Photos by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.
These photos are of a ‘Pebble Mill at One’ outside broadcast. They probably date from the early to mid 1980s. Included are PA/vision mixer, Trudy Stanton, and director, Tony Rayner (blue anorak), producer Roger Ecclestone (with cigarette), and presenter Marjorie Lofhouse in the fur jacket. Brian Watkiss, VT editor, is seated in the brown shirt.
Bob Langley on location in Italy
(This memory is of an incident which occurred in the 1970s, when Jane Mclean was working on autocue on ‘Pebble Mill at One’).
The one and only time I ever saw Bob Langley lose his rag was when I had altered the autocue/loo roll so much that it was too thick to go through the machine and stuck. Too much for Bob who couldn’t speak his own name without autocue – bless!! – so when autocue stopped, so did he!!
Jane Mclean
(photo by Ian Collins)
Photo by Maggy Whitehouse, no reproduction without permission.
The photo is of the production office of the ‘Pamela Armstrong Show’, seated at the desk are Peta Newbold and Jane McLuskey. The series went out in 1986/7, after the end of ‘Pebble Mill at One’ in 1986.
The series producer was Juliet May, with Vanessa Whitburn (now the editor of the Archers) one of the producers.
Pamela Armstrong was an ITN news presenter between 1983-6, before joining the BBC, and presenting the breakfast news and ‘Pamela Armstrong’ from Pebble Mill. The show was a chat show with celebrity guests, going out on BBC 2 in the afternoons. It lasted about a year. Pamela Armstrong went on to present ‘Daytime Live’ in 1987, a lunchtime studio magazine show, from Studio C.
Stuart Gandy adds the following information: ‘This was the show that effectively replaced Pebble Mill at One, which had been very successful for over 15 years and a lot of people were sad to see it end. I seem to remember that at the time there was a general feeling that this new show was an attempt to ‘de Birminghamise’ the output from Pebble Mill. (allegedly to fit in with ideas from London). The show had blacked out windows that made the foyer like an inside studio so that the familiar view outside could not be seen. This together with the afternoon slot pulled in far less viewers. The daytime live show that followed it was a complete turn around going back to more like the Pebble Mill format and using every bit of the building to make the programme from. Us engineers had to come up with some novel ideas when the request came in to get facilities into the parts of Pebble Mill that were far from the studios!’
‘Pamela Armstrong’ was one of the first shows Mary Sanchez worked on in the production office, ‘ operating autocue on what looked like wide toilet paper on a magnifying glass. I remember making changes while on the air by cutting out/ tippexing/writing and cellotaping it back together onto the roll !! We went on the air at 4pm and due to v generous hospitality at lunchtime, alot of the guests were a bit worse for wear by the time they went on! Remember the Keith Floyd cookery slots and Fanny Craddock??!’
Photos by Ian Collins and Jane Mclean, no reproduction without permission.
These photos are of a ‘Pebble Mill at One’ location trip to the Netherlands and Belgium. They date from 1982.
The photos include Stephanie Silk (white cardigan), producer; Tony Rayner, director. The presenter in the red suit is Marjorie Lofthouse, and it looks like gardening presenter Peter Seabrook is also featured. Jane Mclean was the PA on the shoot.
The shoots covered Amsterdam, including a trip to a Dutch cheese factory, and the Floriade in Belgium.
Steph Silk remembers the trip: ‘ The girl in the boat was a Dutch pop star of the time and she was about to burst into song. To be fair to Tony Rayner the pic of him was taken in a Dutch cheese factory and not a brewery! The unusual pic of me with a glass of wine and a cigarette was taken at the Floriade, Holland’s gigantic Tulip Festival (when we had wrapped!) I vaguely remember that Tony Wolfe was there? The most notable thing about that shoot is that it was the first and last time that I ever saw Jane cLean in a skirt!’
Photos by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.
The photos show a ‘Pebble Mill at One’ location trip to Verona, in Italy, in 1985. Presenters Marian Foster and Bob Langley are featured, along with director, Tony Rayner, producer, Clare Stride, and production assistant, Jane Mclean. Also pictured are Vision Supervisor, Ian Dewar, Engineering Manager, Gordon White, Cameraman, Dave Ballantyne, and Electrician, Phil Vaughan. Ian Collins was on VT, Roger Ecclestone was producer, although he isn’t pictured in the photos.
The trip included shoots in Milan, Lake Garda, Lake Como, and Verona.
Jane Mclean remembers the trip: ‘This was the famous trip where we interviewed Armani who lived in an all-white apartment and whose spotless white wall was left with a biro mark along it thanks to yours truly… Oh my how we laughed!’
Thanks to Roger Slater, Jane Mclean, Dave Bushell and Stuart Gandy for adding additional information.
