CMCR9 Reconstruction – Broadcast Magazine

Broadcast magazine May 2016

Broadcast magazine May 2016

In the middle of May 2016, there was a reconstruction of the operation of the 1969 outside broadcast truck, CMCR9, which was Pebble Mill’s original CM1, and later became Manchester’s North 1. The truck was neglected for many years, but is in the process of being restored by enthusiast Steve Harris.

The reconstruction brought together retired crew who used to work on the truck in the 1970s, and resulted in the recording of a darts match! CMCR9 used to broadcast a lot of sports programmes, like Match of the Day, but would also have recorded Come Dancing, Gardeners’ World, as well as dramas.

The reconstruction was organised by Royal Holloway, University of London, and their ADAPT research project, which is recording now defunct pieces of historical television broadcasting equipment being used by the people who worked on them.

The occasion was marked by this article in the industry trade magazine – Broadcast.

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

Stephen Neal: ‘Chap in the red sweater is Roger Neal, my dad. He worked for OBs in London when CMCR9 was based there. I appear to be continuing the family tradition of working for Auntie…’

Annie Gumbley-Williams: ‘I worked in CM1. Happy days, Gardeners’ World and others’

Roger Neal: ‘I also worked on a range of small units as well, several of them called Lo21, Lo22, and Lo23. One of the LO21s is currently residing in Brian Summers front garden I believe.’

Colin Pierpoint blog 7 – The Control Room

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BTR2 machine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Below is part 7 of Colin Pierpoint’s blog about his career at the BBC. This part concerns the Control Room at BBC Birmingham in Broad Street in the early/mid 1960s).

“In the Control Room I really enjoyed being part of the network. It was called the SB System (for Simultaneous Broadcast). Distribution lines to the transmitting stations and Contribution lines from other regions passed through Birmingham Control Room. When I first arrived this was for Home Service, the Light Programme, and the Third Programme. Adjoining the Control Room at Broad Street was the Continuity Suite for the Midland Home Service.  Because the Third Programme only began broadcasting in the evening, the lines were used for telephone calls during the day. Some time later, the Music Programme began in daytime on this network, and that changed its name when all Radio networks were revised into Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Television sound also came through the Control Room, the vision being switched in the Switching Centre one floor below. (Only the BBC could do it this way). But in addition to the distribution of the networks, the Control Room switched contributions from the Regions and London. In fact all sound for Radio and Television went this way, with each individual booking for every contribution given on the daily booking sheet called the “SB Chart”. Sound for Radio and Television outside broadcasts from the Midlands were routed into here on lines from the Post Office. Saturday was particularly busy because there was Sport in the Midlands on the Midland Home Service (later Radio 4 Midlands) and contributions from many football grounds were switched from one region to another. This was all done on plugs and cords; there was no switching system for OB contributions. (There was a small relay switching panel for the SB lines). When the programme Nationwide started on television it required quite a complicated lot of plugging in the control room.

We found that if we plugged two amplifiers to a spare Post Office circuit, we could hear the feed to the betting shop just up Broad Street. Ron Cartwright used to regularly dash out of the Control Room to put a bet on! He also did a trade in selling strawberries from Evesham (where he lived). One morning when I was again late for the 6-30 am shift, I apologised to Ron in the street, saying there was just time for me to get upstairs in time for the Midlands weather forecast (the first opt out at 6-57). He said never mind that, take these upstairs while you are going, and gave me four trays of punnets of strawberries from his car boot!”

Colin Pierpoint

 

Sophia and Constance request

Photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I received the request below from Stephen Corcoran:

“In the April of 1988, a BBC TV drama serial was shown on BBC2 called Sophia and Constance. It was an adaption of Arnold Bennett’s The Old Wives’ Tale. It was filmed here in the Pebble Mill studios. I enjoyed the serial very much. It has never been shown again or released on DVD. Most people have forgotten about it. I strongly feel – that serial was very underrated and didn’t receive the attention it should done by the pubic. It was a brilliantly made classic serial by team at Pebble Mill. Well acted and filmed. Very good period details with lovely costumes too. A lot of work had go into at the time. I’m going to write to the BBC, to ask them if I could get hold of a copy of the serial on DVD. I would be willing to pay cost however much it costs. It would be like a dream come true, to see again this fine classical serial. Does anyone here have any suggestions of how to go about getting hold of a copy? Or perhaps someone has their own personal copy? Suggestions would be very much appreciated. Thank you.”

