John King with Award – photos from Gail Herbert


Photos from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

Pebble Mill, Entertainment Executive Producer, John King, recorded  a dramatisation of author Laurie Lee’s book about his return to Andalusia with his bride after the Spanish Civil War in the mid 1930s.  It was written and narrated by Laurie Lee.  The two part drama was called  ‘A Rose for Winter’, and went out in 1989.

John King accepted this award from the Mayor of Almunecar, in Spain in November 1989, on behalf of Laurie Lee.  It was called ‘The Golden Avocado’!

The second photo shows John preparing for a radio interview in Spain around the same time, with fixer, Trini.

John King died in 1999.

1st BBC National Golf Competition – photo from Roger Mulliner

Copyright remains with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is of the prize giving of the 1st BBC National Golf Competition, which was held at Kings Norton Golf Course in Birmingham.  There seem to be a lot of trophies for the Pebble Mill contingent!

The photo features (left to right): Derek Price, John Kenyon (Farming editor), Jim Cleland, Colin Spears, Roger Sutton (vision mixer).

Please add a comment if you know the approximate year of the photo, more about either the competition or the various participants.

 

Olly’s Prison – Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen

Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.

‘Olly’s Prison’ was a three part drama series produced at Pebble Mill by Richard Langridge.  The script was written by Edward Bond, and directed by Roy Battersby. It was transmitted in 1993, and was probably the last studio only drama to be recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill.  Dave Bushell was the lighting director, and Bob Jacobs the 1st A.D. and Ian Barber the AFM.  Dave Bushell remembers it being a satisfying drama to work on, although not a bundle of laughs.

Mike Eastman remembers working on the series: “I had a small acting role in this production playing a prisoner, my filming days were just prior to Christmas 1991. It was the first time I had worked with Bob Jacobs as ‘first’, but went on to do lots more work with him later on.”

The BFI database http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/489433 includes this precis of the storyline:

Part 1: Tells the tragic story of Mike who sees his life crumble as his grip on reality becomes ever more tenuous. He shares a claustrophobic flat with his 16-year-old daughter, Sheila. Sheila is uncommunicative, like many teenagers, and Mike becomes increasingly frustrated by her silence. He resorts to violence.

Part 2: Bernard is serving a life sentence for the murder of his daughter. He attempts suicide but fails. His fellow prisoner Smiler uses his makeshift noose to hang himself.

(No precis of Part 3 is included)

‘Olly’s Prison’ featured Bernard Hill as Mike, Jonny Lee Miller as Smiler, Mary Jo Randle as Vera, George Anton as Frank, Bryan Pringle as Barry, Richard Graham as Olly, and Maggie Steed as Ellen.

 

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Love Birds – photo by Willoughby Gullachsen

Photo by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is from a Screen Two drama called ‘Love Birds’, which was transmitted in 1988.  It shows cameraman Keith Froggatt, and director Stephen Whittaker (who sadly is no longer with us).  Chris Parr was the producer, and Sharon Pemberton the editor.

The BFI Database includes the following synopsis of the drama:

‘Barbara and Naseem are in the same hospital having babies. They become friends, but the celebrations of their husbands, Kenny and Quereshi, lead to a headlong chase, with crazy mix-ups, collisions and brushes with the law.’ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/425046

‘Love Birds’ starred Paul Bhattacharjee, Stephen Bent, Jane Gurnett, Linda Henry, Lisa Meredith, Van Martin, Shaheen Khan, Tracey Wilkinson, Margaret Heery, Sally Jackson, Jane Hazelgrove and Ken Hastwell.

Thanks to Sharon Pemberton for identifying the drama from the photo.

Pebble Mill Cleaners -photo from Stephen Davies

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

The photo shows the part time cleaning staff at BBC Pebble Mill.  It was taken around 1990.  Most of the cleaners worked an early morning shift, cleaning the offices before everyone else came in to work.

Thanks to Stephen Davies for making the photo available.

The men in the photo are Richard Smith and Brian Cartwright. Please add a comment if you can identify who else is in the photo.