Kate O’Mara – What Was Pebble Mill?

Kate O’Mara – Howards’ Way

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission. Kate O’Mara is second from the right in the top photo. The lower photo shows the cast and crew of Howrds’ Way.

Kate O’Mara died on Sunday 30th March 2014, in a Sussex nursing home, aged 74, after a short illness.

Kate O’Mara played the part of Laura Wilde in Howards’ Way, series 5-6.

Howards’ Way was made at Pebble Mill between 1985-90. It was a London hosted production. The drama series was inspired by US soaps like Dynasty and Dallas. The series was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. It was set in a fictional town of Tarrant on the south coast of England, around the rich and glamorous world of sailing. It followed the trials and tribulations of the Howard family, and their rivals.

Here is a link to Howards’ Way on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oK03V7z_IA

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

Karen Lamb: ‘I remember when we were filming in Studio A for Howards’ Way and she had to drink some champagne during a scene, ever the professional (only after she had completed the scene) she went mad that it was real champagne & not fake!’

Susan Astle: ‘I was lucky enough to do Kate’s make up on most of the series.’

Mary Sanchez: ‘I worked on Howards’ Way with her for 2 series – she had a very dry sense of humour and had the men eating out of her hand ! Lovely lady – sorry to hear of her passing away relatively young.’

‘The Brothers’

'The Brothers' Cast & Crew

The Brothers was a long running series about a family in the road haulage business.

There were 8 series in all, going out between 1970 and 1976, including 92 x 50 min episodes.

The final series was directed by Mary Ridge, and produced by Bill Sellars.

The drama starred Jean Anderson as Mary Hammond, Richard Easton as Brian Hammond, Robin Chadwick as David Hammond, Jennifer Wilson as Jennifer Kingsley, Derek Benfield as Bill Riley, Margaret Ashcroft as Gwen Riley, Patrick O’Connell as Edward Hammond, Colin Baker as Merroney, Carole Mowlan as Claire Miller, and Kate O’Mara as Jane Maxwell.

It was a hosted drama at BBC Pebble Mill. The final series was recorded at Pebble Mill, I’m not sure if any of the earlier ones were – please add a comment, if you can give more information.

Lynda Kettle was the production designer http://www.lynda-kettle.com and make up artist Maggie Thomas also worked on the series.

Howard’s Way – Lynda Kettle’s photos

Photos by Lynda Kettle, no reproduction without permission. Lynda Kettle was a Production Designer at BBC Pebble Mill, working on factual, entertainment and drama shows in studio and on location. The photos were taken as records of the sets and locations.

Howard’s Way was produced by BBC London, but hosted out of Pebble Mill. It was recorded on location in Southampton, and the south coast, and in Studio A. The Sunday night drama series ran between 1985-1990, and was the BBC’s answer to Dynasty. The storyline follows Tom Howard who after being made redundant invests his time and money in a run down boat building yard. It starred Jan Harvey as Jan Howard, Stephen Yardley as Ken Masters, Glyn Owen as Jack Rolfe, Maurice Colbourne as Tom Howard and Kate O’Mara as Laura Wilde in later series. John William, Keith Salmon, Paul Woolston, Keith Froggatt, Dave Doogood, David Evans and Don Cooper all worked on the camera side. Lynda was production designer on 15 episodes in 1989-90.

These photos include several ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots of the initial locations (undressed), with the dressed version following on. The Southampton Civic Centre, re-dressed as Malta Airport is particularly impressive! The tank shots are really interesting. There are shots of the empty tank for the special effects storm, with shots of the full ‘storm’ and yacht in trouble!

Production Designer, Lynda Kettle also worked as a theatre designer and an artist, and now runs courses from her art studio http://www.lynda-kettle.com. She is a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Birmingham Water Colour Society. Midland Pastel Society and Birmingham Art Circle . She exhibits her paintings several times a year at selected galleries.