Julian Hitchcock – Page 3 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Telly Addicts

Thanks for VT editor, Ian Collins for making these grabs available.

Telly Addicts was a gameshow which went out between 1985 and 1998 on BBC1, with all the questions being based on television shows past or present. Most questions were introduced via clips. It came out of John King’s department, and was presented by Noel Edmonds. The format of the shows changed a bit over the years, and there were some celebrity versions and Christmas specials. Usually there were two teams of four contestants, and a tournament structure which produced an overall winning team at the end of the series.

The show was recorded in Studio A.

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

Maria Needle: ‘Ah yes I was the production secretary on Telly Addicts, Sue Williams was the PA, Louis Robinson was the producer, Sue Robinson the Director I think. I learnt to drink on this show!’

Ruth Kiosses: ‘We did loads of light entertainment costumes for Telly Addicts either from Selly Oak stores or sent up from Wales Farm Road and ones that were made especially (usually at pretty late notice I recall?) Mr Blobby often arrived in a box for various of Noel shows not sure whether he appeared on Telly Addicts?’

Clare Cotton: ‘Aghhh happy days! We had such a laugh making telly addicts-great production team, great characters one and all…’

Jane Green: ‘Noel always gave me a panic by arriving at the last minute in his helicopter but was always ready on set on time and wanted no special treatment. I once found him standing on a chair in his dressing room trying to get a signal on a new thing called a mobile phone. It was the size of a shoebox.’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘Like Jane, I floor managed it. I also directed it once on some sort of wheeze, and was a terrible Assistant Producer on the show. Richard Lewis was the producer, working with the very talented Louis Robinson as (correct me, Louis) AP cum scriptwriter. Marino Katchmaryck was the genius AP, who (unlike me,- who didn’t possess a TV and preferred books and radio) knew everything about every programme since the birth of Logie Baird. John King presided fatuously over all, assisted by Tim Manning. King’s slightly dubious interests in the supposed format rights helped my interest in intellectual property, which I’ve practiced for 17 years now.
In my view, the sycophancy displayed towards Edmonds, which he seemed to expect, probably contributed to the fatality on a different programme that he presented. Edmonds himself appeared to loathe the contestants. It was, however, very easy and very successful.’

Becky Rogers: ‘Worked on sadly the last series of the show in @ 1998 with Helen Hands (nee Lott) as producer, Sue Robinson as director, together with Nick Harris, Sarah Proctor, Kate Hillman, Simon Lupton, Dan sorry can’t remember surname…… Richard Lewis was exec producer. Happy memories – especially the celebrity edition featuring a very young Ant and Dec!! Left telly in 2000 for life in the lakes and the world of commercial radio. Got married last December and hubby surprised me with a personal video message from Noel during the speeches. Despite it being 14 years since I’d worked briefly with him, it was genuinely lovely of him to ‘share’ our day. Many many happy memories of my time at Pebble Mill!’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I had no idea that it went on so long after I left in ’92. I meant to mention Helen Lott. Nick Hurran directed, presumably before Sue. Possibly Annette Martin, briefly, too. There wasn’t exactly a lot of scope for directors or camera operators; two cameras on each side and a wide angle in the middle!
During my stint, there was a dreadful family (stars of auditions we did in the Clifton something hotel in Bristol) that kept on winning. Of course, being supreme couch potatoes, Pearl and her family were utterly boring. Noel hated them and beseeched us to hit them with harder questions, but it was useless…’

Nick Harris: ‘Such a happy show – remember being paid as a researcher to literally watch TV for six months choosing clips. The longer you’d been there the better the series you got to watch. I started with Triangle and ended with Ab Fab! Then followed three months of auditions around the country. A sifting out the dopes. (One guy thought Noel was called Norman!) and then three months of studio. Two very happy years of my life – in fact I was reminiscing with Noel about exactly that a couple of weeks ago at Deal Or No Deal…’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘The name, of course, was extraordinary. Addiction was not the best thing for a government-funded broadcaster to paint in such a positive way, but King, who was not quite of this world (where does one begin?!) thought it was so good that he tried another series, simply called “Addicts”…’

Thea Harvey: ‘I was PA and worked with Tim, Richard, Helen, Marino, Andrea and, Nick Hurran now a famous (??!!) movie director. They were happy days and we used to have great Christmas lunches! ‘

Ann Gumbley Williams: ‘I worked as PA as we were called then on the pilot shows of Telly Addicts. I think it was first called Telly Quiz . Memories of who worked on the pilot show not good. I think it was Annette Martin who was the producer. Does anyone else remember? They took ages to get the format and edit at first. I didn’t do the programmes after it was commissioned. I was probably off having a baby!’

