{"id":2765,"date":"2014-11-11T15:48:16","date_gmt":"2014-11-11T15:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/?page_id=2765"},"modified":"2014-11-11T15:48:16","modified_gmt":"2014-11-11T15:48:16","slug":"programme-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/programme-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Programme Stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cVendetta\u201d<\/h2>\n

Bernard Newnham, Bill Jenkin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There were a number of colour studios but BBC1 was still monochrome.  I rememberworking on the crime series ‘Vendetta’ with Stelio Candelli, an Italian who didn’t speak English that well, and that was recorded in TC1 with EMI 2001s in monochrome. It seemed odd at the time.<\/p>\n

Roger Bunce <\/strong><\/h3>\n

I remember doing the first series of \u201cVendetta\u201d. No memories of whether it was black and white or colour – but then all the viewfinders and monitors on the studio floor would have been black and white anyway. I was \u2018Crew Relief, Mainly Sound\u2019 at the time – struggling to appear helpful, enthusiastic and completely incompetent – so that I could get back to Cameras as soon as possible, without getting too bad a report.<\/p>\n

Stellio Candelli got stage-fright on one episode and didn’t turn up. Neil McCallum had recently been introduced as a co-hero, in the hopes of making the dialogue more comprehensible. So, at zero notice he had to take over all of Stellio’s studio scenes. Unfortunately, Stellio still appeared in all the film inserts. Extra lines had to be added to justify the character change, for example:<\/p>\n

"Are you going there now?"
\n"No. I’ll send my friend Danny Scipio." (and so on)<\/p>\n

Oddly, the public rarely seem to notice these desperate contrivances.<\/p>\n

Years later, I was watching an episode of "Taggart". Half-way through, I said to my wife,
\n"Mark McManus is ill."
\n"How do you know?"
\nBecause another actor had taken over some of the scenes in which you would have expected Taggart to be the lead character. It immediately brought back memories of \u201cVendetta\u201d. Mark McManus died shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n

Peter Neill<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This brings to mind an \u201cEastEnders\u201d when June Brown appeared on set having just returned from holiday. Make-Up had tried their best but there was no way they could mask her deep tan. Julia Smith decreed that Dot would never look like that and her lines had to be distributed round the rest of the cast. <\/p>\n

David Brunt<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cTV60\u201d billed an episode of \u201cNot Only \u2026 But Also\u201d featuring John Lennon (the Christmas one, I think). Allegedly it was replaced by the first episode of \u201cThe Likely Lads\u201d.<\/p>\n

Len Shorey<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The \u201cNot Only \u2026 But Also\u201d show featuring John Lennon was the pilot recorded in TC1, producer Jim Gilbert.<\/p>\n

At the end of rehearsals and into the meal break.  The late Neal Sadwick gram\/op found Lennon lost looking for the canteen.  Neal took him and enjoyed having a meal with him. Unfortunately I stayed behind in the Control Room to try sort a few problems.  I’m sorry I missed him!<\/p>\n

Louis Barfe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I think the billed \u201dNot Only…But Also\u201d was the first one, transmission date: 09\/01\/1965 and not the 26\/12\/1966 special. In any case, \u201cThe Likely Lads\u201d (episode 3 of series 1, \u201cOlder Women Are More Experienced\u201d) wasn\u2019t long enough for the slot, so as a bonus we got the 04\/06\/1962 edition of \u201cPoints of View\u201d – http:\/\/youtu.be\/WfGGmpD12ZY<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/a> – complete with a tour of TV Centre and Lime Grove to the tune of \u201cFar More Drums\u201d by the Dave Brubeck Quartet.<\/p>\n

\"Programmes_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Programmes_2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Programmes_3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGirls of Slender Means\u201d<\/h2>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Girls of Slender Means\u201d  is a novella written in 1963 by Scottish author Muriel Spark. <\/p>\n

It is set in ‘The May of Teck Club’, established by Princess May of Teck during the First World War "for the Pecuniary Convenience and Social Protection of Ladies of Slender Means below the age of Thirty Years, who are obliged to reside apart from their Families in order to follow an Occupation in London". It concerns the lives and loves of its desperate residents amongst the deprivations of immediate post-war Kensington between VE Day and VJ Day in 1945.<\/p>\n

