Tribute to Dave Baumber by Paul Vanezis

Dave Baumber, photo by Peter Poole, no reproduction without permission

Dave Baumber, photo by Peter Poole, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some sad news. Dave Baumber, ace sound recordist and dubbing mixer has died after a short illness. My Pebble Mill friends will be shocked, as I was, but for those of you who think they don’t know him, well, I’ll remind you of his work. My Doctor Who friends will have heard his work as a grams operator on the 1966 adventure serial The Moonbase.

Dave was a BAFTA award winning sound supervisor for Boys from the Blackstuff in 1983, but fans of cult TV will have heard his work as a sound recordist on Tom’s Midnight Garden and Torchwood and as a dubbing mixer on Artemis 81, Gangsters, Spyship, various ‘Play for Today’ editions including Nuts in May, Red Shift, Penda’s Fen and Licking Hitler.

Dave looked after the sound on many of the major series to come out of Pebble Mill including Anna of the Five Towns, All Creatures Great and Small, All Quiet on the Preston Front, Martin Chuzzlewit, Dangerfield and Dalziel & Pascoe.

By 2004 Dave had itchy feet and was keen to get back to doing more location sound. He was my sound recordist on Casualty Saved My Life. He had stints on the real thing, Casualty in Bristol and then the aforementioned Torchwood.

Apart from being brilliant at his job, he was a really nice guy.

Paul Vanezis

The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook Page:

Ray Holman: ‘So sad. I worked with Dave on several series, some at Pebble Mill such as All Creatures and the last one was in Cardiff on Torchwood. What a shock and what a lovely man, I’m so sorry.’

Steve Weddle: ‘A true professional who made everything he did seem deceptively easy. Happy times.’

Jeff Matthews: ‘I am devastated and totally saddened by this terrible news. I worked with Dave on Torchwood and had many a ‘soundman’s’ type chat with him. He retired and went to drink wine in France. I hope he had lots of fun. A very sad loss.’

Preston Front, series 3 – TX brochure

Copyright resides with the original holder no reproduction without permission.

‘Preston Front’ was written by Tim Firth, directed by Chris Bernard and Rick Stroud.  It was produced by Bernard Krichefski,  with associate producer Thea Harvey and executive producer Julian Murphy.  It starred Colin Buchanan as Hodge and featured  the adventures of a group of friends brought together by the Territorial Army.  Also featured were Carolyn Pickles, Oliver Cotton, Angela Lonsdale, Alistair McGowan, Paul Haigh, Adrian Hood, Tony Marshall, Kate Gartside, Caroline Catz, Keiran Flynn, and David MacCreedy, with guest appearances from Samantha Fox, Stirling Moss and Nicky Henson.

Series one was entitled ‘All Quiet on the Preston Front’, with the two subsequent series being shortened to ‘Preston Front’.  The comedy was set in the fictional Lancastrian town on Roker Bridge.  Series one was transmitted in 1994, two in 1995, with series three going out in 1997.  Series one and two had 6 parts, with series three having 7.  It was recorded on location in Padiham.  The comedy won several awards including Best Comedy Drama (Comedy Awards), and Best Series (RTS), and it was nominated for a BAFTA.

Thanks to John Greening for making the brochure available.