Daytime Live at Long Lartin Prison

Daytime Live at Long Lartin Mike Johnston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Daytime Live from Long Lartin Prison, circa March 1987. A really interesting OB. Glad to leave afterwards. Bonnie Tyler was a sport and did the music slot!

Mike Johnston

 

This was almost certainly a BBC Bristol OB truck.

Included in the photo are, left to right: Mike Johnston (FM), Simon Shaw (producer), David Weir (director), Jo Dewar just behind David, Pamela Armstrong (presenter).

Please add a comment if you can identify others.

Terrance Dicks at the Forgotten Dramas Conference

Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, held a conference from 23-25 April, 2015, entitled: Television Drama: the Forgotten, the Lost and the Neglected. The conference brought together academics and former programme makers, and several of the sessions had a relevance to BBC Pebble Mill.

The final session of the conference was an interview with producer Terrance Dicks by academic, Billy Smart. Dicks is well known for his work on Dr Who, but here he was talking about his role on the Classic Serial 1981-8, first as a script editor, and then as producer. The Classic Serial went out on BBC1 on a Sunday afternoon, and was designed to be family viewing. It was part of the Series and Serials department, and always involved the adaptation of a classic novel, Dickens being a favourite author. It was an expensive strand to produce because of all the design costs. Dicks pointed out the similarities between Dr Who and The Classic Serial, in that both are a series of serials.

Great Expectations, BBC1,1981, was an early production when Terrance Dicks was a script editor. The novel was adapted for television by James Andrew Hall and was a significant success. Dicks described the role of the script editor as planning the production with the producer, choosing the writer and talking through the show with them, followed by liaising with the writer and making sure that the scripts were in on time.

Jane Eyre, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Jane Eyre, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another notable production was Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre, BBC1,1983, adapted by Alexander Baron, with Timothy Dalton as Rochester. This drama, like many other Classic Serials, was recorded at BBC Pebble Mill, as a hosted London production. I asked Terrance about why Birmingham studios were chosen. He replied that London crews behaved like they were doing you a favour in working on your shows, whereas Birmingham managers were much more supportive, and the crews were more co-operative and grateful – if not quite as good! I’m sure that the crews in Birmingham would dispute his judgement that they weren’t as skilled, whilst being pleased that they were considered better to work with!

The Invisible Man, BBC1, 1984, was a significant 6 part serial, which had to have an evening transmission due to its inherent violence. After this production, Dicks became a producer, which he described as doing proper grown up work, something which he’d tried to avoid all his life!

Oliver Twist, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Oliver Twist, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Vanity Fair, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Vanity Fair, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two further serials were discussed, both of which were recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill: Oliver Twist, BBC1, 1985, and Vanity Fair, BBC1,1987. Oliver Twist was a fantastic success, and the viewing figures were so good that they enabled Jonathan Powell (then Head of Series and Serials) to convince Michael Grade (Controller BBC1,1984-6), not to cancel The Classic Serial. Vanity Fair, was a less successful production, being in Dick’s opinion too big and expensive a production, with problems with viewer engagement, due to the ambiguity of Becky Sharp’s character

Drama on television has certainly developed as a genre since the 1970s and ‘80s, and in the main 30’ series, like The Classic Serial, are no longer made, although adaptations of classic novels are still made, albeit in longer format.

Vanessa Jackson

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

Terry Powell: ‘I worked on both productions. And worked at TVC London let me say we were streets ahead in professional and talent and. Attitude xxx’

Anne-Marie Palmer: ‘Some of us worked for BBC London before moving to BBC Birmingham, and visa versa, where does that place us?’

Jean Palmer: ‘If they weren’t good why did they keep coming back.’

Kevin Hudson: ‘We were every bit as good. Real reason we were cheaper!!!’

Keith Brook (Scouse): ‘They were much better than the London crews who used bullshit and fancy accents to cover up their failings.’

Radio Outside Broadcast Truck

Radio OB truck 2 MF Radio OB truck 1 MF

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos taken by Martin Fenton in 2003, no reproduction without permission.

Radio Outside Broadcast truck, parked in what looks like the BBC Pebble Mill garage.

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

Paul B Read: ‘Ahhh the Type B…fond memories…..’

Keith Brook: ‘I’m only guessing, but if you look above the truck, it looks like studio sound proofing. Maybe it was in Studio A before they trashed it.’

Kurt Tarrach: ‘No that’s definitely the OB garage that’s one of my orange stickers on the trolley!!’

