Category: Network

Radio Studio 3 Control Room

Studio 3 control room, Recorded effects playout area MF

2 Shortcut 360 effects players to replace the PEG.

2 Shortcut 360 effects players to replace the PEG.

Sony mixer and patching

Sony mixer and patching

2 x Widebody EMT 950 turntables

2 x Widebody EMT 950 turntables

Studers

Studers

Main Sony mixer with PPM on top

Main Sony mixer with PPM on top

Photos by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission.

These photos are of Radio Studio 3 at Pebble Mill. This was used by Network Radio dramas. They were taken by Martin in autumn 2003.

“Studio 3 control room. Recorded effects submixer. Note the Shortcuts – practically obsolete when they were purchased by somebody who wasn’t expected to use them.”

Martin Fenton

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

David Shute: ‘Some of us remember the time when the empty studio was recording atoms’ for later edit usage. A senior member of staff chose the location to have a stand-up row with his mistress and it was all recorded. I wonder if anyone kept a copy?’

Sam Coley interviews Ben Peissel

Benedict Peissel is a Dubbing Mixer who specialises in post production audio for television across a wide range of genres (Factual, Drama, Animation & Documentary).
Between January 1985 – 1994 he was an Audio Assistant at BBC Pebble Mill and then from 1994 – 1996 he progressed to the position of Audio Supervisor and from 1996 to the present day as Dubbing Mixer (latterly as a freelancer).

In the following transcription, he looks back on his time at Pebble Mill and how it prepared him for a career in audio production…

(Sam Coley – Birmingham City University)

Ben Peissel, with mixer. Photo by Sam Coley, no reproduction without permission

Ben Peissel, with mixing desk. Photo by Sam Coley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I started at the BBC 30 years ago as a trainee audio assistant completing a three year apprenticeship. During that time, I worked in radio and television studios, radio and television outside broadcasts, location sound recording and TV post production. So, wherever there was a need for sound in a production, as a trainee, I would work on it – and that gave me a fantastic grounding to appreciate sound in all its diverse wonders!”

“Pebble Mill in Birmingham was pretty much unique amongst all the BBC bases, in that the Audio department serviced both radio and TV, whereas in most other parts of the BBC you were compartmentalised into television, radio, location or OBs. That notion of being tied to one element, whether it was radio or TV, seemed far too restrictive. At Pebble Mill the idea was that if you worked across all of the craft areas, your spread of experience meant you could be more flexibly deployed.”

“Some people would say you ended up as a ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’! I actually think the opposite, it was handled very well in the sense that, at a junior level you ended up with a really good grounding across all the genres, but as you progressed, you might start to specialise in two or three areas.  In my case, TV and radio outside broadcasts and post production sound, became my forte. For other people, perhaps they would specialise purely in radio drama work, or documentary work, or light entertainment TV work. There was enough scope for people to have specialisms, but also, if the need arose, to jump in and still do the basics, like clip a microphone, on somebody.”

“I think I was very fortunate to have landed up in a job like that, in a culture that fostered innovation and collaboration across the board.   Pebble Mill, the people and the place, thrived on the cross-fertilisation between radio and TV, and vice versa – and in fact neither radio or TV was seen as better than the other, they were just seen as interlocking parts of a bigger jigsaw puzzle.

(Benedict Peissel – Dubbing Mixer)

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

Carolyn Davies: ‘I’m proud to have been a member of Pebble Mill’s Audio Unit, best training ground and best variety of work in the country…..sentiments echoed completely here…hope you are well Ben!’

Pete Simpkin: ‘I agree that the wider the early experience the better the basic training. I was lucky in the 1960s to be a member of one of the early ‘sub-region’ units…we were the original multi-taskers. We were engineers by definition but handled all aspects of audio and video from studio camera ops to OBs, area VHF news broadcasts, telecine to audio mixing,film processing and at the start even changing the toilet rolls in the loos! Didn’t get far with the last one there but I enjoyed every minute and with all the knowledge was able to transfer eventually to Local Radio Production where the multi tasking went on!’

‘Dead Girls Tell No Tales’ – Why Grace Archer had to die

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last weekend I heard the Radio 4 play: Dead Girls Tell No Tales, Joanna Toye’s backstage drama of the story behind the death of Grace, in The Archers, sixty years ago this week. Grace had recently married Phil Archer, and there was talk about them starting a family, so the young couple were at the centre of The Archers world, when the decision was made by the editor, to controversially kill Grace off.

