The article below about Barry Hanson’s career was written Lez Cooke. It is published on the Forgotten Drama research project website: https://forgottentelevisiondrama.wordpress.com/.
Tag: Early to Bed
Barry Hanson’s Memorial & his Pebble Mill credits
Barry Hanson
A memorial is going to be held for Barry Hanson, who died in June 2016, at Channel 4 on 29th September at 6.30pm. If anyone is interested in attending please contact Peter Ansorge (message me for details if necessary).
Here is a list of Barry Hanson’s numerous Pebble Mill credits:
1970s
You and Me and Him – Director, 1973, Thirty Minute Theatre
The Medium – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Mrs Pool’s Preserves – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
If a Man Answers – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
The Movers – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
King of the Castle – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Patrons – Producer, 1973, Second City Firsts
Humbug, Finger or Thumb – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Girl – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Bold Faced Condensed – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
The Actual Woman – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Match of the Day – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Lunch Duty – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Pig Bin – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Too Hot to Handle – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Sunday Tea – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Fight for Shelton Bar – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Squire – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Silence – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Match of the Day – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
The Festive Poacher – Producer, 1974, Second City Firsts
Gangsters – Producer, 1975, Play for Today
Early to Bed – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Swallows – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Waiting at the Field Gate – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
The Permissive Society – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
Released – Producer, 1975, Second City Firsts
1990s
Broke – Producer, 1991
Out of the Blue – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 1 – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 2 – Producer 1991
Olly’s Prison Part 3 – Producer 1991
Alison Steadman – early dramas
At the Flatpack Film Festival on Sunday 24 April 2016, at the Midlands Arts Centre, there was a screening of two of Alison Steadman’s early films. The dramas were both in the Second City Firsts slot of 30 minute films, which brought new talent to the small screen.
freeze frame from Girl
The first film was a studio drama, with an entirely female cast, and practically all set within a single room, which makes it feel quite claustrophobic. The copy was quite poor quality, presumably due to the transmission copy being lost. It tells the story of Jackie, played by Steadman, who is being discharged from the army due to being pregnant. She is portrayed as quite a vulnerable character, preyed upon by the predatory Corporal Harvey. The drama features the first lesbian kiss on British television. Below is the original entry from the Radio Times for 25th Feb 1974:
“A season of six original plays from Birmingham 2: Girl by JAMES ROBSON
Jackie is leaving the Army. While waiting for the car she re-encounters Corporal Harvey , her previous lover …
Script editor TARA PREM Designer MYLES LANG
Producer BARRY HANSON Director PETER GILL
Contributors
Writer: James Robson
Unknown: Corporal Harvey
Editor: Tara Prem
Designer: Myles Lang
Producer: Barry Hanson
Director: Peter Gill
Harvey: Myra Frances
Jackie: Alison Steadman
Maggie: Stella Moray
Bailey: Eileen McCallum”
http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/df9338563bc143718869eb3742639393
Helen (played by Steadman), pops next door
Helen with Vinny
The second film was shot on location in Oldham. It was Alan Bleasdale’s first TV drama, and features the adulterous Helen, played by Steadman, who is brightening up her mundane life as a housewife, by enjoying some extra marital sex with Vinny, the young athletic next-door neighbour, who is about to leave for university.
Here is the original Radio Times entry for Early to Bed:
“A season of new plays from Birmingham Early to Bed by ALAN BLEASDALE
There’s Helen (top). She’s on her own in the mornings after Frankie (middle) goes to work. But young Vinnie (bottom) from next door comes calling …
The pupils of HiNBUY AND .RRAY GRAMMAR SCHOOL Designer Michael EDWARDS
Script editor William SMETBUttST Producer BARRY HANSON
Director LESI PEBLAiR ,i Birmingham*
Birmingham welcomes careful writert: see Jeature beginning page 13
Contributors
Unknown: Alan Bleasdale
Designer: Michael Edwards
Producer: Barry Hanson
Director: Lesi Peblair
Vinny: David W Arwicic
Helen: Alison Steadman
Mother: Patricia Leach
Frankie: Johnny Meadows
Mr Hughes: Clifford Kershaw
Postman: Ashley Thompson
Frankie’s mates: Charles Hatton
Frankie’s mates: Cliff Duncan
Diana Marina: Barbara Ruan
Musicians: Sylvia McPokald
Musicians: Jack McDonald”
[NB mistakes are in the Genome project entry]
http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctwo/england/1975-03-20
Second City Firsts screenings Sun 24 April 2016
copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission
There is a series of screenings at the Midlands Arts Centre on Sunday 24 April 2016, starting at 2pm, as part of the Flatpack Film Festival. Below is the publicity information from organiser, Ian Francis:
SECOND CITY FIRSTS
During the 1970s, a key strength of the drama department at BBC Pebble Mill was its ability to unearth new talent; not just through flagships like Play For Today, but also the entry-point offered by the likes of Second City Firsts. Running from 1973 for ten series, this half-hour slot took a chance on a spectacular range of ‘regional talent’ including Willy Russell, Julie Walters, David Rudkin, Brian Glover and many others. Just as importantly, it offered a diversity of representation that often compares favourably with today’s TV drama. This afternoon we’re joined by Tara Prem, a script editor and subsequently series producer on Second City Firsts, to explore six very different episodes from the strand.