TV production transmission date: 3rd<\/sup> May 1965<\/p>\n

Bernie Newnham<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In  \u201cThe Graham Norton Show\u201d  Series 14 Episode 17,  Miriam Margolyes shows the pictures from \u201cGirls of Slender Means\u201d  amongst other laugh-out-loud stuff. <\/p>\n

John Henshall organised it all and  Roger Bunce is in the front and Pete Fox at the back.  <\/p>\n

\"Programmes_4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHow It Is\u201d<\/h2>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

\u201cHow It Is\u201d (1968) TV Series – 30 min – Talk-Show
\n[IMDB<\/em>]<\/p>\n

\"Programmes_5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Geoff Fletcher<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first mention of \u201cHow It Is\u201d in my diaries is on Thursday 18 July 1968, also in TC2 with Tony Palmer directing. This was with Crew 14 and Robin Barnes was Senior Cameraman that day and I did Camera 4. It was also recorded in G at Lime Grove from time to time and the last mention of it in my diaries is on Friday 13 December in R2 when Dave Mutton crewed me out for the day. It obviously moved about a bit.<\/p>\n

John Howell, David Brunt, Steve Jellyman<\/strong><\/h3>\n

John Howell was Grams\/Tape Op. for Colin Dixon on most of the \u201cHow It Is\u201d series, bailing out in October 1968 to work on \u201cTreasure Island\u201d with the irrepressible John Staple. John has a vague memory of Arthur Brown appearing on \u201cHow It Is\u201d and the Fire Officer decreeing, "I don’t care who you are sir, you’re not setting fire to your head in my studio!"<\/p>\n

The series was piloted in TC4 on 11th April 1968 under the title ‘My Generation" with Tony Palmer directing. There was an ‘interview pit’ in front of a BP screen which had a continuous showing of \u201cStagecoach\u201d and the fire lanes were full of traders selling military uniforms and other ‘Carnaby Street’ paraphernalia. The lapel badges however said ‘Sound and Picture City’.<\/p>\n

\"Programmes_6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

"Sound and Picture City", a wild ‘psychedelic’ music show for which only one pilot show was recorded in TC4, was another alternate title for the April 1968 "My Generation" pilot that evolved into "How it Is".  Produced by Tony Palmer, presented by Kenny Everett, Chris Denning and Caroline Coon.  The Who were main guests.<\/p>\n

David Brunt suspects that the April recording might have been with The Who.<\/p>\n

In 1969 \u201cHow It Is\u201d went on to become \u201cHow Late It Is\u201d.Wasn’t there another ‘magazine’ programme running concurrently with \u201cDee Time\u201d, that is \u201cThe Wednesday Show\u201d hosted by David Jacobs?<\/p>\n

One show of which I have a vague memory was a wild ‘psychedelic’ music show called ‘Sound and Picture City’! Only one pilot show was recorded in TC4, and I think it was about summer 1966?<\/p>\n

Tony Millier<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I remember doing \u201cHow It Is\u201d in Studio G then Riverside. Producer was Tony Palmer, Director Tony Cash? Grams was John Howell (a great asset and moral booster). I was a nervous Sound Supervisor having just been appointed. At one pre-recording we had the British Youth Orchestra from the Proms playing in the audience rostrum. Also the John Dankworth orchestra following an all-night band call at Ronnie Scott’s club – I was refused the overtime!
\nGreat days. <\/p>\n

I remember Bert Power and Chris Wilden were on the crew. I met Chris much later at TVI sound Dubbing when he came to check us out for possible use by Anglia TV when he has head of something in sound.<\/p>\n

The \u201cHow It Is\u201d programme had a banjo player in the audience who would be cued to play by the producer if he thought the current item should be curtailed. I had a Pye compressor modified to access the side chain and fed from the banjo mic. This device would then gate out the interview groups etc. and then we moved on to the next item.<\/p>\n

Roger Bunce<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I remember that "How It Is" was initially known as "How Late It Is", a reference to the fact that it was a late night show and that its target audience of ‘young people’ (before they were known as ‘Yoof’) would feel ever so grown-up if they were allowed to stay up and watch it! <\/p>\n

