Trashman Tony, Carol
Veronica, Eric, Lisa
Episode 5
Episode 2, Gorgeous Gary
Copyright Janice Rider, no reproduction without permission.
Costume sketches for the 1987 comedy drama series, The Ritz, written by John Godber. The series was an adaptation of Godber’s theatre production: Bouncers, set in a Northern disco.
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.
Thanks to Peter Poole for sharing this Radio Recording and Transmission form from 1996.
This form was used to log details about studio radio recordings and transmissions of those recordings. It dates from 1996, when John Birt was Director General, it was the era where BBC Resources was split off from production, and ‘Producer Choice’ came in.
Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.
Netw0rk East was an Asian magazine show dating from the late 1980s and 1990s it included a mix of dance, music and other items about British Asian life. It had various presenters including Mo Dutta, Sonia Doel, Sanjeev Kohli, Rajesh Mirchandani and Shyama Perera. Narendhra Morar was the series editor in the late 1980s, with John Wilcox being the Executive Producer.
Thanks to Ian Collins for making this title grab available.
The following comments were left on the Pebble Mill Facebook Page:
Lynn Cullimore: ‘I worked in that department with Narendra! I remember it well. Mainly because everyone in that department shared everthing – if they went to the canteen for a Kit Kat it was shared amongst us all. I particularly remember the music programmes as the artists had no idea of timing and just played on and on until we had to just cut in and stop it! So funny. Oh happy days.’
Victoria Trow: ‘Narendra Morar was Series Producer. Lots of talented people covered not only music but all kinds of topics of interest to the Asian Community. I was asst editor on The Bollywood Story (never repeated I fear because of copyright issues, clearances were hell) and also a researcher on a lovely piece about a group of Sikhs who had fought in WW2 going to Belgium for a commemoration of their fathers & uncles who had fought in WW1. Great days.’
Ruth Barretto: ‘Paresh Solanki also worked on the programme when Narendra left. It was one of the best departments I ever worked in. It was like one big happy family. I worked on it when Sonia Sangha (Deol) and Sanjeev Kohli were the presenters. Real fun times.’
Peter Poole: ‘I worked on it many times in Studio B. Studio links, interviews and music were recorded. For larger music recordings Studio A was used. In the 1990’s the programme featured contemporary Asian pop music.’
The Directors: Chris Wright, David Weir, Mark Kershaw
Nicky Savage, Jane Mclean, Tom O’Connor, Jo Dewar
Photos from Jane Mclean, no reproduction without permission.
(The following blog was written after a conversation with director, Mark Kershaw in Feb 2014)
The Tom O’Connor Roadshow was a live entertainment show transmitted from around the country early 1987, it went out daily around 12pm on BBC1. The show was based in a different town or city each week, including: Derby, Falkirk, Port Talbot, Blackpool (twice!), Portsmouth, Newcastle, Cambridge, Exeter, Bradford, Londonderry with Liverpool being the final week’s location.
The show was commissioned to plug a gap in entertainment programming after Pebble Mill (the lunchtime magazine show) was decommissioned in May 1986. There was a move to use underutilised resources, and it was felt that outside broadcast scanners were busy at weekends during the winter, with football and other sport, but were available during the week. Therefore a live entertainment show, like the Tom O’Connor Roadshow, ticked all the boxes.
It was important that all areas of the country were covered, hence shows coming from Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as England. Two versions of the set had to be made, travelling round the country in different directions, with one set being erected as the other one was in use.
There were three multi-camera directors assigned to the show. Mark Kershaw did all the advance planning. There was a main director of the week, which was either Mark, David Weir or Chris Wright. One of the others was the support director for the week, whilst the third, planned ahead for the following week.
The series encountered a few issues along the way. A week in Aviemore was planned, but because of an electricians’ strike had to be relocated as a return visit to Blackpool. Inserts from Aviemore were included instead. The Londonderry week was eventful. ‘The Troubles’ were still very active. The final show on the Friday in Derry had to be stopped part way through because of a bomb scare at the venue. The show went to an filmed insert, and never came back on air, with Pres taking over the transmission! UHF mics had to be hired in for the Cambridge shows, as the University complained that the Roadshow mics were using the same frequencies as the lecturers, meaning that instead of some erudite academic lecture,the sound of the Tom O’Connor Roadshow was coming through instead!
The series was expensive to make, although it was popular with the viewers. It was its high budget that meant that it wasn’t recommissioned.
The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook Page:
Jane Green: I worked on this series. It was great fun. I thought being sent to the Port Talbot TOCRS was drawing the short straw, until the Fine Young Cannibals came out of their dressing room dressed as Welsh Dolls and Miners to sing She Drives Me crazy!
Garden Design Journal, Feb 2005
Copryright resides with the original holders, no reproduction without permission.
This article appeared in the Garden Design Journal in February 2005, and considers the question of whether television gardening has trivialised garden design. Bella D’Arcy argues ‘yes’, I argue ‘no’, and Matt James sits on the fence, with a ‘maybe’.
There was a spate of garden design related programmes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, led by Ground Force and HomeFront in the Garden. I was lucky enough to be the series producer of two series of Small Town Gardens, a design show which was a delight to work on!