Category: Memories

Andy Meikle – who sadly died today

Gardeners' World Christmas Lunch 1990

It was with great sadness that I heard that Andy Meikle died this morning, after a long battle with cancer.

Andy worked for many many years at Pebble Mill, first of all in the drama department on series like Gangsters and then as a director and producer on factual series like On the House and Gardeners’ World.

Andy was an extremely generous, and incredibly practical man – he was brilliant at DIY!

I worked with him on the DIY series On the House , when I joined an established team as a brand new researcher.  He taught me a lot about researching for factual television, as well as about working with contributors.

I remember him being really supportive when I directed my first insert on Gardeners’ World in 1990.  He said jokily, ‘don’t you hate it when someone can just do it?’ – I certainly hadn’t been able to ‘just do it’, but knowing that he thought I’d done a good job was really important to me, and really helped my confidence.

This photo is from the Christmas lunch for the Gardeners’ World production team from 1990.  It includes, left to right: Andy Meikle, Denis Adams, Mark Kershaw, Kulvinder Chudge, Nick Patten, Steph Silk, next might be me (Vanessa Jackson) or Ann Holmes, I can’t see enough of the next two girls to identify, then Patti Evans with the blonde hair, Howard Perks, and Gail Herbert (whose photo it is).

Andy will be much missed, and our thoughts go out to his loved ones.

Why the ‘6.55 Special’ came from a Radio Studio – Mark Kershaw

Why was “6.55 Special” made in Radio Studio 1?

When the lunchtime programme Pebble Mill at One was first broadcast it was “serviced” by the galleries and cameras of the two proper TV studios at Pebble Mill. Studio A on a Tues and Friday, while the studio was being reset between dramas etc (“All Creatures”, “Basil Brush”, “Great Expectations” etc) and Studio B on a Mon, Wed and Thurs, because its cameras could be re-rigged back from the Foyer in time for the evenings “Midlands Today”.

PM@1 was only on the air Sept to mid May, so for the whole summer the production staff were potentially under-utilised. So in 1982? (not sure when) 6.55 Special was sold to BBC2, a weekday early evening live entertainment and chat show, 6.55-7.30 (I think).

But it couldn’t use the existing studios which were incredibly busy in the evenings.

And that is why Radio Studio 1 (the one used for classical recitals etc) was turned into a TV studio, with an audience rostra and a permanent set with a sofa chat area (seen in the photo for the 6.55 Special post) and a stage as performance area. The sound was mixed in the radio sound control room, where the mobile lighting control desk was also rigged. The “lightweight” OB scanner CM2 was parked outside just off the fire track and used as production and vision control, with VT as well played from the scanner, but also connected up to Pebble Mill’s VT area.

Eventually when the Standby TV Network Continuity Suite needed refurbishing, the area was re-modelled as a full TV gallery – Gallery C (not sure the date but early 80’s).From then on Pebble Mill @ One or any of it’s spin offs came from that discreet gallery, but before then the studio equipment at Pebble Mill was some of the most utilised kit in the whole of the BBC!

6.55 Special moved into the courtyard after the famous movable roof was installed. And that is why for the first series, at least, 6.55 Special came from a radio studio.

Mark Kershaw

Mark Kershaw directing Pebble Mill at One

TAR – TV Apparatus Room – Photo from Ivor Williams

TAR - TV Apparatus Room ST B Line Up Desk

TAR stands for ‘TV Apparatus Room’.  This photo shows the Line Desk for Studio B (the Midlands Today Studio) at Pebble Mill.  Shown in the photo are broadcasting engineers John Macavoy & Maurice Darkin.

Thanks to Ivor Williams from Post Production for the photo.

Stuart Gandy comments: “This picture is of the studio B camera line up area in the original TAR. This part of the building was what was later to become the graphics area after about 1984, which was when a major refurb of the studios went on and the TAR moved to the room above the foyer where it stayed until the end. At the back of this room was the maintenance area which when I first started was also home to a table tennis table. A proper engineers’ sport!”

Steve Dellow comments: “Yes – this was all ripped out early ’84 when Studio B and Pres were refurbished. From what I remember, the CCU’s for Studios A, B, and C went above the foyer, alongside the ‘new’ TAR? Can still hear Mike ‘The Cardy’s’ voice coming over the intercom….’Front to back’! Which upset Ken and Simon because they insisted it should be ‘Racks to Line-up’! ”

Jane Green comments: “The Floor Managers used to get their talkbalk pieces from here – and we used to set things up in TAR at 4 in the morning to get Mids Today brekky bulletins on air with about 3 staff…..”

Pete Simpkin comments: “TAR was the communications hub where all the connections between radio and TV studios and outside broadcasts together with all the rest of the BBC and transmitters were maintained. As automation took over and circuits etc became more national there was less and less to do but the Mailbox still has a substantial communications and Central operating section where all the BBC technology is monitored.”

Dub 2 – photos by Ben Peissel

Photos by Ben Peissel no reproduction without permission.

These photos are of Dubbing Theatre 2 at Pebble Mill.  Dub 2 was mainly used for dubbing factual programmes like Gardeners’ World and Countryfile. It was smaller than Dub 1, but still had the comfy sofas at the back for members of the production team to sit on, whilst Ben Peissel and his colleagues made the programmes sound as good as they could.  There was a voice over booth at the back, where presenters or voice over artists could record voice over to pictures.  You can also see the turntable and tape deck for playing in music and sound effects from different sources.

BBC Club Flood 1987

The BBC Club at Pebble Mill was badly flooded in 1987 when a massive water pipe ruptured somewhere nearby.  Very quickly the terrace where staff had been drinking and eating was underwater, followed by the little car park at the front of the building, and then the building itself.  The Club was out of action for several months whilst the building dried out and was repaired and redecorated.

Thanks to Gail Herbert, Chair of the BBC Club for many years, for making the photos available.

Gail comments: “The lady wading on the patio is Joyce Latham. I’m the one with only a shirt on in the lounge & Linda Parsonage is to the left of me. Can’t remember the names of the other two but they were bar staff.”

Please add a comment if you remember the flood at the Club.

Flooded Terrace at the BBC Club