catch up with the latest novels, but I've been continuing my reading of Winston Churchill's History of the Second World War, of which Volumes 3 & 4 covering Dunkirk, The Blitz, the Battle of Britain and Russia, made for compelling reading.

Wittiest Review of the Year: Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, on The Incredible Hulk.

Worst Cultural Experience of 2008: Probably the furore about Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross (especially the BBC's handling of it).
Having to sit through the overrated Dark Knight for a turgid 2 and a half hours wasn't as bad as Wanted (below).

Great publicity photo, shame about the film.