Girl 1974
Early to Bed 1975
Volume One:
A Touch of Eastern Promise; Girl; Early to Bed
Our first film, A Touch of Eastern Promise (1973), is not officially a Second City First, though it emerged from a very similar slot. Written by Prem herself, it’s the tale of a daydreaming shop-boy who has the opportunity to meet his favourite star. Partly shot in Balsall Heath, all the cinema scenes were captured at the now-demolished Imperial on Moseley Road. To follow, an Alison Steadman double-bill: studio-shot military drama Girl (1974), which features the first lesbian kiss seen on British TV; and then Early to Bed (1975), with Steadman smouldering on location in a depressed mill town. This claustrophobic tale of infidelity was the first television script by Alan Bleasdale, who later went on to Boys From the Blackstuff and GBH.
The Permissive Society 1975
Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration 1976
Volume Two:
The Permissive Society; Club Havana; Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration
It was at the Midlands Arts Centre where Mike Leigh first embarked on his unique approach to devising scripts, and Pebble Mill which commissioned much of his early TV work. Made a year before camping comedy Nuts in May, The Permissive Society (1975) is an overlooked gem. Also confined to a single set, Club Havana (1975) is a tense portrait of a Handsworth speakeasy by playwright Barry Reckord, featuring Don Warrington as the landlady’s son newly arrived from Jamaica and an incredibly young Julie Walters as the barmaid. We conclude with Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration (1976), a psychosexual nightmare from the pen of Ian McEwan which is very much in keeping with his short stories of the time.
Flatpack Film Festival – Second City Firsts
A Touch of Eastern Promise
The Flatpack Film Festival are going to be screening six 30 minute dramas made at Pebble Mill by the English Regions Drama Department, in April 2016 at the Midlands Arts Centre, Edgbaston:
“SECOND CITY FIRSTS
During the 1970s, a key strength of the drama department at BBC Pebble Mill was its ability to unearth new talent; not just through flagships like Play For Today, but also the entry-point offered by the likes of Second City Firsts. Running from 1973 for ten series, this half-hour slot took a chance on a spectacular range of ‘regional talent’ including Willy Russell, Julie Walters, David Rudkin, Brian Glover and many others. Just as importantly, it offered a diversity of representation that often compares favourably with today’s TV drama.
Volume One:
A Touch of Eastern Promise; Girl; Early to Bed
A Touch of Eastern Promise (1973), is not officially a Second City First, though it emerged from a very similar slot. Written by Tara Prem, it’s the tale of a daydreaming shop-boy who has the opportunity to meet his favourite star. Partly shot in Balsall Heath, all the cinema scenes were captured at the now-demolished Imperial on Moseley Road. To follow, an Alison Steadman double-bill: studio-shot military drama Girl (1974), which features the first lesbian kiss seen on British TV; and then Early to Bed (1975), with Steadman smouldering on location in a depressed mill town. This claustrophobic tale of infidelity was the first television script by Alan Bleasdale, who later went on to Boys From the Blackstuff and GBH.
Volume Two:
The Permissive Society; Club Havana; Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration
It was at the Midlands Arts Centre where Mike Leigh first embarked on his unique approach to devising scripts, and Pebble Mill which commissioned much of his early TV work. Made a year before camping comedy Nuts in May, The Permissive Society (1975) is an overlooked gem. Also confined to a single set, Club Havana (1975) is a tense portrait of a Handsworth speakeasy by playwright Barry Reckord, featuring Don Warrington as the landlady’s son newly arrived from Jamaica and an incredibly young Julie Walters as the barmaid. We conclude with Jack Flea’s Birthday Celebration (1976), a psychosexual nightmare from the pen of Ian McEwan which is very much in keeping with his short stories of the time.”