Roy Thompson – Page 2 – What Was Pebble Mill?

Slade on Pebble Mill

https://www.facebook.com/Sladeforlife/videos/1992287810811937/?fref=mentions

This clip of Slade’s Christmas classic is from the lunchtime entertainment show, Pebble Mill, presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It dates from 1991, which was Slade’s final year.

Thanks to Roy Thompson for finding the link.

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

Kate Boston-Williams: ‘Remember it well. We were hauled out of the office to make some noise.’

Rachel Ridge: ‘I met Noddy once at the RTSs… think he was guest of honour as the Greatest Living Midlander and my gosh he lived up to the title. One of the nicest people I’ve ever met and a total gent. Highlight of my telly career.’

Andy Frizzell: ‘Met Noddy Holder couple of months ago for a show on Sky soon. Hasn’t changed much, what a lovely bloke. No airs and graces and very easy to work with.’

Noddy Holder on Sky shoot, photo by Andy Frizzell, no reproduction without permission

Dalziel and Pascoe

Thanks to VT editor, Ian Collins, for making these screen grabs from the popular crime series, Dalziel and Pascoe available.

I think this episode is Sins of the Fathers, which was transmitted in October 2002, on BBC1. Here is the entry from the Radio Times, courtesy of the BBC Genome project.

Synopsis:

Sins of the Fathers. Investigating the murder of a young priest, the duo encounter a hostile village neighbourhood.
Written by Elizabeth-Anne Wheal; Producer Ann Tricklebank
Director Lawrence Gordon Clark www.bbc.co.uk/drama

Contributors:

Producer: Ann Tricklebank
Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark
DS Andy Dalziel: Warren Clarke
Dl Peter Pascoe: Colin Buchanan
DS Edgar Wield: David Royle
DC Carrie Harris: Keeley Forsyth
Harriet Clifford: Anne Reid
Father Tibbings: James Bolam
Bishop Halliwell: Roger Lioyd Pack
Sue Blackstone: Lindsey Coulson
Jamie Blackstone: Rob Dixon
Terry Brakespeare: Bryan Marshall
Dr Stephen Weston: Michael Hodgson
PC John Shepherd: John Flitcroft
Dr George Appleton: Tom Charnock
Dr Paul Ashurst: James Puddephatt

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/c66fa5b9f4eb42a1b1867bf7741148ed

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

James Holloway: ‘Robert Carter (camera operator) and I (grip) worked on the last 6 episodes.’

Roy Thompson: ‘Excellent TV drama. Still watch it on the Drama Channel.’

Tim Partridge: ‘I was the Boom Operator.’

Matt Poynter: ‘I did the first series!’

Roger Slater: ‘I was Production Sound Mixer’

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John Craven on Countryfile

Here are a couple of screen grabs of John Craven presenting on Countryfile.
Thanks to Ian Collins for making the stills available.

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

Jo Moore: ‘I’ve got half an idea that I was the AP on this item…I think it was an Alan miller shoot – possibly when we were doing something about water/ irrigation etc.
I still see John from time to time and like most people who’ve been lucky enough to work with him – he taught me SO MUCH about all things tv. A total gentleman, generous of spirit and warm beyond measure. Some of my happiest telly times.’

Alan Miller: ‘It rings a bell with me too but I cannot be sure I was the director or merely compiled the programme it was in. That’s the trouble, I made so many films with John that I have lost track.’

Andrea Buffery: ‘The bath scene was for a compilation programme directed by Joanna Brame starring Bob the duck!?! and my old snorkel’

Dawn Trotman: ‘The compilation had Charlotte Smith’s bog snorkelling piece in it I think? The train pix was I think from the scenic train journey items we did just before we left Pebble Mill. John always pulled the whistle! A true legend and one of the nicest men in telly.’

Kulwant Sidhu: ‘I directed JC on a steam train thread for CF on several occasions…that screen grab looks like Severn Valley…but could be mistaken. Great man, great raconteur.’

Roy Thompson: ‘Such a great guy, really helped and guided me during an attachment to Countryfile.’

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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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Radio Links Vehicle at Burghley Horse Trials

The photo shows a radio links van at a mid-point on an outside broadcast at the Burghley Horse Trials, in September 1985. The radio links van would receive the OB signal from the truck at the event, and then send it on to the transmitter, or to another links van.

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

Bryan Comley: ‘Burghley is a huge job with 20 plus cameras covering the cross country course, today the cameras all come back to one truck via fibre optics. In the 80’s there were two trucks one at the start/finish and one at Lion bridge, the cameras at the extremes of the course were radio linked to the trucks , Formula one at Silverstone use cross course microwave too.

Too get the pictures on air, links had to be set up to the nearest inject point, either a BBC centre or a transmitter site, the max distances for one link was around 40 miles sure to the curvatures of the earth and signal strength, so mid points on high ground would be set for some OBs. This could fail due to fog if the midpoint was high above the fog and the OB was in fog as the beam would get bent leaving the fog.’

Steve Dellow: ‘Indeed – a big job – and I’ve still got the Comms planning sheets! In 1985, at Burghley Park there were two Comms vans (758 and 602) – ‘Dairy Park’ and Main. The van in the photo (356) was at Tinwell Lodge (with Generator PG50), then 587 at Cold Overton, then onwards to Sutton (and underground circuit to Pebble Mill). Receiver 102R and Transmitter 124T on the top of 356, with Pete Myslowski asleep in the cab! I was supposed to give £25 cash to the site owner (Mr Flint), plus £20 as they hadn’t been paid the year before! The ‘hops’ were 5km, 18.5km, and 69km.’

Comms planning sheet

Malcolm Hickman: ‘On other occasions, we used a different mid point, where the vehicle would pick up the signals (7ghz microwave) and relay them to a receiver located at the Morborne transmitter. We used a passive reflector up the mast to bounce the signals down to a receiver on the ground. They were then injected by BT into a protection circuit to Pebble Mill.’

Roy Thompson: ‘As explained radio links had to be line of sight. This could be a problem for some starter links (the first one from the ob site) especially in town centres. Eagle towers were used, which had a self erecting, two stage tower which would carry the transmitter. It was rigged at 30 foot and then sent up to its maximum height of 60 foot. Have no actual photos but came across this model Dinky toy at my local dentist. Unfortunately the second part of the tower is missing.’

Andy Marriott: ‘I love seeing stuff like this. I joined the comms dept at Pebble Mill in 2000. But by then it was a shadow of its former self. Still got to work on a few OB’s before the plug finally got pulled a year or so later. OB’s aren’t nearly as cool when they’re over satellite or fibre!’

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