Bob Langley on location in Italy
(This memory is of an incident which occurred in the 1970s, when Jane Mclean was working on autocue on ‘Pebble Mill at One’).
The one and only time I ever saw Bob Langley lose his rag was when I had altered the autocue/loo roll so much that it was too thick to go through the machine and stuck. Too much for Bob who couldn’t speak his own name without autocue – bless!! – so when autocue stopped, so did he!!
Jane Mclean
(photo by Ian Collins)
Photo by Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.
‘The Golden Oldie Picture Show’ was an entertainment show consisting of specially shot videos for music hits which predated the era of music videos. The show included a number of different music videos each week, linked by Radio 1 DJ, Dave Lee Travis. It went out between 1985-8.
The show was produced at Pebble Mill by John King.
This photo is of the location shoot in Bristol of the hit ‘He’s in Town’. I’m sure which version of the song was used.
Gail Herbert was the production assistant on the series.
Photo by Maggy Whitehouse, no reproduction without permission.
The photo is of the production office of the ‘Pamela Armstrong Show’, seated at the desk are Peta Newbold and Jane McLuskey. The series went out in 1986/7, after the end of ‘Pebble Mill at One’ in 1986.
The series producer was Juliet May, with Vanessa Whitburn (now the editor of the Archers) one of the producers.
Pamela Armstrong was an ITN news presenter between 1983-6, before joining the BBC, and presenting the breakfast news and ‘Pamela Armstrong’ from Pebble Mill. The show was a chat show with celebrity guests, going out on BBC 2 in the afternoons. It lasted about a year. Pamela Armstrong went on to present ‘Daytime Live’ in 1987, a lunchtime studio magazine show, from Studio C.
Stuart Gandy adds the following information: ‘This was the show that effectively replaced Pebble Mill at One, which had been very successful for over 15 years and a lot of people were sad to see it end. I seem to remember that at the time there was a general feeling that this new show was an attempt to ‘de Birminghamise’ the output from Pebble Mill. (allegedly to fit in with ideas from London). The show had blacked out windows that made the foyer like an inside studio so that the familiar view outside could not be seen. This together with the afternoon slot pulled in far less viewers. The daytime live show that followed it was a complete turn around going back to more like the Pebble Mill format and using every bit of the building to make the programme from. Us engineers had to come up with some novel ideas when the request came in to get facilities into the parts of Pebble Mill that were far from the studios!’
‘Pamela Armstrong’ was one of the first shows Mary Sanchez worked on in the production office, ‘ operating autocue on what looked like wide toilet paper on a magnifying glass. I remember making changes while on the air by cutting out/ tippexing/writing and cellotaping it back together onto the roll !! We went on the air at 4pm and due to v generous hospitality at lunchtime, alot of the guests were a bit worse for wear by the time they went on! Remember the Keith Floyd cookery slots and Fanny Craddock??!’
Photo by John Greening, no reproduction without permission.
The photo is of the writer and director of ‘Run for the Lifeboat’, Douglas Livingstone.
‘Run for the Lifeboat’, was a Screen Two play, produced at Pebble Mill by Carol Parks. It was transmitted in 1988.
The BFI database describes the storyline:
“Set in a Welsh fishing village. Maggie arrives from London with her son Terry. They meet Gareth Jones, a member of of the local life-boat crew and a friendship develops, resulting in Maggie’s marriage to Gareth.”
The play starred Stacey Tendeter, David Burke, Constance Chapman, John Pickard, and Ross Livingstone (who I think was the writer and director, Douglas Livingstone’s son).
Photo from Paul Taylor, no reproduction without permission.
I really can’t remember too much about the programme. I seem to think ‘The Long Ride’ was on the schedule, we followed two riders from the coast across the Kintyre Peninsular. Alan rode backwards at times when leading our contibutors…. I chose to walk alongside (eyelines don’t matter so much for sound !)
Paul Taylor (sound recordist)
(The photo from the mid 1990s is of cameraman Alan Duxbury, shooting on location in Scotland)