This blog does not really venture into the world of
obituaries, but today there will be an exception, for Sir Patrick Moore, a man
who helped to inspire generations of would-be astronomers to look up to the
skies, and to take an active interest in the world of science in general,
passed away shortly after midday. It was only earlier this week that he graced
our screens on The Sky at Night, a programme of which he had been the host
since its inception in 1957, almost six months before Sputnik inaugurated the
Space Age. Would Moore have thought, that at the relatively youthful age of 34
he would still be presenting the show right up until his death some 55 years
later at the age of 89? No other television programme around the globe has possessed
the same presenter for such a long period.
Sir Patrick was renowned for his mild eccentricity as
exemplified in his wearing of a monocle, and to a lesser extent, his virtuoso
xylophone playing. He was also a politically active man over many decades, and
the views that he held were very much unlike those of a stereotypical BBC
presenter. Whilst, as might be expected of many a BBC host, he was an opponent
of fox hunting and blood sports in general, he was also a strong Eurosceptic
and an admirer of Enoch Powell. In the 1970s, he held a staunch
anti-immigration position, and was Chairman of an entity named the United
Country Party before its merger with the New Britain Party. Later, he was to
become a keen advocate and patron of UKIP. Sir Patrick was refreshingly out of
kilter with the BBC mainstream, and was a man who spoke his mind. His presence
will be missed. Who, if anyone, will now take on the mantle of the BBC's elderly champion of non-PC attitudes?
Sir Patrick Moore: 1923-2012
