PHOTOGRAPH: ANNA GORDON ANNA PHOTOGRAPH: 25·08·09 Week 34 explore.gateway.bbc.co.uk/ariel THE BBC NEWSPAPER
RICHARD BACON SAYS COMEDY IS NO LAUGHING MATTER a Page 6
On the ball
FOOTBALL FREESTYLER Ollie Hayes is ◆ given a leg up at the BBC’s Your Game festival watched by Theone Coleman, one of the Your Game All Stars Page 2
> NEWS 2-4 STRICTLY’S BACK 8-9 OPINION 10 MAIL 11 JOBS 14 GREEN ROOM 16 < 162 News aa 00·00·08 25·08·09 NEED TO KNOW THE WEEK’S ESSENTIALS NEWS BITES a BBC FOUR is launching a special New fakery case under scrutiny Scottish season to mark a decade of devolution. This is Scotland will celebrate Room 2316, White City ◆ A BBC TWO PROGRAMME has this week been ◆ BBC MONITORING is about to celebrate its and examine aspects of Scottish culture, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TS removed from the iPlayer and business suspended 70th anniversary, but what is it that actually art, fi lm-making, heritage, landscape 020 8008 4228 with its independent producer after a cameraman goes on over in its Caversham HQ near Reading and psyche. Alan Cumming, Peter posed as a member of the public. and overseas offi ces? Capaldi and Rory Bremner present. Managing Editor Sun, Sea and Bargain Spotting, hosted by Angela The clue is in the title. Monitoring actively scan Stephen James-Yeoman 02-84222 Rippon, has been taken down pending an investi- the world’s media 24/7, compiling news, com- DOCTOR WHO enters a whole new Deputy editors gation with Reef Television, the indie that makes ment and reaction. Reports from around 3000 visual dimension later this year with the show. During an episode in series four, which tv, radio, press, internet and agency sources Dreamland, a six-part animated series Sally Hillier 02-26877 was - until this week - airing on BBC are fi rst transcribed, then translated into Eng- which will be premiered via the red Cathy Loughran 02-27360 Two daytime, cameraman Craig lish from over 100 languages, from Afrikaans to button on BBC One and the Doctor Features editor Harman is said to have posed Latvian to Yoruba. They are then distributed as Who website. The 45 minute long Clare Bolt 02-27445 as a member of the public open source information, available on subscrip- animation will be broadcast in full on Senior Broadcast Journalist 02-27630 aiming to purchase goods tion and used by governments, NGOs, multi- CBBC and BBC Two this autumn. Stephen Hawkes being sold by the pro- nationals and individuals across the world. Reporters gramme’s contestants. Part of the global news division, monitoring was RADIO SHEFFIELD has been presented Laura Scarrott 02-84224 A BBC spokeswoman originally established in 1939 to aid with the war with a special award by the city’s Peggy Walker 01-43940 said the corporation was ‘ex- effort, allowing the British government to keep Pakistan Muslim Centre for its Production editor tremely disappointed’ Reef Tel- an eye on foreign media and propaganda. Now outstanding contribution to the local Claire Barrett 02-27368 evision had ‘misled the audience its 500 staff work together to provide coverage community over the past 40 years. The and us’: ‘We take this matter seriously of the biggest stories, which often involves a lot honour came as the station started Art editor and have suspended all business with them, with of cross-continental collaboration. broadcasting six hours of special Ken Sinyard 02-84229 their agreement, while we investigate.’ A spokes- Last year’s Mumbai attacks were a case in point, programming each day for Ramadan. Ariel online woman for BBC Daytime said in the ‘very rare the new monitoring team in India worked with Alex Goodey 02-27410 instance’ in which all business with an independ- the BBC Asia Pacifi c team and other specialists BBC WORLD News has launched Africa Business co-ordinator ent was suspended, all relevant content would be in Caversham to fi nd out both what the world’s Business Report, its fi rst tv programme Silvana Romana 02-84228 removed from the iPlayer as a matter of course. media were saying and how they were saying it. dedicated to business on the continent. Ariel mail No separate set of guidelines exists specifi cally The programmes will be based in a [email protected] for the iPlayer – but according to the BBC’s editori- ◆ THE THREE DAY EDINBURGH International Tel- different part of Africa each month, Ariel online explore.gateway.bbc.uk/ariel al guidelines, it is the programme editors’ respon- evision Festival kicks off this Friday and a Sat- with presenter Komla Dumor meeting sibility to ensure, where appropriate, programmes urday lunchtime clash between a session with entrepreneurs and people from the with ‘unexpected issues’ are not repeated or made Robert Peston or a date with Peter Andre is just business world in each location. Guest contributors this week available on demand. one of the tensions in store. Mark Friend, multiplatform and interactive Highlights include talks from David Simon, crea- A REMINDER for all staff booked onto RUSSELL T DAVIES on why television controller at audio and music, said removing tor of The Wire; the fi rst Edinburgh appearance courses with the BBC Academy that drama made in Wales will outlive the content from the iPlayer would usually be the of Ant and Dec, hosting a special TV’s Got Talent the training teams have now moved Doctor. responsibility of the programme’s production session; and for the petrolheads there’s a Top to the third fl oor of White City. The team – but it was something that ‘hardly ever Gear masterclass with Jeremy Clarkson and exec Academy comprises three colleges, BRIAN TAYLOR, political editor, happens’. producer Andy Wilman. the college of journalism, college of BBC Scotland, on the day the Libyan It was far more usual for guidance to be The controllers of BBC One, Two and Four, Jay leadership and management and bomber was released. added to iPlayer content, for example asking Hunt, Janice Hadlow and Richard Klein will be in college of production, and has a centre audience members to confi rm they were above the hotseat for special Q&As. for broadcast engineering technology. the age of 16, or for programmes to be edited Looking in to the future, director of BBC and republished, he added. Vision, Jana Bennett, and director of news Helen BBC WORLD Service Trust is launching BBC Jobs 0370 333 1330 One recent example of Audio and Music con- Boaden will both be fi elding questions in this a new tv drama for Bangladesh as Jobs textphone 028 9032 8478 tent being removed from the iPlayer followed year’s hot topic discussion sessions - To Pay or part of a broader drive to encourage BBC Jobs John Clarke 02-27143 the incorrect reporting of a court case on a Not to Pay and That Was the News That Was, while the learning of English. Room 2120, White City, London W12 7TS Radio 4 news bulletin. Another example, from Roly Keating, director of archive content, looks Advertise in Ariel Vision, was an episode of Seaside Rescue in at the future of the past. THE JOB of Ariel editor, for both the Ten Alps Publishing 020 7878 2314 which one of the people featured subsequently But all eyes will be on the main event, the newspaper and online, is advertised www.bbcarielads.com died. His family gave consent for the programme James MacTaggart memorial lecture, which this this week, following the retirement of to be shown on BBC One and repeated in the year will be delivered by James Murdoch 20 Andrew Harvey. The new combined Printing Sign Zone but asked for it to be removed from years after his father, Rupert, used this platform role is part of a wider restructuring Garnett Dickinson Group the iPlayer after concerns it could be accessed to launch into the broadcasting establishment. of internal communications. Rotherham 01709 768000 by the victim’s son. Subscribe to Ariel Six months: £26, £36, £40 Twelve months: £50, £60, £68 YOUR GAME OR MINE? SOCCER SCHEME AIMS TO OPEN DOORS (prices for UK, Europe, rest of world GORDON ANNA PHOTOGRAPH: by Sue Llewellyn respectively) Cheques to: Garnett Dickinson Print, FOOTBALL FREESTYLER OLLIE HAYES shows off Brookfi elds Way, Manvers, his skills at London’s Your Game festival, wow- Wath Upon Dearne, Rotherham S63 5DL ing 1Xtra dj Robbo Ranx and Your Game producer Tel 01709 768199 Aisling Grant, (both pictured centre). Since 2006, INFORMATION IN AN EMERGENCY Your Game has worked with thousands of dis- Telephone 0800 0688 159 advantaged young people, opening up oppor- tunities for training, qualifi cations and full-time Ceefax Page 159 www.bbc.co.uk/159 employment. Ariel is produced by Internal This year the project travelled to Cardiff, Hull, Communications for people at the BBC Glasgow, Belfast and London inviting groups working with 16-25 year-olds from underserved communities to take part. Focused around a 5-a- side football tournament, it aims to offer long- term opportunities. Partners include funders such as the Big Lottery. Internal support has PLEASE RECYCLE YOUR COPY OF ARIEL come from Radio 1Xtra, the BBC mental health campaign Headroom and Video Nation. Your Game opportunities manager Dominic Cotton said the test of effectiveness will come when the young people are accessing long-term opportunities presented to them by the project.
