Henry Fowler – What Was Pebble Mill?

The Other Woman Cast and Crew

Save

Included in the photo are: Michael Simpson, Michael Gambon, David Rose, Jane Lapotaire, Lynn Frederick, Gavin Davies (production designer, right handside next to Andy Meikle),Andy Meikle (production coordinator, far right with beard), 2nd row, Jan Nethercot (make-up designer), Sue Peck (dresser), Stephanie Hawkes (dresser) Tudor George (costume designer, behind and between Sue and Steph), Richard Ganniclift (cameraman).

Thanks to Janice Rider, Terry Powell, Susie Astle, Wendy Edwards for adding in names. Please add a comment if you can identify others.

The Other Woman was a Play for Today, broadcast on 6th January 1976.

Here is the synopsis from the Radio Times, from the BBC Genome project:

“The Other Woman by Watson Gould

Kim, an angry young artist, disrupts the lives of Robin, a family man, and Niki, a temp sec – for whom she is the other woman.’
BBC Birmingham

Contributors

Writer: Watson Gould

Film Editor: Henry Fowler
Film cameraman: John Williams
Producer: David Rose
Designer: Gavin Davies
Director: Michael Simpson
Script Editor: William Smethurst
Kim: Jane Lapotaire
Robin: Michael Gambon
Niki: Lynne Frederick
Aunt Darnley: Barbara Atkinson
Miles Darnley: Leon Sinden
Rose: Rosalind Adams
Louise: Eve Pearce
Ben: Benedict Taylor
Lois: Martyn West
Barman: John Joyce”

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6f977b764a6f401399dfb414fda0b503

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

[Also in the photo are:]

Terry Powell: ‘Tudor George costume designer. My very good friend who I’ve worked with the last 25 years. Who as I text we are now designing. Comic relief together.’

Susie Astle: ‘Jan Nethercot, make up designer. Sue Peck costume. Steph dresser.’

Janice Rider: ‘As Susie said from left 2nd row correct but Sue Peck would have been a dresser then I imagine and Stephanie Hawkes next to her , probably costume assistant and Tudor George ( between Jan & Sue Peck – also known as Dist – would have been the costume designer as Terry says .’

Tim Dann: ‘Alfie Mayall..scene crew behind Sue & Steph.’

Gillian Hardle: ‘Left of camera with arms folded looks like Rob Prosser — grip; Camera asst Richard Ganiclifft is seated behind the camera next right looks like Chrissie Marshall and right of her is Bert Round – gaffer electrician. I recognise everyone but can’t put names to faces.’

Lesley Weaver: ‘John Williams lighting film cameraman behind Gavin Davies maybe?’

Save

All Memories Great & Small – part 2

Excerpt from “All Memories Great & Small” by Oliver Crocker.

Memories from Mike Duxbury (Film Editor):

‘I’d got a job as an Assistant Film Editor at the BBC in Pebble Mill in 1976 and spent most of my time assisting Henry Fowler. He was one of the senior Film Editors there and edited most of the high quality dramas. I was twenty-eight and Henry must have been in his fifties and we got on great. I had assisted him on a couple of series of Gangsters and I learned so much from him then. Henry had been editing for all of his career and by this time was becoming a little jaded. He lived in Tewkesbury which was a fifty minute drive down the motorway and he used to find the flimsiest of excuses to come in late or go home early – his favourite being “Fog on the motorway.”

60 cast and crew have shared their memories for this new book, which is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

Thanks to Oliver Crocker for sharing this excerpt.

The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Roy Thompson: ‘Remember Henry Fowler so well from his, and my, time at Wood Norton. He taught me so much about film production.’

Henry Fowler, film editor. Photo by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

Save

Syncing film rushes with Dawn Trotman and Oliver White

This video was recorded in August 2015 as part of Royal Holloway’s ADAPT project. The aim of the project is to recreate how television programmes used to be made, before digital technology. The project reunited Pebble Mill film editor, Oliver White, with former film assistant editor, Dawn Trotman. Oliver had a long and illustrious editing pedigree, cutting dramas like Nuts in May, The Red Shift, A Touch of Eastern Promise amongst many others. He retired as Avid editing came in. Dawn is now a freelance Avid editor, cutting programmes like Countryfile for many years. The ADAPT team asked Dawn and Oliver to demonstrate how film and sep-mag audio were synched up using a Picsync and Steenbeck. This film cutting room was in the London Film School.

Dawn Trotman with Oliver White in the London Film School cutting room

Save

The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook page:

Roy Thompson: ‘Remember teaching all of these film techniques, sound transfer, syncing up, track laying and dubbing to the ITO course (Introduction to Technical Operations) at Wood Norton after being taught by Henry Fowler formerly of Pebble Mill. A great exercise in logic, and creativity, for the students who, in a group of 3 or 4, were given 200 foot of 16mm reversal to make a short film. Great learning even though by then single electronic cameras were making inroads into production and news gathering. Great memories.’

Save

The Other Woman

‘The Other Woman’. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

The 1976 Pebble Mill produced Play for Today, The Other Woman, is going to be released on BBC Store soon, meaning that viewers will be able buy, download and keep the drama.

The researcher on the release would like to make contact with anyone who has memories of working on the programme, to contribute to an article which will be published to tie in with the release.

If you worked on the drama, or have memories of it being produced, then please add a comment, and I will forward your details to the researcher.

The drama was transmitted on BBC1, 6th January 1976. Here is the entry from the Radio Times, courtesy of the BBC Genome project:

“The Other Woman by WATSON GOULD
Kim, an angry young artist, disrupts the lives of Robin, a family man, and Niki, a temp sec- for whom she is the other woman.’
Film cameraman MICHAEL Williams Film editor HENRY FOWLER Designer GAVIN DAVIES
Script editor WILLIAM SMETHURST Producer DAVID ROSE
Director MICHAEL simpsox BBC Birmingham

Contributors

Unknown: Watson Gould
Editor: Henry Fowler
Designer: Gavin Davies
Editor: William Smethurst
Kim: Jane Lapotaire
Robin: Michael Gambon
Niki: Lynne Frederick
Aunt Darnley: Barbara Atkinson
Miles Darnley: Leon Sinden
Rose: Rosalind Adams
Louise: Eve Pearce
Ben: Benedict Taylor
LoiS: Martyn West
Barman: John Joyce”

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/6f977b764a6f401399dfb414fda0b503

Editing ‘Penda’s Fen’ – David Rudkin

Editing Penda’s Fen from pebblemill on Vimeo.

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

Specially shot video with writer David Rudkin, talking about the editing of the 1974 Play for Today, ‘Penda’s Fen’. David Rudkin was lucky enough to spend some time with the editor, Henry Fowler, which was unusual for a writer even back in the 1970s.

Writer, David Rudkin