Photos from Les Podraza. The photos feature Les, who was a scene hand at Pebble Mill, with director John Bruce, and actors Trevor Eve, and T.P. McKenna.
The screenplay for Parnell and the Englishwoman was written by Hugh Leonard and tells the story of a 19th-century Irish nationalist politician who has an affair with the wife of an English MP. The drama went out in 1991. Trevor Eve played Charles Stewart Parnell, with Francesca Annis playing Katharine O’Shea; T.P. McKenna played Justin McCarthy. It was produced by Terry Coles out of BBC London, hosted by Pebble Mill.
This clip of writer Alan Plater talking about ‘Land of Green Ginger’ is taken from David Rose’s ‘My Journey Together’ lecture. The copyright remains David Rose’s.
The Play for Today ‘Land of Green Ginger’ was transmitted in 1973. It follows a young woman, Sally, played by Gwen Taylor, as she returns to her home town of Hull for the weekend. She and Mike, her trawlerman boyfriend, played by John Flanagan, have to make decisions about their future. However he is reluctant to give up the dangerous life of a fisherman, and she wants to pursue her career in London. The drama also featured Jean Heywood as Mrs Brown, Michael Elwyn as Reynolds and Ivy Cawood as Mrs Thurlow.
The drama was produced by David Rose and directed by Brian Parker. Mike Williams was the DOP, and the film was edited by Henry Fowler.
This clip is of the Hull based writer Alan Plater talking in 2008 about the English Regions Drama Department at BBC Pebble Mill. It was recorded by David Rose for his ‘My Journey Together’ lecture, and David has kindly given his permission for it to be used on this website. Alan sadly died on 25 June 2010.
Photograph copyright of Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.
The photograph features, left to right, William Hartley 1st A.D., David Rudkin, writer and director, and Al Barnett, costume.
‘White Lady’ was written and directed by David Rudkin, it told the story of a divorcee: Gil, who struggles to bring up his two daughters on his own. However hard he tries he cannot escape the all encompassing power of the White Lady, a symbol of the chemicals used in British food production.
The film was produced at Pebble Mill by Carol Parks and featured: Cornelius Garrett, Sophie Thompson, Jessica Martin and Meg Wynn Owen.
Photos by Lynda Kettle, no reproduction without permission. Lynda Kettle was a Production Designer at BBC Pebble Mill, working on factual, entertainment and drama shows in studio and on location. The photos were taken as records of the Sets.
Angels, began life in 1975 as a seasonal drama, but switched to a soap format between 1979 to 1983. It was produced out of the BBC in London, with some series being filmed there as the ‘St Angela’s Hospital’, Battersea. Later series in the 1980s were recorded at Pebble Mill in the imaginary ‘Heath Green Hospital’, Birmingham. It followed the lives of student nurses and tackled issues such as contraception, alcoholism and sexuality. The series was sometimes criticised for its gritty portrayal of nursing. To make the performances more realistic the actresses had to work in real hospital wards to gain experience.
The series offered opportunities to many actresses who have become well known household names, like Fiona Fullerton, Lesley Dunlop and Pauline Quirke.
Production Designer, Lynda Kettle also worked as a theatre designer and an artist, and now runs courses from her art studio http://www.lynda-kettle.com. She is a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham Water Colour Society. Midland Pastel Society and Birmingham Art Circle . She exhibits her paintings several times a year at selected galleries.