> ARIEL ONLINE: BBC NEWS AS IT HAPPENS – EXPLORE.GATEWAY.BBC.CO.UK/ARIEL< a 25·08·09 News 3 Back in the saddle and loving every minute
by Cathy Loughran she told Ariel. ‘I wouldn’t have cho- After the emotional relief of being sen to be as public as I have been, but Clare Balding has a packed Bank Hol- the upside is getting so much support iday schedule coming up – present- given the all-clear from cancer, Clare from other sufferers that, in turn, al- ing BBC Two’s coverage of the Europe- lows me to deal better with people go- an show jumping championships Balding will present two new series ing through the experience now. It’s a from Windsor this Friday and the connection with the rest of the world Rugby League Challenge Cup The One Show at London’s Charing Cross after Wimbledon, had treatment from you didn’t know you were missing.’ on Saturday for BBC One – and Hospital was the fi rst time she’d been early July which meant she missed the Balding passed on the news of her that’s the way she likes it. back to the wards since she was told Open Golf but was back for the King successful treatment via her website Just weeks after being given in July that her post-operative treat- George at Ascot just over two weeks lat- last month. Colleagues at BBC Sport the all-clear from doctors treat- ment with radioactive iodine pills had er, followed by the world swimming were the fi rst to know: ‘Last month at ing her for thyroid cancer, the been successful. ‘They have a Maggie’s championships in Rome. ‘That might Ascot I told the team they could stop sports presenter is busier than [advice] centre there and it made me sound daft, but I love my work and I’m being nice to me. I was fi ne.’ ever, with a new tv and radio think much more about dealing with a freelance with a mortgage to pay.’ If proof were needed that she is series coming up and a trip cancer than when I was ill. The expe- The presenter fi rst spotted a lump well and truly back in the saddle, she to France next month to rience was very affecting – plus, I had on her throat while watching herself is fi lming a new series for BBC Four cover the Europe- some good stories to swap,’ she says. on tv last Christmas. Two bouts of sur- called Britain by Bike which involves her an eventing ‘I may have seemed a bit blasé about gery led to a good prognosis for full re- cycling some, if not all of the routes, champion- my illness while it was happening, but covery, from a rare disease that affects the programme explores. That trans- ships. Film- that was how I coped at the time.’ only 2000 people a year in the UK. mits in early 2010. And a new run of ing a special She ‘timed’ her post-op treatment ‘Until you’re given the all-clear, you her Radio 4 series Ramblings – about assignment so as not to miss out on too many sport- don’t know how much stress you’ve great hikes around the UK – is also in last week for ing fi xtures. Balding stopped work been under and it’s quite emotional,’ the pipeline
NEWS DAY, AUGUST 20: ELECTION AND LIBYAN RELEASE STRETCH NEWS TEAMS We broke One close call in Afghanistan Megrahi by Cathy Loughran tained and questioned by counter terrorism offi cers and security forc- This was the moment when Caro- es confi scated some audio material story fi rst line Wyatt and cameraman Phil of a police station attack near Kabul, Goodwin were caught up in a rocket recorded by fellow journalists from attack en route to a polling station the BBC Afghan stream,’ said edi- Brian Taylor, political editor, Scotland in Helmand province. tor Lutfullah Latif. Reporting from Embedded with British forces, an area south of the capital for the As I write this, the Scottish justice they were travelling in an armoured Ten O’Clock News, world affairs editor secretary Kenny MacAskill is prepar- convoy last Thursday, fi lming the John Simpson told how special forc- ing to make an emergency statement governor of Helmand on his way to es had ‘insisted we got rid of satel- in Holyrood. He has already had an vote, on a day that saw more than lite pictures of them’. ear-bashing from Hillary Clinton. 100 violent attacks across Afghani- ‘It was clear that across all of our And he’s wanted by the FBI – in the stan and dozens killed. services, we could not comply with shape of the director Robert Mueller ‘The fi rst rocket went off with the order and we communicated who said his decision to return the an almighty thud, not far from us. that informally to the authorities,’ Lockerbie bomber to Libya had giv- I have rarely thrown myself on the said world editor Jon Williams. en ‘comfort to terrorists’. Welcome to ground faster, before the securi- The government stance was a big- government. ty team shouted at us to get back ger concern for BBC Persian than for We broke the story that Abdelbaset into the vehicles,’ Wyatt told Ariel. the domestic services. The BBC is the al-Megrahi was likely to be released on ‘They sped us out of the governor’s most trusted broadcaster in Afghan- tif, whose expanded team in Kabul was at the British Army base in Kan- compassionate grounds and returned compound to somewhere slightly istan, with almost 60 percent of broadcast live for 14 hours. dahar and Afghanistan-based Mar- to Libya. A week later, that informed more protected, and as we waited, the adult population tuning to the The new Kabul bureau, built last tin Patience, in Mazar-e-Sharif. insight turned into fact with a news we saw or heard another six or seven Afghan stream broadcasts on radio year to house Persian TV, was the But a glance down the live Af- conference in St Andrews House. explosions in and around the town and online every week. hub for coverage across all services ghan election page on the BBC news I listened as MacAskill set out the over the next hour, a mix of rockets ‘On the day, the Afghan authori- with John Simpson and correspond- website shows the range of corre- background. I digested the informa- and makeshift bombs going off. ties told us they were checking our ents Lyse Doucet, Hugh Sykes and spondents feeding into BBC coverage tion that he had rejected the option ‘We discovered later that the fi rst output to fi nd out what was really Kabul correspondent Ian Pannell re- on the day. The live page followed of transferring the prisoner to Lib- rocket had landed close to the com- happening round the country,’ said porting largely from in and around breaking news in real time through ya. Then he reached the culmination pound, and the next explosion hit a Afghan stream editor Lutfullah La the capital. Radio 5 live’s Peter Allen emails, Tweets and insights from – release on compassionate grounds. convoy containing western journal- BBC journalists on the ground – Even as he began that closing state- ists. Only their car was damaged.’ people like Ilyas Khan of the Islam- ment, I rushed from the news confer- Permanent BBC security at the abad bureau, posting from Herat ence chamber to a tv live location next bureau in Kabul was reinforced PRE-POLL EXCLUSIVES and BBC Persian TV’s Daud Qariza- door. Straight on to the end of the from the high risk team in London dah from a live election debate. One – after the inevitable fi ddle with in the run-up to the election peri- ■ Final election results won’t be ‘We had been hoping against News nevertheless had to lim- audio which attends such events. od, as attacks on civilian targets es- known until September 17, but hope that President Hamed Kara- it numbers of people deployed on Then straight on to the Reporting Scot- calated. But safety wasn’t the only is- even before the polls opened BBC zai would grant us an interview safety grounds and correspond- land bulletin which followed, then on sue for Wyatt, Goodwin and the rest journalists were delivering exclu- and appear on our planned ex- ents and crews have been in con- to the News Channel. of the BBC team covering the mile- sives on Afghan democracy. clusive interactive Talking Point stant demand by news outlets. Elsewhere, colleagues were provid- stone elections – including BBC Per- Ian Pannell’s investigation programme in two languages. On election day, Hugh Sykes ing hits for the wide range of outlets. sian and BBC Arabic plus a 25-strong into election fraud, exposed vot- We’d tentatively trailed the pro- says he had to turn down some I think, I hope, we served all demands. deployment from newsgathering. ing cards for sale and aired across gramme and were sorting emails network requests. A shortage of On these occasions, programme pro- Like other international news or- global and domestic channels. and phone messages from listen- live camera points was an issue, he ducers are insistent. Yes, we know ganisations, the BBC resisted orders Meena Baktash of the Persian ers,’ says Baktash, who secured a told Ariel: ‘At one point, Delhi bu- you’re terribly busy, but you simply by the Afghan government not to and Pashto service, describes the 50-minute, world exclusive inter- reau chief Milton Nkosi, who was must do……This approach is absolute- report on any violence during the tension behind pulling off the big- view with Karzai and persuaded co-ordinating coverage in Kabul, ly right. Producers would not be serv- polls. On election day, local BBC pro- gest pre-election coup of all. him to do a listeners’ Q&A. had to man a V-point camera to ing their programme’s interests if ducer Kabir Haqmal was briefl y de- manage a two-way for Breakfast.’ they failed to pursue their case.
