Tony Hart 1925-2009

Possibly the saddest of the recent slew of celebrity deaths that has seen the famous dropping like flies.

I was born in the 1960s, so grew up with Tony Hart on my television for the whole of my youth and adulthood.

He inspired me - and thousands of others - to take up art and to do something other than just sit in front of your television set. Unfortunately, I was crap at art, but you can't win them all.

Hart was an officer in the Gurkha Rifles, before joining the BBC. His Vision On and Take Hart programmes became the stuff of legend, and it was only ill-health, coupled with the dumbing down of youth TV that forced the great man to give up his calling.

A sad, sad loss for British culture.

John Mortimer: The death of the great defence lawyer and author last Friday scores ten point for Richard. Another great name consigned to the dusty shelves of literary history.

January Transfer window

If you're still playing the game, I'm allowing a four-week window in which you can change any name on your death list.

I'm also rolling all the Duke of Edinburgh dates over to 2009.

I'm also allowing new players to enter the game. Please read the rules first.

The transfer window closes on 15th February 2009.

Ricardo Montalban - Patrick McGoohan

Yeah, I know, I've been neglecting this site.

BUT! Two sci-fi legends carking it in one day make it a sad day for geeks, and spurs me to post an update.

I'll update the scorecard soonest.