The momentous episode of the radio soap was transmitted on 22nd September 1955, which was also the launch date of the ITV network. Apocryphally, the death of Grace Archer in a fire in the stables, whilst she was trying to save her horse, Midnight, was designed to scupper ITV’s opening night, but Toye’s play shed new light on that theory. Grace’s death certainly resonated with the audience – around 20 million tuned in, and the BBC switchboard was inundated with distraught listeners, often in tears, after the programme. Press attention was definitely distracted from the ITV launch, but Toye poses that the real reason for Grace’s death was because the actress, Ysanne Churchman, was seen by series editor, Godfrey Baseley, as a trouble maker. Apparently she wanted equal pay for female actresses on the soap, as well as involving the actors’ union, Equity, and campaigning for professional actors to always be employed, as opposed to smaller parts being played by country folk.

The radio play was very evocative of the period, with RP accents and class distinctions, and was very convincing. Ysanne Churchman, in the drama, was played by Eleanor Tomlinson, a younger actress, but Ysanne herself appeared at the end, and explained what happened to her own career, after being forced to leave The Archers. The rise of ITV, ironically, provided her with a good living, voicing commercials.

One of the things that struck me about the drama, was that Godfrey Baseley, really could ‘play god’ with his characters’ lives. He wouldn’t even tell the BBC Press Office why the episode on the 22nd September warranted a Press showing – such a thing would never happen in today’s BBC, when the Press Office would be involved from the start, and micro managing the whole campaign.

The ghost of Grace Archer still seems to haunt Ambridge today, and the older female characters have recently been reminiscing about Grace’s death, 60 years ago.

Joanna Toye is one of The Archers’ regular writers, and Sean O’Connor, the series editor, produced Dead Girls Tell No Tales. The radio play is available on iPlayer for download – it’s well worth a listen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06bcv9s.

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

Lynne Cullimore: ‘I heard the play and thought it very good. I used to work at the Beeb (when (I very first started) for Tony Ysanne’s husband who sadly died earlier this year. Lovely to bring back memories of Grace and well done to Jo Toye (whom I used to work with in Countryfile) for writing the play.’

Archers’ News – Dead Girls Tell No Tales

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Ysanne Churchman playing Grace Archer: Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a radio drama about the death ‘Grace Archer’, played by Ysanne Churchman (widow of Tony Pilgrim), on Radio 4 at 2.30pm on Saturday 19th September 2015. It is entitled Dead Girls Tell No Tales.

Below is the programme information:

“Dead Girls Tell No Tales

Saturday 19 September

2.30pm-3.30pm

BBC RADIO 4

Almost 60 years to the day after The Archers’ character Grace Archer was killed, Radio 4 will broadcast Dead Girls Tell No Tales featuring Ysanne Churchman, the original Grace Archer.

Written by Joanna Toye, the commemorative drama will depict life in and around The Archers’ production office and studio, culminating on the fateful night of 22 September 1955 when Grace perished in a stable fire after trying to save one of the horses.

As the drama behind the drama unfolds, listeners will be transported back to a post-war world of deference, Received Pronunciation and the Light Programme.

It is established media folklore that Grace Archer’s death was a ploy to thwart the launch night of ITV. But this 60-minute drama delves deeper into the Archers’ celebrated archives to reveal what really inspired 20 million people to tune in and left tens of thousands distraught – leaving the BBC switchboard jammed for 48 hours.

Familiar characters from the early years of the programme, including Dan and Doris Archer, Carol Grey and John Tregorran, and creator of The Archers, Godfrey Baseley, will also play a part in the special drama.

Producer/Sean O’Connor for the BBC”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/38/dead-girls-tell-no-tales

 

Here is a piece from BBC Breakfast trailing the radio play:

“Sixty years ago, twenty million people tuned in to hear the demise of Grace on The Archers. It made radio history. To mark the anniversary a drama called, ‘Dead Girls Tell No Tales’ reveals what happened behind the scenes at the BBC and how the public reacted to the storyline.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032rd2l

Thanks to Annie Gumbley-Williams for letting us know about the radio drama.

Network Radio – We are BBC Birmingham

We are BBC Bham Network RadioCopyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

This grab is from a brochure called We are BBC Birmingham, which was given to all staff, and others, when Pebble Mill closed in 2004, and BBC Birmingham moved to the Mailbox.

It shows the diversity of Network Radio being produced at BBC Birmingham at the time, including radio drama and factual rural affairs series on Radio 4, and 30% of Radio 2’s output, as well as Asian Network and interactive services.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for keeping the brochure safe for the last decade, and for sharing it.