Later, either because it was scheduled earlier, or because the first title was starting to sound too patronising, it was changed to "How It Is" – as in "We’re telling it how it is!" – in an attempt to sound hard-hitting and gritty. But this didn’t stop critics on Radio 4 (or was it the Home Service then) calling it "This is it". They sometimes had one camera pointing at a monitor, so that pop groups could be surrounded by Doctor Who-style video howl-rounds. I remember those Radio critics praising Tony Palmer’s use such avante-garde, experimental techniques, and saying that "the Old-Fashioned Engineers of the BBC" would probably have disapproved. And WHO do they think invented those techniques, if it wasn’t those old fashioned BBC Engineers? Did they think that Tony Palmer would have dreamt up such things all by himself, if some uncredited Techie hadn’t suggested it to him! <\/p>\n

I remember Tony Palmer’s shouting, abusive directorial style, and one occasion when a Cameraman refused to continue unless he apologised. He did. I also suspect that "How It Is" was the basis of that programme for "Young Adults" that was so mercilessly parodied in one episode of "The Young Ones".  <\/p>\n

Bill Jenkin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I think \u201cHow it Is\u201d was produced by Tony Palmer. Before the series started I was sitting in the canteen with Chris Beer. We were discussing a project Chris was involved in which we were going to call \u201cMYSYRA \u2013 How it Was\u201d (MYSYRA stood for \u201cMeet yourself as you really are\u201d \u2013 well it was Chris Beer).  We talked about the title, Tony Palmer was sitting on his own at the next table ear-wigging.  The next thing we know is that a new series called \u201cHow It Is\u201d appeared in the schedules with Tony Palmer as producer.  Coincidence? \u2013 well you can judge that for yourself.  <\/p>\n

\u201cHow It Was\u201d was directed by various people, Tony Staveacre was one, I think Bruce Milliard may have been another.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately The Who\u2019s appearance on \u2018Twice a Fortnight\u2019 with Crew 14 shaking the cameras to bits etc to \u201cI can see for miles\u201d is no longer on Youtube \u2013 too many copyright infringements.<\/p>\n

Robin Sutherland<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I did eight episodes of \u201cHow It Is\u201d in 1968 including the first with Arthur Brown (18\/07\/1968) and his inflammable headgear which I’m sure Tony Palmer directed – very loudly. <\/p>\n

I remember Angela Huth taking over and Tony Staveacre being a welcome change from TP. <\/p>\n

“How It Is”<\/h2>\n

Louis Barfe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This could it have been ‘The Friday Show’, which ran from 14 October 1960 to  30 December 1960. Different host and different producer each week. Dennis Main Wilson produced the first, with Dennis Lotis hosting, and a later one was hosted by George Formby and produced by Dickie Afton. <\/p>\n

Nick Lake<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Does anyone know who the VM was? I’m more than a bit impressed that anyone could actually cut that fast on the old BBC desk – not that you’d know at that speed whether they’d cut to the wrong camera or not!<\/p>\n

Mind you, if it’s not heresy, I’ve always felt there was a tendency towards pretentious b*ll*cks at the time (of which \u201cHow It Is\u201d was something of an exponent) until OGWT finally reinstated some common sense.<\/p>\n

Derek Martin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I remember doing a show in TC2 with Everett, Denning etc.  I clearly recall being on a Heron behind the stage watching Keith Emerson stick knives into his organ keyboard during ‘America’.   I thought it was in TC2 – I remember it being pretty cramped<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/Dg9jHTYZ-6U<\/a><\/span><\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Programmes_7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bill Jenkin<\/strong><\/h3>\n

According to missing-episodes.com<\/i> the list of \u201cHow it is\u201d\/\u201dHow late it is\u201d episodes is as below (which would indicate that \u201cHow it Is\u201d was in 1968 and pre-dated \u201cHow Late it Is\u201d in 1969. <\/p>\n

I do remember one of those shows being done at Lime Grove \u2018G\u2019 on a Saturday (I think I was the Inlay Operator for this one show \u2013 the Bosch Fernseh overlay machine). I think it was usually done live but for some reason this day it was being recorded \u201cas live\u201d not long before TX time. I know Ron Koplick was the TM. It was the usual chaos in the gallery and Ron realised they were running out of recording time. When he tried to tell them about this they told him to shut up in no uncertain manner. Come the end of the recording Ron quietly informed them that the last 10 to 15 minutes had not been recorded.  There was not time to do the whole show again before the TX so they had to record the last 15 mins again and do a change over half way through!  I don\u2019t think this is a fantasy of mine but memory does pay tricks. <\/p>\n

