When I was asked to do a memory piece on ABC’s Features Department I found it difficult to start. Individual shows fade from memory and when I tried to recall them it was the faces of colleagues, friends, that remained as vivid as ever.

They were a remarkable group of men and women who served the Features Department. The resolute, brave and intellectual Penry Jones, now Head of Religious Broadcasting for the BBC; Penry going to bat with Geoffrey Gilbert when there was a major row over A Man Dies; Geoffrey, now Programme Controller of Ulster, tackling every problem with his own unique combination of gaiety and drive which never deserted him whether he was on a rain-drenched Other Man’s Farm, wrestling with the network when we started World of Sport, or taking a new look at Religion or at Adult Education, or motoring, or any of the many jobs that he tackled. Geoffrey had a unique idea of a working week – as far as I could make out he used to deduct about 30 hours for sleep, and spend the rest of his time on Company business.

In the office next door in the Features corridor, was Reginald Collin riding herd on a strange anarchic collection of talents under the banner of Tempo. Never phased by temperaments or disasters because, as he would airily put it, after current affairs with Tom Brennand and Roy Bottomley nothing bothered you! And we all knew what he meant! Tom and Roy, of course, were our Billy Foulkes and Nobby Stiles (don’t ask me which was which), but neither of them ever intended to lose in any conditions, on any pitch, home or away no matter how many goals behind. And they seldom did.

The Features people were a stroppy bunch – ostensibly I ran the Department, but I sometimes wondered whether control of such a collection of individualists was far more myth than reality. One recalls the clowning and brilliant Joe McGrath with a degree of temperament that had carried him from Scottish First Division Football to Spain to Rediffusion, to us, to the BBC, to feature films. Not only a fine talent but one of the most engaging of human beings. But flair is not always the prerogative of the extrovert as the quiet Ben Churchill proved. A producer of enormous tact and sympathy and as fine a gallery director as I have ever seen. Another quiet man was Ted Childs, whose sense of humour and wit surmounted some very tough problems. Anyone remember the University College of North Wales at Bangor?

We will not forget the ladies: Helen Standage, who called a spade a damned old shovel (to put it mildly), without ever losing her dainty femininity. The resourceful and versatile Margery Baker. Pam Lonsdale who never stopped worrying, and never turned out a show that did not look polished, sure of itself and intelligent. Marjory Ruse, whose hardheaded Northern intellect was always tempered with a sympathetic and loyal approach towards her colleagues and the Company.

Back to the men and Geoffrey Ramsey, a strong, competent man from my own side of the water; the genial and charming Mike Vardy, and those talented guests from other quarters, Michael Mills, now Head of Comedy at the BBC and Peter Luke who is writing in Spain – so he says. The steadfast Malcolm Morris, who was there at the beginning and came back at the end and is now the Programme Controller of Tyne Tees. And, of course, Mike Hodges, the bearded red-head (you can never trust people who look like that for a start!) whose first contact with ABC was as a teleprompter operator at Didsbury and who has now become a national name as a producer/writer and disciple of Marshal McLuahan.

Then there was sturdy Tom Clegg, Ian Mackenzie, David Wickes, loyal, clever John Kershaw, and those three indispensable ladies – Iris Pratt, Rene Bloomstein and Jean Smith (Trinder). Some great P.A.s, too – Nora Fielding, Verity Lambert, Ruth Parkhill, Jackie Davis and Anne Summerton.

Possibly I should have listed “shows” and “firsts”, and there were plenty, in religion, in the arts, in sport (John Bromley & Co), in late-night television, in Adult Education and in current affairs, but to me people are always far more important than occasions and it is the people that made the programmes.

If I had to select one memory to epitomise the way the Features Department functioned it would be the occasion of the tragic death of Hugh Gaitskell. I heard the announcement on the radio and within 10 minutes, believe it or not, I had been rung by every single producer and director in the Features Department volunteering their services if we wished to do some sort of extra programme. Tom and Roy, within hours, had located a miner in Leeds who had been the victim of an industrial accident and whose entire way of life had been preserved by his M.P. – Gaitskell. Somehow Terry Pace and the Mobile Unit managed to get cameras across the Pennines in appalling winter conditions and ABC delivered probably the most singular and moving obituary on Gaitskell in the entire range of British broadcasting.

