Transmission lists – Page 12 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Shakespeare or Bust – Tara Prem

The following blog is part of an interview I recorded with English Regions Drama Department Script Writer and Producer, Tara Prem. The English Regions Drama Department was innovative, and sometimes used unusual methods, as described here, talking about the 1973, Play for Today – ‘Shakespeare or Bust’ .

‘Peter Terson wrote ‘The Fishing Party’ and then ‘Shakespeare or Bust’ and ‘Three for the Fancy’. He wrote ‘The Fishing Party’ and then he said he wanted to have the three guys go to Stratford on a narrowboat by canal. So David (Rose) said why don’t you do the journey and see how you get on. So he did the journey and he would write as he went. I was script editor and my job was that he’d get to a lock and use the lock-keeper’s phone and say – ‘I’ve got another 30 pages, you can come and get them’. And that’s how the thing came. And when I’d got all the pages together he said he’d got to the end and they didn’t get into the theatre, and he decided they would see ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ actors Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman on the balcony, and somehow this would be how the piece ended – that although they didn’t get into the theatre, because there were no seats, that they would get the Shakespeare from them. But Peter said they meet them – and then you sort it out. So that’s how much freedom again. Firstly the idea of just going to get 30 pages and putting several lots of 30 pages until you got to the end, and then sorting it all out, as a method! Obviously I’d give it to David, and everybody would read it, but there was no committee to decide. If it had been dreadful I suppose, somebody could have said we’re not going to do this, but otherwise the idea was that when we’d got enough pages to make the whole script, the whole filming process would crank into action, and off we’d go!’

Tara Prem, Script Editor ‘Shakespeare or Bust’

‘Shakespeare or Bust’ starred Brian Glover, Ray Mort, Douglas Livingstone, and Frank Woodfield.

Empire Road – Radio Times

‘Radio Times’ front cover from 1976, courtesy of Janice Rider, who was the costume designer on ‘Empire Road’.

‘Empire Road’ was the first black soap opera in Britain. It was produced at Pebble Mill by Peter Ansorge. It was written by Michael Abbensetts, and starred Norman Beaton.

‘Empire Road’ was shot in Studio A, and on location in Handsworth.

Salt on a Snake’s Tail – Come to Mecca

Photo by Tim Savage, no reproduction without permission.

This photo is from a drama outside broadcast, probably from one of the ‘Come to Mecca’ dramas, called: ‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’. The Traffic Warden, with the rigger driver, Bob Few, is writing out a ticket for the scanner, CM2 – despite it having a parking permit!

‘Salt on a Snake’s Tail’, was transmitted in 1983, it was written by Farrukh Dhondy. Franco Ross was the director, Peter Ansorge the producer, and Ian Ashurst the production designer.

The cast included: Zia Mohyeddin, Andrew Johnson, Gill Dharminder.

The following comment was posted on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:

Andy Bentley: ‘Last time I saw Bob (Few) was a number of years ago, I had just parked the car on Barmouth Sea front when someone shouted ‘Oi what the F*** are you doing here. It was Bob driving a coach full of passengers.’

Boogie Outlaws TX Card and Photos

‘Boogie Outlaws’ was transmitted in 1987. It was a drama produced at Pebble Mill by Carol Parks, directed by Keith Godman and written by Leslie Stewart. It featured a band of musicians on the run from the police.

Thanks to costume designer, Janice Rider for making the photos available.

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Come to Mecca – Janice Rider

Photos by Janice Rider, no reproduction without permission.

‘Come to Mecca’ was transmitted on 2 Dec 1983. It was produced by Peter Ansorge at Pebble Mill, and directed by John McGrath. It was written by the Anglo-Indian writer, Farrukh Dhondy.

The story involves Shahid, who is delighted when Betty asks him to go to a meeting at her house. It is about the crossover and misunderstandings between different cultures.

The play stars, Sharman Macdonald (Betty), Dinesh Shukla, Nick Stringer, Moti Makan, Paul Anil, along with Zia Mohyeddin and Phil Daniels.

Janice Rider worked in the costume department, and took these polaroids for continuity reasons, so that the actors’ costumes matched from scene to scene and shoot to shoot.

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