BBC TV Memorabilia
Gary Critcher
Here is a ticket from a recording of one of the programmes from series 2 of “Fawlty Towers” which I got autographed by Cleese a few years later.
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
Souvenirs – and Portable and Desirable Objects
Wherever you work, consumable items that are in use every day may arrive home by accident – the used reel of camera tape jammed in a pocket, for example.
There may be other items that find their way out of the work premises. Some items are found, some are scrounged. Some are genuine scrap.
Unfortunately some items are removed without the owner’s consent: see also: The Case of the Disappearing Image Orthicon
Robin Sutherland
While sorting out some boxes of assorted rubbish in my workshop, I came across a pristine stick of Cosmic Timber Crayon looking as fresh and new as the day I got it from TC Tech Stores in, at the latest, 1969. Sad that it’s outlived most of the studio floors it was meant to mark up.
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
Gary Critcher
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
I found this in my Mum’s cutlery drawer.
It’s obviously come out of TVC in the mid to last 1980s as I left the Beeb in 1989. It’s a pity I didn’t get a fork to go with it.
Anyone else have anything like this?
Hugh Sheppard
Try this:
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
Probably 1960s or 1970s, set of four ‘rescued’ from BBC Sydney in 1993.
Dave Mundy
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
… and this, the smallest BBC dinner plate!
Peter Hider
An Australian director in Pres called Terry **** invited a few of us for coffee in his flat in Earls Court – which in the 1970s was known as “Kangaroo Valley”.
He opened a kitchen larder which was full, floor to ceiling, with BBC monogrammed china. He had both the green in two versions, the one with the ‘space’ design logo and the one with just BBC in an oblong box. He also had the complete service of white china which had, I seem to remember, the BBC heraldic shield. I think this was only used in hospitality on the sixth floor. When I say complete, it contained all sizes of plates, pudding bowls, cruets, gravy boats and cream jugs, lidded tureens together with cups and saucers. I can’t remember any cutlery but I’ve no doubt he had a few.
Mike Jordan
I still use my forks and desert spoon!
The BBC gave up labelled teaspoons much earlier as they were constantly stolen by visitors as souvenirs and initially anonymous ones then plastic ones were used instead.
They go with the two from my school days (way back) with my initials stamped in (by stamps from the Lab Tech) that were in our “under stage” tea and coffee club.
Ian Hillson
I remember when TVC canteen stopped using this cutlery because they were losing too many – so they bought some plain ones and had them all engraved "CAT" instead of "Catering" for cheapness.
Needless to say people took them home for dishing out the catfood.
Dave Plowman
And I’d guess the idea of engraving this sort of thing is to prevent theft!
Pat Heigham
All the loo rolls (of Bronco) in the TVC conveniences were printed with ‘Property of the BBC’.
Did they want the sheets back after use?
Pat Heigham, Dave Mundy, Philip Tyler, Ian Hillson
Bronco could be used with a comb to make a Kazoo-type noise! Bronco was the only stuff to use with comb and paper musical accompaniment. It was certainly very thin and very hard. Soft toilet paper – today’s quilts – is useless! Modern kids don’t know they’re born!
Izal also made the ‘tracing’ paper version of loo roll:
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
Roger Long
I seem to remember the BBC offered medicated hard and soft tissue. Medicated shiny for the officers, hard tissue for the troops. The exec loos had both papers for those in doubt.
All ‘Property of the BBC’.
Alec Bray
There was a "Western" titled "Bronco" with a distinctive signature tune – to which we sang:
"Bronco, Bronco, tear across the dotted line,
Bronco, Bronco, Bronco’s fine…"
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
I think that the original correct version was:
"Bronco, Bronco, tearing across the Texas plains,Bronco, Bronco, Bronco Layne!"
Pat Heigham, Peter Combes, Alec Bray, Peter Cook
Indeed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronco_(TV_series)
and for the toilet paper:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/objects/display.aspx?id=1790&keywords=bronco+toilet+paper
Prehistoric bog paper was dubbed ‘Bronco sore arse’.
There is also “The Bronco Expletive Deleter” – from a Thames TV Christmas Tape
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSj-fLd6bvw
Mike Cotton
Is this what we are talking about ?
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
I attach some other samples: "Use one side only" was printed at school in an art class!
(Click on each of the pictures below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
Is there a polite term for a toilet paper collector ?
Alec Bray
The polite term is Cloacopapyrologist.
Mike Cotton
I have some of my National Service "Eating Irons" stamped with my service number. It’s like one’s staff number, you never forget it, along with the Identity Card number from the war.
I find that after 30 years camera tape turns to dust but I still have the odd pen still going – shows I don’t write much, except cheques to the children!
Geoff Fletcher
What about tape?
After a late night at the Club a flatmate of mine used to go around the TC studios and collect all the offcuts of tape he could find in the bins in the sound control rooms and bring them back to our Ealing flat. An hour or two would then be spent sorting it, cutting off the worst kinked portions, and rolling the lengths onto a Nab spool on a home built rig – editing them together as he went along. I don’t recall him ever buying any new tape all the time we shared a flat!
Doug Puddifoot
I had some friends with a flat which overlooked Kensington House. On one visit I discovered that they had run out of sugar. I nipped round to Ken House canteen and returned with the odd cube or two. Among the occupants of the flat at the time were Roger Taylor and Brian May. I doubt they run out of sugar these days.
Brian White
You have definitely stirred up the CKC – that is the “Collective Kleptomanic Conscience”, ranging from the odd roll of camera tape right through to the complete dinner service.
However, mentioning going round for coffee made me wonder if anyone had visited the young chap Neil Foster who eventually acquired quite a collection and as a result ‘moved on’.
