Photo by Mel Stevens, no reproduction without permission
Director Mick Murphy, in blue shirt, with Countryfile presenter, Roger Tabor. Possibly Keith Schofield on camera. PA on the ground is Carolyn Smith. The woman in yellow shirt is the researcher.
The photos are from a Top Gear shoot about potential damage to a person’s head if involved in a high speed accident when not wearing a seat belt. The melon seen on some of the pictures was, medical specialists said, a good representation of the human skull. This segment used a high-speed film camera, with the principal photographer being John Williams, and Nigel Davey operating the camera. The item was recorded in the grounds of Pebble Mill.
Photos by Andy Woodhouse, no reproduction without permission.
Picture shows a rehearsal for capturing the moving head/melon. John Williams is second from left, Nigel Davey on camera.
Picture shows the fall of the melon from a two storey roof being recorded. Note the use of the coat to ensure the same melon could be used throughout until allowed to hit the ground.
Picture shows a discussion about the shoot process. John Williams is second from left, Keith Ackrill is fourth from left
Picture illustrates the impact of the melon on a hard object!
Photo by Bhasker Solanki, no reproduction without permission
Harold Rich at the piano and John McCulloch on bass.
Colin Pierpoint added the following information on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:
Harold Rich was a great broadcaster, and a nice guy. I remember him in Studio 6 at Carpenter Road. He knew the Type A studio equipment so well that he was passing useful information in private back to the control cubicle, by putting on cans and speaking quietly into the piano mic. He knew that the SM (Dave Welsby) could reply on Transmission Talkback and nobody else would hear the conversation. That way he was talking about the vocalist, and suggesting how to improve her performance.
Photo by Mel Stevens, no reproduction without permission
Photo by Mel Stevens, no reproduction without permission
Countryfile shoot at the Duncan Fearnley cricket bat factory in Worcester.
In the first photo, Jim Knights on camera, in a Magpie crew. Mick Murphy, who directed this film, has his back to the camera and PA Caroline Smith can be glimpsed in the back of shot. The film followed the journey of a cricket bat from willow wood, from Essex to Duncan Fearnley’s factory, to be turned into the final product.
In the second photo, Matt Gray on camera, Keith Conlon on sound, on his knees, Duncan Fearnley (cricket bat maker) in the red jumper.
photo by Mel Stevens, no reproduction without permission
This photo of the last episode of Pebble Mill at One in 1986, features left to right: TV chef Michael Smith pouring the champagne; Magnus Magnusson; Josephine Buchan; Paul Coia; Jan Leeming; Marian Foster; David Seymour; John Eley (the Cooking Canon); David Freeman (from Radio Oxford); and Bob Langley. The floor manager in the foreground is Debbie Hood.