Pat Keysell Died November 2009. Earlier this month I heard that Pat Keysell had died. I was shocked. Pat, along with Tony Hart, presented the very popular children’s programme “Vision On”.

Somebody had found my blog after searching for Pat Keysell’s name and found my blog entry when I wrote about Tony Hart dying earlier this year.

I searched the internet immediately to verify if Pat Keysell had died. I wrote to the BBC, (got no reply), and tried a few other places, and still got no verification.

I’m writing this blog piece about Pat Keysell dying around 4th November 2009, as it was posted on the National Deaf Children’s Society website at the time:

Sad death of groundbreaking broadcaster Pat Keysell

Pat Keysell, the presenter of Britain’s first television programme for deaf children, has died.

Keysell made her debut with For Deaf Children in the late 1950s by introducing mime performances by deaf actors.

In 1964, she began presenting Vision On – which broke new ground in being the first television programme to successfully bridge the gap between deaf and hearing children – using sign language, mime acts, wacky visuals and featuring artist Tony Hart’s humorous art workshops. The series lasted for 12 years and was sold to many other countries.

Pat Keysell was also active with NDCS, and in the 1970s helped to establish the annual NDCS drama festival.

The rest of the piece can be found here.

What’s even more shocking about this is that I can’t remember it even raising a whisper in the UK press – certainly not on the BBC website archives anyway. Pat Keysell was an integral part of “Vision On” and introduced the concept of deafness, sign language etc to a generation of kids like me who used to sit in front of the TV at tea-time to watch “the gallery” amongst other things.

It’s sad that Pat Keysell has died. It’s evener sadder that, (so it seems), her death has not been reported as widely as it should have been seeing the impact she had on so many people in her life.

For more about Vision On, please go to It’s Prof Again here: – and, as they have on the website, what a better way to end this blog about Pat Keysell than with the closing titles of the Vision On programme, (this link will open Windows Media Player).

RIP Pat Keysell November 2009

UPDATE
I would like to thank Terry Ruane, who was the General Manager of the British Theatre of the Deaf under Pat Keysell which was the first-ever professional company of deaf actors to tour Great Britain presenting plays in sign language. Terry replied to my original blog post about Pat Keysell, (above). Through his reply I was able to find out that the BBC programme See Hear, (the BBC magazine programme for the Deaf community), had broadcast a tribute to Pat Keysell in one of their programmes.

Here is a link to the BBC “See Hear” programme – Series 29, Episode 23. The link should take you to the BBC iplayer website and should begin 12 minutes into the broadcast where the item on Pat Keysell begins:

Pat Keysell Tribute

Again, I would like to thank Terry for his comments, and indirect help in my finding out about the “See Hear” tribute. Interestingly, the tribute was first broadcast AFTER I had contacted the BBC to inquire as to why they hadn’t made ANY kind of announcement/tribute about Pat Keysell’s death. I wonder if other people like myself, who had never met Pat, nor are deaf, but had been greatly entertained by her warmth, personality and ability to communicate whilst watching “Vision On” when they were young – had also wrote to the BBC to find out why no apparent recognition of Pat Keysell’s pioneering work and career had not been paid tribute to in any kind of manner?

Please, if anyone else reading this used to watch “Vision On”, or had seen or worked with Pat Keysell over the years – it’d be nice, if you want to, to add a comment or two below this blog post in memory of Pat Keysell and to remember what a huge contribution she had made to developing the deaf community on TV and in theatre. As Terry said in the “See Hear” programme – “How much more could Pat Keysell have achieved if she had only started about ten years ago? Probably so much more with the accessibility of modern media….”

Once again – thank you Terry for passing by and commenting. And I hope I’ve presented some kind of thought provoking piece here which in the very least might make you say to yourself -

“Pat Keysell? Oh, I remember her, she was that lovely lady on “Vision On” that used to say & sign – “And now it’s time for the g…a…l…l…e…r…y“”

Thank you for reading about Pat Keysell. I hope it’s helped you remember a few warm TV, theatre, or personal moments from the past.

Tags: Deaf, Keysell, national deaf children, NDCS, Pat, pat keysell, RIP, sad death, sign language, Take Hart, tea time, television programme, Terry Ruane, vision on

Tony Hart Dies – “Vision On” & Morph. Artist and children’s presenter Tony Hart has died, aged 83.

Hart, who lived in Surrey, had suffered from health problems for a number of years, including two strokes. His family said he died peacefully.

The affable presenter inspired children to paint and draw on shows like Vision On, Take Hart and Hartbeat for nearly 50 years before he retired in 2001.

Fellow artist Rolf Harris led tributes, calling Hart “a very gentle and talented guy”.

“He enthused and inspired a whole generation of kids into creating their own works of art, simple or complex.”

More of this report at the BBC

Tony Hart was a very nice guy.

We used to watch Vision On, and Take Hart as kids. Tony Hart was a very talented guy and clearly loved his work.

Tony Hart, artist and children’s presenter has died, aged 83.

Tags: morph, pat keysell, Tony Hart, vision on