Lynn Cullimore: ‘I did work on one of the Addicts programmes with Claire Rayner at her house. I just stepped in as another Production Assistant was sick. I enjoyed the day filming at claire’s house – she was lovely and had made us all cake! Telly Addicts was very popular I remember and I did go to one of the shows – just as a member of the audience so i could show my husband what went on!’

Gail Herbert: ‘I was the copyright researcher on Telly Quiz. Producer was Bill Jones, Prod Sec Julie Whittaker, Studio Director Mike Derby. It was great fun doing that series. I then went to work as John King’s PA on Golden Oldies, etc.’

The last Pebble Mill at One

Photo from Maggy Whitehouse, no reproduction without permission.

Photograph of the last edition of ‘Pebble Mill at One’ in 1986, taken in Studio C, probably during rehearsal, or whilst prepping during a music number or VT insert. Included are, left to right: Magnus Magnusson, Marian Foster, Canon John Ely, Marjorie Lofthouse next to Paul Coia (seated), Michael Smith, with Josephine Buchan next to the impressive champagne pyramid! The floor manager in the foreground is Caroline Matthews.

The following comments were added on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I was an AP on “On the House” at the time. However, as a mark of respect, I took part as a volunteer Floor Assistant. It was the last bit of floor management I ever did…’

Peter Poole: ‘I worked on this programme. Pebble Mill Road had crowds of viewers with placards saying “Save our Pebble Mill” . I can’t remember any other programmes getting this reaction from the public.’

Maggy Whitehouse: ‘And one of them got into the official photograph somehow. No idea how she managed it but there’s this old lady looking slightly bemused.’

Kenny Ball plays Saturday Night at the Mill

Copyright resides with the original holder

In 1977 Kenny Ball and his band were the house band for the entertainment show from Pebble Mill, ‘Saturday Night at the Mill’. The show was a spin off from ‘Pebble Mill at One’. Here is the title track of the band’s 1977 album, which was also the show’s title music.

Thanks to David Ackrill for sharing the link.

Photo of Donny MacLeod and the Kenny Ball band by John Burkill, no reproduction without permission.

The following comments were added on the Pebble Mill Facebook Group:

David Crozier: ‘I was the designer on a number of these shows. I remember them as being huge fun and with a very real sense of being live. It was working on Sarurday Night at The Mill which gave me the first yearnings for becoming a live programme, multi-camera TV director, which I later became. Great times!

Stuart Gandy: ‘It certainly was a fun programme to work on and like so many programmes we did, put Birmingham on the broadcasting map, something it sadly no longer seems to be.’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I was Floor Assistant / AFM on any number if these and recall it all vividly. As David says, “great fun”.’

Kevin Lakin: ‘I remember Bruce Forsyth taking a very dim view of trays of beer being bought down from the bar on the 2nd floor during rehearsals . . . . pillock’

Janice Rider: ‘I earned the nickname Strobe Rider from Rob Hinds after the Hollywood movie star Joseph Cotten threatened to walk off the programme if he couldn’t wear his very inappropriate black & white dogtooth jacket which flared dreadfully during his interview !’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘Now this is interesting. I remember going on the studio directors’ course and wanting, in my final project piece, to show a scene in a cinema (it was an adaptation if Graham Greene’s short story, “A Place off the Edgware Road”. Cinemas are, of course, dark. However, the technical manager was adamant that if the scene was dark, no one would be able to see anything,- as if this could not possibly have been intended. I pathetically agreed, with the consequence that the cinema was entirely visible. On this basis, what would be wrong with a person appearing with a “strobing” jacket? When, having left TV, I found myself having to be interviewed in the foyer, I deliberately put on a check jacket because I wanted to strobe…’

Jane Mclean: ‘I did autocue. Maggie Walne (Kidger) was PA. Yes, a beautifully alcoholic programme to work on. And afterwards we always went to The Strathallan on Hagley Rd to wind down. Remember Roy Norton directing the early morning traffic! He directed with Roy Ronnie (I think I’m right).’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I can never remember Roy Ronnie directing, but it’s possible. They were each great fun in different ways. Norton was wonderfully nervy. I well recall him ordering us ( the floor crew) to “make them laugh”. And thereon hangs another tail.’