1968 series \u2013 \u201cHow It Is\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
19th July 1968 <\/td>\nThe very first edition including Yoko Ono, Arthur Brown and a feature on \u201cYellow Submarine\u201d.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
26th July 1968 <\/td>\nEric Burdon and Pentangle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd August 1968 <\/td>\nMike Stuart Span<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
23rd August 1968 <\/td>\nThe Nice (Presumably this edition is the source of their performance of "America" on \u201cSounds of the Sixties\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6th September 1968 <\/td>\nMoody Blues<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
20th September 1968 <\/td>\nStatus Quo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
27th September 1968 <\/td>\nTyrannosaurus Rex<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11th October 1968 <\/td>\nThe Who "Magic Bus" and Spooky Tooth "The Weight"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25th October 1968 <\/td>\nPentangle<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1st November 1968 <\/td>\nPentangle (A bit odd for them to be on 2 weeks running, maybe they cancelled on the 25th October)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
22nd November 1968 <\/td>\nThe Gun (also some film used to illustrate the Beatles \u201cWhite\u201d album which was released the same day)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13th December 1968 <\/td>\n Fairport Convention<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

1969 series \u2013 \u201cHow Late It Is\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
14th March 1969 <\/td>\n The Who "Pinball Wizard"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
21st March 1969 <\/td>\n Led Zeppelin (as a last minute replacement act)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
25th April 1969 <\/td>\n Chicken Shack<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2nd May 1969 <\/td>\n John Lennon and Yoko Ono interview<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

&NBSP;<\/h2>\n

\u201cTwice a Fortnight\u201d<\/h2>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

\u201cTwice a Fortnight\u201d was a 1967 British sketch comedy television series with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie, Jonathan Lynn and Tony Buffery.<\/p>\n

Graeme Garden suggested to the director, Tony Palmer, that Michael Palin and Terry Jones be included in the cast and writers of the show.<\/p>\n

[Wikipedia<\/i>]<\/p>\n

Geoff Fletcher, Peter Neill<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cTwice A Fortnight\u201d was a weekly late-night live comedy show starring, among others, pre-\u201cGoodies\u201d Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie  and was recorded on Sundays at Lime Grove Studio G. It went out on Saturday evenings. Geoff worked on 8 programmes from Sunday 15 October 1967 through to Sunday 17 December 1967 with Crew 14. Tony Palmer was replaced by another director on one of them – Sunday 10 December 1967. <\/p>\n

For several weeks Peter Neill worked on \u201cDee Time\u201d on a Saturday, derigged, spent the rest of the evening in the Club, kipped down in the sound gallery and was there bright and early for \u201cTwice A Fortnight\u201d. <\/p>\n

Robin Sutherland<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I was on Crew 14 with the great Dave Mutton, the highlight in my three years in Tech Ops. He was credited as "The Lamb" in a crazy arts show we did with Tony Palmer.<\/p>\n

I seem to remember the whole crew being dressed in monks\u2019 hooded cloaks for the recording, for some obscure reason. I definitely recall tracking the Mole with Dave Mutton on the front wearing a massive hooded black robe and thinking, \u201cThis is bizarre!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tony put the whole crew on the end credits and was told he couldn’t, so he moved them to the opening of the show!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/h1>\n

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\u201cVendetta\u201d Bernard Newnham, Bill Jenkin There were a number of colour studios but BBC1 was still monochrome.  I rememberworking on the crime series ‘Vendetta’ with Stelio Candelli, an Italian who didn’t speak English that well, and that was recorded in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2765","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"coauthors":[],"author_meta":{"author_link":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/author\/alec\/","display_name":"Alec Bray"},"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 12 years ago","modified":"Updated 12 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 11, 2014","modified":"Updated on November 11, 2014"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 11, 2014 3:48 pm","modified":"Updated on November 11, 2014 3:48 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_img":false,"series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2765"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2769,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2765\/revisions\/2769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tech-ops.co.uk\/next\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}