Stephen Corcoran

Here is the Radio Times entry for the first episode of the serial, courtesy of the BBC Genome project http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/67c54cef8e894232970de9ce3dec6641 . I love the fact that the elephant gets a credit:

“written by JOHN HARVEY based on The Old Wives’ Tale by ARNOLD BENNETT The first of six parts with Patricia Routledge and Alfred Burke
Headstrong and proud,
Sophia struggles against the wishes of her family while her sister Constance – quiet, but no less passionate – accepts a future in the family draper’s shop. Then, when the Wakes Week festivities are at their height, Sophia’s impetuous and romantic nature leads to tradegy.
Arnold Bennett ‘s greatest novel spans 50 years, from the middle of the 19th century to the first decade of the 20th. The story ranges from the Potteries town of Bursley to Paris, as the contrasting lives of the two sisters unfold.
Music GEOFFREY BURGON
Script editor SIMON PASSMORE
Executive producer COUN ROGERS Producer JOHN HARRIS Directed by ROMEY ALLISON , HUGH DAVID
Contributors
Written By: John Harvey
Unknown: Arnold Bennett
Unknown: Patricia Routledge
Unknown: Alfred Burke
Unknown: Arnold Bennett
Music: Geoffrey Burgon
Editor: Simon Passmore
Producer: John Harris
Directed By: Romey Allison
Directed By: Hugh David
Samuel Povey: Nigel Bradshaw
Constance: Catherine Cusack
Sophia: Melissa Greenwood
Mrs Barnes: Patricia Routledge
Maria Insull: Freda Dowie
Mr Critchlow: Alfred Burke
Mr Baines: John Scott Martin
Maggie: Penny Lea Therbarrow
Dr Harrop: Jon Croft
Gerald Scales: Leonard Preston
Elephant: Rani”
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Marie Phillips: ‘I remember the painting of this series which hung in the corridor at Pebble Mill. I always stopped to look at it and find something new. Actually, I would have loved to have had that painting. Anyone remember it and know what happened to it. I do hope it didn’t get binned. The series was truly one of the BBC’s best and another triumph for Pebble Mill.’
Carolyn Davies: ‘It was in production in Studio A the day I joined Pebble Mill. I have a very strong memory of walking past the studio tx lights, not quite believing I was actually going to be working there….’
Kevin Lakin: ‘I worked on this, a lot of the exteriors were shot at the Black Country Living Museum, we were there for about 3 weeks.’
Richard Stevenson: ‘One of my first dramas as a trainee. I believe Phil Wilson was camera supervisor with Alan Duxbury and Robin Sunderland on the crew and probably Mark Scott.’

Tony Garnett – The Day the Music Died

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is to be a book launch on Thursday July 14th, 6-8pm, of Tony Garnett’s memoir, The Day The Music Died. It will take place at the Ikon Gallery. Tony will read from the memoir and do signings.

The event is supported by the Ikon Gallery and MA in Film and TV, University of Birmingham.

There is no online booking yet available, but there will be shortly, and the event is free. Tony’s website is also worth a visit: http://tonygarnett.info/

Tony Garnett was born in Birmingham and went on to produce seminal dramas such as Up the Junction and Cathy  Come Home, alongside a long working partnership with Ken Loach. In the 1990s he became Chair of World Productions where he oversaw the productions of Between the Lines and This Life.

Surprisingly Tony Garnett never worked at BBC Pebble Mill!

The Other Woman

'The Other Woman'. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

‘The Other Woman’. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1976 Pebble Mill produced Play for Today, The Other Woman, is going to be released on BBC Store soon, meaning that viewers will be able buy, download and keep the drama.

The researcher on the release would like to make contact with anyone who has memories of working on the programme, to contribute to an article which will be published to tie in with the release.

If you worked on the drama, or have memories of it being produced, then please add a comment, and I will forward your details to the researcher.

The drama was transmitted on BBC1, 6th January 1976. Here is the entry from the Radio Times, courtesy of the BBC Genome project:

“The Other Woman by WATSON GOULD
Kim, an angry young artist, disrupts the lives of Robin, a family man, and Niki, a temp sec- for whom she is the other woman.’
Film cameraman MICHAEL Williams Film editor HENRY FOWLER Designer GAVIN DAVIES
Script editor WILLIAM SMETHURST Producer DAVID ROSE
Director MICHAEL simpsox BBC Birmingham

Contributors

Unknown: Watson Gould
Editor: Henry Fowler
Designer: Gavin Davies
Editor: William Smethurst
Kim: Jane Lapotaire
Robin: Michael Gambon
Niki: Lynne Frederick
Aunt Darnley: Barbara Atkinson
Miles Darnley: Leon Sinden
Rose: Rosalind Adams
Louise: Eve Pearce
Ben: Benedict Taylor
LoiS: Martyn West
Barman: John Joyce”