Photos – Page 265 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Doctors, after the bombing – photos by Neil Roberts

Photos by Neil Roberts, no reproduction without permission.

‘Doctors’ was probably the last production to finish recording at Pebble Mill, and decided to go out with a bang rather than a whimper. Taking advantage of the fact that the building was going to be demolished they staged a bomb blast in the Riverside Surgery and Lether Bar, on the last day of shooting.

Neil Roberts, who still edits ‘Doctors’ from its new site at Birmingham University, took these photos after the last shoot. Neil was the last avid editor in Pebble Mill, fine cutting ‘Doctors’ – it must have felt like being on the Marie Celeste! Chris Rowlands performed the last online edit at Pebble Mill, onlining the ‘Doctors’ episode which Neil offlined, the following day in VTA.

The Sleepers – photos by Ian Collins

Photos by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

Television is tiring work, as you can tell from these photos, involving long days and lots of travelling! Annoyingly there always seems to be someone around with a camera when you’re just resting your eyes for a few minutes!

The first photo is of ‘Clothes Show’ producer, Clare Stride, who sadly died of cancer several years ago, then P.A. Jane Mclean, followed by a vision engineer called John Bradley, then Chris Glover from VT, but the last is of Nick Patten, now the Head of Vision Productions at BBC Birmingham and BBC Manchester. Sat next to Nick is Sam Cox (sound), and behind him pointing is Nigel Evans (editor).

RAC Rally – photos by Paul Scholes

Photos by Paul Scholes, no reproduction without permission.

The photos are from the outside broadcast of the annual RAC Rally called ‘Rally Report’, which was produced at Pebble Mill for many years. The team would record and edit from the location, moving on each day, finishing the nightly broadcast and transmitting via satellite from the OB truck.

The top photo shows left to right: Chris Rowlands (film editor), Ken Pollock (producer), Jon Bentley (producer and now presenter of Fifth Gear), Gurpi Sani (post production engineer), Pete Shannon (editor). The lower photo shows Jon Bentley and Pete Shannon.

P.A. Course – Gail Herbert’s photos

Photos from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

These photos are of the Production Assistant Course from 1988. Included in the photos are: Stephanie Ash (CE), Martine Crogan (M/C), Corinne Davies (M/C) , Patti Evans (PM), Gail Herbert (PM), Julia Hickman S&C, Helen Jackson (M/C), Yvonne James (Cardiff), Rebecca Martin (Schools), Deborah Moore (CE), Jennifer Slatter (Plymouth), Lorna Taschini (OU).

Patti Evans worked on many gardening programmes from Pebble Mill, as did Gail, although she also worked on ‘Top Gear’, in John King’s department, and on ‘Points of View’. Helen Jackson moved down to Pebble Mill from Manchester, and worked on ‘Gardeners’ World’, and other gardening output, before moving south and giving up TV.

Space Station Milton Keynes – photos by Willoughby Gullachsen

Photographs by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission

Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.

‘Space Station Milton Keynes’ was a Screen Two drama written and directed by Leslie Stewart. It went out in 1985. Colin Rogers was the producer, John Williams the DOP, and Steve Saunderson cameraman.

The drama tells the story of a young girl fostered in a magical city. It starred Penny Murray, Patricia Garwood, Peter Jonfield, Judy Gridley, Gian Sammarco, Nigel Baguley, and Robert Walker.

The first photo shows (l to r) Ian McNulty (grips), Leslie Stewart (writer/director), Steve Saunderson (camera), Colin Rogers (producer), John Williams (DOP). The second tracking shot photo, shows Leslie Stewart and Colin Rogers running, and Steve Saunderson on camera. The final photo includes John Cole (sound), Steve Saunderson (camera), with John Williams (DOP) foreground left, with probably Leslie Stewart and Colin Rogers (producer).

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