Pebble Mill Garden
THE GARDEN
This was a feature on the ‘Pebble Mill at One’ daily programme but this picture shows our Local Radio production office on the top left, second floor, directly ahead on the second floor level can be seen the Local radio management office. The ground floor offices were part of the PM@1 offices.
Pete Simpkin
The photos show the ‘Children in Need’ phone volunteers for the Midlands region, stationed in Studio A.
Tweedle dum and tweedle dee were Claire Cotton and Helen Lott, Andy
Pandy was Jill Bent, the bear was Jan Burrows, I was the princess. The lady
with curly hair in purple was Joanne Anderton and behind her was Sophie
Marsh. Can’t remember the others.
CIN phone volunteers 1990
Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.
‘Airbase’ was produced at Pebble Mill in 1988 by Keith Williams and Roger Gregory. The script was written by Malcolm McKay and directed by David Attwood. It was recorded in Studio A, and involved bringing a fighter plane into the studio.
The drama starred Anton Lesser, Clive Mantle, Catherine Russell, David Lansbury and Ricco Ross. Catherine played Madeline Kohler, a young female American Air Force officer, who is posted to the all-male world of a U.S. airbase in Britain. The drama follows four days in her life.
The BBC 1 drama raised considerable controversy with its unflattering portrayal of life on a U.S. airbase, particularly concerning drug use. It even caused questions to be asked in Parliament by Lord Chalfont.
TX card
‘The Daughter-in-Law’ was an adaptation of D.H.Lawrence’s play about the 1912 coal strike. It was produced at Pebble Mill in Studio A and transmitted in 1985. It was directed by Martyn Friend and produced by Carol Parks. Dave Bushell who has kept this TX card since 1985 was the director of lighting. Michael Edwards was the designer and Ian Rae sound supervisor.
It was a star studded cast including Sheila Hancock, Cherie Lunghi, David Threlfall, Mick Ford, Carmel McSharry and Wilfred Grove.
Gareth Williams, adds the following comment: ‘I was the floor assistant on this show. It was recorded over four days in Studio A in story order. This meant that however much or little attention they paid in the preparation period, every single member of the crew got to see the story unfold before their very eyes, played out by a fantastic cast.
The final scene between David Threlfall and Cheri Lunghi (the Daughter in Law) after Carmel McSharry’s character had died, left the whole studio moist eyed – and then Martyn Friend asked for another take, and we all cried again!’
Fighting Back
This photo of the 1986 drama serial ‘Fighting Back’ was given by Maggie Humphries (Film Unit), although I don’t know who the photographer is. No reproduction without permission.
The serial was written by Gareth Jones, produced by Chris Parr and directed by Paul Seed. It follows the story of Viv Sharpe who leaves her drunken husband in Liverpool, with her two children, and returns to her native Bristol. She finds out that her mother has died and no one wants to help her. Her children end up being taken into Care, and Viv ends up in s squat, before emerging as a street leader. The drama stars Hazel O’Connor, Derek Thompson, Malcolm Frederick, Cheryl Maiker and Tony Carney.
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