Alec Bray

These are some letters from the BBC during my application to become a TO  (sorry, there are no copies of the letters from me <I>to</I> the BBC!!).  These letters include:

1 – Vacancies   – No vacancies at the moment …

2 – First Interview – invitation for an interview. 

This was actually for a film cameraman position, but it turned out that it was for a NEWS cameraman.  I was not interested in, nor indeed suited to, that sort of job, and the interviewer,   Mr Dunhill – who was very nice and put me at my ease – suggested that I try BBC Engineering – Television!! – as they were recruiting.

3 – Invitation to a Board Interview for a BBC Engineering- Technical Operator – position

4 – Board Interview Acknowledgement

5 – Offer

Did I want to become a BBC Technical Operator?   The redacted passage states that the offer was subject to the results of examinations, when known,  but I had already presented the main results.

 Yes,  I did want to become a BBC Technical Operator …

6 – Confirmation of my Acceptance letter

In this last letter – note:

“… Will you please note that the induction
course will now last for three days and not one
week as stated in my letter of 28th November…”

which explains why I never had some of the experiences that many of the other people in Technical Operations had on Induction at the BBC, why I was a bit adrift on my first day in the Studios – and why I was always sure that I worked on the second episode of “The Chem Lab Mystery” on my first day in the Studios (LG “E” to be specific, with Mike Bond!)

I had clean forgotten that my induction was just three days!

Staff number: 111181