Kevin Lakin: ‘Does anyone remember the ” The James Last Orchestra ” fiasco . . . the 50 piece Orchestra were going to be performing in the courtyard, then at 7 o clock we were told they would coming into the foyer, at 7.30 the whole Orchestra went back outside, and that’s when the two Roys went and hid on the 5th floor.’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I do! Better with hindsight than at the time. I was the guy who had to tell Herr Last. I think this was one if the things that lead to the building of the quadrangle roof.’

Carol Churchill: ‘Oh l loved working on it , l remember making Kate Bush up on her first TV appearance .’

Tim Dann: ‘I did twelve of these beauties!!…& it certainly was off to the Srathallan afterwards!!…tho I don’t remember ‘winding down!!!’…The milkman beat me home every time!!!!…After the ‘credits’ Roy Norton the director, who was always in a state of high excitement…used to leap to his feet sending his chair crashing into the gallery window & screamed “Take me Pres, take me Pres!!!”….I can only imagine ‘Presentations’ enjoyment & envy of what fun we, in the Midlands were having!!…Designed the ‘Kate Bush’ prog too…which morphed into ‘Dave Brubeck’ & then we took the set to Glasgow for an ‘Andy Williams Special.’…. Thwarted tho by Production A’s/managers/managers industrial action!!…Roy Ronnie produced & Roy Norton directed them all.’

Kevin Lakin: ‘Andy Williams was cursed then, I worked on an Andy Williams Special from Warwick University which was thwarted by the Musicians Union, all the orchestra walked out 2hrs before the show started, and fair play to Andy Williams he did the whole show to just a piano accompaniment, it was recorded, but never went out. I think the two Roys were behind it, Mary Spencer was the Designer.’

Parachute jump on Pebble Mill at One

Photos by Chris Harris, no reproduction without permission.

The parachutists over Pebble Mill, must have been a John Smith special for ‘Pebble Mill at One’. Today, I don’t suppose you’d be able to do such a potentially dangerous item, Health and Safety, wouldn’t allow it.

Floor manager Eurwyn Jones remembers the ill-fated parachutist jump well, “I was with Marian Foster when the paras came down, some landed in the trees, in gardens, one just missed a bus and one came crashing down on the concrete by the security hut, we heard his bones crunch as he hit the ground.”

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

Julian Hitchcock: ‘Dear John Smith. He was brilliant at getting military stuff on the programme. It was all rather brash, but it didn’t matter at all because it was such fun. Except for the bone crunching parachutist, of course. Mention of health and safety puts me in mind of an escapologist we had on Saturday Night at the Mill programme, called Malik. He was suspended, in a straightjacket, from a flaming rope supported by a crane located in the quadrangle. A week or so later, he killed himself doing the same trick (somewhere else).’

David Ackrill: ‘I guess that it was incidents like this that ushered in the Health & Safety requirements…’

Julian Hitchcock: ‘Indeed. Floor managers had the most basic health and safety training; essentially concerning the use of weapons. There was a common sense approach, but floor managers, most of whom were looking to move up the career ladder, were easily cowed into submission. H&S legislation didn’t need the BBC to come into existence, but incidents such as that on Noel Edmonds programme lead to changes. That incident failed to surprise me: the degree of sycophancy surrounding Noel and his ilk was both nauseating and intimidating.’

Three Degrees stills

Thanks to Keith Brook for making the stills of this performance on ‘Pebble Mill at One’ by Three Degrees available.

The stills date from around 1980, when the Three Degrees sang four numbers.

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

Julian Hitchcock: ‘I was the Floor Assistant. The Three Degrees were regular guests on the programme. What we really need to see, however, is the equally regular figure of Vince Hill. He always sang, “It’s going to be a lovely day, lovely day…” etc.’