4 News a 25·08·09 Ray Ulster banned Radio 2 denies claims rapped for The BBC Asian Network has sent the Sikh Media Monitor- swearing ing Group a second unedited of a ‘policy of youth’ copy of the Adil Ray show that Ofcom ruled that Radio Ul- was removed from the iPlayer ster was in breach of its broad- following complaints. by Nicki Defago next year. In its submission – Reach 15-34 year olds has grown by 62 per- casting rules after Hollywood The group requested the not Reith: how Radio 2 is prioritising cent in the last 10 years. actor Tony Curtis swore three copy after listeners com- Radio 2 has refuted RadioCentre popularity not public purposes – the A Radio 2 spokeswoman said times during a live lunchtime plained the presenter had claims that it follows a deliberate organisation’s chif executive offic- that over the last five years, reach show. been mocking Sikhism in the policy of pursuing younger listeners er Andrew Harrison accuses the net- among 15-34s has fallen by six per- Curtis referred to programme. by replacing older presenters with work of shifting its programme poli- cent (150,000 listeners) and that journalists as bastards, They accused him of den- personalities like Jonathan Ross and cies to the detriment of commercial over 65 percent listen on average for claimed his Oscar nomination igrating the Kirpan dagger - Chris Evans. radio, older listeners, and the ‘fragile around 14 hours a week – the highest was bullshit and said f*** off one of five ceremonial symbols RadioCentre, the industry body radio ecology’. amount of listening per week out of while recounting an anecdote baptised Sikhs are expected to for commercial radio, has unusual- He says if this happened in the all the age groups on the phone-in Talkback, wear at all times. ly gone public with its submission to commercial sector, Ofcom would al- ‘The average listener age has re- in May. The BBC apologised Ray had been discussing the BBC Trust’s review of Radio 2 and most certainly intervene. Harrison mained steady over the past five for any offence caused and the cancellation of a Punjabi 6Music, which is due to report early argues that Radio 2’s reach amongst years, at 50 years old,’ she said. said Tony Curtis had been concert in Canada because of informed the programme was fears about Sikhs attending live ahead of the interview. the event wearing Kirpans. The regulator upheld a He went on to talk about second complaint involving another news story - Sikh sol- a member of the public diers joining the Queen’s who appeared on BBC One’s guard in the UK. Car Wars without giving An Asian Network spokes- permission for the footage woman said: ‘At no time did to be used. Ofcom decided he make any judgment about that there had been an people’s faith or the rights unwarranted infringement and wrongs of wearing the of privacy. Kirpan. He did not mock the Kirpan or Sikhism.’ What I Estate fights back wouldn’t Radio Manchester has given- residents of the Northern Moor estate the chance to give... show a different side of their community, following ITV1 ‘s It’s made doc The Duchess on the Estate. the un- Local people challenged missa- the station to ‘give us some ble un- cameras and we’ll show you missable what it’s really like’. and now Reporter Euan Doak spent for one the week getting their stories y o u n g Hank Paulson (James Cromwell) and Radio Manchester helped D u t c h and Tim Geithner (Alex Jennings) in local people make short films singer- the BBC Two drama about their lives, which pre- songwriter it’s set to make the miered in Northern Moor on impossible possible. Tuesday. Virtually unknown in the UK until now, Hamel is the man behind the music on the Drama and factual bed in for money BBC iPlayer trail. His track Women for ‘See You Once Again’ became a surprise hit with the British by Stephen Hawkes that the human story of Lehman’s only heard about it a week before all season public and now Decca Records fall might be better told in a drama.’ I got the script. It’s a subject that are to release it as a single on Some high speed team work, using fact to The Love of Money will reveal exclu- won’t get covered in the US, because BBC Four’s 2009-2010 high- October 5. make fiction, has produced a three part sive footage shot inside Lehmans in we don’t want our people to know lights are unusually starry, Helen Weeks, marketing documentary and an hour long drama – the weeks leading up to its collapse. the truth.’ with Helena Bonham Cart- manager for BBC iPlayer, said: a modern day ‘Greek tragedy’ – on the col- In The Last Days of Lehman Brothers, Fuld The Love of Money exec producer er at her haughtiest as Enid ‘Since the campaign launched lapse of the Lehman Brothers bank. is played by Corey Johnson, while Dominic Crossley-Holland said an Blyton, Anne Marie Duff on July 18 we’ve had a great In an unusal collaboration for next James Cromwell stars as the then US ‘exciting creative collaboration’ had seducing Nureyev as Margot response to it. We were keen to month’s Crash season on BBC Two, Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson. produced a ‘gripping double bill’. Fonteyn and Jane Horrocks find a track that conveyed the the factual team behind the Money Osborne said: ‘Some will see Hank Executive producer Ruth Caleb said giving Gracie Fields the com- iPlayer proposition of never Programme produced a three-part Paulson as a hero, others as a villain the drama could not have been made at mon touch. having to miss out.’ series, The Love of Money, and their – but, particularly for Fuld, who had speed without cooperation from the fac- Controller Richard Klein’s Hamel’s work is a mix of interview transcripts and research spent 42 years as head of his bank, tual team: ‘Collaborating at the research season launch also unveiled styles including jazzy or Latin were used as the basis of the drama it’s a Greek tragedy, a classic tale of stage enabled writer Craig Warner, to a biopic of Winnie Mandela rhythms and catchy harmonies. The Last Days of Lehman Brothers. pride and failure. get access to an in-depth and detailed shot on location in Soweto; He didn’t create the song Producer Lisa Osborne said: ‘It all ‘It’s a universal human story as account of events.’ Michael Portillo examining for the trail. ‘I wrote it a year started with the BBC’s factual depart- much as a reconstruction. In drama Other programmes in BBC Two’s Spain’s historical memory in ago somewhere in the woods ment, who wanted to do a series of we don’t often tell a story in a news Crash season include Warren Buffett: How Digging Up the Dead and former thinking of a big fat Ukrainian documentaries for the anniversary of context this quickly,’ To Be Rich, in which Evan Davis meets one British Ambassador to the US wedding, where after one vod- the bank collapse in September. The speed of the commission of the world’s richest men, and Bonfire Of Christopher Meyer lifting the ka too many someone starts ‘When it was pitched to BBC Two meant James Cromwell had to make The Bankers, which also examines the col- lid on 500 years of British singing about a lost love.’ controller Janice Hadlow, she felt some quick decisions of his own: ‘I lapse of Lehman Brothers. diplomacy. a 25·08·09 Features 5 PHOTOGRAPH: LAURENCE CENDROWICZ LAURENCE PHOTOGRAPH:
On set: Becci Gemmell (Joyce) and producer Erika Hossington
To mark the 70th outbreak of war, Daytime’s drama, Land Girls, looks at the women who ‘fought in the fi elds’. Laura Scarrott reports
period drama gets down to earth
PRODUCER ERIKA HOSSINGTON is spend- line producer Sam Hill (who has a light tant to me – and everyone else on the pro- ing the summer location-hopping around plane licence) asked a couple he knew if he duction – that we respected the memory of Warwickshire, where the rolling green could borrow their Messerschmitt. When it those women.’ fi elds and postcard-pretty villages provide turned out to be from a Spanish fl eet, the When not on set, Erika is in the edit the backdrop for Daytime’s fi rst period cos- set designers grabbed a paintbrush and suite at the nearby drama village, where all tume, Land Girls. changed its markings. the Land Girls post-production takes place. Produced by BBC Birmingham’s drama While the land girls of the drama are fi c- When we arrive she’s pleased with the foot- department, the fi ve-part drama follows titious, their histories and backgrounds are age she’s shown, despite one fl uffed line four girls working for the Women’s Land which could potentially mean a re-shoot. Army and will go out every day for a week The programme has already struck a chord who were the on BBC One. Like any historical fi ction, with viewers and the team has been real land girls? the series tries to balance factual inundated with people offering accuracy and respect for the their services, including one ● The Board of Agriculture established the subject matter with ‘telling woman who sent in some Land Army in 1915, during the First World War. a good story’, but like any music she had composed It was designed to replace male farm labour- drama, reality always especially for it. ers who had joined the military. Some farmers gets in the way... were initially against the idea of women work- Music for the period ing the land, and government representatives Trade secrets Instead they chose were sent out to persuade them otherwise. First were the cos- Debbie Wiseman for tumes for the actors the job. The com- ● By 1917 there were more than 250,000 playing the Home poser, who won an women working the land and 20,000 in the Guard: in wartime RTS award for the Land Army itself. they would have worn BBC series Warriors, codes similar to the was asked because ‘her ● The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries postcodes denoting their feminine style comple- established the Women’s Land Army in 1939, location. ‘We decided to mented the programme’s just before the outbreak of the Second World put RM on their sleeves – the Hoxley Estate: keeping it female focus’. War, to increase food supplies. It was led by writer Roland Moore’s initials,’ real in Henley-in-Arden ‘Music is incredibly impor- Lady Denman. At fi rst the WLA asked for vol- she says, from the set in Henley- tant,’ Erika says. ‘It helps to evoke unteers but it was then supplemented by sub- in-Arden, noting that ‘if there’s one the period, and it underpins both the scription. By 1944 it had 80,000 members. thing you have to be as a producer it’s emotional drama and the comedy.’ decisive.’ With an already positive outlook, is she ● The WLA was disbanded in 1950. The crew, who usually work on Doctors, drawn from Moore’s research – from the hopeful of a second series? ‘Well, we’ve left all know about making drama on a shoe- cosseted rich girl conscripted into the WLA the ending open,’ she smiles. ‘We’ve cap- ● In 2007 the Department for Environment, string. ‘We know how to cheat,’ she says. against her will to the woman who lost her tured the good and the bad and although it Food and Rural Affairs announced that mem- ‘There’s nothing we couldn’t do because family in a bombing: ‘I read enough fi rst- all happened 70 years ago, there’s a lot for a bers of the Women’s Land Army would be for- of the budget.’ When the script called for hand accounts of land girls’ experiences modern audience to relate to.’ mally recognised with the presentation of a a Messerschmitt, one of the fi ghter planes to know that the stories are believable and commemorative badge. used by the Germans in World War Two, of the time,’ he says. ‘It was really impor- Land Girls starts on September 7, BBC One
6 Features a 25·08·09
WILL RICHARD BACON CUT IT IT’S PERSONAL AT THE FRINGE? Making your debut as a stand-up comic in wringer. He will be in Edinburgh from Wednes- front of 300 comedy connoisseurs at the Ed- day, when he welcomes a bunch of comedians HE HAS TO inburgh Fringe could be considered a bap- on to his evening show to mentor him in the tism of fire. But doing it while being broad- esoteric art of comedy. Thursday night is the GET AROUND cast across the nation on 5 live, then going main event, broadcast from a studio next to the back into the studio and facing a panel of Udderbelly stage, when listeners can follow him THE BBC seasoned comedy critics who will rate before, during and after the performance. your performance live on air? More like As well as going out live his routine will be GUIDELINES trial by napalm. filmed, both adding another layer of difficulty That’s why Richard Bacon – to proceedings as Bacon negotiates BBC guide- FIRST, HE TELLS who will be doing just this on Au- lines while trying to keep the crowd on his side. gust 27 when he follows stand- ‘I can’t stray into the usual comic territory,’ he ADAM BAMBURY up Reginald D Hunter’s set at the acknowledges. ‘I can’t swear, talk about alco- festival with a ten minute routine hol, do serious jokes about religion or discuss of his own – is understandably politics… imagine the kind of restrictions put feeling a little nervous. ‘The on you if you were doing a routine for the Tali- circumstances are stacked ban – it’s a bit like that.’ against me,’ he admits. So what can he talk about? ‘Nottingham, Re- ‘Everyone drinks pints at becca Adlington, Jesus and Tim Vincent,’ says the Fringe, and by the Bacon cryptically. He’s decided to go with an an- end of ecdotal approach based on the events of his life the hour and not un-controversial career, rather than a you’ve series of searing one-liners: ‘It’s less likely to die got people dy- if it’s personal, but by doing that you’re raising ing for the loo the stakes – if you bare your soul and they’re still and wanting not interested, that really is embarrassing.’ to head off Even if the audience does warm to him, to another Bacon has no plans to continue as a comedian. show. The This stunt is about radio – a thought he can last thing console himself with when he’s sweating you want is under the spotlight: ‘I’ll tell myself it’s not Photo caption an untried comic about the people in the room, it’s about the tyyty yty ty y coming out and do- people listening on the radio,’ he says. ‘They ty ty y ty tyy- ing new material.’ may well also be hating it, but one way or the tytytyty ty Despite these misgivings, Ba- other it’s going to be a compelling listen.’ con is determined to put himself through the See the performance live at bbc.co.uk/5 live
Small team, big ambition. Lucy Keeler spent a day with the BBC Hereford and Worcester team ‘We’re the warm friend in the kitchen’ p h
BBC Hereford and Worcester on the motorway, stuck in their ers to ageism. Each took a year Slaugh- otograp may be the only station to broad- homes and sleeping on commu- to make, with Belgard flying to terhouse cast from a one-time abattoir, but nity centre floors. It won the sta- Ukraine to interview would-be four: senior h a bloody past isn’t its only claim tion a breaking news award at the migrant workers. producer : ri ch
to fame. Gillards. ‘It’s not a big deal for network, Howard sh ard Worcester station editor James Then there’s H&W’s dedica- but a really big feat for local radio,’ Belgard; a
Coghill describes the station (31 tion to ‘big impactful journalism he says proudly, arguing that the assistant edi- k e s staff and a three-man office in Her- freedom he’s afforded lends the tor Mark peare eford) as ‘the warm friend to speak station a big, ambitious sound. Hellings; ba to in the kitchen’ and its creden- ‘You don’t have This year Family Life won one of Mandi Harris tials as a station with a commu- two golds for the station at the and editor nity feel are impeccable: breakfast to cover the Sonys, taking the gold for themed James Coghill presenter Howard Bentham even programming. doubles up as a local schoolteach- schedule with Coghill says they’ve come a er three days a week. But then a long way from Hearing Voices, their radio station doesn’t pull in half one grand idea 2006 documentary series on the a million listeners and win Sony stigma of mental health. station of the year in its class, just – less is more’ ‘When we started with Hear- for being warm or friendly – the ing Voices, it took up most of our secret of its success is more subtle. output for a week,’ he says. ‘Now Coghill believes that the sta- and programming’. The station we’ve realised that you don’t have tion’s relationship with its listen- has been modernising since 2005 to cover the schedule with one ers is key. When the floods hit in when the presenter line-up was grand idea – less is more.’ They’ve 2007, assistant editor Mark Hell- reviewed and the station started also learned to be creative with ings (enjoying an after-work pint) focusing on more ambitious out- the local radio budget; for Hear- armed himself with £60 worth of put. ‘Punching above our weight,’ ing Voices the University of Worces- food from the local chippie and as Coghill puts it. ter produced a local poll of peo- headed back to the station – fuel The ambition was to make net- ple’s attitudes to mental health, for the staff who kept H&W broad- work radio on a local radio budget – which was incorporated into stu- casting throughout the night, the most recently the Family Life doc- dents’ course work and informed only local station to do so. Such a umentary series produced by sbj the series. demonstration of Blitz spirit got Howard Belgard. Over the past As assistant editor Mark Hell- an extraordinary response from four years, Belgard has covered ings puts it: ‘I think the output listeners, many of whom had the issues he gets angry about – shows ambition beyond what tuned in while they were stranded from the plight of migrant work- local radio is supposed to be like.’ a 25·08·09 Features 7 blogbites @ Monday week work Leah Gooding from Newsround tells me FAST RIDE: Bang Goes about her day’s filming The Theory presenters I rushed to the Albert Hall, where I saw the and staff take a well- familiar Newsround logo... In I step, and see earned break from a small group of invited children meeting the roadshow by members of the orchestra! I managed to braving the ‘Big One’ grab presenter Leah Gooding for a quick at Blackpool Pleasure chat about their day filming – in the back- Beach. The roadshow ground, the budding reporters tuck into has been touring the their well deserved sandwiches before tak- UK all summer and ing up their seats in a private box! in Blackpool over Peter Gregson 8000 seaside goers bbc.co.uk/blogs/radio3 got hands-on with science, put their Tuesday questions to the Deal or no Deal? programme’s four The Scottish Government is adamant it presenters and came made no deal with Megrahi in respect of his along to free, live sci- application to be returned to Libya on com- ence shows. For more passionate grounds, given the state of his information on the health. I do not believe Kenny MacAskill, the roadshow dates and justice secretary, locations go to bbc. went to Greenock co.uk/bang. prison to strike a Front row: presenters bargain. I do not Jem Stansfi eld and see him saying: Yan Wong ‘OK, here’s the Second row: Melanie thing, drop the Windridge (roadshow appeal and you’re volunteer) and pre- on your way senter Dallas Campbell home.’ Third row: James Brian Taylor, Soper (roadshow political editor, presenter) and David BBC Scotland Sasse (Bang project blogs/thereporters/briantaylor/ manager)
