John Greening – Page 6 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Seed – photo from John Greening

‘Seed’ was a single drama which went out in 1996, it was part of a new writers’ competition, the script was written by Cole Bradley. The BFI database includes the following synopsis for it:

“Rites-of-passage drama set in Birmingham. Les is just out of prison and wants to see his baby but the mother Julie and her family are against the idea. Together with his friend Ben, Les decides to plant a field of wheat on a piece of waste ground for the baby. Ben has to decide whether to go to Jamaica or not and his decision depends on his girlfriend Hashi. She plans that they will make love three times in extraordinary places in order to make their decision.” http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/553215

The drama starred Jim Pyke as Les, Terence Maynard as Ben, Nicola Arumugam as Hashi, Ram John Holder as Ben’s grandad, and Sudha Bhuchar as Aunt Minah.

Photo includes: John Greening – director, Kevin Lakin – location manager, Peter Lloyd – script editor, Amanda Neal – 1^st AD, Barbara Mackie – Producer, Midge Ferguson – AD, Janice Rider – Costume Designer, Bev Dartnall – Associate Producer, Leigh Ashurst – design, Jim Gray – camera, Andy Morton – sound, Jo Mainwaring – PA, Vivienne Oldham – make-up designer. Dave Bushell, was the lighting director, although I can’t see him pictured.

After You, Hugo – photos from John Greening

‘After You, Hugo’, was basically a silent play – starring Nola Rae a mime artist. It was a comedy, set backstage at a seedy ‘30’s Music Hall. The Music Hall company develops a new mime act because of members’ difficulty in communicating with each other. It was directed by Bob Jacobs, and produced at Pebble Mill by Roger Gregory. The ‘Summer Season’ drama was transmitted in 1985. The script was written by John David, Chris Harris and Nola Rae.

The drama featured Chris Harris, Nola Rae, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hale, Derek Tansley, Pip Hinton, Nick Cursi, Lyn Farrell, Tina Grundy, Donna Kellie and Barbi Levard.

First photo, features Chris Harris (in bag) and Nola Rae, Australian mime artist

Second photo, includes Andy Meikle (FM/PM), John Greening (AFM), tying up Chris Harris, and props guy, Dave Bushell (known as Gonzo) on the right.

Thanks to John Greening for making the photos available.

Witchcraft – photo from John Greening

Photo from John Greening, no reproduction without permission.

The photo is of the 1992 Pebble Mill drama series, ‘Witchcraft’, on location near Chipping Camden. Carol Parks was the producer, Peter Sasdy the director, screenplay by Nigel Williams. Barry Hanson was the exec producer.

The story involves a film school teacher choosing the subject of 17th Century witchcraft for his latest script. Real life begins to take on ominous similarities to the happenings in the script.

The series starred: Peter McEnery, Alan Howard, Lisa Harrow, Georgia Slowe, and Judy Campbell.

From the comments of people who worked on the series, it was a somewhat challenging production.

English Regions Drama – photo from John Greening

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission. This photo was probably taken by Willoughby Gullachsen.

Back row l to r: ?, Bob Jacobs, John Greening, Jane Barton, Sally Daniel, Monica Heath, Carol Parks, Bill Hartley, Paul Braithwaite, Annie Toy
Front row l to r: David Attwood, Bev Dartnall, Helen ?, Annemarie Harding, Clara Hewitt

The photo was taken during the drama series ‘The Goodbye Window’ which later changed title to ‘Final Run’ and the year was 1987.

This was Bev Dartnall’s last day in work before getting married to cameraman Howie Dartnall – and this was the cause of the celebration!

Thanks to Bev, for providing more information.

Please add a comment if you can fill in any of the blanks.

Witchcraft – photos by Willoughby Gullachsen

Photos by Willoughby Gullachsen, no reproduction without permission.

‘Witchcraft’ was a drama serial transmitted in 1992. It was produced at Pebble Mill in 1991 by Carol Parks, with Barry Hanson as exec producer. the script was written by Nigel Williams, and directed by Peter Sasdy. John Greening was the 1st AD, with Will Trotter as Location Manager. Jane Barton was the PA. Nigel Jones was the designer, with John Plush his assistant. John Kenway was the lighting cameraman, Herbie Donnelly the lighting gaffer and Tim Everett the sound recordist. John Rosser was the film editor.

The storyline features a film school teacher, Jamie, who chooses 17th-century witchcraft and adultery as the theme of his latest script. As shooting of the film begins, real-life events take on a menacing quality and events from the past seem to be being re-enacted in the present. Fact and fiction blur, and Jamie suffers a breakdown and becomes possessed by the Witchfinder.

The series starred Peter McEnery as Jamie Matheson, Alan Howard as Alan Oakfield, Lisa Harrow as Meg, Georgia Slowe as Judy, Judy Campbell as Juliet, Clive Wood as Rick, Dorian Healy as Derwent, Rosemary McHale as Ruth, Suzannah Lipscomb as Emma, and Kit Owen as Thomasina.

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