<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> </head> <body><div class="auto-created-dir-div" dir="auto" style="unicode-bidi: embed;"><style>p{margin:0}</style><p>Hi,</p><p><br></p><p>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.</p><p><br></p><div>Peter,</div><p><br></p><p>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. <br></p><p><br></p><p>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.<br></p><p><br></p><p>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. <br></p><p><br></p><p>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.</p><p><br></p><p>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'.</p><p><br></p><p>Best wishes,</p><p><br></p><p>Martin</p><p><br></p><p>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?<br></p><p> </p><br><br><div id="" class=""><div style="font-family:garamond, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97640">Martin Everard<br clear="none">Mob: +44 (0)7590 444 854</div><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif;font-size:13px;" id="ydp4d61926eyui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_104043">LinkedIn: <a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://uk.linkedin.com/in/martin13/" id="ydp4d61926eyui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_104048">http://uk.linkedin.com/in/martin13/</a> </div><div id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97642"> </div>For a self-catering stay in London, whether for business or vacation, try this:<br id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97692" clear="none"><br><div id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97647">www.vrbo.com/1017372 - Executive 5*, sleeps 2</div><div><br>Or this super 2 bedroom apartment:<br>www.vrbo.com/1016626 Sleeps 2 to 4<br></div><div><br clear="none"></div><div><span id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97796" style="line-height:1.22;">Be a Friend of Barbara Everard on Facebook: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.facebook.com/barbara.everard.3">http://www.facebook.com/barbara.everard.3</a><br></span></div><div><br></div><div dir="ltr"><div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Everard">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Everard</a></div><span id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97796" style="line-height:1.22;"></span></div><div><span id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97796" style="line-height:1.22;"></span><br></div><div dir="ltr">View her paintings on Flickr and <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.barabar-everard.com">www.barbara-everard.com</a> <br></div><span id="ydp4d61926eyiv5587042507yui_3_16_0_1_1497255908614_97796" style="line-height:1.22;"><br clear="none">"Call Them the Happy Years", Barbara Everard's colourful memoirs are now on sale and can be ordered on </span><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://www.barbara-everard.com/" style="line-height:1.22;">www.barbara-everard.com</a><span style="line-height:1.22;"> or </span><a rel="nofollow" shape="rect" target="_blank" href="http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop" style="line-height:1.22;">http://www.fast-print.net/bookshop</a><span style="line-height:1.22;"> and insert the ISBN number: 9781844269877 in the Search box.</span><font size="1"><br></font><div><var id="ydp4d61926eyui-ie-cursor"></var><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>