The voice of boxing, Harry Carpenter, has died at the age of 84. Former BBC man Carpenter worked for Auntie for nearly half a century, presenting Grandstand, Sportsnight and the Wimbledon tennis championships. However, it will be for his boxing coverage that he will be best remembered.

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TV host Paul O’Grady is mourning the passing of his faithful sidekick, Buster. The dog, who was 14-and-a-half years old, could regularly be seen on Paul O’Grady’s Channel 4 show, perching faithfully on the desk throughout the programme. Buster had been ill with cancer for a while and was put to sleep yesterday.

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Ner-ner-ner-ner *click click* ner-ner-ner-ner *click click*… There’s a very strong argument that the great theme tune to a TV show ever is that from The Addams Family. Sadly, the man who wrote it has passed away. Vic Mizzy, film and television composer Vic Mizzy, was aged 93. The Brooklyn-born composer composed the theme tune to The Addams Family in the early ’60s, playing the harpsichord and singing the melody, overdubbing his vocals three times. Last year Mizzy was interviewed on US TV channel CBS, and admitted that the Addams Family theme had served him well financially over the years, “That’s why I’m living in Bel-Air,” said Mizzy. Two finger snaps and you live in Bel-Air.” Mizzy died of heart failure at his LA home on Saturday (Oct 17), reports the Los Angeles Times.

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Television footballing legend, Ray Stubbs, is leaving the BBC… and I feel quite gutted about it, even though he’s a dirty Tranmere fan. Stubbsy is off to ESPN to host their coverage of Premier League football when it launches next month. Stubbs joined the BBC in 1983, and aside from no longer appearing on Final Score, we also won’t have him on the darts coverage either. Stubbs will make his first appearance for the channel on August 15th covering ESPN’s first live match which will see Arsenal taking on Everton.

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The death was announced today of Patrick McGoohan, most famous for both creating and starring, as Number Six, in the cult classic 1960s TV show The Prisoner. McGoohan, who was 80, died yesterday in Los Angeles after a short illness. McGoohan was no stranger to spy roles – the Prisoner character being essentially an extension of the Danger Man role he had played earlier in the 60s, and he was considered for the role of James Bond in the first 007 movie until Sean Connery eventually got the part – but he also starred in several feature films.

Related: Nostalgia Corner, The Prisoner | Definitive DVD release | Prisoner remake

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People often talk about music and how it soundtracked certain times of their life… but never do people talk about the voices that guided us. One of those voices belonged to BBC sports broadcaster David Vine, who has died of a heart attack at the age of 73. Vine was a Grade A BBC sports presenter, covering absolutely everything, from Match of the Day, A Question of Sport, Grandstand, the Olympics, Wimbledon and Ski Sunday. However, he’s most fondly remembered for his snooker role, which saw Vine’s West Country burr filling houses up and down the country on a Sunday afternoon. Like no other sports presenter, Vine felt like an old buddy; an old pal who could tell you almost anything about every sport ever.

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Sadly, here we have another case of celebrating a TV great on the news that they have passed away. Bob Spiers, one of Britain’s greatest TV producers, has has died of cancer aged 63. Spiers CV reads more than impressive, with Fawlty Towers, Press Gang, Absolutely Fabulous and Dad’s Army to his name. Perhaps it’s not surprising that he twice bagged a Bafta. In TV and later, on the silver screen, Spiers’ business was making people laugh. For a producer, that’s no easy feat. However, he somehow managed to do it, working with some of entertainment’s greatest names.

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Last of the Summer Wine star Kathy Staff has died aged 80. As Nora Batty, Staff will be remembered for her razor sharp tongue and wrinkled tights. Her run-ins with Compo lit up many a drab Sunday afternoon. However, there was more to Staff than a grumpy old woman in a Yorkshire town. Staff also appeared in Crossroads, Coronation Street, Emmerdale Farm and Open All Hours. She died after an illness, the BBC reported.

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Some time ago, I wrote my tribute to Pauline Fowler (here) when she left soap, Eastenders. Sadly, Wendy Richards, who played the long-suffering matriarch of Albert Square has her own battle on her hands, that of cancer. Wendy Richard’s cancer is particularly aggressive and will require some serious treatment, so, with that, she’s to marry her long-term partner before she dies, reports the Sunday Express.

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