If a group are working together, the best thing to do is for everyone to make the same sort of (or level of) claim for expenses (if one person submits a possibly correct claim which is different to everyone else’s, there may be questions asked – and everyone suffers.) Collective consciences can be the cause of many such problems. It doesn’t excuse the miscreant(s), but it does help to explain.
Hugh Sheppard
In the dim distant past, T & D allowances for overnight accommodation were a lump sum that didn’t require a receipt. Hence all the BBC bivouacs and tents at events such as Silverstone for 3 to 4 nights come rain or shine. And when it rained, some folk were awfully dozy next day, and the day after…..
Mike Jordan
I must admit to being told on a 29-day attachment to Manchester being told that “If you reduce the claim to 28 nights, you get the full “Sched. A” rate rather than the reduced long-term one.”
Alasdair Lawrance
I was always baffled that we got Sched. A when we went to Evesham.
Jeff Booth
All I got was ‘change of base’ (at £17 per week). At £15 (I recall) per night (with no receipt) I think I am owed thousands!
My first job at the BBC was in Cavendish Square processing all those OB T&D forms.
Mike Jordan
Back in the ancient days of 1966, we had to plod up the back stairs in the main WN building each week to pay the Admin Office £1 14s.
Our expenses claims on arrival in BH were typed out by our secretary before being signed by the senior manager.
Lunch Breaks and Lunch Payment
This thread was started after the fracas with Jeremy Clarkson verbally and physically assaulted his producer, Oisin Tymon. Clarkson had arrived late at night at a hotel after the kitchen had shut (reported for example on Sunday 29th March 2015).
Professional camera crews said that cuts to the food budget and the size of film crews on documentaries and factual shows mean that teams working on location must work twice as hard, without much to eat.
Ian Hillson
‘…Yes, it is true that there was no supper but he was angry because they didn’t have enough producers during the day and it made filming extremely difficult, said a source…’ (from a “Daily Mail” article)
Tony Crake
I always thought you had one producer!
Perhaps they were short of "runners" or "AFMs" or "gofers" .
Too many producers produces "cock ups"…….. ? as I recall.
Albert Barber
Without knowing the real facts it’s difficult to know. However what is known is that cutbacks in programme funding often means that there are fewer people than needed. Overruns are a matter if course. Planning is not as thorough as in the past. Producers are keen to get the maximum out of crew and presenters without thought of their welfare. Producers do not last long as they tend to burn out young.
Finally the Unions find it difficult to combat the state of mindset.
Peter Neill
I recall one shoot for a regional documentary when we arrived at the hotel so late that there wasn’t any food let alone hot food. Ironically the production team had chosen the hotel (an hour’s drive from the shooting location) because a friend had recommended the quality of the meals there. I don’t think we punched the producer, though, – just made sure we got a proper lunch break the following day.
Ian Hillson
The mid-1990s is seared in my memory, doing a children’s "Gunge" show series in TC1 ("Run the Risk", maybe) – the morning ones were overrunning more and more into lunch break and we had to run to get to the canteen before it closed. Sitting there "enjoying" our meal, I noticed a freshly hosed-down child come in with his parents – their lateness due to removing all that gunge from said child. Needless to say, they were turned away with a "we’re shut" – what must they have thought?
More (or rather, less) was to come on the final morning’s recording when they asked us to overrun by so much that the canteen would have been closed – "but we must get the show finished to do the lunchtime reset" – don’t worry though, "the production will pay for the canteen to remain open…"
They did – but sadly they didn’t pay for the kitchen to remain open too! The entire studio crew could have whatever was left behind the counter (fried individually if you waited for it) as all the hot lunchtime choices had now been disposed of.
As there was no-one available to punch, I went off down the Bush to look for food.
Patrick Heigham
Several stories abound in my experience as a Freelance!
Mostly, very good indeed, as the outfit I worked through were used by NBC, ABC, CBS – and they liked their comfort come
sleep accommodation and evening meal in very upmarket hotels, but lunch…….?
"Lunch is for wimps!"
"We’re wimps" we retorted – "my worms think my throat’s been cut!"
Took a while to educate the Yanks to our home spun humour!
They did look after us very well as regarding bed space, unlike the BBC, when working on a doc for Racing at Cheltenham, no accommodation booked – sort yourselves out. At Cheltenham, on Gold Cup day!!!!
The lovely cameraman eventually found us rooms in a pub several miles away – I had to share with the camera assistant.
After that I always established where we were billeted before I accepted the job. I liked to know where I was going at the end of the day.
It is a very concerning issue, if there is a hungry crew.
I worked a long day in the West Midlands and eventually arrived at hotel for meal – I was very hungry and the waiter
was faffing about – (I mentally growled – piss off and bring me something to eat – Now!) So I can sympathise with Clarkson.
And as for producers – what are they?
I worked for US TV channels, and they sent over ‘Producers’. We would call them Directors, actually.
Dave Munday
On my Gold Cup week at Cheltenham the OB crew stayed at Wood Norton, with BBC chocs on your pillow, in Dormitory Block A. Rumour had it that Wood Norton had to provide accommodation to BBC staff if working in the area! Just like the old days we thought – until the bill arrived!
