i just got a reply from a post on SitePoint - as simple as putting the td info on one line:
<table border=0 cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td bgcolor="#3399CC" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><img src="play.gif"></td>
</tr>
</table>
Why that makes a diff who knows, but anyway..
Cheers