June 2015 – Page 2 – What Was Pebble Mill?

The Archers’ stairs

Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission.

This photo was taken in 2003 in Radio Studio 3 at BBC Pebble Mill. It shows three differently textured staircases – carpet, concrete and metal, so that the sound effects on The Archers and other radio dramas were authentic.

Martin tells me that it was usually the technical staff doing ‘spot’ sound effects on radio drama who would walk up the stairs, rather than the actors themselves, but sometimes the actors also used them.

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

Richard Abraham: ‘Once did spot for a single episode of the Archers. When you’ve jiggled four belts to emulate bridle noise behind Sara Coward & Judy Bennett then you’ve really lived. Largely because to get their voices right for riding they shifted from one Foyt to the other. Their bottoms were a joy to behold!’

Carolyn Davies: ‘Definitely both the spot fx person and actors used them….think there was a fake door at the top….and it wasn’t just the Archers, ST3 did tonnes of radio drama..’

Peter Wild: ‘It was a bit of both. If you can it’s always best to get the actor to do it for real. Sometimes that just isn’t practical. I directed many scenes on those stairs – which offered four surfaces. Take the carpet off and you have bare wood.’

Maggie Humphries: ‘My claim to fame is my ‘laughing’ dubbed onto a girl in a market in Israel with Topol for a documentary made by the Pebble Mill at One team…….’

Hedli Nik: ‘My great claim to fame is being Juliet Stevenson’s feet running down the stairs in Jane Austen! I did have a part as well…’

We are BBC Birmingham

This, We are BBC Birmingham brochure was given to members of staff moving from Pebble Mill to the new Mailbox building in summer/autumn 2004.

There are other sections which name some of the then current productions, both radio and television, but I will post those separately.

The leaflet highlights the work of internal departments like HR, Finance, Marketing, Talent Rights, Libraries and IT.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for keeping the leaflet safe for the last decade, and for sharing it.

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

Andy Walters: ‘I remember those being taken. I am on the first B. We were assembled on the grass at the back of the building with the photographer on the roof.’

Jane Green: ‘I’m on a B too. I miss Pebble Mill’

Paul Hunt: ‘Am on the bottom of C having dashed back from a meeting at the Mailbox!’

Claire Bennett: ‘Eleven years? Did I miss all the big ten year anniversary celebrations there must have been for a decade of glory at the Mailbox then?’

Steve Peacock: ‘I think they threw that party in Bristol’

Jon Parker in VTA

Photo by Christopher Glover, no reproduction without permission.

The photo shows Jon Parker in VTA at Pebble Mill in the late 1980s. It’s rather dark and not a brilliant quality photo – but then it was rather dark working in a VT suite.

Jon left the BBC to study Horology, and now lectures in clock making at Birmingham City University.

Thanks to Christopher Glover for sharing the photo.

The Newsreader, the Vicar and the Ballet Dancers

Radio Producer, Pete Simpkin. Copyright resides with the original holder

Much was made in the early days of Pebble Mill at One of the fact that it was broadcast from a working Reception area, but as the time went by, the apparent ‘feel’ of the working bit became less obvious to the viewers. In the mid 80s the famous ‘side entrance’ to the building was created to avoid too many problems but there was still the challenge of the short distance between the bottom of the stairs near the entrance to the Network Radio studios and the door to the corridor which connected to the new Entrance.

One famous lunchtime I had just finished pre-recording a series of ‘Thought for the day’ (we actually called it ‘God on Monday’ etc which ran for the five weekdays, but that led to trouble when listeners wrote in complaining they wanted ‘God on Saturday’ and Sunday as well but that’s another story). Anyway I was faced with the challenge of getting my clerical speaker off the premises and across this famous space. He was a bit intimidated by all the lights and noise so I pressed my hand into the small of his back and propelled him into the void. At this moment the director of PM cut to a wide angle shot of some ballet dancers prancing about and there, caught walking across the back of the shot, the millions of viewers (my mother watching in far off Southampton included) were transfixed …possibly delighted….to see a priest being apparently frog-marched across the shot by a determined bespectacled radio producer.

As I saw the petrified preacher into his car in the road outside the director must have reached elevated levels of blood pressure and the floor manager was encouraged to lock the corridor door so preventing me getting back into the building via the approved route. This would have been alright for most members of staff but I was charged with reading the two pm News Summary on Radio WM and needed to get back upstairs PDQ. Faced with the locked door I had to run back down to the side reception, sprint the length of Pebble Mill Road, up the North drive, round to Rear Security, along the long corridor and as there wasn’t time to wait for the lift, spring up the stairs to the Newsroom to collect the script and finally round all the corridors to the studio arriving just in time but desperately short of wind. Dear old Jack Johnston our manager, who held News and all its works as his priority, if not total raison d’être was alarmed to hear my breathless presentation of his treasured 2pm Summary and, bursting through the door as the red light went out, serenaded with me in his Scottish tones regarding the importance of not reading his treasured bulletins when out of breath…I think that’s what he said there were some Celtic adjectives which I have only recently erased from my memory. Following my gasping, and to him, feeble excuse that I had been locked out of the building by the power crazed Pebble Mill at One staff he stormed away and I later heard that there had been a not too friendly internecine discussion about lunchtime access procedures, with the result that never again were we prevented from getting back into the studios at lunchtime!

Pete Simpkin

Trading Up in the Sun

Jo Kenyon, Colin McAllister, Justin Ryan, Sharon Fisher

The team bump in to Danny La Rue in a bar

Colin, Justin, Craig Phillips, ?, Tom Slee, ?

Colin, Justin, Craig Phillips, Robbie Williams, Tom Slee, ?

Justin with Sharon, Tom Slee in the background

Justin, with Colin in the background

Photos from Joanne Kenyon, no reproduction without permission.

The photos are from the BBC1 Daytime production, Trading Up in the Sun circa 2002. The series was presented by interior designer duo, Justin Ryan and Colin McAllister, with Craig Phillips (the Big Brother winner), doing some of the DIY. These photos are from the first series, which was filmed in the Costa del Sol.

The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Ruth Barretto: “I was the PC on that production back at base . Wasn’t it the EL PInar hotel that you stayed in. Which you all renamed. Amanda Lowe was the SP! The good old days!”