This section is about incidents from the 1980s – outside of the default Tech Ops website timeframe.

Tony Crake

I have the distinction of NEARLY going to the Falklands

There were to be 4 people going to do "Noel Edmonds Christmas Show" (sometime in the 1980s) –  Camera/Sound/Engineer/Producer.

In the event the RAF had only 2 seats so the Producer and the Sound Man got dropped off leaving Roger Neal (Engineer) and Keith Furlonger (Camera).

A nice chap from BFBS seemed fine with sound and acting producer! I watched it go out on Xmas morning….PPM readings entirely normal!

Dave Mundy

… even by Concorde it would have been a ‘journey too far’ but by Hercules it must have seemed like a whole lifetime. I nominate Keith Furlonger for the ‘Sister Teresa award for tolerance’ since he didn’t jettison his engineer over the Isle of Wight and actually came back with him!

Ian Dow

No matter what you say about Twink* (and many of us have!) he always came up with the goods, and raided the Services gear on site to come up with a PA system, lighting, and together with Keith and the RAF transmitted a very competent live OB into Noel’s programme on Christmas Day.

What I felt was very wrong was that although the Kendal Avenue management sent him out there to in effect do an Engineering Mangers job, which was his next chain of promotion, when the next EM job came up they didn’t even give him a board.  At least having used him in such a way give him the chance even if you feel he’s not the right person!

*For those not in the know Twink, Roger Neal, was a very enthusiastic Vision Supervisor who was so enthusiastic that he would drive many members of his crew to have suicidal tendencies. General Test Room at Kendal Avenue had a "Twink Detector", which was a map of the building with a red lamp in each room. When you pushed the "Detect" button all the lights flashed at random – except the room where Twink was meant be!

Philip Tyler

That insert would have been dubbed by Dave Thompson and myself probably. Not too heavy on the sheep I hope?

I have to say Noel did work hard on the run up to Christmas, what with the “House Party” and the various location recordings that were required. He was also jetting off around the world. On a number of occasions he would finish the live show on a Saturday to then dash to Heathrow to catch a plane to somewhere, back in time for the next “House Party” by the Wednesday.

Mike Cotton

A certain TPC sound recordist – ex TVC – put his equipment overnight in a large tent warmed by industrial paraffin heaters.

The next (very cold) day he discovered what condensation was and did to the equipment!  Umpteen thousand miles from base.

There but for the Grace of God…