Tag: Doctors

Studio C, Calrec Sound Desk – Peter Poole

Photos by Peter Poole, no reproduction without permission.

Studio C was the Foyer, made famous by ‘Pebble Mill At One’. In the early days of ‘Pebble Mill At One’, Studio C did not have a dedicated Production Gallery.  Studio A or B’s Galleries were used depending on which one was available. About 1982 Studio C had it’s own Gallery built. This enabled much greater use of the Foyer by other programmes. ‘Saturday Night At The Mill’ and ‘Good Morning With Anne And Nick’ were among many programmes to be broadcast from Studio C. In the final years of Pebble Mill the Foyer was used to record the daytime drama ‘Doctors’.

The photos show the Studio C, Calrec Sound Desk, which gave similar facilities to the Studio A desk, and offered more channels than the Studio B desk. It was very well designed for live broadcasting.

Peter Poole

Dub 4 – Photos by Ben Peissel

Photos by dubbing mixer Ben Peissel, no reproduction without permission.

These photos show the building of Dub 4, between Dec 2002, and May 2003 at BBC Pebble Mill.  Dub 4 was built in what had been Studio A’s Sound Gallery after Studio A was mothballed.  The initiative to transform the disused Gallery was a ‘Making it Happen’ project, inspired by Greg Dyke’s vision of staff empowerment.  Ben Peissel was instrumental in the plans to create a fourth dubbing suite, as the other three were fully utilised and it seemed foolish to have the space available and not use it.  It was a drama dubbing suite which catered for ‘Doctors’ amongst others.

Doctors, after the bombing – photos by Neil Roberts

Photos by Neil Roberts, no reproduction without permission.

‘Doctors’ was probably the last production to finish recording at Pebble Mill, and decided to go out with a bang rather than a whimper.  Taking advantage of the fact that the building was going to be demolished they staged a bomb blast in the Riverside Surgery and Lether Bar, on the last day of shooting.

Neil Roberts, who still edits ‘Doctors’ from its new site at Birmingham University, took these photos after the last shoot.  Neil was the last avid editor in Pebble Mill, fine cutting ‘Doctors’ – it must have felt like being on the Marie Celeste!  Chris Rowlands performed the last online edit at Pebble Mill, onlining the ‘Doctors’ episode which Neil offlined, the following day in VTA.

Dub 1 – photos by Ben Peissel

Photos by Ben Peissel, no reproduction without permission.

These photos are of Dub 1 at Pebble Mill.  Dub 1 was often used for mixing dramas, as you can see by ‘Doctors’ on the viewing screen.  There are also photos of Dub 1 under construction, and of the various mixing desks.

Dub 1