Background
Evening meal break – to the canteen for pork pie, chips and beans – back to the studio. Some time to go before line-up and then TX or recording. Many of the crew sat in the Production Gallery – watching Television! But not just watching Television… Is it live or a recording? In those days (mid 1960s) it was quite easy to tell – the bottom half line of the 405 line scan would wander around in length if it was a VT recording (and FR was always lacking in contrast and definition). Then, what studio was the production done in? When Lime Grove had CPS Emitrons, it was relatively easy to guess: the picture quality from the CPS Emitrons was different to the Image Orthicons (many say the older cameras gave a better facial tone). LG E did mainly current affairs, LG G did “Tonight” and “Grandstand” (although other studios were used …) and then later “Top Of The Pops” – so that only left Studio LG D. The Theatre was relatively easy to spot because of the position of the cameras: TC2 was again easy to spot as it was a small studio. Oh what fun we had!
It seems that this particular guessing game continues!
Geoff Fletcher
Can anyone shed any light on these photos?
I found them in an old paperback about TV Drama I bought in a secondhand book shop.
Photo 1
Ian Norman
The first photo is from “Hamlet” (leading up to the ghost scene). I have checked the DVD: the photo is definitely of “Hamlet”.
Photo 2
Barry Bonner
The PA speakers on the booms suggest it’s an opera with the orchestra in another studio.
Roger Bunce
I reckon the this is ” The Tempest” (1980, Director John Gorrie, Producer Cedric Messina, starring Michael Horden. Written by William Shakespeare – loosely based on ‘Forbidden Planet’ – and featuring Ford Prefect dressed in a worryingly skimpy bikini bottom!)
My claim is based purely on recognising the stylised rock formation and cave in the background.
“The Tempest” was one of the plays my granddaughter was doing for her ‘O’ Levels and, rather than read the whole thing with her, we bought the DVD. So, we’ve seen it fairly recently.
Photo 3
Geoff Fletcher
This features James Bolam dancing with a young lady – it looks like “When The Boat Comes In ” – but which studio and which crew?
Graeme Wall
I wondered if it was Rod Taylor half hidden by the boom, the trade mark vertical pan-bar.
David Carter
The cameraman on 4 appears to have a beard and, possibly, glasses. Could it be Mark Hatcher or John Bradberry?
Dave White is credited on IMDB with the 1981 series and I may have been with him at that time…. I’d have to check my personal file for any clues!
Tony Grant
If this picture is “When the Boat Comes In ” then it’s almost certainly Crew 2, as I did quite a few of these in 1980/1981.
It’s funny you should mention the vertical pan bar – I’m almost certain that’s me! I too used to work like that (having been an early ‘Jim’ convert) and I found it more comfortable to operate in tight situations (with a boom at your backside), as you could get closer to the carcass. Geoff Feld had moved over to production at this stage, and Mike Harrison was acting Senior Cameraman on Crew 2 for quite a long while.
But I’m afraid I don’t recognise anyone else in the picture. With me on the crew at the time were Mike Harrison and Chris Glass. We also did “Old Grey Whistle Test ” and “Swap Shop ” during the same period. I don’t think it’s John Bradbury on the other ped, and although Chris Glass was hirsuite, and often used glasses when working, it doesn’t look a lot like him either.
Photo 4
Geoff Fletcher
This looks a bit like the TV Theatre but to get that angle you would have to be where the Band Room (booth) was located. Interesting combination of camera and lens – Marconi Mk.3 and Angenieux? An early Mole too.
Dave Lawson
This could be TVT. I think the booth was built when it was re-equipped with the Pye Mk 5. That was in progress when I joined in 1963.
Pat Heigham
I don’t think it was TVT – the circle wasn’t that far forward, and the prompt side of the audience stalls was without seating and floored in to provide a tracking platform for the Mole (and an orchestra booth under the circle).
In 1962, the Mole in the theatre had a driver’s platform (as featured in my 8mm colour film of the Minstrels!).
I never worked at the GG Hippodrome, but could the photo be the Greenwood?
The TVT control rooms were moved from backstage to the circle round about the time I left, around 1968/9, maybe a bit earlier as the Hippodrome filled in while the TVT was out of service?
Referring to my film again, 1962/3 still had the Marconi cams I think – requiring constant tweaking by the engineers, they sometimes didn’t bother to fully fasten the side covers back!, but I have some shots showing the Pye cameras, probably 1965 ish.
Alec Bray
The TVT as I knew it (1963 – 1967) had a wide space between the stage and the front row of the stalls. This area often had a Vinten Motorised crane.
Another Photo!
Copy of image from tech-ops.co.uk
Hugh Sheppard
Can we identify the studio and anyone in the picture?
Bernard Newnham
It’s a still from “This is the BBC” (1959) (The best specialised film of 1959). Watch on YouTube, courtesy Simon of the APTS – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K37_naDSEA
Maurice Fleisher
I realise that it is me on the front of the motorised dolly being driven to the next set toward the end of that shot. As usual showing my best side! Pretty sure it was Studio G if memory serves. I can’t remember any of the other crew. I know it was a Richard Cawson production shot on film.
David Brunt, Roger Bunce
Could that be Bernard Wilkie and Jack Kine of Visual Effects at far left? And the chap pushing Camera 3 looks like Doug Routledge.
John Howell
A likeness to Jack Kine but I’d like to suggest Sound Assistant Ken Twitchen.
Could that be Tony Abbey (on camera 3) standing next to Maurice? (agreed by Hugh Sheppard).
Robin Sutherland
I’ve just had a look at the BBC’s newly launched Genome Project website, an interesting archive of Radio Times programme listings. The title page has a photo of a studio scene from monochrome days featuring Marconi Mk 4 cameras.