Dave Mundy
I certainly remember Neil F. who gave a whole new meaning to the word ‘fostering’! I actually bought a dozen stereo PPMs from him and they were quite legit! When the BBC eventually found out about his klepto tendencies they had to send an artic. to his house to bring all the stuff back to a spare garage next to TC8, where you could go and look if you had ‘lost’ something at work. The police also found several cars within a mile or two of his house that had disappeared from the triangle car park. He gave a lot of technical stuff to a hospital radio station. The problem for the BBC was that a lot of the stuff had been claimed on insurance (lenses etc.) and so belonged to the insurers. The Goodies three seat bicycle was in his loft with several monitors, cameras, briefcases, club cards, and so on. I think he got two years in clink.
Dave Plowman
Sometime in the early 1970s I was first in, and as was the norm then, went to reception to get the keys for the control room and the alarm switched off.
In this case it was TC8, to find it had been broken into overnight, and several modules removed from the Type D desk, and, if I recall correctly, a couple of Studer 1/4" machines.
My guess by either a klepto – or someone building a pretty sophisticated home studio.
Just wondered if the culprit was ever found?
Barry Bonner
Yes he was found, he was the aforementioned klepto Neil Foster. In TC8 he pinched the sound desk EMX switch panel custom made which took a long time to replace. On the Studer front he left the trollies behind.
My and John Ford’s Gram Ops briefcases were found at his house!
Dave Buckley, Dave Mundy
There was an earlier comment about Mr. Foster selling equipment to Hospital Radio Services (HRS). At the time (late 1970s) I was the tech advisor to Talking Newspapers (TNs) and my opposite number for Hospital Radio was Pete Dixon who was an engineer at TVC.
Pete kept me up-to-date with this matter in case any TN contacted me about equipment being sold cheap.
Pete also told me that he knew of an HRS that had obtained a couple of Quad 50s from Mr. F, not knowing that they were pinched, and that the management at TVC knew this. Subsequently, Pete was called into a manager (don’t know who it was but he knew Pete’s connection with Hospital Radio) who told him to let the HRS know that they could keep the equipment.
I understand that Mr. F was rumbled after a caption generator trolley (an Aston) disappeared , and sold to Anglia, one of the ITV companies. The Aston had a known character fault. When the new owners called the makers in to fix it, the service engineer recognised the fault and did a serial number check, which showed that it had been stolen from TVC – and the rest is history!
Tony Crake
I remember wheeling one of those tracking LS3 units out of Tech Stores in some studio or other and thought it was rather lightweight!
Plugged it in and lo and behold! No Amp! (and no connectors either!)
Sara Newman
In the early 1980’s I used to share a car home with the head of a new unit to track theft from TVC/BBC.
He explained one evening that even the paper that scripts were printed on became the property of the recycling company that dealt with the waste from TVC. Everything had to be accounted for and they were tracking certain individuals in TVC. A few individuals had made the situation so bad that management had decided something had to be done.
I even had to get permission for a Xmas tree decoration from the Val Doonican tree that Xmas.
He gave me a run down of some of the things that had disappeared and the audacity of those pilfering people was amazing.
When I was working for the FCO in Africa I purchased a great set of first class Swiss Air stainless steel cutlery in a local market.
My favourite items were the magnets from Pres. Mum still has the isobars on her fridge.
Dave Mundy
A propos of all this nicking, the wood pile under the arches behind the scenery workshops provided many people with the where-withal to build their kitchen cabinets etc.
Unfortunately, it all came to an end when certain members of scene-block staff secreted useful bits of wood for their projects, so it wasn’t just ‘waste’ timber. It is rumoured that some people were followed home on the tube!
Firewood size pieces were allowed afterwards, but not the 8’x4’x1" sheet of blockboard I (possibly, could have) built my workbench out of … 1" blockboard also made superb bass-reflex loudspeaker cabinets, I understand…
Security on the Frithville Gate didn’t seem to notice what was on the roof rack!
Dave Plowman
At Thames Teddington, all such useful but used wood etc went to an old boat yard just a short distance away, and they also had a restriction on the maximum size of offcuts staff could have.
I’d drawn out my new kitchen, and went there with a list of what I wanted on the drawing (early computer one made on a BBC using Draw). I was told to leave it with them, and come back later. Which I did. To find what looked like brand new blockboard all cut exactly to the sizes on my drawing.
Oh – the kitchen is still basically the same to this day – but with a few changes of doors and work surfaces etc down the line. But the basic carcasses are original, about 40 years old, and still as solid as when they were built.
Peter Cook
February 13th 197?. Royal Albert Hall; Petula Clarke concert OB.
Front of stage was lined with plants in pots.
Obviously a late finish as the concert didn’t end until 10:30 ish. In anticipation of getting home in the early hours on 14th Feb (remember what that is?) the OB crew volunteered to help the props boys with their de-rig.
The question was asked, "What will happen to the flowers?"
Answer was roughly, "They will all get thrown away, help yourselves mate."
Result was lots of happy wives and girlfriends.
Only trouble was that apparently the props men were not quite correct. The pots had all been hired from a florist or similar. The next base day was very interesting. (But stupid)
Note to self; do not believe the answer to every question!
Janis and Peter Goldring
A certain camera supervisor stole two stage weights in his briefcase (the mind boggles) and in due course they passed into our hands and we have them to this day at our home in Spain – Peter should have used them to secure his ladder when painting the front of our house in Esher and fell off ladder … during National Ladder Safety Week!
See also: Weight For It!
Bill Jenkin
My one and only memento from TC – makes a good door stop.
(Click on the picture below to see larger version:
use your Browser’s BACK button to return to this page)
