Gwen Arthy obituary by Carol Churchill

Gwen Arthy smartening Brian Glover up on ‘Shakespeare or Bust’. Photo by Graham Pettifer, no reproduction without permission

 

This obituary for Gwen Arthy, by Carol Churchill was published in The Guardian 15 July 2021. Here is the link to the article: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/jul/15/gwen-arthy-obituary?fbclid=IwAR0ps6b0vYMCqicmXcM5XFsZH3wQwyUkMuUr6SkrKtv2T7rErr68WLWmWfc

My former boss, Gwen Arthy, who has died aged 94, was head of makeup at BBC Pebble Mill from 1971 until 1985.

Gwen was born in Rochford, Essex, where her father was a baker.
She studied at the Central School of Art and Design in London, later to become Central St Martins. Her first employment was with a troupe of puppeteers, among whom was a young Ronnie Barker. She then moved to the costume-makers Angels, suppliers to film, theatre and TV, where one of her first tasks was to sculpt a nose for the baritone Tito Gobbi to wear in Tosca.

Gwen joined the BBC in London in 1964 to train as a makeup artist, before moving to the BBC studios at Gosta Green in Birmingham and then to the brand new Pebble Mill in 1971, where she became head of makeup. Programmes for which she designed makeup included Shakespeare or Bust (1970), The Brothers (1972), Nuts in May (1976) and Great Expectations (1981). When we worked on Who Pays the Ferryman? (1977), Gwen and I, as her assistant, were required to go to Crete for three months, where we shared many laughs, evenings in tavernas and midnight swims. As a result we became good friends

In 1985 she took early retirement and returned to her roots in Essex, settling in Leigh-on-Sea, where she found a lively artistic community in which she soon became involved. Over the years she became a prolific painter, in many different styles, and as well as having her own show her work was hung in many exhibitions, including the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy.

When ill health made her housebound she missed her art classes and her ability to put paint on canvas more than anything. Her interest in colour, form and texture was an integral part of her life. While she had still been able, she had travelled to many places to paint, in the UK and abroad, but her favourite, to which she returned many times, was the Isles of Scilly.

Gwen’s son, Tim, was given up for adoption in the early 1960s, but happily, in 2005, they were reunited and Gwen got to know her granddaughter, Amber.

While Gwen could be a demanding boss, she was very supportive of her staff and loved spending convivial evenings, and occasional lunchtimes, with them in the BBC Club, doing their best to empty the bar of its stock of Gordon’s gin. Gwen loved her home and garden and always had a cat, the last of whom was called Biscuit.

Carol Churchill

 

Great Expectations photos by Bhasker Solanki

Photos by Bhasker Solanki, no reproduction without permission

‘Great Expectations’ 1981, made at Pebble Mill. It would have been recorded in Studio A, for the interiors and on 16mm film on location, for exteriors. Actor Philip Joseph playing Joe Gargery the blacksmith. The editor was Oliver White, assisted by Ian Bellion.

Here is the link to more information on the BBC Genome project: https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?q=Great+Expectations++Phillip+Joseph#top

Below is the listing for episode 1 from the Radio Times

‘Great Expectations’ by Charles Dickens, dramatised in 12 parts by James Andrew Hall
Starring Gerry Sundquist as Pip, Stratford Johns as Magwitch, Joan Hickson as Miss Havisham, Phillip Joseph as Joe Gargery, John Stratton as Uncle Pumblechook

A lonely little figure hurrying home across the marshes… The sudden terrifying appearance of a brutal escaped convict – and Pip is launched on an adventurous journey that changes him from blacksmith’s apprentice to snobbish young gentleman.

 

Author:Charles Dickens
Dramatised by:James Andrew Hall
Music composed by:Paul Reade
Film Cameraman:John Kenway
Script Editor:Terrance Dicks
Designer:Michael Edwards
Producer:Barry Letts
Director:Julian Amyes
Pip:Gerry Sundquist
Magwitch:Stratford Johns
Miss Havisham:Joan Hickson
Joe Gargery:Phillip Joseph
Uncle Pumblechook:John Stratton
Pip, aged 9:Graham McGrath
Mrs Joe:Marjorie Yates
Compeyson:Peter Whitbread
Mr Wopsle:Peter Benson
Mr Hubble:Walter Sparrow
Mrs Hubble:Christine Ozanne
Sergeant:Adrian Bracken
Orlick:Linal Haft
Estella:Patsy Kensit
Pip, aged 12:Paul Davies-Prowles
Camilla:Janet Henfrey
Raymond:Edmund Kente
Sarah Pocket:Mollie Maureen

 

Great Expectations – Soldiers in the Blacksmiths

Photo by Albert Sheard, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soldiers in the blacksmiths, Great Expectations, 1981. The set was created in Studio A of Pebble Mill.

The following comment was added to the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Camilla Fisher: ‘Tony Fisher worked on this production and also took photos. A few years later our daughter told her teacher that her daddy had been at the battle of Waterloo. She was disbelieved. So to prove her point she took the photos into to school.’

Great Expectations – the street

Photo by Albert Sheard, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the street in Dickens’ Great Expectations from the 1981 series produced at Pebble Mill. The street was constructed in Studio A by designer Michael Edwards, and demonstrates the skill of the production designer.

Thanks to scenic services Albert Sheard for sharing the photograph.

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

Julian Hitchcock: ‘Fabulous set. I worked on this. Stratford Johns was Magwitch. Nice man.’

David Headon: ‘Studio A was amazing. You could land a Lancaster Bomber in there..’

Ian Collins: ‘I was the VT Editor on that production. Great times.’

Nick Booth: ‘Peter Booth was the lighting designer’

Great Expectations – Pip

Photos by Albert Sheard, no reproduction without permission

Photos from the 1981 serial of Great Expectations. The drama was recorded in Studio A. Pip, was played by Gerry Sundquist.

The producer was Barry Letts and the director, Julian Amyes.