Mike Workman – What Was Pebble Mill?

Pebble Mill model

Thanks to Pauline Pearson for making this cutting from Ariel available, and for keeping it safe!

The photo is a model of the Pebble Mill building before it opened in 1971.

Included left to right are: John Grantham (Engineer, Services), Tony Pilgrim (Management, Communication and Engineering Services), Pauline Pearson (Producer’s Assistant, ‘The Doctors’), P. Hodges (Engineer, Services), E.R. Deighton (Head of Programme Services and Engineering), Ruth Taylor (Secretary to Head of Regional Television Development), Alan Rees (H.N.P.C.)(pointing out areas of the building), J.M.N. MacQueen (Head of Personnel and Finance).

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

Ruth Barretto: ‘Collette Foster (who became a series producer on The Clothes Show) used to work for Tony Pilgrim and then George Henson took over the job of Manager Communication & Engineering Services (MCES). I used to work for John Grantham – (not in 71 but back in 83).’

Mike Workman: ‘Points of note, multi-storey carpark on the left of that image wasn’t completed, Studio C not shown in that image wasn’t built due to the substation and the front entrance didn’t protrude as much from the building!’

Stuart Gandy: ‘My goodness, they all look so young. John Grantham was one of the first people I ever met at Pebble Mill. This was early in 1979 when I went for my preliminary interview for the post of Technical Assistant. I remember he recommended a particular book to read on electronics. It must have worked because later that year I met him again on the formal selection board which got me the job. Then when I first started at Pebble Mill in early 1980, in TV ops, Peter Hodges was by then a Vision Super who I worked with for a while, always ensuring that high standards of picture output were maintained.’

The Sky at Night

Patrick Moore

‘The Sky at Night’ has been presented by Sir Patrick Moore since its start in 1957. He has only missed one episode, when he was extremely ill with salmonella in July 2004.

The documentary astronomy programme is transmitted once a month on BBC 2 (and on BBC 4).

The series began life at Lime Grove, and I’m not sure when it came to BBC Birmingham.

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

Peter Poole: ‘I’ve been watching this wonderful programme for years. Only the BBC would produce this fine example of public service broadcasting. Is Birmingham losing this programme as part of the cut backs?’

Mike Workman: ‘Why is it the BBC see fit to ram everything great in Salford, everything interesting in Bristol and everything that makes money in London? They forgotten about the Midlands? Citizen Khan may have had its rushes shot in Sparkhill, but the studio and post was MediaCity. Great going.’

Peter Poole: ‘What’s next for Birmingham? Perhaps the Mailbox will close and Midlands Today will be broadcast from a industrial unit in Redditch.Just think how much money that would save. And why not send the Archers to Salford!’

Mike Workman: ‘After all, Salford is the traditional home for radio drama in these austere times! Let’s just translate the whole BBC North project – two words – last one ‘up’ and first starts with an f.. The slow abandonment of the Midlands by London management is starting to grate, it seems you can only be from the South East or North West if you live in the UK. Midlands Today, meh, just merge it with North West Tonight, it saves money and it’s not like it’s a region in its own right!’

Charisma Keyboard

Charisma keyboard

Photo by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

VT editor, Ian Collins, took a number of photographs of obsolete kit before the closure of Pebble Mill in 2004; this still of a Charisma keyboard among them. Charisma was a digital video effects machine which was de rigour in the late ’80s, early ’90s. It enabled complex video effects to be incorporated in programmes like ‘The Clothes Show’. In fact the style of series like ‘The Clothes Show’ were largely due to Charisma, and the skilled use of it by VT editors like Mike Bloore, who was awarded a craft BAFTA for his editing of the programme. I remember being really excited about using Charisma in VT edits, and thinking the effects looked really great. If anything it was used too much, and caused a reaction against multi-layered complex edits and effects and back towards straightforward cuts. Nowadays the effects look pretty dated. I also remember a funny story about an edit assistant, who shall remain nameless, going to a job interview and being asked about what he thought about Charisma. He replied that charisma was an important quality in a person, and meant that they could be inspirational to others etc. It was only later he realised that they were talking about the Charisma machine. I can’t remember if he got the job or not! The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group: Mike Workman: ‘As used by the Six O’Clock News in 1985 for headline transition wipes, what a machine – VizRT is not a patch on Charisma!’ Matthew Skill: ‘we had one in Newcastle BC, there’s a complete set of manuals down in the workshops in the basement of TVC. That’s all the info i have for now….’ Mike Workman: ‘there’s a few dotted around TVC that came out of the then N1/2 news studios when the News Spur opened in 1997’ Mike Skipper: ‘Their successor the Ten X was used up until about a year ago at TV Centre!’ Ian Collins: ‘Without this piece of kit, Clothes Show would not have been the success that it was.’ Jane Green: ‘Ian’s right. I remember racing back from the NEC Clothes Show Live 1992 with the rushes of the live show and using Charisma with VT at Pebble Mill to put the show montages together. The effects were groundbreaking at the time. Took the finished tapes back to Roger at the NEC for TX and everyone crowded round to watch and loved the Charisma transformation.’