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

[Peter Dickson]

Lovely to read this Martin. And heartwarming that so many here have such
fond memories of working with Geoff.
I have written about my, albeit short time, voicing promos in Pres A,
alongside Ray Moore, John Braben and others in the 80's  in my forthcoming
book "Voiceover Man". It it will be published and available from the 25th
September. When writing it, I counted my blessings that I was around during
that golden period. Such strong, forthright, intelligent, eccentric
characters. Who can forget using the speaking clock to sync video and the
mostly live voicing of promos involving live play-in of both TK and VT with
10 - 15 second run up? Try telling that to those who followed and they look
at you with open eyed disbelief!
We were the fortunate.

Peter


Peter Dickson

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020, 13:17 MARTIN EVERARD via Pres, <pres at tech-ops.co.uk>
wrote:

> 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
> Mob: +44 (0)7590 444 854
> LinkedIn: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/martin13/
> For a self-catering stay in London, whether for business or vacation, try
> this:
>
> www.vrbo.com/1017372 - Executive 5*, sleeps 2
>
> Or this super 2 bedroom apartment:
> www.vrbo.com/1016626 Sleeps 2 to 4
>
> Be a Friend of Barbara Everard on Facebook:
> http://www.facebook.com/barbara.everard.3
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Everard
>
> View her paintings on Flickr and www.barbara-everard.com
> <http://www.barabar-everard.com>
>
> "Call Them the Happy Years", Barbara Everard's colourful memoirs are now
> on sale and can be ordered on www.barbara-everard.com or
> http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop and insert the ISBN number:
> 9781844269877 in the Search box.
>
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