Pat Heigham
This [whole saga] is such a sad comment on the worth of a decent crew.
I recall a similar situation, when we checked into our hotel in Burford (Cotswolds) after a long day with little lunch. I was hungry and tetchy, a la Clarkson, the waiter was faffing about and under my breath, I felt like growling: "Stop f****** about and bring food!" So I can sympathise with JC (no biblical reference, there), but perhaps the guy in question had already pissed him off – we will never know the full story…….
Another episode of crew mistreatment (I was not allocated the job,very wisely!) A multi-crew/camera reality shoot for Bazalgette. Lunch break – PA little girls bring in grub for the talent. One of the Sound Crew asked where theirs was. "Oh, we don’t cater for you!"
If I had been on the job, the kit would have been back in the cars and away – PDQ. End of shoot – facility company embarrassed and I wouldn’t have been asked back!
Compare that with the old days, Thames were very generous with lunch until VAT came in and the accountants needed receipts, so wine had to be listed as ‘extra vegetables’. Granada were good, too, the researcher arrived in the morning with the Good Food Guide tucked under his arm.
I worked in Europe for various US TV channels – NBC, ABC, CBS and they sometimes baulked at a lunch break, but we got superb hotels and dinners (they liked their comfort!).
£6 for lunch? Where do these people come from? A pint is £3.20 Sandwiches can be £5 or £7 a round in a pub. Do they expect the crew to find a roadside burger shack? Probably.
Treat people well and a good result is obtained.
Treat ’em like crap – ditto.
‘1984’ anyone?
Peter Neill
The £6 is not meant to cover the total cost of lunch, but only the difference between lunch on the road and the cost of a canteen lunch. With subsidies all but gone in BBC Canteens (in those premises that still have them) £6 isn’t that unreasonable.
Roger Bunce, David Denness
Some of us had to be content with a 15p (3/-) Luncheon Voucher! But that was only after 5 meals at TC et al in a week.
Pat Heigham
Yes, I remember – if you had to take a second meal of the day – usually always with a studio day, one was awarded 4/3d. If it was taken in cash, then it was taxed. But you could have a 3/- LV and only the 1/3d was taxed!
If we were feeling particularly flush, a steak in the waitress service TVC canteen wasn’t out of this world.
David Denness
What was the difference between BBC Canteen tea and coffee? 2d.!
Peter Neill
Some time after Pat left the Beeb this was altered to meals in excess of 5 in a week. Like the meals away from base the idea was to make up the difference between what it cost an office worker and what it cost us. Which explains a couple of bank holiday anomalies: You could work on the "see the new year in" programme until 2am but, because the majority of the hours were on New Year’s Eve (which was not a bank holiday) there was no compensation. And similar silly things happened when Christmas Day occurred at a weekend — no payment for Christmas Day itself, but you got something for working on whichever weekday was declared the alternative day off.
Mike Jordan
Good to see how the rates went up in about 1979 and amendments needed!
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Pat Heigham
When I first worked at Pinewood on a major movie, there was a recording room attached to each
stage – used in the days of optical sound cameras.
With the Nagras based on the floor, these rooms were used mainly to store our kit – and a kettle! Cheaper than the tea trolley and we could have a brew whenever.
The camera dept soon cottoned on and copied, so we (sound) upped the ante by providing toast and marmalade as well. Sadly the toaster didn’t always ‘pop-up’ and I went off to the gents, returning to find the room filled with smoke – as the room vented into the stage proper, the camera crew were going around with their noses in the air a la the Bisto Kids, while my boss muttered: "Oh, bugger! Pat’s burned the toast again!"
Mike Cotton
Pat’s story of burnt toast reminded me of the days in the ’50s when 1/3 pint bottles of milk were delivered to schools.
One of the Prefectorial duties was to leave the previous lesson early to make sure that the screaming hordes didn’t do themselves any damage at break time – 1115 – but the main part was to make coffee from the a fore said milk supply using a pressure stove. I did get caught by my housemaster in the execution of my duty but on being offered a cup he said nothing. I did get 6 of the best from him on a later occasion, obviously bribery didn’t work!
We also had a wire wound spiral electric fire which if turned on its side made a fair example of a toaster on which we toasted crumpets (supplied by someone’s Mum who ran a cake shop) and then rubbed them with a bar of margarine.
Surprisingly the school is still there after 400 years. Later a tuck shop was introduced selling lumpen buns for which one had to supply a coupon from ones bread ration. We went mad when sweets came off the ration! Good old days?
I still have the scars!
Mike Jordan
SNAP!
We had a wooden shed out the back of the boarding house (officially for storing/cleaning shoes & CCF boots) and with considerable expertise, I had mounted an electric fire element (the type with several strands in a clay baseplate) on 2 bits of wood with a rack over the top to fry up eggs for sale to the others in the evenings!
No worse than at about 16 years old re-wiring the asbestos cables into the Strand lamps with their flat 3pin connectors for the stage and wiring up the grid supplies/wire operated interlock dimmer board
