May 2015 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Radio Studio 3 dead room

Photos by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission.

Martin took these photos at BBC Pebble Mill in 2003.

The first photo is of the radio Studio 3 dead room CCTV. Exterior scenes, of The Archers were recorded in this acoustically dead room, linked to the control room via this black-and-white CCTV camera.

When DAB started, this CCTV circuit caused problems. We received a helpful letter from a lifelong Archers fan, whose dog had started to bark uncontrollably whenever there was a scene set outdoors. It was the flyback from the CCTV monitor, which had previously been truncated on VHF but came through loud and clear on DAB for those creatures able to hear it…

The second photo is of the ‘soft’ area of the dead room, with the third photo being of the ‘hard’ area.

Tom O’Connor Roadshow – Jim Clelland

Photo by Jane Mclean, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is from the Tom O’Connor Roadshow, a touring live entertainment show. It was a BBC1 Daytime show which went out at midday in 1987. It shows Jim Clelland on stage, carrying out a lighting check; Jim was an Engineering Manager.

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

Keith Brook (Scouse), talking about Jim’s hand signal: ‘It’s a signal to one of the sparks to stop lowering the light, or panning it up, for example.’

Kevin Lakin: ‘Foreground is John Potter ( props ), a brilliant bloke who sadly passed away a year or so after this picture was taken.’

Alan Jessop: ‘Jim’s son Iain works with us at CTV Outside Broadcasts’

Pat de Whalley press cutting

Local press article promoting Pat de Whalley’s Sunday Nightmoves show on Radio WM circa 1990.

Small Town Gardens, Ripon

This photo is from the BBC2 design series: Small Town Gardens. This episode from Ripon, North Yorkshire is from series 3, which went out in autumn 2003, and was presented by James Alexander Sinclair.

The Radio Times entry, courtesy of the BBC Genome project describes it thus:

‘Alice in Wonderland comes to North Yorkshire. A listed town house in a Victorian crescent in Ripon is beautifully maintained but let down by a dull and scruffy front garden. Author Lewis Carroll was a frequent visitor to the house, so designer John Elm cultivates a Wonderland-esque garden, inspired by the surreal topiary of Levens Hall in Cumbria.’ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/54dea337ef8949019ea4bd3c167bb8e8

This episode was directed by Paul Vanezis, and I was the series producer.

Vanessa Jackson

Ainsley’s Big Cook Out

This titles grab is from the six part cookery series: Ainsley’s Big Cook Out, which went out in summer 1999. Here is the Radio Times entry for the first episode, courtesy of the BBC Genome project:

‘Beginning a six-part travelling cookery programme. Chef
Ainsley Harriott travels the Americas in search of the finest local ingredients with which to prepare his own barbecue recipes, starting in the Canadian island province of Newfoundland.
He visits Signal Hill, just outside the capital, and also goes white-water rafting in western Quebec. Harriott’s creations include scallops with coriander, fishcakes, pan-fried cod, barbecued river eel and, for two Mounties, Canadian pancakes.’ http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/90ad756523aa4b799016adeb0d8fda5a

The producer was Sara Kozak, with Roger Casstles as Exec Producer.

Thanks to VT editor, Ian Collins, for making the grab available.