Tag: Big Strong Girls

Big Strong Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

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.’

Big Strong Girls – Vanessa Jackson

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

‘Big Strong Girls’ was commissioned as a series of 20, half hour shows for BBC 1, by Daytime Controller, Liz Barron. It was Liz who came up with the title when the idea was pitched to her by BBC Pebble Mill.   The series was transmitted in 1999.

It is the only series idea that I thought up, developed and actually made.  It was centred around the empowerment of women, in the wake of the Spice Girls – that women ought to get on with their own DIY  projects, without waiting for the men in their lives to lead the way!  The key talent were two sisters, Fiona Quigley, and Siobhan Palmer, who were both on screen team members of the Daytime makeover series ‘Real Rooms’, which I series produced at the time.  Fiona and Siobhan were funny, creative, and yes – both big and strong!  They visited members of the public and got to grips with their DIY jobs.  I think one of the funniest episodes involved a family in Hall Green, Birmingham, who had missing skirting boards, which they’d replaced using tea towels!  Unfortunately that episode was never shown, as it had been originally scheduled for the Opening of Parliament day.

Unfortunately the Daytime Controller changed between commissioning and delivery, and Liz Barron’s taste was not shared by Jane Lush and her team.  When we’d already made and delivered around ten episodes of the series, I received a phone call from the Controller’s office, saying that they really liked the idea of ‘Big Strong Girls’, but that couldn’t we use a couple of fit, attractive young men instead, and rename the series ‘Big Strong Boys’.  I felt that this was somewhat missing the point of the original series, but it’s difficult to argue with Channel Controllers!  We recorded another five episodes that we had already researched and were committed to, and then the girls were replaced by the ‘Big Strong Boys’, which in my opinion was a far more predictable approach to DIY on television.  Focus group research was carried out into a pilot of ‘Big Strong Boys’, whilst ‘Big Strong Girls’ was actually airing, and I was secretly pleased that the audience research said that people preferred the female version – not that it made any difference of course!

‘Big Strong Girls’ had a great production team, Roger Casstles was our executive producer, and was an early experiment in directors self shooting, using the Sony DSR 200 – which produced some very good results.  We did employ a professional recordist – and were very glad we did.