Fanderson was saddened to hear of the death of the novelist and TV producer Roberta Leigh, who passed away on 19th December.
Roberta produced The Adventures of Twizzle and two series of Torchy the Battery Boy during the late 1950s, at the advent of childrens’ television on ITV. It was on these shows that Gerry Anderson earned his directorial credentials with puppets, paving the way for him to set up his own company AP Films and achieve success as producer with Four Feather Falls.
During the late 1950s and early 1960s Roberta went on to create a number of other puppet series, including Sara and Hoppity and the conceptually-advanced Space Patrol, a contemporary and rival space exploration series to Fireball XL5.
As well as her major contribution to children’s television, Roberta was also a prolific children’s and romance novelist , and published under several pen names throughout her life.
She will be sadly missed.