Gillian Lynne

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission. Gillian Lynne directing Barbara Kellerman, with Bob Jacobs floor managing behind.

Gillian with cameraman David Short

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The choreographer and director, Gillian Lynne has died aged 92.

“Quite a lot of us will remember working with her at Pebble Mill.  I was her Production Assistant on MORTE D’ARTHUR, an extraordinary piece produced by Robin Midgley and performed by John Barton, RSC, with Jeremy Brett and Barbara Kellerman in the leads.  A strong mix of narration with the tableaux painted by a mixed bag of actors and dancers including Sir Anton Dolin.”

Jenny Brewer

Here is a link to Gillian Lynne’s obituary on the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-44677722

Here is the entry for Morte D’Arthur from the Radio Times (transmitted 5th May 1984), from the BBC Genome project:

Morte D’Arthur

by SIR THOMAS MALORY edited by JOHN BARTON
Malory’s prose masterpiece was written in 1470 while he was imprisoned in Newgate Jail. He wove together the many legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and created the great romantic story of Arthur, the sword Excalibur, the treachery of his son Mordred, and the love of Lancelot for Arthur’s Queen Guenevere, which has inspired painters, poets and writers throughout the centuries. and Music composed by STEPHEN OLIVER Costume ANN ARNOLD
Make-up SUSIE BANCROFT Lighting PETER BOOTH Designer GAVIN DAVIES
Produced by ROBIN MIDGLEY
Devised and directed by GILLIAN LYNNE

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/14c0be58416840708647d6087c2fb6af

Dead Head Press Pack













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Dead Head was a four-part thriller transmitted on BBC2 in January-February 1986. The cameraman was John Kenway, the editor, John Rosser, and the production designer, Gavin Davies.

This is the press pack for the series, courtesy of Ann Chancellor-Davies.

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Walking on My Hands excerpt – The Husband, the Wife and the Stranger

Sayo Inaba and Adam Faith, in The Husband, the Wife and the Stranger. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an excerpt from Beth Porter’s autobiography, Walking on My Hands, Chapter 12, My Life in Comedy: Comedy in My Life, about her production of the drama:

The Husband, the Wife and the Stranger, BBC2 1986

“Waiting for me back in Birmingham was the chance to produce my first piece of drama. It was a studio piece based on an idea to adapt two Japanese stories by the actress who was to play the lead. I had no idea whether the head of department, Robin Midgley, had already explored the development of the piece, but I wasn’t shown any pre-existing material.

I did, of course, know that the stories had been filmed by one of my cinematic heroes, Akira Kurosawa as Rashomon. The premise is that a tale of love and betrayal is told from three separate points of view. The first challenge was to find a suitable writer. I fixed on the idea of asking Adrian Henri, one of the famer Liverpool poets whom I’d known for decades. It seemed to me that his sensibilities would be just the approach needed to confront the moral ambiguities of the premise as well as presenting the implied sex and violence without any prurient overtones.

I was delighted when Adrian agreed, and while he was writing I got on with finding a director. Robin suggested teaming up with Roger Graef, the brilliant American documentary maker who was keen to get into drama. But as much as I admired him, I wanted a safety net of a director whom I knew could juggle schedules, actors, and unforeseen trouble, should there be any. I really thought this would be a great opportunity to create a bonded company feel, and when Robin agreed to my suggestion that Andy Roberts take oversight of the music, I felt we were on the way.

I asked Gerry Mill who directed me so brilliantly in Howard Schuman’s Anxious Anne. He had a great reputation with actors and was familiar with the demands of drama. Because the whole project had been the idea of the Japanese actress, we were committed to her. So Gerry and I drew up independent lists of the two actors who’d complement each other on screen. On both our lists was Derrick O’Connor whom I’d appeared with all those years ago in the James O’Herlihy plays at The Bush Theatre. He was available and keen to be involved.

We wanted to try to get a name that audiences would recognise to raise the profile of a studio piece, and we hit on a great idea. At the time the ever-popular singer, Adam Faith, was appearing in the West End, having publicly declared he wanted to do more acting. He’d had a big success some years previously with his TV series Budgie. Both Gerry and I liked his open fresh-faced appeal which had the potential to turn a bit nasty. Whereas Derrick could do nasty in his sleep, but we knew he could also play the victim.

We went to see Adam’s play and took him out for a meal. Happily, he agreed to do Adrian’s play. Now, all we needed was the play! For whatever reason Adrian was stalling. Uh-oh!

