Tag: Movie Game

Roger Casstles reminisces about BBC Pebble Mill

Specially shot video of Roger Casstles talking about why BBC Pebble Mill was a special place. The video is recorded on Pebble Mill Road, overlooking the site where Pebble Mill stood, and is now a dental hospital. Roger mentions some of the productions that came from Pebble Mill, like Pebble Mill at One, Midlands Today, The Archers, as well as the Midland Radio Orchestra, and being a centre for drama, but tells us that the really important thing was how people worked together, for instance post production working across all productions and the way that Graphics and Set Design departments collaborated with production. Roger Casstles was the creator and producer of The Clothes Show, the fashion magazine series which ran from the 1986-2000.

(The video was shot by BCU Media graduate, Ash Connaughton, with me, (Vanessa Jackson) asking the questions).

Roger Casstles at the site of Pebble Mill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Andy Frizzell: ‘Had some great shoots with Roger in many countries around the world. As always talking a lot of sense. We were all saddened by the closing of ‘The Mill’.‘

Claire Chambers: ‘As Roger would say “ why answer a question with one word when thousands will do” ! Very well said’

Linda Hearn-Clapham: ‘Very happy memories of recording Hartbeat and The Movie Game at Pebble Mill in the 90’s!’

Mr Blobby – Ruth Kiosses

Photo from Ruth Kiosses, no reproduction without permission.

The photo shows Ruth Kiosses in the Wardrobe Department with ‘Mr Blobby’.  ‘Mr Blobby’ was a character who appeared regularly in Noel Edmond’s Saturday night show: ‘Noel’s House Party’ in the early 1990s.  ‘Mr Blobby’ went on to release a hit single, and was a merchandising phenomenon.

I believe that ‘Mr Blobby’ was the idea of a sound man, who received very little recompense for it.

‘Mr Blobby’ was probably up in Birmingham as a guest on the Christmas special of ‘The Movie Game’, a BBC Children’s programme, which was a London series, hosted out of Pebble Mill in the early 1990s.  (Thanks to Linda Hearn for this information.)

Ruth remembers that Mr Blobby visited the Wardrobe Department several times, arriving in a large box from TVC. This photo was taken in old Wardrobe in the basement below Studio A. Inside was head of Wardrobe Anne-Marie Palmer(now Morrell) what a great Boss!