Radio WM – Sunday Night Party

left to right: Clive Payne (presenter), Ian Wood (main presenter and producer), front Nermin Aaron (presenter), right Paul Flower (presenter)

left to right: Clive Payne (presenter), Ian Wood (main presenter and producer), front Nermin Aaron (presenter), right Paul Flower (presenter)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I presented for Radio WM of a weekend between 1989 and 2000.  I also did some bits for television too but predominantly, my time was spent in radio.

I co-presented a Sunday night locally networked programme called the Sunday Night Party and it’s main presenter, Ian Wood, would occasionally allow me to go off and interview people, some of them famous, for the programme.
For those people who remember the configuration of Radio WM’s studios, they were basically five cubicles or ‘Areas’ as they were locally known.  Areas One and Two were self-op studios, Area Three, although designed as a studio but without self-op desk was used as the telephone answering area.  Area Four was the same as one and two and Area Five was set up with a round discussion table and a number of mic sources, which were controlled as ‘slaves’ from Area four.

The Sunday Night Party was transmitted live from Area Five because of the number of contributors participating in each programme and driven by me, also presenting from Area Four.  It was taken by WM, Hereford and Worcester, Shropshire and Stoke and in the earlier years Coventry and Warwickshire had us too, all under the local branding of ‘Midlands BBC’.  WM’s jingles were re-sung to reflect this.

On one occasion I became aware of a new band gigging in Birmingham and the SNP was a good platform to promote local talent.  I invited the band, whose name I can’t remember now, into the studios to record a couple of songs for the SNP early one evening.  I duly ordered up some extension leads and extra mics from Paul Hunt our engineer in charge and some acoustic screens too, to ‘encase’ the drummer in so the sound didn’t spill.
We cleared the furniture in Area five and prepared for a sound check.  I’m not saying they were loud but I’ve never seen PPM meters on a Mark 3 desk wrap themselves around the stop quite so quick!   Oddly enough the floor seemed to vibrate too.

The evening continued and we were about ready to record the two songs after I’d interviewed the band.
Radio WM provided locally networked programmes during the week too and ready to go out live in Area two was Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer.
The band started to play and rocked the first floor.  I heard that Tony and Julie had to apologise to their listeners as the sound of the band could be heard in their studio and therefore by their listeners.
Radio WM’s studios were above the Daytime Live offices downstairs.  Unbeknown to me, there were a couple of people working late in there that evening and they could feel the ceiling vibrate from the sound of the drums from the band immediately above their heads.  Rumour had it that a diffuser shade came loose off a light fitting in their office as a result of the vibration.
I never got to apologise for disturbing their evening so if they know who they are then perhaps this can go some way to being a belated apology.

As this was a one off band session, I did ask WM management if I could hire Studio 2 in Network Radio as this would have been easier but WM were unwilling to spend that kind of money in those days.  I therefore had to resort to the cheap option.

So that was the one and only time I made the earth vibrate for various people in Pebble Mill.

Clive Payne 1Clive Payne

 

 

 

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

Andy Walters: ‘Area 1 was Asian Network, Area 2 was the self op one that looked into Area 3, Phone in room. Area 4 was the other self op cubicle that could also drive the mics in Area 5 which was just a talks studio. Apparently Area 1 was the Editor’s office in the days of BBC Mk2 desks and the third studio was sat next to the record library.

I remember the night of the earthquake well which disrupted WM’s programmes as well as Edwina Currie on Radio 5 Live.’

Tony Wadsworth: ‘If I recall the studio configurations correctly, area one wasn’t a self-op studio. I presented the breakfast show from there 94/95 and Chris Christopher Baxter drove me from area two. And the late show came from area four….I think!’

Ian Wood: ‘So that was what went on when I was elsewhere! Sorry about that, Daytime Live office. And hats off to Clive for the blog and the photo.’

The Good Food Show

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

The Good Food Show went out on BBC 1 at 7pm in spring and summer 1995/6. There were 15 episodes in all. The food magazine show was presented by Juliet Morris and Will Hanrahan, with journalist, Pete McCarthy adding witty insights. The show included simple recipes, as well as consumer investigations.

Here is the link to the Radio Times entry for the first ‘appetiser’ episode of the series, from the BBC Genome project: http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a0e06a2b4e3849a1a40d0c590687554c.

Ben Warwick was the series director, and Mary Clyne the series producer. Jane Lomas was a producer on the show.

Thanks to VT editor, Ian Collins for sharing this titles grab.

The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Pete Simpkin: ‘I remember a young female continuity announcer with a ‘terribly affected ‘ voice linking to a TX of this as ‘The gid fid shay’…..ouch!!!!!!!’