Bob Langley – Page 2 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Donny MacLeod tribute

Pebble Mill at One tribute to presenter, Donny MacLeod, who died suddenly of a heart attack in 1984. This excerpt was shared by Ben Seymour, son of presenter, David Seymour.

Saturday Night at the Mill

Photos by Robin Sunderland, no reproduction without permission

These photos are from Saturday Night at the Mill, an entertainment magazine show, from the foyer studio. It was transmitted between 1976-81. Roy Ronnie was the producer, and Roy Norton the director. Bob Langley, Donny MacLeod and Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen welcomed a variety of guests. The cameramen in the second photo are Phil Wilson and Doug Smith.

Thanks to cameraman Robin Sunderland for taking and sharing the photos.

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

Annie Gumbley: ‘I was Roy Ronnie’s Secretary & had my training for PA from Liz Silver who worked on the series. Keith Ackrill and Tricia Sadiq (Mifflin) were part of the team too. I did about about 4 or 5 series to the finish. What memories.’

Julie Hill: ‘I remember Saturday Night at The Mill! Penny Arcatinis and I were entrusted with serving the wine to the general public.’

Chris Rogers: ‘A fab show used to watch it all the time great guests, and presenters.’

Pebble Mill at One compilation

Thanks to Roy Thompson for finding this compilation video of Pebble Mill at One, and sharing it.

45th anniversary of Pebble Mill at One

It is 45 years this month since Pebble Mill at One first hit our screens in October 1972. The photograph above shows the foyer, before it was turned into the Pebble Mill at One studio.

Here is the entry from the Radio Times, for the first Pebble Mill at One aired on 2nd October 1972 from the BBC Genome project: http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/9d1ca776d4e347dd91864bdb0533c460

“Anything can happen in this daily half-hour of people, views and music – in other words, entertainment.
It will happen in the entrance hall of the Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham where Robert Langley will be welcoming the guests, people in the headlines and you – viewers who have something to say or do.

Presenter: Robert Langley
Editor: Terry Dobson”

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

Paul Westwood: ‘Thought PM was always 45 mins long? I read somewhere that as the lunchtime news & Pm At One were the only programmes during the day at one point, apart from the test card, that Birmingham was in charge of the network for that period, not London! Is that true?’

Andy Marriott: ‘Interesting to see how much of the design of that reception wouldn’t look out of place in a modern building.’

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Pebble Mill at Ten

This is the ten year anniversary show of Pebble Mill at One, from 1982. It features the landing of the Harrier, amongst other memorable items. Some, like the ‘Black and White Minstrels’ are very much of their time, and seem quite shocking when viewed today. It is presented by Marian Foster, Donny Mcleod and Bob Langley.

Screen grab of the opening titles. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

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