This incident was to me typical of the incredible energy, goodwill and co-operation that we experienced together in those exciting years of Feature Programming. I doubt if I will every enjoy broadcasting more and I am sure I could never find a better collection of men and women anywhere at any time.

If my reminiscences of the Features Department has become a salute to the Programme Staff and the production colleagues that so ably serviced them, I do not apologise. I think that’s the way it should be. That is the way it was.

The post People count… appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

When the lights go out for the last time at Didsbury studios, there’ll be a lot of us who will go all sentimental like dear old Bernie Winters and hum a chorus of “Bye Bye Didsbury”!

And why shouldn’t we be sentimental about the studio which saw the birth of Armchair Theatre, of Boy Meets Girl, of Big Night Out, Just Jimmy, Opportunity Knocks and so many other ABC shows?

My first contact with Didsbury was for Happily Ever After starring Dora Bryan in 1961. Actually, it wasn’t; my very first contact with Didsbury was in 1956 (or was it ’57?) when ABC and Granada got together for a social evening! If that’s a digression, it’s one which still surely invokes a few memories with the “founder” members — of whom there remain so many at Didsbury.

Back to Happily Ever After. Opposite Dora Bryan as her doctor husband was Peter Murray. In those days comedy shows were played the more logical, but certainly less effective, way round. That is, the audience was in the circle and the performers were a mile away on the floor! A lot of the action was ‘blind’ to the audience and reaction was consequently weak. Later, in an effort to improve atmosphere, seats for an extra audience were added on the floor and finally the studio was turned round to the present shape.

Pre-1961 I can only speak of Didsbury-based shows as a (then local) viewer. I remember Joan Edwards dusting away each Saturday morning to the strains of Poor People of Paris, Cherry Pink and Que Sera Sera – all 1956 vintage pre-rock stuff when pops still came from Tin Pan Alley.

Then, of course, there was Home Town Saturday Night, Top Numbers and Billie Whitelaw’s Time Out for Peggy. In 1959 rock arrived at Parrswood Road in Boy Meets Girl [sic: Girls — Ed] and Wham! Marty Wilde, Billy Fury, The Vernons Girls, Joe Brown and so many now forgotten rock stars of the fifties must certainly keep happy and affectionate memories of those days and those ever-helpful people at the Capitol.

I can speak personally in this — and I know that Roy, Peter, Milo, Pat and Ronnie will echo my own feelings. There was nothing quite like the Didsbury welcome; nothing quite like Frank’s greeting at the steps to make you feel wanted and important! The crew have handled just about every big artiste and every type of big show from Drama to Spectaculars yet one always sensed and appreciated their excitement with each new series.

Melody and evergreen tunes for a while replaced rock ‘n’ roll in Buckaroo. Looking back on it (impartially — I wasn’t producing!) what a super set it was, and what a happy show. And the music tapes still sound good today, don’t they fellers? And, of course, Jimmy Clitheroe. For three years Just Jimmy has been one of the big rating-pullers in our own regions and is now at last being seen in London. The appearance of the show in the Tam Top 20 is a feather in Jimmy’s schoolboy cap – and another for Didsbury.

Mike and Bernie Winters arrived with Big Night Out in 1963 and this was one of the first shows to feature regularly the ABC Television Showband – a group of Manchester-based musicians got together by Bob Sharples. The combination of Mike and Bernie with Lionel Blair paved the way for Blackpool Night Out in 1964. Although not strictly Didsbury in origin, the Blackpool shows were very much the responsibility of Didsbury studio and technical personnel.

I know that David Nixon has attempted and succeeded with tricks at Didsbury which he would hesitate to perform elsewhere.

Without giving away those professional magicians’ secrets (in fact, I couldn’t — I usually wonder how they’re done myself!) I cannot help recalling that complicated system of runners between the studio and the bar of the Parrswood opposite. Not, I hasten to add, for liquor, but in some mysterious way connected with David’s “subject” isolated in the bar. David must have lost count of the programmes he has appeared in at Didsbury – Comedy Bandbox, Candid Camera, the David Nixon Show and very many guest spots.