Gerry and I set out for Liverpool as on a military mission. Come back with the script, lads, and don’t get caught by the enemy! Actually, it was a scene from a sit-com. I sat with Adrian talking through the next scene, and he set to work typing. As soon as he had a few pages, I’d take them to the next room for Gerry to read. On we went like that, through the night, till the script was ready.

Actually, it was bloody good! Adrian did know exactly what to do. I guest his reluctance was down to nerves and insecurity. Yes, folk, artists – even great ones – get insecure. It’s only despots who think they know everything. The trick is to acknowledge the vulnerability and work through it, trusting your instincts and experience.

Gerry was terrific with the cast, allowing them the space they needed to inhabit the characters. The crew were keen to enter into the spirit of this unusual studio piece. I was keen to incorporate some of the more recent digital effects that were being developed for cinema, and Gerry trusted me to liaise with the editor to ensure our vision was melded with Adrian’s. We also had the bonus of Andy Roberts in control of the music.

We got lots of publicity, mostly due to Adam’s presence. The Radio Times devoted a full page to him. The half-hour play went out at 10.15pm on BBC2 on Monday, 8 September 1986. We got lots of feedback. And I was probably having a mini-breakdown trying to adust to life as a reluctant singleton. An ageing reluctant singleton. An overweight ageing reluctant singleton.”

 

Thanks to the producer of the drama, Beth Porter, for sharing this excerpt.

Beth Porter’s (long and amusing) autobiography Walking on my Hands, is available for a couple of pounds on Kindle, on the link below. Chapter 12 includes Beth’s adventures with the BBC.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-My-Hands-responsibility-Streisand-ebook/dp/B01DUWNSRQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1460027101&sr=8-3&keywords=kindle+Beth+Porter

 

Below is the Radio Times entry for the drama, from the BBC Genome project:

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a0ac4ec29e33434fb1ad17ff13426474

“The Husband, the Wife and the Stranger

by ADRIAN HENRI after a story by RYUNOSUKE AKUTAGAWA
Sunlight. Strawberries. Champagne. The perfect lover’s tryst. Or is it?
A stranger intrudes. A mysterious business deal.
Passions run high and a man dies. Who is innocent and who is telling the truth? Who do you believe?
Vision control supervisor PETER HODGES
Lighting supervisor ALEC ROBSON
Composers ANDY ROBERTS, JOJI HIROTA Designer MICHAEL EDWARDS Producer BETH PORTER Director GERRY MILL BBC Pebble Mill
Contributors

Author: Adrian Henri
Director: Gerry Mill
Producer: Beth Porter
From Stories By: Ryunosuke Akutagawa: The Roshomon Gate
Vision Control Supervisor: Peter Hodges
Lighting Supervisor: Alec Robson
Musical Supervisor/Composer: Andy Roberts
Designer: Michael Edwards
Husband: Adam Faith
Wife: Sayo Inaba
Stranger: Derrick O’Connor”

 

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Cargo Kings script front pages

copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

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Cargo Kings was one of a handful of live plays from Pebble Mill transmitted in March 1983. By this time it was very unusual to stage television drama live, because of its limitations, so these plays were quite a brave enterprise.

These script front pages show the cast and crew of the drama, as well as the rehearsal schedule and scene order.

Thanks to Philip Thickett, who was one of the cameramen, presumably on camera 5, from the notes on the script, for sharing it.

BORRIS, (scribbled on the script) for those who don’t know was the drama rehearsal room which was part of the garage and outside broadcast block at the back of BBC Pebble Mill.

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

Terry Powell: ‘Yet, another show I worked on. We really did do some fabulous programmes.’

Janice Rider: ‘Yes indeed we did Terry – that was quite a nerve-wracking experience as I remember but we were all relieved we managed to pull it off including quick changes . See they spelled my name wrong on the running order as usual!’

Terry Powell: ‘Yes, indeed. But we still had fun. We literally went from one show to another in those days. We must have been like race horses.’

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Battle of Waterloo – Toby Horwood

Copyright resides with the original holder no reproduction without permission

Copyright resides with the original holder no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s a shot of Keith Schofield (Operating the camera) and myself on the Live Drama ‘Battle of Waterloo’.

The soldier on the floor is Warren Clarke. I worked with Keith on quite a few period dramas and learnt a lot from him. I’m pushing an Elemac dolly with an Egripment arm on it for the boffins amongst you. The Camera is an Ikegami HL 79D. The ear defenders were necessary because black powder charges were fired off from muskets during the course of the play. We had a very complex series of moves to execute and a vast number of shot cards. For the camera crew it was a fantastic challenge. We had rehearsed for at least a couple of days prior to going live.

 

(The Battle of Waterloo was a live drama, written by Keith Dewhurst and produced by Robin Midgley, in 1983)