I wondered who was the featured cameraman wearing a rather lurid shirt. Not the normal collar and tie and jacket attire I seem to recall from those days.
<h3>Peter Hider
This, I’m pretty sure, is my very good friend Mike Du Boulay, sporting a very typical 1960’s Canadian shirt. I shared a room with him in a house in Acton along with, among others, Pat Hubbard and Garth Tucker although this Colonial has lived back in Canada these last 50 years.
(David Hunter agrees that the cameraman is Mike Du Boulay.)
Here is a photo of Mike and his wife Nancy on their honeymoon in England with me in 1964.
… and another one of him at a Jazz Festival with me and our wives in Florida in 2012. The hair and the dress are now more sober.
Alec Bray
I am going to hazard a guess that the title page photo was taken in TC2 and that the programme is “Juke Box Jury”.
Camera 4 is (definitely) pointing at the audience:
The cue light is at the front of the Marconi Mk IVs and there is no sign of any camera Cue Card or Viewfinder hood, which there should be if the camera is pointing away from the audience.
A third camera is also pointing at the audience (hiding behind the main cameraman):
The Cue Card – correctly on the left hand side of the camera – is on the set side of the studio space.
Of the four cameras shown, only one is pointing at the set:
The only studios to have Marconi Mk IVs in my time at the Beeb were TC2 and TC3.
So what program, shot in TC2 or TC3, would have three cameras pointing at the audience at one time? One answer is certainly “Juke Box Jury”.
Camera 1 was cleared to David Jacobs about half a minute before the other cameras were cleared back to the Jury (so David could comment on the record and introduce the first member of the panel), and normally all other cameras were cleared back to the Jury at the same time as soon as Camera 1 was on air, although sometimes the cameras would be cleared individually.
We had done the first “Juke Box Jury” live on one Saturday – all fine – then shuffled the audience and then recorded the episode for the next Saturday. Towards the end of (the edit of) one particular record, I had quite a nice shot. There was a lad in one of the front rows moving his head from side to side, and as he did this, another lad a few rows back came into vision – out of focus, so it was a focus pull. So the front lad rocked to the side on the beat, pull focus on the lad behind, front lad swung back into shot, pull focus on him. Nice comments came from the gallery. But it was at the end of grams playout: Camera 1 was already cleared. There were then two voices at the same time down talkback “Cut to Camera 4” and “Clear Camera … to Jury”. I can’t tell you which camera was actually released, but as I was expecting to be cleared to the Jury what I (thought I) heard was “Clear Camera 4”. The Vision Mixer heard “Cut to Camera 4”, so instead of a nice arty farty shot there are legs and cables and the audience rostrum bottom …. And it all went out the next Saturday …
As I didn’t get a telling off about this, I guess the Gallery knew that there had been some element of confusion …
Peter Hider
I called Mike Du Boulay and sent him an email to which he replied:
Thanks for the head’s-up call Peter;
Well . . . yes it does look like me. I think that was when I did one Juke Box Jury show when Pat Boone was the guest ! One of my “summer” tops that I came over with. Thanks for sending.
So “Juke Box Jury” was correct.
Steve Jellyman
I worked on “Juke Box Jury” many times in 1966/1967 in TC2 on Crew 4 (Reg Poulter, Peter Ware, Peter Phipp, Jack Gardner).
Saturday: one live, then one recorded for TX the next week. I always did Camera 4. Shots for Camera 4 were something like this:
WS Jury (David J ROF)
(Record plays)
CUs audience
MS Jury member 1
MS Jury member 3
4S Jury for vote.
If the artist was live in the Studio, then that would give the game away as Camera 4 had the shot behind the screen!
It seemed an easy show, but I remember it was quite hard work, especially the live show. The pace was quick finding the audience shots.
That show was the start of my ‘Cameraman’s Back’!
One Saturday evening after the 2 off “Juke Box Jury”s, I was excited to take a lovely Make-Up girl (Jean MacMillan, remember her?) to the Festival Hall to see Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. I still remember it, wonderful! When the show was over I couldn’t get out of the seat; my back had completely seized up!
How to impress a lady!
Tony Grant
I, too, went to that concert, it was absolutely brilliant, although I was there by myself. I would have loved to have helped you out with Jean had I but known!
Maurice Fleisher
I don’t recall a Jean MacMillan, possibly after I had left, but I did have the hots for a gorgeous make-up girl named Natalie Calfe.
I remember seeing Ella with Count Basie (Norman Grant’s tours) at the Gaumont Kilburn if I recall correctly, and was fortunate enough to cover an interview with Duke Ellington at LG where he had the whole studio crew laughing aloud at his droll remarks.
Patrick Heigham
I was lucky to be scheduled with Hugh Barker when the Duke Ellington Orchestra were in TC4.
Amazing to listen to Hugh’s balance in the gallery and then open the door to the studio and hear them for real!
I gathered up all the spare TR90s I could find and made as many first generation 1/4″ recordings as I could. I still have one!
Going round the desks before the show, to check that the mikes were all in position, I noticed that on the stand for Cootie Williams (I think) who played the trumpet ‘screamers’ there was a full page Playboy centrefold, obviously to give him inspiration!
+++++++
Alec Bray
Robin said, in respect of the photo “… Not the normal collar and tie and jacket attire I seem to recall from those days…”
I normally worked in shirtsleeves – with the mandatory tie, of course. One day I was doing Cameras on Eric Sykes (can’t remember the exact series). I was on a camera that was looking through the front door onto the set – there was to be some business with Corky, I believe. The front door was to the side of the side.
Unfortunately, the other cameras on set could see the bright white of my nice white shirt through the window in the door, and I was asked (very nicely, If I remember) if I could wear my jacket to prevent the glare.
