Adrian Dunbar – What Was Pebble Mill?

Cruel Train

Cruel Train was a drama transmitted in 1996. Chris Parr was the producer, with Malcolm McKay as the director, and script adaptor, from the novel by Emile Zola. Sean Van Hales was the director of photography, and Michael Pickwoad was the production designer.

The drama featured: Adrian Dunbar, Saskia Reeves, Alec McCowen, David Suchet, Jonathan Moore, and Minnie Driver.

The BFI database includes the following synopsis:

‘Drama set in wartime Britain. Rueben Roberts a deputy railway station master, discovers that he owes his job, marriage and home to the sexual favours that his wife Selena has been forced to grant to Arthur Grandrige, her godfather and the railway chairman. Rueben vows revenge and kills Arthur on the Brighton express train. The murder is witnessed by a railway worker, Jack Dando. When the police investigate, Rueben pursuades Selena to seduce Jack to buy his silence. However things soon spiral out of control.’ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/516788

The budget is listed in the BFI database as £1.25 million, and apparently it was also known as Beast in Man. The shoot lasted from 25th November to 22nd December 1994.

Thanks to the BBC Drama Village for giving me the photos for sharing and safe keeping.

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

John Greening: ‘The station was a built set at an old Electric works ( which had some rail lines) by the Aston Expressway -Bill Hartley was the First AD.’

Gary Jordan: ‘Part of Screen two: SCREEN TWO – CRUEL TRAIN A dark & stylish drama set in wartime Britain, based on ‘La Bete Humaine’ by Emile ZOLA. Ruben ROBERTS discovers his wife has been sexually abused by her godfather since her early teens & coerces Selina to help him kill GRANDRIDGE. Sp s film
——————————————————————————
BBC Cprd Name: WORLDWIDE
BBC Item Type: Programme
BBC SubCatalogue: LONPROG TX DATE 22 Dec 1996′

Ian Barber: ‘And I was the AFM. Peter Lloyd was the 2nd Ad. Probably one of the best projects we ever worked on. The set was amazing. Built from scratch in a disused warehouse. We all had to wear masks because the air was black with soot from the steam engines. Alec McGowen was also in it, along with Sheila Reid and Brian Pringle.’

Mark Smithers: ‘Filmed at the GEC turbine and transformer works. The factory was pulled down shortly afterwards.’

Archive Screening Event

Had an interesting day today at the Archive Screening Event at the School of Art in Margaret Street. We showed several Pebble Mill dramas: A Touch of Eastern Promise by Tara Prem, A Box of Swan by Alan David Price and Fellow Traveller by Michael Eaton. Tara Prem and Michael Eaton were able to join us and it was fascinating to hear from them about how the dramas came about.

Fellow Traveller is set in the McCarthy era in the US, when many Hollywood film makers were blacklisted for their Communist sympathies. Some screen writers who couldn’t write in the States resorted to working for British television, particularly ITV’s highly successful Robin Hood series. Fellow Traveller is the story of a Jewish writer: Asa Kaufman, who flees to Britain and writes several Robin Hood episodes.

Michael Eaton wrote Fellow Traveller as a speculative script which he sent to HBO. The BBC had apparently already turned it down. Two weeks later HBO asked him to come across to the States. He said that going there was like having a masterclass in script writing. He was told that what he’d submitted was a two Act drama, and what it needed to be was a three Act drama – he hadn’t come across the three Act structure before. The original version finished with Asa Kaufman finding out how he had been betrayed and by whom, but unable to do anything about it. He then had to write a third Act where Kaufman confronted Leavey, which gave a much more satisfying conclusion.

Fellow Taveller was a three way co-production between HBO, BBC Pebble Mill and the BFI. It was shot on 35mm film, and had some theatrical release before being transmitted on BBC 2. It was the only TV film made at Pebble Mill. HBO apparently needed two different versions – one shorter and without any of the scenes containing nudity or sex, and one longer than the BBC version with some additional scenes in. Greg Miller, who edited the film in Soho, told us about how HBO had become quite demanding about their different versions quite late in the day. Michael Wearing produced the film and Philip Saville, who had worked with Michael Wearing on Boys from the Blackstuff, was the director.

Vanessa

Debut on Two – TX Card from Dave Bushell

Debut on Two TX Card

Debut on Two TX Card reverse

Debut on Two was a series of six dramas produced at Pebble Mill in 1990 for BBC 2, to promote the work of writers new to television. Two of the dramas were shot on location, the other four were studio based.

Michael Wearing was the executive producer, Vicky Licorish and Philippa Giles the producers, Diana Patrick and Bob Landgon the directors. A company of established actors including Pete Postlethwaite, Hilary Sesta and Adrian Dunbar, appeared across the six different plays.

The plays in the series were:

The Conversion of St Paul
Breast is Best
The Wake
Window of Vulnerability
Kingdom Come
A Box of Swan

Thanks to Dave Bushell for keeping the TX Card safe, and for sharing it.