Directing Midlands Today 1990

Photograph from Rosin Elder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Female production team in the gallery of Midlands Today in 1990 at Pebble Mill. Left to right: Christine Palmer, vision mixer; Rosin Elder, director; Fiona Barton, PA; Maureen Carter Producer.

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

Richard Uridge: ‘They all look very worried. I was probably presenting that night!’

Jonathon Dick: ‘The VM is Christine Palmer, who went on in later years to become a senior production executive with the BBC OU Production Unit. The Sound Sup is Peter Poole, who was a regular on MTD.’

David Croxson: ‘What a fantastic front desk. There was a right to do and a hoo-hah recently on a friends Facebook when it was shared as a triumph that the whole of a regional news programmes’ production team turned out to be female. Someone else complained that they wouldn’t have shared a similar photo if it was all men.

Perhaps Midlands Today was years ahead of its time!!’

Stephen Neal: ‘Roisin and I worked together at Look East when we were both Regional Station Assistants (aka the best first job in regional TV)! The chap at the back is the sound sup for the show by the look of it.’

Chris Phipps – Namedropper!

 

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

Chris Phipps’s autobiography, Namedropper, is available on Amazon priced at £9.99. It includes Chris’s memories of Pebble Mill.

Midlands Today T-Shirt

Midlands Today T-shirt, circa 1980s. Thanks to Jane Partridge for sharing the photos, of husband Phil’s T-shirt. Impressive that it’s lasted so well, and been so well looked after.

News Team

Photos by Jane Partridge, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘News Team’ T-shirt belonging to Phil Partridge.

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

Ian Collins: ‘It was an animated logo and a version of it was on the front of the building for a while.’

Stuart Gandy: ‘You are right Ian, it was on the front of the building as can be seen in the picture on this wikipedia page about Pebble Mill.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebble_Mill_Studios. I think I remember it being animated when it appeared at the start of the programme. I’m sort of guessing late 80s.’

Camilla Fisher: ‘The logo was designed by Tony Fisher based on transport etc meeting in the middle (rather than something going down the drain).’

Alastair Yates obituary

alastair yates BBC Midlands TV news

Alastair Yates BBC Midlands TV News circa 1979

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following obituary for Alastair Yates, who died 26th July 2018,  is from his daughter Elspeth:

“Daddy. What do you say about a man who has graced our screens and our hearts for over 4 decades? Alastair (Yates) was a gentleman and a gentle man. Born in Burton upon Trent in 1952 he went on to be schooled at Manor House School, Ashby de la Zouch and the Burton Grammar School. His father instilled in him a love for ‘getting things done’ and a ‘lets have a go’ attitude, which permeated his whole life. He could often be found in the garden shed tinkering with broken equipment or making something. We often joked about his Heath Robinson contraptions and solutions.

Al didn’t enjoy school much but found his passion in DJ’ing for local clubs, and soon got himself a radio slot. His smooth tones and love for information however saw the newsroom make a beeline for him, and in 1978 he first appeared on television on the Midlands Today programme. He worked in regional news for 11 years before opening Sky News with Penny Smith in 1989. The BBC snapped him up in 1992 where he helped to launch the new BBC World Service before it changed ultimately to BBC News 24. With a sense of symmetry, Alastair finished his career back on the radio with Classic FM.

Alastair always enjoyed adventures and loved the outdoors. Family holidays were spent on activity breaks in Europe where he would wile away the days sailing and windsurfing while the children learnt to waterski, play tennis or explore local markets.

In his retirement Alastair could always be found on an evening with a glass of his favourite wine, Viognier or Stellenbosch. But he never really retired, he threw himself into charitable endeavours running communications for the Horse Rangers Association and later becoming Chair and communication lead of the ADHD Richmond charity. He spent all his retirement dedicated to expanding the knowledge and research around ADHD and ensuring parents had the tools they needed.

In the days since he has passed we have been in awe at the amount of people that have commented, tweeted and posted about him. There seem to be endless stories and amusing accounts from people around the world but the overriding sentiment is that he was a gentleman and a consummate professional that everyone loved to work with.

Alastair is survived by his long term partner Ginny, children Elspeth, James and Elyan and two grandchildren.”

Elspeth Yates