[Pres] Reminscences of 'happy families' occasioned by the sadness of Geoff's death.

[MARTIN EVERARD]

Hi,

Peter J recalled the 80's and 90's as decades of 'happy families' 
decades. I responded but intended to my reaction for all to read r=ather 
than Peter alone. So I have pasted the email here. If however, it did 
circulate to everyone and this is the second reading, please accept my 
apologies - blame it on the heat and an 80 year olds temerity.

Peter,

Can I add the 70's to that period of 'happy families'? One of the 
reasons for that is the enormous development and creativity that were 
both explored and encouraged in Pres and in the wider BBC TV output 
during those decades. Once the universal introduction of computer 
programs in Network Control was actioned and inventiveness in promotions 
and trailer making was contracted out, the originality of input of those 
individuals who followed was seriously diminished, changed and rendered 
unnecessary.

Who in Pres today would make the sort of decisions that Geoff, you and 
others were making in their time, on many occasions on the seat of their 
pants, with all that adrenaline and an Editor, a voice box instruction 
away if not actually standing behind you? If that wasn't exciting,if 
that didn't make you think, if that didn't test your ingenuity, 
reactions, objectivity, tell me what was. Arguing with the Biddy 
Baxter's of this world not to mention Jonathan Martin and Bryan Cowgill, 
Alan Yentob and numerous News editors over their 'live' running times 
certainly tested one's nerve.

I had two careers in Pres and can vouch for the above. In the second 
period, with Pam Masters (and a few other faces!) running things, the 
responsibiliy of Network Directors in particular changed dramatically. 
Little or no live input, channels delivered by pre-programmed transition 
sequences and recorded continuity, need I go on. The most creative and 
adrenaline-fuellled activity that I experienced in the early 2000's, 
thanks to Dr Brown, was re-editing Newsnight while it was still on air 
and running the self-editied Beta tapes along to BBC World. And Pam 
couldn't see the future in that little bit of responsible creative input 
(it was reported to me that editing programmes wasn't a Pres 
responsibity - maybe she was right!) but it was a long way from the good 
old Pres B days of programme making and so I set up the Versioning Unit 
in General Features. I think that it is stiil running but, if not, the 
principle of re-editing and rebroadcasting archive programming has come 
into its own in the last 6 months.

I think that I almost took this to the extreme  in The Business Channel, 
where nothing was live and was run effectively from a jumped-up PC. Not 
even a NC or Pres Control in the chain.

And all the responses to Geoff's sad and, as I put it, untimely, death 
seem to endorse your description of Pres's 'happy family'.

Best wishes,

Martin

PS. Is there anyone, who would like to put all these wonderful 
experiences of working with Geoof into a single document - an obit and 
distribute it? Ariel, if it still exists? Prospero?



Martin Everard
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