Look Hear – Page 3 – What Was Pebble Mill?

The Long Lost Shows Show on Big Centre TV

Wesley Smith & Vanessa Jackson on the Long Lost Shows Show

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission. I was interviewed a couple of months ago by Big Centre TV, about BBC Pebble Mill. The show was transmitted on Big Centre TV on Saturday 14th Nov 2015, and is available to watch online, on the following link: http://www.bigcentre.tv/watch-again/entertainment/9742-tv-heaven-the-long-lost-shows-show.

I was interviewed by presenter Wesley Smith, who coincidentally I was at university with. We talk about several Pebble Mill programmes, including The Rainbow, and Nice Work amongst others. The show is part of a series: The Long Lost Shows Show, and therefore some lost Pebble Mill programmes are mentioned, including several episodes of Look! Hear! and The Actual Woman, which weren’t kept, and have now been restored to the BBC archive, through domestic copies kept by one of the Look! Hear! presenters, and by Jack Shepherd, who wrote The Actual Woman. The archive society Kaleidoscope copied the domestic tapes, and gave the copies to the BBC.

Look! Hear! Concert – School Sports

This audio is from a concert for the regional arts show, Look! Hear! recorded in Cannon Hill Park in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The band is called “School Sports”, who were popular on the pub rock scene at the time.

Look! Hear! was presented by Toyah Willcox, Chris Phipps and John Holmes. The producer was Roger Casstles, who went on to create The Clothes Show.

Thanks to Peter Poole for making the audio available.

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

Stuart Gandy: ‘Good memories of this programme, one of the first I ever worked on in TV ops.’

Alastair Yates: ‘I have nervous memories of being responsible for putting this opt on air from the Pres. Studio.’

Gary Jordan: ‘After doing a bit of digging the concert was known as “Lark In The Park” Produced by BRMB’s Robin Valk on 25th-29th August 1979 and featured bands like, Slender Loris, Rainmaker, Little Acre, Ruby Turner, City Boy, Fashion. The Specials and School sports who had changed their name from Hooker, who then changed it again to Mean Street Dealers.’

Steve Saunderson: ‘I was on one of the cameras ( Film ). I think I’ve still got a badge somewhere in a draw with my old ID Cards that show this cool cameraman with lots of hair and a beard. Who was that bearded man?’

Rosie Critchlow: ‘I had a Look! Hear! badge, brought home from work by my Dad.’

Ambridge’s Yorkshire beginnings

Ambridge's Yorkshire beginnings 3

This article was written by Chris Phipps for The Dalesman magazine, it is published here with his and their permission.

Additionally, Chris Phipps was also a presenter on the Pebble Mill youth series, Look! Hear! and would produce the music on the show.

Signature tunes: Look Hear, Second City Firsts, Gangsters

These Pebble Mill signature tunes are for:
1) Look Hear – Regional studio based entertainment show, presented by Toyah Willcox.
2) Second City Firsts – 30 minute studio A drama series, featuring new writers to television.
3) Gangsters – 1976 Play for Today, and later series.

Thank to Peter Poole for sharing the signature tunes.

Look Hear

Gangsters 1976

The following comment was left on the Pebble Mill Facebook group:
Stuart Gandy:’I certainly remember all these, and Look Hear was one of this first programmes I worked on as a TA in Studio Ops back in 1980.’

Look! Hear! Toyah Willcox & Duran Duran

These grabs are from the Pebble Mill regional youth entertainment programme, ‘Look! Hear!’. The programme was presented by Toyah Willcox, and regularly hosted performances by well known bands, like Duran, Duran.

Thanks to Ian Collins for making them available.

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

Stuart Gandy: ‘Yes I certainly remember working on this show with Duran Duran in it. It was I suppose unusual for a regional opt out programme to have such a big production as this. Each show would have 3 bands on at least and they always as far as I can remember played live, unlike TOTP where they usually didn’t. One of the first programmes I worked on in 1980 when I joined as a TA in opps, this was exciting stuff to get to see all these bands live.’

David Ackrill: ‘Don’t remember the actual show, but would have watched Toyah and Duran Duran on Look! Hear! if Mum and Dad had let me (until I left home and got married and no time to myself at the time). Strange to think a queen of punk would end up doing voice overs for the children’s program called Brum !’