Wednesday New students wanted by BBC Ouch! The BBC’s disability website ‘Ouch!’ is plan- ning a feature called Disabled Student Dia- ries. We want to follow 3 disabled students CHANGING PLACES in their first few weeks at university, focus- AI SCORES* ing on everything from access to lectures ADAM HEYHURST (pictured), and campus, through to how you’re getting currently multimedia re- TEENAGE ANGST is fl avour of the month, on living independently away from home searcher for Children in Need, judging by the success of BBC and your new social life. We expect our cho- becomes multiplatform crea- Three’s Adult Season. It’s helped sen students to write a diary for us for the tive... Radio Bristol’s news edi- produce the two best weeks first weeks at uni, including a little filming tor, CHARLOTTE CALLEN, ever for BBC Three, and is cur- before you go, and a lovely care package. begins a 12 month attach- rently reaching 17m, 41 percent Damon Rose, senior content producer, ment on the Politics Show in the 16-34s. For comparison, the Learning Formal West... ANGELA FRAIN joins Beauty season in 2008 reached 22 bbc.co.uk/blogs/ouch/damon_rose/ the station as news editor in percent 16-34s. The season has seen Callen’s absence. She was pre- strong programming across the tv Thursday viously acting news editor in schedule as well as strength on Living Live Online Lincolnshire... Radio Lanca- other platforms. It’s an exciting time at BBC Radio 5 live as shire bj LIZ DE COURCEY The second episode of we gear up for our first new website launch begins a stepping stones Underage and Pregnant saw since 1974. Well it seems that long since we attachment on the Andrew Marr the best pre-watershed last had a new website, although it’s proba- Show for three months before moving to the Politics Show in the North performance ever on the bly about 6 years in reality. GT came up with West for another three months... ANDY BURROWS joins BBC Somer- channel (0.9m). the tagline very early on in development of set as their new breakfast presenter. He moves from BBC Cambridge- Living Live Online, reflecting exactly what shire where he presented Peterborough’s breakfast show. we wanted to achieve. Our mission has been to bring the online offering much closer to the radio station, reflecting the live nature SPEAKEASY of the network. SHAMELESS PLUG Brett Spencer, interactive editor, 5 live ◆ THE AFGHAN PRESI- bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/ DENTIAL ELECTIONS are ◆ ANNA MILES, NATIONAL ASSISTANT BBC CHILDREN IN NEED, SCOTLAND being held in late August. When I’m not looking after Pudsey in Pacifi c Quay, I play and sing in an indie pop band called Friday The three main candidates ‘Maple Leaves’. We write melodic, literate pop and have been playing gigs together as a three Your Letters are current president Ha- piece since February. Giving our audiences a ‘massive aural hug’ as the Sunday Herald put it, has UCAS claim 970,570 students have used mid Karzai, pronounced been our aim. The nice people at T-Break liked it, and offered us a spot at T in the Park in July, a their website to check whether they have HAA-mid kar-ZIGH (-aa as wee snippet of which ended up on BBC Two. It was, as clichéd as it sounds, a a place at university. This is despite only in father, -igh as in high, dream come true. Dauntingly it was also only our sixth gig, but it’s been 592,312 people actually applying through stressed syllables in upper a great baptism of fi re! Next up we play King Tuts Wah Wah Hut on UCAS before it closed. Looks like somebody case), Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Friday August 28. It’s our fi rst time playing the legendary Glasgow needs to retake their Computer Science A- pronounced ab-duul-AA venue so we’re more than a little excited. Come along and join the level. ab-duul-AA (-uu as in book, fun. Aural hugs all round, promise… Ray Lashley, Colchester, UK stressed syllables in up- bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinemonitor/ per case) and Ashraf Ghani, Tickets: kingtuts.co.uk/tickets.html. pronounced ash-RAAF gan- Myspace: myspace.com/mapleleavesmusic – follow us on EE (-aa as in father, stressed Twitter:@mapleleavesband syllables in upper case). 8 Strictly top Secret WHEN THE GLITTERING LINE UP of any piece of music since he began celebrity participants for the new From the costumes to the cutting room, working on Strictly without think- series of Strictly Come Dancing is ing ‘is it a quickstep or is it a fox- revealed, the excitement will be Nicki Defago meets the entertainment trot?’ It pleases his mum – and has accompanied by a twinge of relief for ignited the sense of humour of his production manager Jane Ashford. ‘At team behind Strictly Come Dancing friends back home in Gateshead. last, we can drop the code-language,’ The choice of music is a collabo- she laughs. ‘I’ve spent months hud- rative affair, with each couple will- dled in an offi ce with the door shut, ing to share ideas and compromise having serious conversations about what they wear – but so do their gramme’s success. ‘It’s that personal if there’s a particular track that sev- Corfu’s contract and the rehearsal dancing partners and so do their insight that engages the audience,’ eral contestants want to dance to. schedule of double-bass!’ boyfriends! That’s 48 people – all he says. ‘If you know when your His highest praise is reserved for the The new series sees the end of with opinions.’ Judd says there are favourite celebrity steps out that musicians, who rehearse at Satur- the Sunday results show and all the few tantrums in the dressing room she’s worried about a particular day morning band call and are some- action packed into 90 minutes on (‘they’re all too scared’) but each jump, you’ll be holding your breath times playing the arrangements we a Saturday. With 17 shows sched- female celebrity is convinced that to see if she pulls it off. Without hear on a Saturday night for only uled over 14 weeks, culminating in her outfi t is the only one that mat- that, it’s just a dancing competi- the third or fourth time ever. ‘I a Christmas fi nal, it’s not only the ters. ‘I have to look at the whole pic- tion.’ may take some ribbing from contestants whose feet will barely ture, however,’ she says. ‘Differing Booth says if the fi lms can pro- my mates,’ he says, ‘but at the touch the fl oor. styles and contrasting colours bring voke a reaction – be it anger, tears or end of the day they all want Along with Ashford, other mem- the show alive. I can’t have everyone laughter – he’s done his job right. tickets – or, at least, their girl- bers of the production team are sam- in red, so someone’s always disap- Everyone working on Strictly con- friends do.’ pling a taste of what’s to come. pointed on tango night...’ cedes it’s an all consuming affair. Today we’ll fi nd out if Ash- ‘Everyone will want a red dress Ashford’s partner enjoyed the occa- ford’s partner is a canny inter- for the tango, it always happens Lycra makes them laugh sional tongue in cheek attempt to rogator or if she’s an even better and it’s just not possible!’ Costume Judd says the male contestants are test how she’d do in MI5 by asking double bluff. Madonna’s a long designer Su Judd is already tearing easier to dress because their cos- over dinner, how is Madonna today? shot but whatever the line-up her hair out. tumes are uniforms and ‘lycra just and people constantly plug her for it’s going to be a hot watch. makes them laugh’. celebrity insights. ‘Most often they Su Judd, with her cast of dress- Not everyone can wear red The one-show format will bring ask, ‘Is Mark Ramprakash as nice as makers busy with the new celeb- With 16 celebrities, 16 professional some changes for senior VT produc- he seems?’ she says, ‘and the answer rity frocks, sums up the spirit of the dancers and 13 dances from the Paso er Ed Booth and his team who have is ‘yes’. But one couple I met told show by explaining her ‘wardrobe Doble to the Argentine Tango – Judd the huge task of cutting down hun- me being in the studio audience rule’. says she can’t please everyone all of dreds of hours of rehearsal footage was the best day of their lives – even ‘When she steps onto the dance the time. ‘A thick skin is the biggest into a one and a half hour fi lm each better than their wedding...’ fl oor, she mustn’t be worrying ‘how prerequisite for my job,’ she admits. week. These vignettes of the con- As the show’s music researcher, do I look’. The dress must be perfect ‘The girls have strong ideas about testants’ travails are key to the pro- Ben Skilbeck fi nds he can’t listen to – she is out there to dance.’
Final fl ing: 2008 JaneAshford Ben Skilbeck winners Tom Chambers and PRODUCTION MANAGER Camilla Dallerup MUSIC RESEARCHER ‘WORKING ON A SATURDAY NIGHT, peaktime show may be a far cry from ‘FOR ME, the perfect Strictly my days on Horizon in the 80s, when song is Crazy in Love by the core programme team was me and a Beyonce, which Alesha and producer, but it doesn’t mean I can take my Matthew danced the Cha-Cha to eye off the cost. When a producer says, ‘I’ve last year. It’s modern, but it has all the found this fantastic, visual effect and I must have horn instruments that allow the band to go to town and it for my fi lm’ – as happened recently – I told him to look for a make a great musical arrangement. Crazy in Love was big cheaper version. The one he wanted was a pyrotechnic, glitter last year so the audience knew it and loved it. I remember effect version costing £2000. The one he ended up with created Alesha getting really excited about that song. Matthew the same ‘whoosh’ effect, but was really just an oversized salad choreographed a great routine and she danced the hell spinner that spat out glitter as it twirled! It cost £80.’ out of it. When it all comes together – live dancing, live music, live tv, it’s pretty special.’ PHOTOGRAPHS: MARK BASSETT MARK PHOTOGRAPHS:
Star team: production manager Jane Ashford; music researcher Ben Skilbeck; costume designer Su Judd and VT producer Ed Booth
Ed Booth Su Judd New for 2009...
