David Beer
The tragic early death announced on 02 July 2016 of Caroline Aherne, aka Mrs Merton, set me thinking. Before she became famous as a comedy actress and writer, Caroline worked as a secretary in our BBC Manchester Allocations office where she became something of a legend for her wit and comic timing especially after the Friday afternoon wine bottle came out!
Other names that come to mind of artists that we’ve worked with before they hit the big time are Bob Hoskins, who appeared in the adult literacy series ‘On The Move’ from the 1970s where he played an illiterate removal man learning to read and write. He then went on to star in “Pennies From Heaven” before Hollywood called. Around the same time, I remember working with Robbie Coltrane on those interminably repetitive Director and Vision Mixer training programmes we used to do before he went on to bigger and better things with “Cracker” and then the Harry Potter films.
I can’t remember the name of the series from the 1970s, but we did several shows in the TV Theatre directed by the veteran “Top of The Pops” producer, Johnnie Stewart, with Elaine Paige as one of the singers before she appeared on stage as Eva Peron in the hit musical “Evita” – and the rest is history.
Graeme Wall, David Brunt
There was the series "One More Time!" in TC6 in the 1970s that featured various singers, including Kiki Dee and Elaine Paige. Each number seguéd into the next. Crew 15 with Ian Gibb.
Pat Heigham
I worked on a Euston Films production of "The One and Only Phyllis Dixey" – Britain’s first strip-tease artiste. Elaine Paige was one of the girls in the cast that appeared nude, only the cameraman and myself (on boom) were allowed into the dressing room scene!
Shooting in the Winter Gardens theatre in Blackpool, there was a rehearsal pianist on call, and one lunch break, Elaine asked if she could have a ‘sing’. We sat back and listened – everyone felt that there was talent there!
Later, she was in a low-budget film shot around London, great fun, and we were invited to a cast/crew screening in Stockwell – and I sat next to Elaine and her Mum! Walking with her back to the tube station, I asked her what she was doing next: "A few things in the pipeline" she replied.
The very next day, it was announced that she had landed the role of Eva Peron in the
stage version of “Evita”.
That’s my little story!
Alec Bray
What about "Three of a Kind" – the 1966/1967 version?
This had Ray Fell, Mike Yarwood and Lulu. This was Lulu’s first go at doing anything other than just singing – she had to act.
The show was done in the TVT. Mike Yarwood was considerably better during rehearsal than he was on transmission : his characterisation of Malcolm Muggeridge was nothing short of genius but lost some edge when we went on the air.
There is practically nothing about this on IMDB for 1967 and nothing at all for 1966.
