I am extremely proud that I have been in Howard Thomas’s highly-successful television team from start to finish.

There is a natural feeling of sadness that this journey is now approaching its end. But what a fascinating and interesting time I have shared with the others who, like me, have been lucky enough to serve ABC Television throughout the company’s life.

Much of the excitement and triumph of the early years has been almost lost in the kaleidoscope of time. So many things have happened that there is a tendency for the memories of them to run into one another. Each is a story on its own but there is not the space to recount them.

Some of the early incidents would seem tame today and some absurd. Like the time we nearly lost an Outside Broadcast from a gas works in the Midlands because the communications engineer did not realise that gasometers rise when filled with gas.

In the first three or four years we successfully carried out so many “firsts” in television history that to record them would make most people raise the eyebrow of doubt or disbelief.

There has always been a varied mixture of emotions in life on Outside Broadcasts. The exhilaration of the open air on sunny summer days, and the misery of freezing fog and snow on the wicked winding road of the Pennines in winter.

The cold chill of being told in the middle of a televised church service that a high explosive bomb is hidden inside the church.

Above all, I think that all who have worked on Outside Broadcasts will value the wonderful comradeship. At all times we have worked as a team. One man’s misfortune was shared by all and many is the time that a programme would not have gone out but for the devotion and zeal of every single member of the team, often under appalling weather conditions.

During the entire period of ABC Television’s contract in the North and Midlands we have never once failed to get to an OB location, no matter how bad the weather or the road conditions.

We have travelled a million miles or more and contributed a surprisingly high proportion of the Company’s programme hours. We have established and maintained ABC’s Outside Broadcasts as the biggest and best amongst the ITV companies.

How can one select individual programmes for mention out of so many? I remember best of all the friendly fun of Holiday Town Parade which ran so successfully for the first seven years.

I can still see Joe Loss’s face when one Friday at the band call a waiter brought him some ham sandwiches. “I cannot eat those,” said Joe. “Oh, I am sorry,” the waiter gravely replied, “I forgot that you can’t eat meat on a Friday!” [Loss was Jewish — Ed]

I suppose that the most memorable highlights would be the great occasions. Like the opening of the Yorkshire Station in November, 1955 [sic — 1956]. The first-ever OB from the huge Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool which had previously been thought to be so big as to be impossible to light.

The first Communion from Coventry Cathedral with a mammoth transmission of three-and-a-half hours only equalled by the great Easter OB from York Minster.

Perhaps the greatest achievement was the coverage of the Consecration of the Metropolitan R.C. Cathedral in Liverpool last year. A three-hours’ ceremony which ended at 5.45 p.m. and was condensed by editing while the recording was being made into a 70-minute programme which went out over the network half an hour later at 6.15 p.m. A transmission controller complained that it had underrun by 20 seconds!

Now the finest and most specialised collection of OB men is breaking up and scattering to new places and new companies.

I venture to forecast that if they do not think so now, before long they will look back on their days with ABC as the most happy and satisfying of their careers and I am sure that they will be most lucky if they find an equal to ABC Television for the way they are treated and the respect given to them as individuals.

I also think that those ITV companies which get the benefit of the specialised experience and talent which these “OB types” possess will have cause to be grateful for their good fortune and may in time recognise amongst their best men the magic touch of an ABC training.

To all who have worked with me during the past twelve years, thank you and the very best of good luck to you in the future.

To Howard Thomas, whose great skill and foresight has guided and inspired us all, I take this opportunity to say a thousand thanks for letting me play a part in ABC Television’s “Twelve Glorious Years”.

The post Twelve glorious years appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

ABC-TV

THE DEPARTMENT OF
OUTSIDE BROADCASTS PRODUCTIONS
PRESENTS

‘HOLIDAY TOWN PARADE’

1962

WITH £4,000 CASH PRIZES

FEATURING TWO FABULOUS CONTESTS!

✻ TELEVISION BATHING BEAUTY QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN
✻ TELEVISION FASHION QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN

PRODUCED BY DAVID SOUTHWOOD
Compere Keith Fordyce – Interviewer Peter Lloyd

ENTRY FORM Application to participate in the 1962 contests of

ABC-TV’s ‘HOLIDAY TOWN PARADE’

I …………………………………………………….(full name) wish to be considered for inclusion in the TELEVISION CONTEST:

✻ BATHING BEAUTY QUEEN of GREAT BRITAIN
✻ FASHION QUEEN of GREAT BRITAIN

(Strike out the Contest not applicable)
(Note: If you wish to enter two contests please fill in additional entry form.)

and hereby agree that if accepted as a competitor I will abide by the undermentioned conditions:

