Tag: The Archers

Radio Studio 3 Till

Old till. Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

Old till. Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photo is of the Radio Studio 3 till. This was the old one, which decided to go open circuit during a recording and threw me across the studio floor, only narrowly missing an actor. It could no longer be plugged in, but it still made a noise.

Martin Fenton

Below is the replacement till, without the electrical fault! Radio Studio 3 was the studio used by The Archers, amongst other network radio dramas.

New till. Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

New till. Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

 

Archers’ News – Dead Girls Tell No Tales

Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

Ysanne Churchman playing Grace Archer: Copyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a radio drama about the death ‘Grace Archer’, played by Ysanne Churchman (widow of Tony Pilgrim), on Radio 4 at 2.30pm on Saturday 19th September 2015. It is entitled Dead Girls Tell No Tales.

Below is the programme information:

“Dead Girls Tell No Tales

Saturday 19 September

2.30pm-3.30pm

BBC RADIO 4

Almost 60 years to the day after The Archers’ character Grace Archer was killed, Radio 4 will broadcast Dead Girls Tell No Tales featuring Ysanne Churchman, the original Grace Archer.

Written by Joanna Toye, the commemorative drama will depict life in and around The Archers’ production office and studio, culminating on the fateful night of 22 September 1955 when Grace perished in a stable fire after trying to save one of the horses.

As the drama behind the drama unfolds, listeners will be transported back to a post-war world of deference, Received Pronunciation and the Light Programme.

It is established media folklore that Grace Archer’s death was a ploy to thwart the launch night of ITV. But this 60-minute drama delves deeper into the Archers’ celebrated archives to reveal what really inspired 20 million people to tune in and left tens of thousands distraught – leaving the BBC switchboard jammed for 48 hours.

Familiar characters from the early years of the programme, including Dan and Doris Archer, Carol Grey and John Tregorran, and creator of The Archers, Godfrey Baseley, will also play a part in the special drama.

Producer/Sean O’Connor for the BBC”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2015/38/dead-girls-tell-no-tales

 

Here is a piece from BBC Breakfast trailing the radio play:

“Sixty years ago, twenty million people tuned in to hear the demise of Grace on The Archers. It made radio history. To mark the anniversary a drama called, ‘Dead Girls Tell No Tales’ reveals what happened behind the scenes at the BBC and how the public reacted to the storyline.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p032rd2l

Thanks to Annie Gumbley-Williams for letting us know about the radio drama.

Network Radio – We are BBC Birmingham

We are BBC Bham Network RadioCopyright resides with the original holder, no reproduction without permission.

This grab is from a brochure called We are BBC Birmingham, which was given to all staff, and others, when Pebble Mill closed in 2004, and BBC Birmingham moved to the Mailbox.

It shows the diversity of Network Radio being produced at BBC Birmingham at the time, including radio drama and factual rural affairs series on Radio 4, and 30% of Radio 2’s output, as well as Asian Network and interactive services.

Thanks to Dharmesh Rajput for keeping the brochure safe for the last decade, and for sharing it.

The Archers – Adam is Gay, recycling bin

Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

Photo by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission

Radio Studio 3 main exit. Note the paper recycling bin. There was something of a hoo-ha when the “Adam is gay” storyline from The Archers was leaked to the press. Pebble Mill had had one of its community open days the previous weekend. Nobody had thought to remove the big cardboard box full of yet un-broadcast scripts!

Martin Fenton

The Archers’ stairs

3 different staircases, wardrobe MFPhoto by Martin Fenton, no reproduction without permission.

This photo was taken in 2003 in Radio Studio 3 at BBC Pebble Mill. It shows three differently textured staircases – carpet, concrete and metal, so that the sound effects on The Archers and other radio dramas were authentic.

Martin tells me that it was usually the technical staff doing ‘spot’ sound effects on radio drama who would walk up the stairs, rather than the actors themselves, but sometimes the actors also used them.

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

Richard Abraham: ‘Once did spot for a single episode of the Archers. When you’ve jiggled four belts to emulate bridle noise behind Sara Coward & Judy Bennett then you’ve really lived. Largely because to get their voices right for riding they shifted from one Foyt to the other. Their bottoms were a joy to behold!’

Carolyn Davies: ‘Definitely both the spot fx person and actors used them….think there was a fake door at the top….and it wasn’t just the Archers, ST3 did tonnes of radio drama..’

Peter Wild: ‘It was a bit of both. If you can it’s always best to get the actor to do it for real. Sometimes that just isn’t practical. I directed many scenes on those stairs – which offered four surfaces. Take the carpet off and you have bare wood.’

Maggie Humphries: ‘My claim to fame is my ‘laughing’ dubbed onto a girl in a market in Israel with Topol for a documentary made by the Pebble Mill at One team…….’

Hedli Nik: ‘My great claim to fame is being Juliet Stevenson’s feet running down the stairs in Jane Austen! I did have a part as well…’