Doctors – end of an era

 

On 14th November 2024, the final episode of the continuing drama, Doctors, was transmitted. Doctors began it’s life at BBC Pebble Mill, and moved, when the building was demolished, to a new site in Selly Oak, the ‘BBC Drama Village’ at the University of Birmingham.

Here are the comments from a few of people who worked on it, or had affection for it, taken from the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Clive Payne: I’ll miss being in it as a supporting artist for 12 years plus. It’s a unique family unit and a great joy to be a tiny part of.

Janet Collins: Lovely to have two characters, Bev Dartnall & Carson Black in the last programme. A nice tribute to former producers.

Andy Bentley: I remember when it started and the last episode at Pebble Mill when they did the explosion. A lot of people cut there teeth on this, Emilia Clarke had her first TV appearance on it.

Julie Hill: Why did they kill off Doctors? I just cant believe the appalling decisions that continue to be made by the BBC going back to when they flogged off Pebble Mill without even a backward glance.

Caroline Feldon: You might be interested to know that in my current role as a psychotherapist I advised on some of the scripts for Jimmi. So I was involved from a distance. Sad to see it go.

Sue Robinson: I caught the last episode today by accident. My ears pricked up when I heard one of the characters was called Bev Dartnall. What a lovely tribute. I then watched the documentary afterwards and it was lovely to see both Dave Farline and Andy Payne on camera in the early days of Doctors. Fabulously talented people taken way too early. Well done Doctors for a great legacy and a reminder of a fantastic place I and many others had the privilege to work in.

James Patterson: To be fair, a great and underrated series. When it took over Studio A and other areas in the Crush bar it seemed like the Pebble Mill era had come to an end, but Doctors moved on to the Drama Village and thrived. Hope everyone is well and can find work.

Luisa Prosser: Having worked as a floor assistant at Pebble Mill, I was so excited to be in an episode and to know most of the crew. I’ll always remember Sally from make up, saying ‘Well, this is weird!’ Sad to see this programme come to an end.

Anne-Marie Palmer: When we finished derigging the Drama Village and getting rid of everything it felt like the final demise of Pebble Mill.

It was all so sad, it stated a type of bereavement.
When I watched yesterday I couldn’t stop crying, it was probably also the loss of Pebble Mill 20 years ago coming out as well, as this didn’t really come to an end we just moved premises.
The freelance world is a rocky road to walk (particularly currently) and some of my Doctors colleagues have taken the decision to retire, I have managed to get occasional work and every job I’ve been on my wider Doctors family has been there and we’ve all carried our Doctors (and Pebble Mill) ethics with us of making it a friendly atmosphere to work in. Everyone is important, everyone counts, we work better together.

Maxine Henry

Maxine Henry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maxine Henry, Costume Designer, passed away on 8th August 2018. Although much of her work was at ATV and Central, she did work for many years at Pebble Mill on various shows and is much missed by us all in “Doctors” costume.

(Thanks to Anne-Marie Palmer for sharing the photo and this sad news.)

Doctors – Faith’s Wedding 2002

Photo by John Waldron, no reproduction without permission

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John Waldron took this photo in September 2002 of nurse Faith (played by Eva Fountaine), marrying fireman, Jerry, in the continuing drama series, Doctors.

The episode was edited by Neil Roberts, and the wedding dress was made by Anne-Marie Palmer.

Included in the photo are Lawrence Penry Jones, Corrine Wicks, Eva Fountaine, Arion Bakare, Maggie Cronin and Natalie Robb.

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Terrance Dicks at the Forgotten Dramas Conference

Royal Holloway, part of the University of London, held a conference from 23-25 April, 2015, entitled: Television Drama: the Forgotten, the Lost and the Neglected. The conference brought together academics and former programme makers, and several of the sessions had a relevance to BBC Pebble Mill.

The final session of the conference was an interview with producer Terrance Dicks by academic, Billy Smart. Dicks is well known for his work on Dr Who, but here he was talking about his role on the Classic Serial 1981-8, first as a script editor, and then as producer. The Classic Serial went out on BBC1 on a Sunday afternoon, and was designed to be family viewing. It was part of the Series and Serials department, and always involved the adaptation of a classic novel, Dickens being a favourite author. It was an expensive strand to produce because of all the design costs. Dicks pointed out the similarities between Dr Who and The Classic Serial, in that both are a series of serials.

Great Expectations, BBC1,1981, was an early production when Terrance Dicks was a script editor. The novel was adapted for television by James Andrew Hall and was a significant success. Dicks described the role of the script editor as planning the production with the producer, choosing the writer and talking through the show with them, followed by liaising with the writer and making sure that the scripts were in on time.

Jane Eyre, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Jane Eyre, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another notable production was Charlotte Bronte’s, Jane Eyre, BBC1,1983, adapted by Alexander Baron, with Timothy Dalton as Rochester. This drama, like many other Classic Serials, was recorded at BBC Pebble Mill, as a hosted London production. I asked Terrance about why Birmingham studios were chosen. He replied that London crews behaved like they were doing you a favour in working on your shows, whereas Birmingham managers were much more supportive, and the crews were more co-operative and grateful – if not quite as good! I’m sure that the crews in Birmingham would dispute his judgement that they weren’t as skilled, whilst being pleased that they were considered better to work with!

The Invisible Man, BBC1, 1984, was a significant 6 part serial, which had to have an evening transmission due to its inherent violence. After this production, Dicks became a producer, which he described as doing proper grown up work, something which he’d tried to avoid all his life!

Oliver Twist, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Oliver Twist, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Vanity Fair, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

Vanity Fair, photo by Neil Wigley, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two further serials were discussed, both of which were recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill: Oliver Twist, BBC1, 1985, and Vanity Fair, BBC1,1987. Oliver Twist was a fantastic success, and the viewing figures were so good that they enabled Jonathan Powell (then Head of Series and Serials) to convince Michael Grade (Controller BBC1,1984-6), not to cancel The Classic Serial. Vanity Fair, was a less successful production, being in Dick’s opinion too big and expensive a production, with problems with viewer engagement, due to the ambiguity of Becky Sharp’s character

Drama on television has certainly developed as a genre since the 1970s and ‘80s, and in the main 30’ series, like The Classic Serial, are no longer made, although adaptations of classic novels are still made, albeit in longer format.

Vanessa Jackson

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

Terry Powell: ‘I worked on both productions. And worked at TVC London let me say we were streets ahead in professional and talent and. Attitude xxx’

Anne-Marie Palmer: ‘Some of us worked for BBC London before moving to BBC Birmingham, and visa versa, where does that place us?’

Jean Palmer: ‘If they weren’t good why did they keep coming back.’

Kevin Hudson: ‘We were every bit as good. Real reason we were cheaper!!!’

Keith Brook (Scouse): ‘They were much better than the London crews who used bullshit and fancy accents to cover up their failings.’

Wardrobe decorated Christmas door

Wardrobe decorated Christmas door, Anne Marie Palmer and Ruth Kiosses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo from Ruth Kiosses, no reproduction without permission.

Anne-Marie Palmer and Ruth Kiosses stand proudly by the decorated Wardrobe door – in preparation for the festivities!