1. I am a British subject over sixteen years of age.
2. I accept the decision of the ABC Television officials (or anybody appointed by them) as final.
3. I undertake that if accepted as a competitor and selected to enter the Resort Finals or Grand Finals of the contests I will appear on the dates required at the place chosen by ABC Television Ltd.
4. I will report for the Heat before the advertised time of starting and know that any competitor arriving after that time will be disqualified.
5. I agree to be photographed either before, during or after the Heats and or , and allow that such photographs may be used without payment with or without my name appended for any purposes desired by ABC Television Ltd.
6. If I win a Resort Final I shall not enter any heat for a subsequent Resort Final.
7. If I am selected to appear on television I shall not enter again for a period of at least ten , but I understand that this rule will be waived for the last week of the series.
8. I accept whatever method of judging shall be decided upon by the officials of ABC , who cannot enter into any correspondence on the subject.
9. In the event of the competition being of the Bathing Beauty , I agree that artificial aids will not be worn.
10. I agree that ABC Television have the right to televise me at any time during the competition and to repeat or record any such television transmission should they so desire it.
11. ABC Television shall be entitled at any time or times without prior notice to any contestant and without giving any reason therefor to cancel all or any of the heats, Resort Finals and the Grand Finals of the Contest and to refrain from televising the same or any of them. In such event I shall have no claim whatsoever against ABC other than for any prize money to which I may have become entitled in the Contest up to the date of any such cancellation.
12. I understand that I shall have no claim against ABC Television Ltd. in respect of any personal injury incurred during the course of my participation in the competition.
13. I know that no winner of any previous Grand Finals of “Holiday Town Parade” can take part.
14. I have not been employed professionally to appear on television in the United Kingdom during the past twelve months. I recognise that if at the time of the Heat or Final I have been employed professionally to appear on television in the United Kingdom Twill be disqualified.
15. I certify that I am not under contract to any organisation or person who could prevent me from appearing or attach any conditions to my appearance in the “Holiday Town Parade” programme either in a Heat or Resort Final or Grand Finals.
16. I shall at all times be responsible for any and all expenses of whatsoever nature incurred by me in connection with the Contest.
17. No Judges of this or previous Holiday Town Contests will be allowed to compete.

✻ IMPORTANT

Those selected at the qualifying heats on the Friday must be able to appear in the Television Show on the Saturday and to attend the rehearsals. If you cannot do so then do not enter.

TWO GREAT CONTESTS!

HERE’S YOUR CHANCE TO APPEAR ON TELEVISION!

✻ TELEVISION BATHING BEAUTY QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN

Girls will be selected at the qualifying heats every Friday afternoon for twelve weeks, beginning with effect from June 29th. These successful competitors will appear on the ABC Television Network in “Holiday Town Parade” for the Resort Finals for which the weekly prizes are: 1st—£25, 2nd—£20, 3rd—£15 with £10 for each runner up.

Twelve girls will qualify for the GRAND FINAL on Saturday, September 22nd for which the prizes are:

FIRST PRIZE
£1000

SECOND PRIZE
£250

THIRD PRIZE
£100

✻ TELEVISION FASHION QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN

Open to all ladies over sixteen.

Ladies will be selected at the qualifying heats every Friday afternoon for the Resort Finals which are in the ABC Television Show “Holiday Town Parade” for which the weekly prizes are: 1st—£25, 2nd—£20, 3rd—£15 with £10 for each runner up.

Twelve ladies will qualify for the GRAND FINAL on Saturday, September 22nd for which the prizes are:

FIRST PRIZE
£250

SECOND PRIZE
£150

THIRD PRIZE
£100

Either bring the completed form with you, or preferably send it in advance to the Publicity Office of the resort at which you intend to compete, from which full details of locations, times, etc. can be obtained.

Follow the fun of ABC – TV!

David Southwood
presents
the seventh year of Television Contests
in the 1962 series of
the wonderfully successful

‘HOLIDAY TOWN PARADE’

from these twelve
popular Resorts
throughout the
summer

JUNE 29th and 30th –– MORECAMBE
JULY 6th and 7th –– BLACKPOOL
JULY 13th and 14th –– PRESTATYN
JULY 20th and 21st –– COLWYN BAY
JULY 27th and 28th –– PWLLHELI
AUG. 3rd and 4th –– SOUTHPORT
AUG. 10th and 11th –– SKEGNESS
AUG. 17th and 18th –– GREAT YARMOUTH (Gorleston-on-Sea)
AUG. 24th and 25th –– FILEY
AUG. 31st and SEPT 1st –– BRIDLINGTON
SEPT. 7th and 8th –– FLEETWOOD
SEPT. 14th and 15th –– SCARBOROUGH

★ GRAND FINAL TELEVISED on SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22nd
Location to be announced later

★ RESORT QUALIFYING HEATS each FRIDAY AFTERNOON at 3-0 p.m.
(For details of location apply at Local Information Bureau)

★ RESORT FINALS TELEVISED each SATURDAY

The post Holiday Town Parade appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

To do it ABC will use all the many resources of this young but go-ahead company, as well as those of the powerful organisations with which it is associated.

