Vision On UK BBC 1 1974

[nobbilc]

I fancied Pat Keysell when I was a kid. Is that wrong ?

[Glenn1967ful]

A clever show aimed at deaf children, but which had a huge following among non death children as well as it was so entertaining.

[VinnyMonster1]

God now that brings back some happy memories!

[Psygnal]

Wow. Sylvester McCoy. I remember this show from when I was (very) young, but I had no idea that McCoy was in it.

[uofmrules1]

Fun show! One of my favorites when I caught it on the TVOntario affiliate in Windsor.

[maziebunny2]

@uofmrules1 it was one of my favorites too when I lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario. and yet, I couldn't remember the name of it until now...I just typed in the name of one of my favorite bits: The Burbles.

[MrProjection]

Do you know if any more footage of Vision On exists? The pilot for example?

[Tesiay]

I remember this show. Kind of unique for the time. Always liked that opening.

[OldAccountWasHacked]

I'm from Canada & i as a kid use to watch the show to, But am trying to find out the name of the ending theme they used

[dunebasher1971]

@OldAccountWasHacked the closing theme was the big band standard "Java" by Al Hirt (*not* "Java Jive"). Numerous bands have recorded their own version of "Java", but the one used on Vision On - at least from about 1971-1976 - was Bert Kaempfert's version from the album Blue Midnight.

[GhostAholics]

This show used to be the highlight of my week! Tony Hart was the kind of teacher you wished you had in your school!

[Davewise1965]

I am 45 and i remember Vision On.

[TheSwiftDecline]

Unbelievable. I watched this show on PBS in the early 80's (Born in 1975) here in the United States. I learned so much about art and design from it. Definitely one of many influences on how I've grown up to look at art and the world in general. Definitely a surprise to find clips of this show on YouTube. Fantastic!

[JasonB1969]

I was only 6 years old in 1974 but I do remember seeing Vision On when it was broadcast in the mid 1970's.

I am not deaf but I wonder if any other childrens programs in the 1970's were aimed at both hearing and deaf children?

[paulr1234]

At about the same time, I remember seeing some short films that I think the BBC used to broadcast on daytime TV. I'd be really interested in hearing from anyone who had recollections of these films. The first was a silent art film shot at the Themis solar furnace at Odeillo in the Pyrenees. The other was of a strange mechanical sculpture in a european public park. I'd really like to hear from anyone who knows anything about these films. I can be reached at paulr1234@yahoo.com.

[pawnsacrifice1]

My god where do people find this stuff..this brings back so many early memories

[Feisty1967]

I found this programme weird and scary as a kid. I much preferred the later Take Hart with Tony Hart. Vision On was just weird, I didn't get it.

[victorialucas38]

Onlt just found out Pat Keysell has died from reading the comments on here. RIP. She and Tony Hart, along with Wilf Lunn, Ben Benison and the rest were like cool aunts and uncles to me when I was a kid, the kind you wished you could spend an extended summer holiday with. According to one Vision On website, all the programmes from 1970 onwards exist on their original colour videotape.. If a DVD release is unlikely, I wish someone at BBC Bristol would sneak a few out and stick 'em on You Tube.

[krakenwave]

Pat Keysell was 48 years old here!

[eddiewillers1]

I remember watching this in black & white in the late 60's & early 70's. It was British public-service television at its very finest - what became of that?

RIP Pat Keysell & Tony Hart

[Feisty1967]

This programme used to scare me as a small child, I much preferred the later Take Hart with Tony Hart. As an artistic child, I enjoyed his programmes immensely. Vision On was a little too scary for me, i understand it was a programme for the deaf.

[tobkol]

Only just learned of the sad loss of Pat Keysell,rest assured along with Tony Hart will never be forgotten by us who were children in the 1970s,such a superb programme,even fof non deaf people.RIP.

[AtheistOrphan]

Wilf Lunn used to scare me!

R.I.P Pat BTW.

[JasonB1969]

I remember watching Vision On back in the 1970's. Didn't Pat Keysell do sign language for the deaf ?

Tony Hart was a legend in getting children interested in art in childrens TV.

[infrasleep]

@JasonB1969 Yes it was 'Our' programme!! I liked things like the Proff as it was similar to Buster Keaton and Laurel and Hardy who are still heroes to the deaf!!. Pat Keysel's signing wasn't actually very good and often difficult to follow but it was the first time our language was ever recognised-though I think VO simplistic use of sign stopped hearing people thinking of sign as what it is- a full language and maybe held things back. There was nothing else till the 80's not even subtitles

[LiteracyLabyrinth]

Never missed an episode - wonderful music very french

[kabogga]

forGet about ghoulies and ghosties.

I Don't wanna be grabbed by the ghosties!!!

[EyesOfRapture]

DAMNIT I miss this show! It was the only one of its kind. I always regarded Tony Hart as the most creative graphic artist I'd ever seen and I used to be mesmerized from the moment this show came on until it concluded. They NEED to put this series on DVD!

[bukster1]

I recall the show. I didn't remember that Sylvester Mcoy was in it before he became Dr. Who

[Beertr1x]

So sad to find out about Pat - and how strange that she died the same year as Tony Hart. I've added a link back to this tribute from Pat's page at Lasting Tribute. Hope that's OK. Thanks for posting the clip revoxy. Brings back some good memories.

[twazzercheese]

loved this show, makes me feel sad watching this clip

[Pusllab1]

Sadly Pat Keysell recently passed away.

[Glenn1967ful]

This really was a good show and much loved by children and parents in the seventies.

[ogwen040]

Wilf Lunn lived round the corner from me. He used to make daft inventions out of big rolls, coat hangers and cardboard boxes. Sime of the stuff had his name and address on them- Park Avenue, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.

[Glenn1967ful]

It was made with the deaf in mind, but still attracted millions of non deaf viewers.

[SeanElGatoTelevision]

Believe it or not, this classic BBC kids' show got shown in the US in the mid-Seventies (thanks to Time-Life syndicating the later color episodes to public TV stations).

[Anorakus]

I always knew this programme was a bit weird and different to the usual Children's TV (bearing in mind I was about 4 at the time), but I couldn't quite put my finger on why..

[drwinkle101]

I am the long legged beastie!! I used to fancy Pat Keysell like mad.

[OriTheEep]

So you keep saying!

[nobbilc]

@drwinkle101 I fancied Pat too- even though I was only about 7 or 8 attractive woman RIP. I would have gone "Bump in the night" with her !

[swedeseed]

quality kids tv,tony hart was a great educator,rip tony

[liamrossabby]

sadly tony hart just recently passed away.

[borgduck]

What the??!! the 7th Doctor!

[krakenwave]

McCoy made his name as a regular visitor on this excellent show - a show designed so that deaf children could enjoy TV too.

[hopki65]

this programe was aimed at disabled children

[acholl980]

Vision On did for britain what curiosity shop did for america. A great show that ended too quickly.

[wildenfree]

Yeah maybe, but what show now will we be talking about in 35 years time?. Quality lives on.

[tobkol]

remember this from my youth.one of the best childrens programmes ever produced.

[qpr60]

Sad to hear that Tony Hart has been in poor health and doesn't draw any more.

[krakenwave]

RIP Tony 19/01/09

[Glenn1967ful]

@tobkol

I concur, it was originally aimed at deaf children, but soon attracted a much larger audience as it was so surreal and interesting.