COSTUME WHY WE CHOSE ALESHA: SENIOR VT DESIGNER As a star performer and a past champion, Alesha knows exactly PRODUCER what the dancers are going through. Her eye for great perform- ‘CLOTHES MEAN SO ance, plus her charisma and charm make her a great addition to ‘I WORKED ON FAME MUCH to the female the judges line-up. ACADEMY and all the contestants – they have Lloyd Webber shows, but an emotional relationship TIE-BREAK Strictly is the most challenging if you want with their dresses. Emma Bunton During last year’s semi-fi nal the judges’ scores produced a tie to capture up-to-the-minute reactions. comes to mind. She’s very photogenic between the top two couples, which meant that the audience We used to fi lm contestants and judges but her image had always been carefully could not save the bottom couple from the dance-off. In the cir- between the main programme and the controlled. She said she’d only been cumstances the fairest solution was to carry forward the points results show, which meant laying down photographed from the front in the past from the audience vote from the semi fi nal, so that all three cou- the fi nal shots of the results show while three years and felt self-conscious about ples could dance in the fi nal. the programme was on air. What you dancing ‘in the round.’ The challenge there We’ve now got a new scoring system in place, which means that saw could have been fi lmed just minutes was to create something that she felt was once the judges have given their scores, the viewers will always before, which is cutting it fi ne even by our fl attering from all angles as the cameras have the power to decide the fi nal outcome. The audience vote standards.’ followed her around the fl oor. We did and can now save a couple, or condemn them to the dance-off. she was happy.’ ONE NIGHT ONLY This year we’re packing all the action into one show. There will be two special Friday launch shows to kick off the competition, but after that it is all down to that one, nail-biting show on Saturday nights. 10 Opinion/Analysis a 25·08·09 MADE IN THE UK aview There’s something in not being STEPHEN JAMES under the commissioner’s eye -YEOMAN Television fed my imagination on screen. Torchwood was partly as a child in Swansea. I was a vo- When it comes to television devised as a means of setting a Saturday nights racious viewer, glued to anything whole series in Cardiff, with a from cartoons and soaps to Dennis drama, ‘made in Wales’ is now Welsh cast and Welsh accents are for staying in Potter’s marvellous Pennies From and made by Welsh crews – so Heaven. I must have been 12 or 13 a brand that will outlive the Captain Jack’s team have their Order the takeaway, pour a glass of when that hit the screen, and I base under the Millennium Cen- something cold and prepare to stay in every loved it. Doctor, says Russell T Davies tre, and their emergency escape Saturday night from now until Christmas. As Doctor Who was a favourite of lift brings them to the surface the nights draw in that can only mean one mine from the age of three. The next to the fountain in Roald thing: the annual ratings battle between episodes I saw are well and truly Dahl Plass. On Cardiff’s official The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing is once embedded in my head. So when I website for visitors, the Torch- again upon us. Although this year in par- came back to Wales after univer- wood and Doctor Who locations ticular it feels like neither programme has sity, it’s not surprising that after are flagged on the map. One really been away. Of course there’s been the a brief flirtation with the theatre, enterprising hotel even offers customary speculation about who exactly I decided to make a career in tele- Doctor Who breaks for families, will be donning the sequins in Strictly, and vision, and joined the BBC in Car- complete with Dalek. whether watching deluded tone deaf ‘sing- diff. There was a snag. I’m a Welsh- The other motivation for creat- ers’ audition in front of Cheryl Cole et al man who doesn’t speak Welsh ing Torchwood, and other spin- offs does constitute freak tv. But there have been – not something I am particular- like The Sarah-Jane Adventures, was other reasons to keep the headline writers ly proud of, and it was certainly a to give the drama department busy this summer, not least Strictly’s much handicap in the children’s depart- here longevity. There is no point publicised changes in the judges’ line up and ment at BBC Wales 20 years ago. in having just one successful se- The X Factor’s change in format. The vast majority of children’s ries. Doctor Who may be around I’m sure these behemoths of the televi- programmes produced there were for another 10 or 20 years, but if it sion world are robust enough to cope with all in Welsh, for local consumption. is the only series the department that and more. This year’s singing compe- So a linguistically handicapped makes, its loss could effectively tition opener has already attracted almost but ambitious young man had spell the end of Welsh tv drama. 10m viewers, slightly down on last year but to look elsewhere in search of a That would have been wrong. impressive nevertheless. We’ll have to wait career. Unlike most people in the until next month to see if the loss of Arlene BBC, I didn’t head for London. Strong foundations and the addition of Alesha will have an Manchester had become an excit- Both Julie and I were impressed impact on Strictly’s loyal fanbase. ing place to be if you wanted to by the professionalism and ex- But amidst the machinations, what we make programmes for children, pertise of the crews and post pro- mustn’t forget is that both formats are, in my and so I moved there, and stayed. duction facilities here, in-house opinion, great telly. I’m happy to out myself and freelance. This was a place as a Strictly devotee and although at the time Rich speech patterns that deserved a thriving dra- of writing the line-up of the dancers is not My writing career took off, I ma industry. So we made it our confirmed, if the papers are right and one of crossed over to Granada, and from ambition that BBC Wales should the names that’s been suggested really will children’s to adult drama. But all come to be seen as a centre of be seen in tight-fitting lycra, stomping their the time I remained an adopted excellence for drama, on a base way around the dancefloor then I certainly son of Manchester. Inevitably the so firm that it would survive the will once again be hooked. place where you keep your collec- end of any one series. Both Jul- The fact that soon both programmes will tion of Doctor Who videos ends up ie and I left at a point when the be back dominating the weekend is good for shaping the way you describe the future of tv drama in Cardiff was the viewer; after all a bit of singing and danc- world. Most of what I wrote then assured. With the other spin-off ing is what Saturday nights are all about. had a Manchester accent. But working with her. So it was in- special atmosphere because they series that we have devised, not Stephen James-Yeoman is the every time I went home to visit my evitable that when Julie became are made in Wales. The crews love to mention existing local drama managing editor of Ariel family in Swansea, I’d be struck head of drama in Wales, we would working on them, and are delight- made in Wales in both Welsh afresh by the speech patterns in be thinking about joint projects. ed to be thought worthy of a role and English like Pobol y Cwm Wales; the way Welsh people talk I had already told the BBC that on a network production. and Belonging, and now Casualty is funny, rich and evocative. I was interested in reviving Doctor Similarly, the people of Car- arriving here too, there is em- Push to the top In 2001, when I spent even Who. My life might have been eas- diff and the city council have ployment for literally thousands more time there while my mother ier if the series had been made in embraced the shows, particularly of people. if fiona bruce doesn’t exactly test her own was dying of cancer, I began to Manchester, since I had my adult because the appeal of them cross- This has been built on the observation that women who ‘look like the back be aware of wanting to write in a home base there. But nonetheless es the generations. Cardiff people strongest possible foundation, end of a bus’ don’t get jobs as newsreaders, Welsh accent. The result was ITV’s I was delighted to have the chance are thrilled that their city is be- not just by us but also by the sheer there’s no denying that the 45-year old mother Mine All Mine, with Griff Rhys to make it in Wales. ing seen not only throughout the hard work over the last few years of two has some rare qualities aside from being Jones – made in Manchester but I realised this was going to be UK but also in Italy, Canada, Aus- from hundreds of other people pleasing on the eye. set in Swansea. a 24-hour, full time commitment. tralia, Korea – all over the globe. that has gone into reviving the In an interview in the Guardian this week It was not, alas, a success. But I would have to come and live in It is as if a member of your family industry in Cardiff. As for my flat she recalls the long labour preceding the afterwards people sat around Cardiff, and so I bought a flat here had done something particularly on Cardiff Bay, where I have sat birth of her daughter. In a lull between noisy, making ridiculous pronounce- on the Bay. In my opinion, view- good, that everyone can be proud so many times looking out at the painful contractions, a medical student ments like: ‘Well, that just proves ers see far too much of London on of, and there is a real sense of water, thinking of the Doctor and present seized the opportunity to tell Bruce the Welsh accent doesn’t work on screen. There is something valua- ownership which in subtle ways Captain Jack, dreaming up ideas she was ‘my favourite presenter’. television.’ That only made me de- ble to be gained from being away communicates itself on screen. – well, I may think of Manches- ‘Literally, Mia’s head was about to crown,’ termined to prove them wrong. from the centre, not under the Not every episode of Doctor Who ter as my adopted home because laughs Bruce. ‘It was fantastic. I said, ‘That’s The stars were not in the right commissioner’s eye and thumb. can be set in Cardiff, but my belief I have lived there for so long, but very nice to hear, thank you very much.’ conjunction for Mine All Mine, In ‘outposts’ like Manchester is that if you are making a show in this is home too. ‘Made in Wales’ Surely anybody who can keep their com- but they were edging towards a and Cardiff, it is much easier to a city, then you should show that is something that I am personally posure in such extreme circumstances, while new and favourable alignment develop a dedicated team, whose city off. I would sit at my window proud of. maintaining the highest grammatical stand- as a result of the professional commitment to the production overlooking the waters of Cardiff Read this essay in full and others ards and avoiding the use of expletives has relationship I was forging with is often far greater than you will Bay, walk past the Wales Millenni- by well known champions of out- earned their place before the camera. Julie Gardner on the production find among London crews. um Centre, knowing instinctively of-London production at the BBC Claire Barrett is Ariel production editor of Casanova. I absolutely loved Doctor Who and Torchwood have a that I wanted to use these places website bbc.co.uk/madeintheuk
