Anna of the Five Towns – Publicity Card

Anna of the Five Towns was transmitted from 9 Jan 1985 on BBC 2.

Copyright resides with the original holders, no reproduction without permission

Promo card inside cover

Promo card inside

Promo card back page

The Groundling and the Kite – Jenny Brewer

‘The Groundling and the Kite’ was a drama in the Play for Today anthology.

Crew photograph from 1983
This was the last Play For Today made out of Pebble Mill. Shot during the very hot summer of 1983 in and around Hampstead in London and transmitted on BBC1 in 24 July 1984. This was the last show I worked on as a Production Assistant before becoming a Production Associate. I have discovered the full play is available on You Tube should you wish to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4clkwmzOHlE

 


The Groundling and the Kite crew. Thanks to Jenny Brewer for sharing the photo.

From front row R to L Keith Froggatt, Cameras; Charles Bond, Designer; Alan Miller (with the bald head) Gaffer Spark from Lee Electric with 3 sparks alongside him

Next row Colin Rogers, Producer; Graham ??; Prop and Support Vehicles

Next row Ian MacNulty; Grip; Jenny Brewer, Production Assistant; John Duttine, Actor; Peter Jefferies, Director; Carol Parks, Production Associate

Next Row William Hartley, Production Manager; Lenny Preston, Writer and Actor; John Kenway, DOP; Liddy Bennett, Assistant Floor Manager; Geoff Nawn, Design; John Parker, Sound Recordist

Next Row John Cole, Sound; Chap from Costume ?; Gwen Arthy, Make Up Designer; Trevor Elwell, Scene Crew Supervisor; alongside Nigel ?? and others on the scene crew; Tom Beech, Props Buyer; Nigel Roberts next to Tom Beech, Ray Clulow, carpenter, behind Nigel & one of the painters behind Ray. Hiding behind the pillar might be Phil Hawkins, scene crew supervisor.

Back Row Mark Thompson Unit Driver; Lesley Weaver, Make Up; Sue Peck, Costume Designer; and ?? from Costume

 

 

 

Carol Parks

Photo by John Greening. Included, left to right: Belinda Cherrington, Carol Parks, Jane Barton

 

This poem was written by Make Up Designer, Gill Hughes, in response to the death, in Autumn 2021, of drama Producer, Carol Parks. Gill worked with Carol on many drama productions.

THE END
It doesn’t happen to us
Not our generation.
The Go-Getters
The Movers
The Shakers
The ones who were going to change the World
Not to us
The Hippies, The Long Hair
The Pill, Sex, Rock and Roll
That was us
Our journey is not yet done
The Script not yet finished
Girl Power, Emancipation
There are some paragraphs to unfold
Before the Full Stop
THE END
Gill Hughes, Make Up Designer

Memories of Gillian Lynne

Gillian Lynne on the Nike crane, on Morte D’Arthur. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I worked with Gillian at her LEAN TWO company for several years.  We were always close friends, ever since the Pebble Mill days.  Nine days before she died I was invited by Andrew Lloyd Webber for the renaming of the New London Theatre to the Gillian Lynne Theatre.  Quite a starry event, and Gillie was carried onstage on a golden throne!!!!  Lots of lovely tributes but she was very frail.  I hadn’t seen her since her birthday in February and it was obvious that the incredible dancer’s body (issue a fitness DVD at the age of 88, anyone?) was giving up.  I wondered then if I would see her again.

The tributes have been amazing, both here in the West End and on Broadway.  Andrew Lloyd Webber yesterday has put up a huge video screen above the stage door of the Palladium with a lovely picture of Gillie and a very sweet message from him.”

Carol Kilby (formerly Parks)

Don Leaver – The Chain

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gulachsen, no reproduction without permission

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gulachsen, no reproduction without permission

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gulachsen, no reproduction without permission

The Chain. Photo by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I read just read that the director Don Leaver sadly died back in December. Responsible for some of the best telly including Police Surgeon, the first series of The Avengers, The Protectors, Hammer House of Horror, and Armchair Theatre among much more. I had the good fortune to meet him as a 2nd assistant film editor on The Chain, which was made at Pebble Mill in 1989/90. Produced by Carol Parks it was film edited by John Rosser.”

Neil Roberts

Here is the link to Don Leaver’s obituary in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/dec/22/don-leaver

Here is the entry from the Radio Times for The Chain, from the BBC Genome project: http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/b217a5f921884ca8892f412ae9b43864

“A tense thriller by Desmond Lowden.
1: Ten years of property boom in the rich south. Lots of losers, lots of tough cases for Crown Prosecutor Cassidy. Then the mysterious McRae arrives with the first pieces in a jigsaw of murder and corruption that takes over their lives.
Stunt arranger Alf Joint Music Courtney Pine
Script editor Brian Wright Designer Nigel Jones
Photography John Kenway Producer Carol Parks Director Don Leaver BBC Pebble Mill
Written by: Desmond Lowden.
Editor: Brian Wright
Robert McRae: Peter Capaldi
Michael Cassidy: Robert Pugh
Sonia Cassidy: Julia Hills
Phil Benson: Michael Troughton
Marianne Benson: Susan Kyd
Barry: Henry Goodman
James Denton: Terence Budd
Hickman: Kenneth MacDonald
Sergeant Roderick: Aran Bell
Samantha: Auriol Goldingham
Chief Prosecutor Royston: Tony Mathews
Assistant police commissioner: Graham Weston
Pike: Sean McKee
Pike’s mate: Ian Burfield
Court clerk: Colin Rix
Social worker: Karen Benjamin
Alison Cassidy: Anna Day
Jo-Ann: Viveka Dagnell
Dorinda: Eniola Jaiyeoba

 

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