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.