And if Mike and Bernie, David Nixon and all of us in Light Entertainment will miss Didsbury, so too will Hughie Green. Opportunity Knocks now approaches the end of its fifth series and Hughie’s frequent praise of the crew is some measure of his respect for this soon-to-be-darkened studio.

And where else could Ken Dodd watch a playback in the small hours of the morning – he would certainly want to add his discomknockerating thanks!

I am grateful to Joan Davy, who has edited our House Magazine for all these years, for the opportunity to thank everyone at Didsbury from all of us in Light Entertainment. Each of us must have his own collection of Didsbury memories and those which stick with me include seeing Emperor Jones as a live Armchair Theatre; Bernie Winters being “blown up” each week in Big Night Out; Hughie Green introducing Tony Holland (can’t hear “Wheels” without thinking of the Muscle Man, can you?); Peter’s editing sessions — “It fills a ninety minute tape – how the hell can I get it down to thirty-seven-thirty?”; Ronnie Baxter’s warm-ups (how could they not be a good audience when he’s so nice to them); Pat Johns, the flying ace of Blackpool; and Milo and Roy and their audition marathons – how many times must they have heard Granada?

But the fact is that they’re all happy memories. And, in return for them may I wish all the Diddlesbury boys and girls, as Hughie would say, who are shortly crossing the Pennines, the very best of luck in your new jobs and in your new homes. If it’s any consolation, Drury Lane will have nothing on the old Capitol for ghosts!

The post Farewell Didsbury appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

With MIKE and BERNIE WINTERS once again in the hosting spot, this sixty-minute production produced by PHILIP JONES will draw its talent from the great names of the entertainment world including those who are headlining the North’s big summer shows. Already booked to appear are: THE BEATLES, FRANK IFIELD, THE BACHELORS, SOPHIE TUCKER, DIANA DORS, THE SEARCHERS and CILLA BLACK.

Other regular Blackpool Night Outers include LIONEL BLAIR and His Dancers and the ABC TELEVISION SHOW-BAND, under the baton of Musical Director BOB SHARPLES.

While BLACKPOOL NIGHT OUT has provided one of the biggest OB sound problems for the technical boys, it means the summer months by the sea for Producer PHILIP JONES and Designer BRIAN EATWELL and their families.

Others taking up residence in or around Blackpool for the run of the show include PA JEAN FENTON, Choreographer LIONEL BLAIR, dancers PATSY SPENCER and GILLIAN BOWDEN and, of course, MIKE and BERNIE WINTERS, their wives and children… Mike’s wife Cassie having successfully found a house for them all while the rest of the family worked on the last BIG NIGHT OUT series at Teddington. (Bernie’s wife SIGGI HEINE was one of the original dancers.)

Meanwhile Philip, Jean and Brian have secured office premises for the season above a cafe just across the road from the theatre – ever known a Production team not to find a built-in tea trolley?

After months of planning, technicians are now capable of running up the largest number of microphones ever – no less than 31. Under the supervision of Assistant Technical Manager, KEN PIKE, who was responsible for much of the original television installation at the theatre, a truck has been specially fitted out as a sound control room, camera platforms constructed specially for the job with built-in cabling, and talk-back systems devised whereby almost everybody can talk to everyone else.

Easing this great challenge to the Mobile Operation, of course, are the seven camera point boxes and thousands of feet of cable originally built into the theatre – 1,250 ft plus 1,050 ft vision, 6,150 ft micro and 2,700 ft of talk-back cable.

The new ABC Blackpool stands on a site associated with show business for more than sixty nine years.

The new theatre – which justifiably claims to be Europe’s most luxurious showplace – has been erected at a cost of more than £300,000, embodying all the latest facets of contemporary design with emphasis placed throughout on good taste and comfort… plus the fact that it has been wired to cater for today’s ever-increasing television audience, enabling programmes to be swiftly and easily screened direct from the North where the biggest stars are performing in their fabulous Summer Shows.

The post Blackpool Night Out appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.