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It’s the PITs however temporarily, and we’re look- Oven proof earmuffs installed at Alexandra Palace in 1936. I am only a journalist trying to get ing to improve PIT as a priority. The oven in the Broadcast Centre All the major work on developing PIT to work for my department’s Since being launched in 2008, café makes a constant loud hum- the cameras and their pick-up tubes, FROM THE VAULT news programmes, but I have to PIT has grown from a tool used by a ming noise – it can’t be healthy for sound and vision processing equip- say that the last fi ve months have handful of users in A&M to one used the staff to have to put up with it all ment, like mixers, etc. and the modu- August, 1967 been the worst, in terms of techni- by over 1000 people across the BBC. day long every day, and it makes the lators for the vision transmitter (ar- By taking refuge in ‘the law of the cal problems stopping us doing our Having never been intended for this café an uncomfortable place to sit. guably the most diffi cult part of the land’, pensions offi cer has retreated work, that I can remember in my many users, the system is prone to Can anything be done to reduce whole system) was undertaken by EMI. into a quicksand. It is not long since two decades at the BBC. problems, particularly when we do the noise it makes or could it perhaps Norman Green World Service started using PIT system upgrades that expose unex- be replaced with a quieter model? the ‘law of the land’ decreed that (the Programme Information Tool) pected problems in the system. Andy Webb a wife’s earnings automatically for its programme listings in March. We want to make it more widely software engineer, Search Pressing on became the property of her hus- But since then, PIT – and all the available and are planning signif- Adana printing machines were band. As we are not Medes or Per- other gizmos we use to get our pro- icant investment in the coming advertised in the British national sians we had the ‘law of the land’ gramme data and audio onto our months to make PIT far more robust Short shrift press, including Radio Times, for changed. Would pensions offi cer audience-facing web pages – have and reliable. A question to Johnson Controls over 70 years. In the days before have it otherwise? failed to deliver on so many occa- Most of our systems have work- Int. Why are support workers not computers these little red and silver When the ‘law of the land’ as sions that I have lost count. ing groups set up to address spe- allowed to wear shorts in the letterpress machines allowed the regards divorce, homosexuality, PIT’s continuing underperform- cifi c faults, and PIT is no different. summer? I appreciate that, as postal production of high quality printing abortion, drug-taking and other ance, despite the best efforts of the If you’re a user of the system who workers, you want us to look smart, by relatively unskilled operators. marginal activities is in the proc- many people involved, is undermin- has had similar problems please do but surely during hot weather, the According to Adana, the BBC were ess of being improved – is it likely ing the World Service. We are bring them to our attention via the dress code could be relaxed? I am sure major users of their presses. that the law as it affects the pen- destroying hard-won BBC brand working group. the sight of a postman in tailored I’m keen to contact staff who sions of career women will remain names – as all our programmes will shorts would not offend. worked with these machines for a as it is for much longer. It hardly have lost audiences because of this. Peter Coleman company history I’m writing. Ariel seems so! We would not allow BBC One Breaking point main despatch, TVC readers with memories of Adana The BBC is an institution dedi- or BBC Two to stop working once a I’m all for being prudent with presses should contact me at Ink- cated to informing – and therefore week for months on end, so why is it expenses, but I wonder how we’re [email protected] or at 48 Fort reforming – public opinion on mat- acceptable for World Service’s online supposed to operate as a live broad- Road, Northolt, Middlesex UB5 5HH Draw the line ters of public interest. Can it afford audience? caster with the latest guidance? Your green room item on HDTV Bob Richardson to turn a blind eye to the anomalies Do we redesign PIT so that it We’ve been told we MUST book (August 18) caught my eye – but the sport graphics and inequalities in its own practice? works without falling over every local taxis using the cumbersome statement that ‘the BBC boffi ns were week or so, or accept the inevitable online system – and if we don’t pawing over the revolutionary Mar- The fact that the BBC has recent- and chuck it in the rubbish bin? there’s an additional charge of £7 coni 405 line system’ is incorrect. Give Siemens a hand ly improved its pension facilities for Tim Bowler per booking. Just to set the record straight, the ‘The BBC has announced today that married men shows that it is anx- World Service business programmes That wouldn’t be so bad, but for 405 line system was researched and it has completed the procurement ious to act as a progressive and the booking to work, we have to do developed by EMI (Electric and Musi- for a 10-year Technology Framework enlightened employer. The failure Mark Kortekaas, controller, A&M it 45 minutes in advance. How does cal Industries – the Beatles’ record Contract (TFC) with Siemens Busi- to give married women employ- mobile, replies: A number of people that work if we have a breaking news company) and not by Marconi. As ness Services worth almost £2bn’ ees parity with their husbands can had problems with PIT over the last story and no fl eet cars available – or EMI did not wish to build transmit- read a BBC press release back in not be defended by reference to the week, arising from a system upgrade, the need to get urgent items to or ters but major on the studio and out- October 2004. ‘law of the land’ which is apt to grow for which we apologise. from our premises? Or a guest for side broadcast systems, they formed Hands up if you think this deal obsolete faster than fashions, pop We treat broadcast critical sys- that matter? a company named Marconi- EMI Ltd has been an unmitigated triumph. music or armaments. tems as a priority in FM&T, and it’s Kevin Stanley with Marconi supplying the trans- Duncan Hess Joyce Rowe, radio publicity offi cer not acceptable for them to go down, bj, Radio Nottingham mitters and aerials which were director
for the big con- always there with a smile and a kind and Wise Christ- the births of BBC World and News 24 OBITUARY tribution she word’ is a typical comment. mas Shows, as well as many Newsnights, One, Six made as unit Paula’s genuine care for peo- Dad’s Army and and Nine O’Clock News programmes, PAULA LEONARD manager of ple made her known to many, right Only Fools and working alongside young output edi- Paula Leonard, who died on July 4, Omnibus, which across the BBC. Everyone warmed to Horses as well as tors such as Mark Thompson, Adrian was a great BBC stalwart. She joined won two Baftas her openness and her mischievous costume drama Van Klaveren, Richard Sambrook and the corporation in 1971 working fi rst during her sense of humour. They knew they and children’s Peter Horrocks. in the press offi ce and then light tenure. could trust and rely on her, not just tv, like Cracker- Dave’s organisational skills, and entertainment. She was a as a colleague but as a friend. The jack which he perhaps his prior experience as an In 1973 she moved to music and clever organis- BBC is only as good as the people loved. excellent union rep, equipped him arts, where she was to stay until the er and a great team builder. Genera- who work for it and Paula brought I fi rst got to know Dave in the well for ‘spells in the offi ce’, which mid-nineties. First as a PA and then tions of new recruits to BBC arts can, to it, for over 30 years, dedicated late 1970s. I was a fresh faced sound quickly merged into a permanent as a unit manager, she became a bril- and do, thank Paula for the unique hard work, laughter and fun and, trainee and he was a highly skilled management role during the nine- liant and highly-valued enabler and way she made them welcome and let behind all of it, a simple, but pro- sound professional, yet he would ties, fi rst as manager sound and supporter of production talent. them into the secrets of how the BBC found, humanity. always encourage and train others. then as an operations manager for tv She worked in Hollywood with really works. And if they couldn’t Andrew Snell In 1983 we were both among the news. We shared an offi ce and, once Gavin Millar on his Busby Berkeley fi nd a way, Paula nearly always pioneers of the PSC (portable single again, Dave was there to teach and fi lm where the showmanship of the could. camera) operation at the Lime Grove guide, including a great manage- dancers, then in their eighties, ech- She insisted work should be fun, DAVID BATT topical production centre. Here ment tip – a reliance on bananas for oed her own vision for life. Colin as well as creatively successful, and