Points of View – What Was Pebble Mill?

Memories of working with Terry Wogan

Points of View team, photo from Gail Herbert, no reproduction without permission

Looking through some of the many comments on Facebook about Terry Wogan, following his death yesterday, it was striking how positive everyone was about their memories of working with him at Pebble Mill. I’ve collected a few of those comments here.

Linda Flavell: So sad to hear of Sir Terry’s death. Such a funny man to work with, glad to be one of the lucky ones to have spent time with him.

Kate Hillman: All those lovely trips to Cliveden. Yes, a privilege to have worked with him.

Helena Taylor: He was such a gentleman, and always had time to have a word with his ‘fans’ in the audience of Call My Bluff. Indeed a privilege to have worked with him as Kate Hillman says. So so sad he has passed away.

Sangita Manandhar: Such sad news about Terry Wogan. Had the pleasure of working with him on Points of View many years ago…always so charming. So sad.

Paul Taylor: He was a joy to work with… So spontaneously witty, he had me fighting not to laugh out loud during recordings…..

List of Pebble Mill programmes

Photo by Ben Peissel, no reproduction without permission

This a list of factual television programmes, described as ‘current’, was produced before the closure of Pebble Mill, around 2004. The list is included in a document housed in the BBC Archives in Caversham.

BBC One:

Points of View, Animal Sanctuary

BBC Two:

Gardeners’ World, Gardeners’ World Specials, Gardeners’ World Live, RHS Tatton, Gardener of the Year, Small Town Gardens, Rachel’s Country Garden [I don’t think this series was actually made], Million Pound Property Challenge, SAS Survival Secrets, Big Dreams – The Secrets of Asian Success, How I made My Property Millions

BBC Three:

The Brief: India and Pakistan, Greatest Eunuch Show, Black Beauty

BBC One Daytime:

Countryfile, Call My Bluff, To Buy or Not to Buy, Trading Up, Big Strong Boys, Sunday Garden, Trading Up in the Sun

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

Caroline Feldon Parsons: ‘I worked on 10 of those programmes! And don’t forget all the Radio programmes that were also being currently made …’

Simon Vaughan: ‘Pebble Mill was an amazing production centre – why on earth decommission it and pull it down, such an absolute waste. Just like TVC, their like will never be seen again.’

Carole Lowe: ‘Miss Pebble Mill a great building I worked on Anne and Nick and other programmes. Sad loss to BIRMINGHAM.’

Stuart Gandy: ‘Proper broadcasting centre.’

Pete Simpkin: ‘..and of course all the Radio…Live music , recorded music, Radio 2, Radio 3, amazing amount of Radio 4 ….drama, features, documentaries, the Archers and all the Local Radio as well!’

Judith Markall: ‘A sin to knock the building down!’

Points of View – blog by Sue Watson

My main claim to fame while working at Pebble Mill was renting a hotel room by the hour with Sir Terry Wogan. Every Thursday afternoon we would meet in the hallowed portals of Lady Astor’s former home, Cliveden and as the twinkling eyed Sir Terry entered the bedroom I would greet him from the four poster bed, ready and waiting for our time together. Lying with the ghosts of the sixties Profumo scandal (and under the firm hands of Nick Patten), I would tell Sir Terry exactly what I wanted him to do.

This of course was in my capacity as the Producer of ‘Points of View,’ and for about twelve months the programme was filmed at Cliveden on Thursday afternoons. Far from being the Christine Keeler of my day, I was merely producing a weekly TV programme albeit with a wonderful team and one of the best presenters I’ve ever worked with.

Once the crew (and catering) had arrived, there wasn’t much room for the producer, so the best place for me to see Terry and be out of shot was on the elaborately dressed bed. This became my regular position; the cameraman would place the monitor at the bottom of the bed and I would take my place. Imagining I looked ‘Pre Raphaelite,’ (in reality more ‘Beryl Cook!’) I would drape myself seductively across the counterpane and for several hours I would ‘produce,’ Sir Terry until he couldn’t take any more.

Hard times at Pebble Mill… a tough job, but someone had to do it!

Sue Watson

Sue is involved in the online auction, Authors for Japan; To make a bid log on to http://authorsforjapan.wordpress.com/tag/sue-watson/

Sue’s first novel, Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes out on July 8^th is a humorous and heartbreaking tale TV, love, revenge – and cake.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fat-Girls-Fairy-Cakes-Watson/dp/0956536824/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300209306&sr=1-1

Sue Watson

Points of View – photo from Gail Herbert

‘Points of View’ was produced at Pebble Mill for many years. The programme gave viewers the right to reply about what they loved or hated about BBC programmes.

It tended to be recorded on location at a hotel near presenter Terry Wogan’s home a couple of days before transmission, and then edited either in London, or at Pebble Mill.

Viewers wrote letters or emails in with their complaints or congratulations. The ones chosen by the production team were usually voiced by BBC members of staff. Clips of the programme they were talking about also had to be sourced and edited in to the 15 minute show, which usually went out on a Sunday afternoon.

The photo was taken during the recording of the Points of ViewChristmas edition in the mid 2000s.

The photo features (left to right), Ian Thomas (director), can’t see next two properly, Belinda Essex (researcher), Kate Hillman (A.P.), Sue Watson (producer), Helen Wogan (Terry’s wife), then Bina Mistry (researcher), with Gail Herbert (P.A.) behind, then Terry, and Nick Patten (Exec producer) seated, the camera crew is behind him.

‘Points of View’ is still produced by BBC Birmingham, although Terry Wogan handed over the presentation of the show to Jeremy Vine in April 2008.

Thanks to Nick Patten and Gail Herbert for additional information.