Tag: Barry Hanson

Kinsey, series 2 – photo from John Greening

Photograph from John Greening, no reproduction without permission.

The photo shows production manager, John Greening in the Bull ring in Malaga, Spain in 1992.  The Malaga shoot featured in episode 4 of the series, entitled ‘Drop Shot’.

‘Kinsey 2’ was a six part series which went out on BBC 1 in Nov/Dec 1992. It starred Leigh Lawson, Peter Davison and Meera Syal. It was a Pebble Mill drama series about a Birmingham solicitor.  Minnie Driver also had a small part in it.

Richard Standeven and Anthony Garner were the directors, Barry Hanson the executive producer and Carol Parks the producer.  The script was written by Peter Gibbs.

The following comments were posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Midlands Today reporter, and now Head of Compliance at BBC Birmingham, Liz Munro remembers having a small part in ‘Kinsey’: ‘I was in Kinsey! Played myself as a tv reporter. Waited around all day to say my lines, but the pay was good. It was fab. I still have a copy of the script.’

Terry Powell (costume): ‘I loved this show, one of the best I worked on. I looked after Leigh Lawson for 2 years and still keep in touch after all these years!’

Ruth Kiosses (costume):’Remember Kinsey costumes very well. Wasn’t Minnie Driver in it before Hollywood beckoned? I bought some clothes she had worn at the end of filming (sure it was Kinsey).’

Dawn Trotman (film editor): ‘Remember Kinsey very well. Its where I meet my husband! But loads of people got sacked as I recall. At Eliot road where we edited it we had tape in the shape of bodies over the floor! As each person went down. Still enjoyed it though and got to know Carol Parks who was lovely. The cast were good as well.’

Ian Barber: ‘I remember sitting in a cottage in front of a log fire with Minnie Driver, whilst shooting Kinsey 2. Mark Williams (fast show & harry potter) was also in it as an office bod.’

Melissa Hallworth (nee Feather): ‘I remember there was an earthquake in LA where Leigh Lawson’s wife was staying (Twiggy) with their friend Dustin Hoffman, so I had to fax Dustin’s house to make sure Twiggy was ok on behalf of Leigh! great series, loved working on it! x’

Mark Heslop (editor): ‘Had fun on Kinsey. Mixed it at the old Ladbrokes theatre in Notting Hill with Aad Wirtz and a young Adrian Rhodes. Remember having a lovely meal with Carol in Covent Garden, had escargot for the first (and last) time. Made a great team with Dawn and Adam Trotman.’

Diana Lester (costume): ‘Kinsey had a very dramatic effect on my life !!! Met my husband whist filming it, and now nearly 20 years later….still happily married!!’

Witchcraft – photos by Willoughby Gullachsen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.

‘Witchcraft’ was a drama serial transmitted in 1992.  It was produced at Pebble Mill in 1991 by Carol Parks, with Barry Hanson as exec producer.  the script was written by Nigel Williams, and directed by Peter Sasdy.  John Greening was the 1st AD, with Will Trotter as Location Manager.  Jane Barton was the PA.  Nigel Jones was the designer, with John Plush his assistant.  John Kenway was the lighting cameraman, Herbie Donnelly the lighting gaffer and Tim Everett the sound recordist.  John Rosser was the film editor.

The storyline features a  film school teacher, Jamie, who chooses 17th-century witchcraft and adultery as the theme of his latest script. As shooting of the film begins, real-life events take on a menacing quality and events from the past seem to be being re-enacted in the present.  Fact and fiction blur, and Jamie suffers a breakdown and becomes possessed by the Witchfinder.

The series starred Peter McEnery as Jamie Matheson, Alan Howard as Alan Oakfield, Lisa Harrow as Meg, Georgia Slowe as Judy, Judy Campbell as Juliet, Clive Wood as Rick, Dorian Healy as Derwent, Rosemary McHale as Ruth, Suzannah Lipscomb as Emma, and Kit Owen as Thomasina.

 

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‘Laughter of God’ – TX card from Maggie Humphries

‘Laughter of God’ was a Screen 2 drama produced at Pebble Mill, and transmitted in 1991.

The drama starred Peter Firth, Amanda Donohoe and Sylvia Syms.  It was produced by Bill Shapter, with exec producers Michael Wearing and Barry Hanson.  Tony Bicat wrote and directed the play.  John Kenway was the cameraman, Beverley Mills the editor and Michael Edwards the production designer.

The BFI database describes the drama:

‘The Clemants family seem idyllic on the surface – Steve, an architect, his wife Jane and their two daughters, Gilly and Sophie, live a comfortable life in a converted farmhouse in the countryside. However, disturbing emotions lie behind them, with Jane fantasising about murdering her husband whilst carrying on a love affair with her art dealer, and Steve dreaming of his wife’s funeral and finding pleasure with Rose, a young actress in local Rep. What was once fantasy begins to stray into reality, as dark forces begin to work after the foundations for Steve’s current building project fall into an ancient burial chamber.’

Thanks to Maggie Humphries from Film Unit for making the TX card available.

A Touch of Eastern Promise 1973 – Tara Prem

A Touch of Eastern Promise 1973

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m half Indian, so I was always very anxious to reflect what I saw when I went up to Birmingham.  I wrote a film called A Touch of Eastern Promise, because when I went there I realised there were loads and loads of Indian people, not probably as many as there are now, but nothing was being done about it, and there weren’t any writers.  So Barry was script editor, because I said I wanted to write something, so I did and that was the first thing on British television ever to have an entirely Asian cast.  So I felt very proud about that as well.  But that also spun on to other things.  Michael Abbensetts came and wrote Empire Road, which Peter [Ansorge] produced, and I do think that it was quite new then, but it was very, very apparent in Birmingham – it opened a door really.   In a way it’s what Peter and I are still kicking at the same door of thirty years later.  It’s a bit sad in a way. But it was rather good that we had that opportunity.  So those sort of things I do feel quite proud of.  I do think it kicked open a door.

Tara Prem

(Excerpt from an interview with Tara Prem recorded in summer 2009 by Vanessa Jackson and Olivia Swinscoe from Birmingham City University).

A Touch of Eastern Promise was recorded in Balsall Heath Birmingham.  Michael Lindsay-Hogg was the director, David Rose the producer, Barry Hanson the script editor, Tara Prem the writer.  Mike Williams was the cameraman and Oliver White the film editor.

The cast included Dev Sagoo as Mohan, a young Indian boy who dreams of film stars, and in particular ‘Shalini’, who is coming to perform in Birmingham.  Jamila Massey played Shalini, Zareen Kamal played Lata, K.S. Matharu played Balraj Kumari, and Charan Kaur Matharu – Mrs Kumari.

Kinsey – TX Card

Kinsey TX Card

TX Card for the drama ‘Kinsey’, courtesy of Maggie Humphries.

There were two, six part series of ‘Kinsey’. Which went out in 1991 and 1992.  The drama followed the story of a maverick Midlands’ solicitor.

The drama was written by Peter Gibbs, produced by Carol Parks, Exec Producer by Barry Hanson, and directed by Phil O’Shea and Philip Draycott.  It starred Leigh Lawson in the title role.

Kinsey TX Card