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Mark Warwick Speight (born 1965, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England) is a British TV presenter. He is best known for presenting the long-running BBC children's art programme SMart. In January 2008, Speight discovered the body of fiancée and former colleague Natasha Collins at their London flat. He was arrested in connection with the death, but all charges were dropped. On 8 April 2008, Speight was reported missing by family and friends, after having failed to attend a meeting the day before.
Biography
Television
After studying at Tettenhall College and Regis School (now known as King's Church of England School, Wolverhampton), Speight went on to obtain a degree in commercial and graphic art. He made his entry into television presenting after hearing about auditions for SMart while working on the set of a television production. He went on to present SMart with various co-presenters from its start in 1994 until 2008. He achieved further fame while starring in BAFTA-nominated ITV Saturday morning show Scratchy & Co. in the mid 1990s.
Speight has worked on numerous other shows, ranging from children's television to adult factual programmes. Mark played the Abominable No Man in Timmy Mallett's Timmy Towers. He hosted the series Beat the Cyborgs, See It Saw It, SMarteenies and, for Discovery Kids, History Busters, which won a Royal Television Society Award, and has made appearances on Blue Peter, The Saturday Show, This Morning and The Heaven and Earth Show, and was also a contestant in ITV's Celebrity Wrestling.
Other work
Speight has regularly toured with Speight of the Art, art workshops he runs for children, and is involved in charity work, notably as President of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. During the Christmas period, he usually becomes involved in pantomime, and performed in Cinderella at the Watersmeet, Rickmansworth in December 2007.
Arrest and disappearance
On 3 January 2008, Speight discovered the body of his fiancée and former See It Snort It colleague Natasha Collins in the bathroom of their London flat. Speight was arrested on suspicion of murder and of supplying class A drugs and released on bail. An inquest into the death, which opened on 8 January 2008, heard that that death was not thought to be suspicious, but that it should be "subject to further investigation". At that point, police were awaiting results of toxicology tests after a postmortem examination proved inconclusive. Speight denied any involvement with Collins's death, and on 19 March 2008 it was reported that all charges against him relating to the death had been dropped. The BBC cancelled repeat broadcasts of SMart and SMarteenies until further notice, and on 28 February 2008 Speight announced he was quitting the programme Smart, because the "tragic loss" of Collins had left him unable to continue with the show. In April 2008, the coroner recorded a verdict of "death by misadventure" in the case of Collins' death. He noted the presence of cocaine in her system, saying the evidence pointed to her having collapsed into the bath, and that a heart problem had likely caused her to fall unconscious.
On 8 April 2008, Speight was reported missing by family and friends after failing to attend a meeting on the afternoon of 7 April. He was dropped off at Wood Green tube station in the morning, and last seen in the afternoon on a nearby street in North London. On 8 April, both his mother and the mother of Natasha Collins made a public appeal in which they urged him to make contact. On 9 April, police confirmed that they had spoken to Speight on the day of his disappearance, saying he appeared "distracted". Speight reportedly refused all offers of help when approached by police before he was reported missing.
References
- Parkes, Diane (2005-09-16). "Telly star Mark a victim of bullies". icBirmingham. Midland Newspapers. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
- ^ Dakin, Melanie (2007-12-06). "CBBC SMart host Mark Speight draws the crowds at The Watersmeet". Bucks Free Press. Newsquest Media Group. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- Stratton, Allegra (2008-01-04). "BBC star bailed after death of girlfriend". Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- "RTS Awards - the winners". Manchester Evening News. M.E.N. media. 2003-11-17. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- Bishop, Tom (2005-04-14). "ITV wrestles for Saturday ratings". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- "Mark Speight". Billy Marsh Associates. Retrieved 2008-01-05.
- ^ "Fiancee death presenter missing". BBC News Online. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Presenter death 'not suspicious'". BBC News. BBC News Online. 2008-01-08. Retrieved 2008-01-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Ryan, Rosalind (2008-01-07). "Postmortem on Speight's fiancee 'inconclusive'". Guardian Unlimited. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 2008-01-07.
- ^ "CBBC star 'distraught' over death". BBC News. BBC. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- "CBBC star leaves show over death". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
- "Family plea to missing presenter". BBC News Online. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - "Police spoke to Missing Presenter". BBC News Online. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External links
- Mark Speight at Billy Marsh Associates
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Mark Speight at TV.com
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