John King – Page 5 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Telly Addicts Christmas Special

The photo includes left to right: Back Row, Pat Mifflin, Richard Lewis, Annette Martin, Noel Edmonds, Steve Pierson, John King; Front Row, Jennifer Hassall, Rajinder Ram, Tim Manning, Sue Williams, Denny Hodge (Comedy Workshops).

‘Telly Addicts’ was a BBC 1 Game Show produced at Pebble Mill, which ran between 1985 and 1998. Noel Edmonds was the host, who tested contestants on their knowledge of television shows. Alongside the regular series were a number of Christmas Specials. This photo was taken after the recording of one of these Christmas shows.

Stuart Gandy remembers the little gadget that engineering made for Noel, known as the hooferdoofer, that he used to indicate to the gallery with. Looked a bit like a TV remote with a few buttons on. Louis Robinson remembers borrowing the word ‘hooferdoofer’ to describe the remote, from his grandmother!

Thanks to Tim Manning for making the photo available.

Telly Addicts Question Card – from Tim Manning

‘Telly Addicts’ was a BBC 1 Game Show based on contestants’ television knowledge. It was hosted by Noel Edmonds. The series was recorded in Studio A, and was transmitted between 1985 and 1998. It was produced by John King’s department at Pebble Mill. First producer was Juliet May, followed by John Smith, Tim Manning and Richard Lewis.

Thanks to Tim Manning for making this Question Card available.

Golden Oldie Picture Show – Christmas 1986

The ‘Golden Oldie Picture Show’ was presented by Radio 1 D.J., Dave Lee Travis. The show created music videos for Hits which pre-dated the era of music videos, and directors were encouraged to choose a track and create a story around it. It was produced at Pebble Mill by Exec, John King.

This photo dates from Christmas 1986, and was taken on location at the Red Lion, Somerton, Somerset, where the links for that show were recorded. Left to right, back row it includes: Dave Lee Travis (presenter), John King (exec), Mike Williams (lighting cameraman), John Parker (sound), Jim Hatchard (set design). Front row: Andy Frizzell (lighting), Nigel Davey (camera), Phil O’Shea (props), Gail Herbert (P.A.), Veronica McAleer (Brebner)(make-up).

Thanks to Gail Herbert for making the photo available, and to Andy Frizzell, Kevin Lakin and Lesley Weaver for adding information.

Rose for Winter – photos by Gail Herbert

Photos copyright Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

‘Rose for Winter’ was a two part adaptation by Laurie Lee of his book of the same name, of his return to Andalusia in 1951 with his bride Cathy years after the Spanish Civil War. It was produced at Pebble Mill by John King with narration by Laurie Lee. It was transmitted on BBC 2, on 23 and 24 December 1989.

The two parter starred John Wild as Laurie Lee and Cordelia Roche as Cathy.

John Williams was the cameraman, assisted by Dave Evans, Richard Reynolds was the recordist, with Gail Herbert the PA.

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning – photos from Gail Herbert

Photos from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission.

‘As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning’ was a 2 part recreation of Laurie Lee’s journey on foot across Spain in 1934, during the civil war. It was produced at Pebble Mill by executive producer John King, written and narrated by Laurie Lee. John Wild played the part of Laurie Lee.

The first episode, ‘From Home to Madrid’ was transmitted on 5/1/1987, with the second part ‘From Madrid to the South’, shown the following night.

The crew included cameraman John Williams, assistant Dave Evans, sound John Parker, lighting Roy Carn. Gail Herbert was the production assistant. David Attwood, who was then a production manager in the Drama Department, directed the dramatised sequences. He later became a freelance drama director.