Big Strong Boys

Big Strong Boys, circa 2003, lunchtime on a shoot in Hatton, Warwickshire. In the photo are Dan Davis, Warren Green, and Alan Herd.

Photograph by Suzie Curtlin, no reproduction without permission.

List of Pebble Mill programmes

Photo by Ben Peissel, no reproduction without permission

This a list of factual television programmes, described as ‘current’, was produced before the closure of Pebble Mill, around 2004. The list is included in a document housed in the BBC Archives in Caversham.

BBC One:

Points of View, Animal Sanctuary

BBC Two:

Gardeners’ World, Gardeners’ World Specials, Gardeners’ World Live, RHS Tatton, Gardener of the Year, Small Town Gardens, Rachel’s Country Garden [I don’t think this series was actually made], Million Pound Property Challenge, SAS Survival Secrets, Big Dreams – The Secrets of Asian Success, How I made My Property Millions

BBC Three:

The Brief: India and Pakistan, Greatest Eunuch Show, Black Beauty

BBC One Daytime:

Countryfile, Call My Bluff, To Buy or Not to Buy, Trading Up, Big Strong Boys, Sunday Garden, Trading Up in the Sun

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

Caroline Feldon Parsons: ‘I worked on 10 of those programmes! And don’t forget all the Radio programmes that were also being currently made …’

Simon Vaughan: ‘Pebble Mill was an amazing production centre – why on earth decommission it and pull it down, such an absolute waste. Just like TVC, their like will never be seen again.’

Carole Lowe: ‘Miss Pebble Mill a great building I worked on Anne and Nick and other programmes. Sad loss to BIRMINGHAM.’

Stuart Gandy: ‘Proper broadcasting centre.’

Pete Simpkin: ‘..and of course all the Radio…Live music , recorded music, Radio 2, Radio 3, amazing amount of Radio 4 ….drama, features, documentaries, the Archers and all the Local Radio as well!’

Judith Markall: ‘A sin to knock the building down!’

Factual and Learning – We are BBC Birmingham

This sheet about the Factual & Learning department, was part of a booklet given to all staff when BBC Birmingham moved from Pebble Mill to the Mailbox in 2004.

The sheet lists various recent and current programmes made by the department, including: £1 Million Pound Property Experiment, SAS Survival Secrets, Casualty Saved My Life, All the Queen’s Cooks, Sylvia Young Theatre School, and Coast. Major series included: Gardeners’ World, Countryfile, Points of View, Call My Bluff, and Sky at Night. Daytime titles included: To Buy or Not to Buy, Houses Behaving Badly, Feather Your Nest, Trading Up, Big Strong Boys. Asian Programmes unit shows mentioned are: Nuclear Paradise, India’s Ladyboys, The Joy of Curry, Dating the Asian Way, Desi DNA and Malai Presents.

Factual & Learning was a prolific department, producing a wide cross section of shows for BBC1, and 2 as well as some for BBC3.

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

Women in TV, making TV for women

Women’s Television at BBC Pebble Mill from pebblemill on Vimeo.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Video interviews with Steph Silk, Caroline Officer and Mel Stanley, talking about women working in television, and making programmes for predominantly female audiences.

Big Strong Boys

Jake Robinson and Gavin Lowe were the original ‘Big Strong Boys’. The daytime DIY series, which succeeded ‘Big Strong Girls’.

The boys would descend on house and put right the DIY wrongs – building shelves, fitting cupboards, tiling – just whatever needed doing.

The boys were cheeky chaps, who loved to wind up the production team! I remember receiving several spoof Mr Angry type phone calls!

I series produced one series of about 20 programmes, which were presented by Anna Walker. Anna presented the programme from 1999-2001.

Deputy Daytime Controller, Alison Sharman was responsible for finding the boys, and asking Pebble Mill to develop the series, as a successor to ‘Big Strong Girls’. The series ran from 1999-2004.

The presenter in these photos is Sarah Matravers, I think.

Vanessa Jackson

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

Caroline Feldon Parsons: ‘Yes it is Sarah Matravers. I worked on ‘Big Strong Girls’, with Bridget Calderhead and Elaine Walker who were partnered with vet Mark Evans, followed by these Boys, and also the second team of Boys which featured Craig Phillips (first winner of Big Brother) and Stuart Castleton. MDF madness!!’

Robert Dagg: ‘Used to watch ‘Big Strong Boys’ (and they were!) with Loran Durant and Susan Ball, coffees in hand, before the opening of the Shoulder Of Mutton at midday in Slawit :-)’

Suzie Curtlin: ‘And also Debra Veal presented with Craig & Stuart, and of course not forgetting Kate Silverton, we all know where she is now!’

Caroline Feldon Parsons: ‘I think I must have worked on nearly every makeover show going! Building MDF creations in pouring rain under gazebos, drying paint with hairdryers to make the reveal, dealing with “cheeky chappy” presenters and their particular brand of charm, yes, the memories are flooding back!’

Becky Land: ‘Painting wardrobes at 2am…. watching placentas being buried under trees… couriering tons of railway sleepers half way across England. The normal office job’s not quite the same.’