Empire Road from pebblemill on Vimeo.
Producer Peter Ansorge and writer Michael Abbensetts talking about the 1978-9 series ‘Empire Road’. ‘Empire Road’ was the first and only black soap opera on British television. It was recorded in Pebble Mill Studio A, and on location in Handsworth. It starred Norman Beaton as Everton Bennett. Two series of ‘Empire Road’ were made, comprising 16 episodes in all.
Multiculturalism in drama at Pebble Mill
5- Multiculturalism from pebblemill on Vimeo.
This specially recorded video includes interviews with Peter Ansorge, Tara Prem, Philip Saville, David Rose and Barry Hanson. It discusses how the English Regions Drama Department at Pebble Mill in the 1970s was amongst the first to develop dramas which included multicultural stories. A Touch of Eastern Promise, by Tara Prem, was the first British drama with an entirely Asian cast, and Gangsters portrayed multicultural themes prevalent in Birmingham at the time.