Category: Factual

Hartbeat – Lynda Kettle’s photos

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.

Hartbeat was a children’s studio based art show which was hosted by Pebble Mill, and recorded in Studio A.  The producer/director was Chris Tandy.  There were several series of Hartbeat between 1984-93.  I’m not sure which series were recorded at Pebble Mill, but probably in the late 1980s.  Tony Hart was the main presenter, but was joined by others like Margot Wilson, and Alison Millar.

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.

Hartbeat set in Studio A

Children in Need 1990 – Ruth Barretto

CHILDREN IN NEED 1990 – Ruth Barretto

The photos show the ‘Children in Need’ phone volunteers for the Midlands region, stationed in Studio A.

Tweedle dum and tweedle dee were Claire Cotton and Helen Lott, Andy

Pandy was Jill Bent, the bear was Jan Burrows, I was the princess.  The lady

with curly hair in purple was Joanne Anderton and behind her was Sophie

Marsh.   Can’t remember the others.

CIN phone volunteers 1990

Children in Need 1990

Smart – photos by Lynda Kettle

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.

Smart was a children’s art show which was hosted by Pebble Mill, and recorded in Studio A.  The producer was Chris Tandy and the director Jason Garbett.  The series was presented by Mark Speight, amongst others like Jay Burridge and Zoe Ball.  The series went out between 1994-9, although I don’t know which series were recorded at Pebble Mill – please add a comment if you can add more information.

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.

Lynda Kettle

Philip Donnellan – Greg Miller & Oliver White

Philip Donnellan from pebblemill on Vimeo.

In this video film editors Greg Miller and Oliver White talk about working with the documentary producer, Philip Donnellan, at BBC Pebble Mill.  They discuss editing ‘Gone for a Solider’ (1980), ‘The Big Hewer’ (1974) and ‘The Fight Game’ (1973).  ‘The Big Hewer’ and ‘The Fight Game’ were adaptations of radio ballads.

If you are interested in finding out more about Philip Donnellan then check out these links:

http://philipdonnellan.posterous.com/

http://paullong.posterous.com/33608194

‘Reaching for the Skies’ – photos from Maggie Humphries

Photos from Maggie Humphries (Film Unit).

‘Reaching for the Skies’ was a 12 part documentary series for BBC 2 about the history of aviation, produced at Pebble Mill.  It was transmitted in autumn 1988.  The series was a co-production with CBS TV, John Gau Productions and the BBC.  The producers were Tony Salmon, and Dennis Adams, executive producer: John Gau, series producer: Ivan Rendall, and Anthony Quayle the narrator.  Peter Gower, Gregg Miller and Michael Duxbury edited the series. John Bland cut a small part of episode 1 before Peter Gower took over from him.  Peter cut ‘Pioneers’, ‘Rivals over the Atlantic’, ‘Giants of the Air and ‘The Adventure of Flight’. Because all the Pebble Mill cutting rooms were full, temporary ones were set up at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, along with a production office.  The rooms used at the cricket ground, like Pebble Mill, have since been demolished!

The photos include the F15, from the ‘Fighter’ episode, the Harrier, from ‘Vertical Flight’, the F18, also from ‘Fighter’.  The fourth photo is the P82 Twin Mustang, based on the P51 Mustang (thanks to Paul Hunt for the identification).

The episodes were:

  • Pioneers
  • The Aeroplanes Goes to War
  • Trailbazers
  • Lighter than Air
  • Bombers
  • Quest for Speed
  • Giants of the Air
  • Rivals over the Atlantic
  • Fighters
  • Vertical Flight
  • Victory over the Sea
  • The Adventure of Flight

Harrier: Vertical Flight