Background
Joan Marsden was a BBC floor manager known to all as ‘Mother’ (or, to a select few as ‘mum,’) (including prime ministers!). She was born May 20 1919, an only child of Liverpool parents, and died March 3 2004. Mother was one of the legendary figures of BBC Television. In the hectic years of expansion and improvisation from the 1950s until the late 1970s, she was the floor manager at Lime Grove studios for what was initially called “Talks” – encompassing documentary programmes, current affairs and, above all, the weekly news magazine Panorama.
OK, we are into ‘Mother’s stories’, now!
Alex Thomas
She learned to swear as a WRAF girl pushing all those little ”enemy aircraft” lumps of wood across a map of Southern England at Tangmere during the war.
On arrival in Studio G, she would give her hand bag and her outdoor shoes to the scene supervisor who would attach it to a scenery hoist and haul it up to safety.
Patrick Heigham
Panorama
Richard Dimbleby was the ultimate professional, but he had a lovely sense of humour.
Fellow technicians will remember Joan Marsden (Floor Manager) known as “Mother” to cast and crew alike, who ran the studio with a rod of iron.
One night, to illustrate the number of summonses sent out by one London borough, there was a huge pile of brown envelopes in front of Richard’s desk. On rehearsal, he leant forward, picked up the top one, wrote on it, replaced it, and beckoned the camera to focus on it.
It read: “To Mother – for Soliciting”
Dave Mundy
Mother once told me that she had recourse too admonish Richard Dimbleby about something and he said to her that it sounded like an “…empty threat – just like her blouse…” – she was bustily deficient!
Trevor Webster
Mention of ‘Mum’ reminds me of a day on Panorama when she arrived in the studio after a break. She told us she had been to the production’s hospitality rooms and found one of the hospitality assistants there. She told him in no uncertain terms that he shouldn’t still be there and he had better get out quick!
His reply was, “Do you know who I am Madam?”
She said “No!”
“I am the Prime Minister of Malawi!”
And here is another story … Well, how can I put this delicately…
We were working on some programme with ‘Mother’ in charge of the floor. Strangely, my memory says that it was in TV Theatre but it is hard to think why Mother would be in the Theatre. Anyway, it was something out of the ordinary as it involved a two way satellite, perhaps the first time – certainly the first time any of us had seen reverse vision from the States – and also a bed on the stage. (Why would you want a bed and a two way satellite link in the same programme, let alone Mother in the Theatre?)
I remember it particularly because the VM switched the reverse feed to the studio monitors and somebody (probably Piglet) offered a head and shoulders shot of Mum. She put her hand up to touch her face and then down and suddenly noticed that her image on the monitor was doing it – but later. Everything she did was out of sync, so to speak. She thought this was quite a novelty, as did we all.
Now for some reason we couldn’t go ahead immediately with the recording. We had to wait about 20 minutes for something or somebody and amazingly we kept the link up. Mother was particularly tired for some reason – we didn’t ask! – and she decided to have a little rest on the bed, which was head towards the back of the set and feet to camera. I don’t know whether she quite went to sleep but she laid on her back and raised her knees into a comfortable position and stayed there for about ten minutes. Piglet (definitely Piglet this time) noticed a certain forgetfulness on her part and carefully lined up a rather unusual CU. The vision mixer cut it up and this too went to America and back. Mother awoke slowly, looked at the camera and, quickly checking, realised that she had dressed rather too hurriedly and also realised what had just happened – well it was still on the monitors somehow (perhaps from VT – they were waiting too). She thought it was very funny indeed and proudly claimed it as another first!
Tony Grant
I claim the prize for having seen Mother smile! I can’t remember the programme, but as FM, Mother worked on many other programmes as well as Current Affairs. On this particular occasion we were doing something in one of the smaller TVC studios, almost certainly TC5, and whilst on a break in rehearsals, the autocue girl had to go to the loo.
Almost immediately she exited the studio, the director wanted to continue where we’d left off. ‘Just waiting for Autocue,’ said Mother. “What’s she doing?” shouted the director, who knew that the script was already OK, and didn’t need editing.
OK, Joan smiled sweetly (only visible on the floor) and launched into the most vividly graphic description of what a woman does when she goes to the loo. For those of you who knew Mother well, and her background, you can probably guess how well she described every part of the process, not leaving out any intimate detail, liberally interspersed with near profanities about failings often found in ladies conveniences, especially if you were caught short. By the time said Autocue girl (can’t remember if it was Sabby or Mary) returned to the studio, almost in time with Mother’s conclusion, the whole crew on the floor were helpless with laughter.
“Quiet studio,” roared Mother, “and cue… ” – rehearsal back on track.