The four-man committee responsible for this ambitious training scheme consists of ABC managing director Howard Thomas, his second-in-command Ron Rowson, senior producer S. E. Reynolds and drama supervisor Dennis Vance.

So far they have three pupils. Top of the form is a girl who has made a big name for herself since she joined ABC — Joan Edwards.

She first said “Hello” to viewers in Number Please, then created for herself a growing audience in that breakfast-time programme, Housewives Call the Tune, in which she performed such homely chores as washing dishes and darning socks between playing gramophone requests.

Next she proved how well she could sing and dance in the Joe Loss Show, and this summer she is showing another aspect of her versatility by her breezy interviews in Holiday Town.

Pupil Number Two is Bob Hatch, who got his big break in show business after thousands of viewers throughout the North and Midlands had voted him winner of the long-running Bid For Fame contest.

But even if he had not pulled off the top prize, Bob would still have been invited to join ABC’s exclusive training school.

His earlier appearances in Bid For Fame were seen by company executives who earmarked him as a boy who, given a helping hand, would go places.

Both Joan Edwards and Bob Hatch have already proved that the confidence ABC are placing in them is justified. Producer Reynolds — he has been in TV since its opening day in 1936 — told me:

“To get two artists like Joan Edwards and Bob Hatch in one year is out of all proportion.

“I have been watching Joan develop since she came into this company, and there is no greater joy for me than seeing her holding her own with more experienced artists.”

Baby of the class is 20-year-old Julie Stevens. She is another pupil who caught the eye of Howard Thomas while appearing in Bid For Fame.

“I decided to give her an audition,” he told me. “Dennis Vance and I tried everything on her. It was formidable, but she came out smiling.”

Explained Julie: “I was interviewed in front of the camera. Then they gave me a piece to announce without letting me see it first. And afterwards I was told to pretend I was telling my boss I was giving up my job — and make it sound funny.”

“The result,” said Howard Thomas, “was that we gave this unknown girl a contract. Now, to get her used to cameras, we are putting her in everywhere. She doesn’t always get a credit, but she comes bobbing up in one programme after another.”

Julie’s future is still undecided. “So far, we don’t know what she is going to do,” Mr. Thomas said, “but we believe she has the sparkle of a true TV personality. How do we make her into a personality? Well, first she has to be trained the hard way.”

To learn all she can about TV production and technique, Julie has been helping in many different programmes. She has been behind the scenes in Holiday Town, making brief appearances in crowd scenes or demonstrating in advertising magazines. One day I saw her with make-up only on her hands and arms. “That,” she said, “is all viewers will see of me today.” She was off to hold a booklet in front of a camera.

Said Reynolds: “From now on, we shall be studying Julie, Joan and Bob to see which way they ought to go, as it might take two or three years to get them on the right lines and doing the job for which they are best suited.”

The ABC training school is going to be no immediate stepping stone to fame and fortune. “As far as we are concerned,” said Reynolds, “there is going to be no star overnight business.”

But while ABC is determined to give Joan Edwards, Julie Stevens and Bob Hatch the best opportunities ever offered up-and-coming artists, they, on their part, know they will have to put in plenty of hard work to make this unique training scheme a success.

The post School for stars appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.

He claps his hands and is surrounded by some of the best-dressed women ever to grace a seaside promenade.

He is Jeffrey Piddock — senior floor manager of ABC Outside Broadcasts. But he is better known in Northern seaside resorts as ringmaster, major domo and general factotum of Holiday Town Parade.

The smooth running of this touring television show owes much to Piddock’s knack of being in the right place at the right time.

He is on duty from the moment the programme team arrives in the resort until all the equipment is packed and on its way to the next port of call.

Piddock is an ex-song-and-dance man. His show business career started after he graduated from dancing school. He joined a ballerina for a double act in a London amusement arcade.

Later, he worked with comics like Arthur Askey, Jimmy Wheeler and Vic Oliver. He understudied George Form by in Zip Goes a Million, and played the star role for two weeks when Formby fell ill.

He moved into ITV, and has been behind the scenes of Holiday Town Parade since the first programme.

Viewers never see Piddock. But he is known to the thousands of holidaymakers who go to preliminary heats for contests at different resorts every Friday afternoon.

Usually at local swimming pools, more than 100 bathing beauties, fashion girls and muscle-men parade before judges who choose those to appear in the programme next day.

Piddock says: “It’s thought generally that the same girls go round all the bathing beauty shows. But we often have newcomers and then I have to teach them how to parade to best advantage.”

As well as helping to organise the parades, Piddock often acts as compere.

And while the compere on Saturdays, McDonald Hobley, chants his “Don’t be late. Make a date, for Holiday Town Parade.” Piddock is thinking of the problems next week’s show will bring.

The post 60 girls have their eye on this man appeared first on THIS IS ABC WEEKEND from Transdiffusion.