Oliver Crocker – Page 2 – What Was Pebble Mill?

All Memories Great and Small – part 5 John Williams

John Williams, cameraman

Excerpt from “All Memories Great & Small” by Oliver Crocker

Memories from John Williams (Film Cameraman):

‘For the lambing scenes, Wardrobe came up with the wonderful idea of mobile hand warmers, bags of something or other that stayed warm for long periods. Wardrobe never let the cast down, hence Peter Davison’s scarf wrapped around his head in the opening scenes. Christopher Barry was a good director who knew and understood the scripts, so he would work out the structure of what we had to get in the can and we had a relationship where he trusted me to get on with it. We couldn’t expect the animals to perform as directed, so I had to be aware of what specific shots were needed and just get them. Robert Hardy was very good, he had his work cut out working with these live wild animals, which could be difficult as they weren’t very predictable, so he didn’t have an easy time.’

60 cast and crew have shared their memories for this new book, which is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

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John Williams has also published his own memoirs, Shoot First, No Ordinary Life, which is A4, 216 pages full colour, 96,500 words; it is being sold at cost £14, plus postage or can be collected.If you would like a copy please contact John on john@willbriar.myzen.co

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All Memories Great and Small – part 4 Joyce Hawkins

Excerpt from “All Memories Great & Small” by Oliver Crocker

Memories from Joyce Hawkins (Senior Costume Supervisor)

‘I remember Head of Planning, Eric Holmes, asking me if my department would be able to cope with a long-running series based on the James Herriot books. Thirteen years before Pebble Mill, I was the Midland region’s only costume designer. I was based at the Gosta Green Studio, from where I designed 64 plays, 4 serials, 8 series and 5 twice-weekly “Soaps” all in and around Birmingham. All rehearsal rooms and costume suppliers are based in London, so I was well aware of the complexities posed by rehearsing in London, recording in Birmingham and filming in Yorkshire, but now I had a Staff of very talented people, so of course I told Eric “Yes”.

60 cast and crew have shared their memories for this new book, which is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

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Joyce Hawkins speaking at mac screening 2016

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All Memories Great & Small – part 3 Les Podraza

Les with Carol Drinkwater. Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Excerpt from “All Memories Great & Small” by Oliver Crocker

Memories from Les Podraza (Scene Hand)

‘I walked into the Beeb and the receptionist said they didn’t have any jobs, so I said “If you don’t mind, I’ll sit here until you’ve got one…” I sat in Pebble Mill reception for three days! Eventually the personnel manager came down and said “You’re keen aren’t you?” I explained I didn’t want to “work” for a living, I wanted be part of the entertainment industry… Half an hour later, I had a job at the BBC! I joined the staff scene crew and the first major production I worked on was The Brothers. I did five of the seven series of All Creatures, it was brilliant to work on, they were really good times.’

All Memories Great & Small is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

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All Memories Great & Small – part 2

Excerpt from “All Memories Great & Small” by Oliver Crocker.

Memories from Mike Duxbury (Film Editor):

‘I’d got a job as an Assistant Film Editor at the BBC in Pebble Mill in 1976 and spent most of my time assisting Henry Fowler. He was one of the senior Film Editors there and edited most of the high quality dramas. I was twenty-eight and Henry must have been in his fifties and we got on great. I had assisted him on a couple of series of Gangsters and I learned so much from him then. Henry had been editing for all of his career and by this time was becoming a little jaded. He lived in Tewkesbury which was a fifty minute drive down the motorway and he used to find the flimsiest of excuses to come in late or go home early – his favourite being “Fog on the motorway.”

60 cast and crew have shared their memories for this new book, which is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

Thanks to Oliver Crocker for sharing this excerpt.

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

Roy Thompson: ‘Remember Henry Fowler so well from his, and my, time at Wood Norton. He taught me so much about film production.’

Henry Fowler, film editor. Photo by Ian Collins, no reproduction without permission.

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All Memories Great & Small – part 1

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Excerpt from All Memories Great & Small’ (memories of the popular drama series, All Creatures Great & Small)

Memories from David Crozier (Designer): ‘In the first series we had large animals in the Pebble Mill studios, with sets for farm barns and cow sheds, which were later filmed on location. So for a horse stable there are all sorts of things you have to take into consideration, not least of which is how you are going to dispose of the animal’s waste, so we were effectively building these stables and cow sheds in the studio for real! So those challenges were unique in terms of working with animals – which of course they say you should never do!’

60 cast and crew have shared their memories for this new book, which is available to preorder now from Miwk – http://bit.ly/2d7p5ts

Thanks to Oliver Crocker for sharing this excerpt.

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