Dave Batt, a man of great integrity, a Dave worked on the road as a sound energy when the going gets tough! Nears, who she worked with on his she singularly made the annual M&A skilled professional and a highly recordist and later in studios as a Dave retired from BBC News in Schubert fi lm, remembers her as ‘the Christmas Party a hot ticket. regarded operations manager for sound supervisor on programmes 1997 after 38 years. He was a much most lovely, laughing and lively girl She joined recruitment in 1997 BBC News, has died at the age of 67 such as London Plus, Newsnight and loved husband to Margaret; father to be with’. where her fl air for display and following a long illness. Breakfast Time. to Richard and Caroline and grand- For three years, Paula was instru- organising public events was invalu- Dave joined the BBC in 1960 on In 1989, as current affairs and father to Isabel and Thomas. Our mental in glueing together the many able, and in 2004 moved to Career his 19th birthday at a time when news joined, we both moved up the thoughts and prayers are with the creative talents behind The Shock of Link, the unit which supports staff there were only two tv channels. His road to work as senior sound super- family at this sad time, including the New, the seminal series in which whose jobs are being made redun- early career at TV Centre involved visors in the newly formed bi-media Caroline who works on many of the Robert Hughes unravelled the 20th dant. ‘There was a time when com- him in the ‘Golden Age’ of BBC com- sound section for news. Highlights same programmes as her father as a century through its art. ing into the Media Centre wasn’t a edy and studio drama, working on of the period included rolling news fl oor manager for BBC News. Paula will be best remembered ball of fun for me, but Paula was programmes such as the Morecambe for the coverage of the fi rst Gulf War, Peter Coles
a 25.08.09 14 Jobs See Attachment
Making music Richard Edwards, assistant producer, BBC Blast BUDGET, DESK, PHONE. And three months to pro- duce a prototype interactive music-making and remixing resource, under the wings of the Learn- ing Development team... all of which was pretty hairy but darned enjoyable stuff. It had come about through their 2008 com- petition for new pervasive/mobile media ideas, into which I’d put a proposal called ‘Up From the Streets’. I was lucky enough in that it was select- ed for further development and that BBC Blast, with whom I work, thought that it had potential for their re-launched site and supported my joining Learning Dev to build it. The idea all tied in with their remit to help cre- ative ‘Discoverers’, teens who are not confi dent in their creativity. A few chats with the Learning Dev team and a few pitches to Learning heads later, I found myself with an informal three month attach- ment. And the aforementioned budget, desk and phone... How to start, drive forward, evolve and deliver a new project from scratch was only one of the many things I learnt there. In fact, being an editorial bod, to begin with I was most expecting to increase my tech awareness. However I was soon amazed at how much I was learning about absolutely everything: the differences between development production and working on a live site, production processes, timescales, the importance of getting interest from other departments, what other teams around the BBC are doing, innovative emerging web resources, how to integrate with BBC infrastructure, that noth- ing need be impossible, and of course the point at which you have to stop talking to people and, you know, actually get something built. It was daunting at times but the Learning Devel- opment team were supportive in all the right ways. I had a lot of free rein, but the help and input when I needed it. Now, coming back to Blast, I feel that I can bring a greater understanding of back-end processes, a keener editorial eye and stronger con- fi dence and focus in getting ideas off the ground. And best of all, Blast get a prototype music-making resource which I fi rmly believe will help get kids motivated to create and share their compositions. I hope you all get to play with it. Been anywhere nice? Send your attachment stories to Clare Bolt
14 OCTOBER 08 ARIEL a 25·08·09 What am I doing here 15 PHOTOGRAPH: MARK BASSETT MARK PHOTOGRAPH:
SOUND SUPERVISOR, PETER BBC STUDIOS AND POST foreign BRIDGES PRODUCTION report
JEFF WILKINSON PRODUCER/DIRECTOR GETS TOUGH IN THE ARCTIC
I KNEW I WAS IN TROUBLE when my wife asked me to jot down a quick ‘last will and testament’ on the back of an envelope. I was about to board a plane for the coldest per- manently inhabited place on earth to direct a fi lm for the new BBC Three series Tough Guy Or Chicken? No wonder my wife was worried. She had good cause. Filming in the Olenyok province of northern Siberia in the middle of Febru- ary was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. At its coldest the temperature dipped to below minus 50 degrees. And we were camping in the Arctic Circle – fi lm- ing fi ve young men attempting to become Evenki deer herders, a people who have survived in one of the most hostile loca- tions on earth for thousands of years. The fi rst day of fi lming was so cold that all the cables snapped off the back of Sam the soundman’s mixer. Then Anthony the AP developed the fi rst signs of frostbite – on his face. From that point on it was a mad, bad struggle against the elements to What do you like about your sound control room and mix the centre of Vienna, several kilo- dialogue and effects, ready for get the fi lm made. job? programme sound. metres away at the International editing and dubbing by my Post Cameras were I’ve always been passionate Broadcast Centre. Production colleagues. There was constantly break- about sound. At school I used It sounds hectic. What’s the We were also to be the BBC’s ing down; even the to operate the PA system and most challenging part? fi rst major sporting event to use And you’re also helping to plan a lot tripods began to record school productions, and Staying cool under pressure is a single sound console to pro- sound facilities for the 2010 fall apart, the metal at university I did the sound for vital. Live tv can change from duce coverage in both stereo World Cup? of raw shattering and stage productions and helped what was expected within sec- and 5.1 surround sound. We had Yes, in South Africa. It’s a major shearing off the legs run the student radio station. onds, and dealing with these to make sure that there was no project, as we will be building reindeer in the extreme cold. I don’t think I ever actu- situations can sometimes cause compromise in either the stereo and running a remote studio and Even eating was a ally made a decision to work in the heart rate to increase. As a or surround sound mixes. It gallery in South Africa, in addi- meat challenge. I arrived in broadcast sound. It was some- team, however, we’ve experi- ended up being a huge success, tion to an editing, mixing and Siberia a strict veg- thing I just knew I wanted to enced pretty much everything both from a technical and pro- switching facility at the Interna- etarian and left something else. do. I still fi nd my job as exciting that can happen during a live duction perspective. tional Broadcast Centre in In the bone snapping cold we were now as when I started 11 years show, and so we know how to Johannesburg. advised to double our calorifi c intake or ago. From planning the commu- deal with these situations while What are you working on at the suffer. There weren’t any vegetables any- nication facilities for Children remaining calm. moment? Do you do work for independent way. Just reindeer meat and bread. So I had in Need to mixing the London I’m one of the team of sound su- companies too? to take a deep breath and think of Auntie. Marathon, I can genuinely say I’m What are you most proud of? pervisors for EastEnders. We plan A signifi cant proportion of our Trouble was, the Evenki eat a lot of their never bored at work. I co-planned the sound and and then record a ‘block’ of four work is for independent cus- meat raw. Each time a reindeer was killed communication facilities for the episodes at a time, which usually tomers, and not only in tv. I’ve we had to eat its liver and kidneys What do sound supervisors do? 2008 European Football Cham- involves nine studio days spread worked on product launches, uncooked straight from the carcass, with A huge range of duties, from rig- pionship. Our studio was on the over two weeks. My job is to cap- staff conferences and even just the odd glass of vodka to make it pal- ging microphones and loud- top fl oor of an offi ce block in the ture the best possible sound of radio recordings for a variety of atable. But just a modicum. Honest. speakers on a studio fl oor to clients over the past couple of It was a tough shoot in Olenyok, but also operating mic booms on a years. The most common thing a huge privilege. We gained an amazing drama, editing and playing-out people are surprised about is insight into a way of life that is fast disap- music and sound effects for a CV that we don’t only make pro- pearing. And the land itself was beautiful children’s show, and mixing live grammes for the BBC. and desolate. Only 4000 people live in an Saturday night entertainment Degree: MEng (Hons) in Electrical & Electronic area the size of Belgium, the Netherlands shows. I meet with the produc- Engineering from the University of Bristol. What do you like doing in your and Luxembourg combined. The rest is wil- tion team before a show and First Job: Picking up litter in my home village of spare time? derness. learn what the programme Christleton, Chester. For money, not punishment. I like going out for meals, but We camped in the snow and travelled involves. to balance-out the guilt of too each day across the taiga – a vast primeval I then design a suitable sound Most Proud: Co-planning sound and communica- much beer and food I’ve started forest, the original wild wood. system which includes providing tions facilities for BBC Sport’s tv coverage of visiting the Lake District with my The contributors went on to other ad- radio mics, talkback facilities, PA the 2008 European Football Championship. girlfriend on days off. We’re dis- ventures, including Namibia, the Amazon system and grams (music and Girlfriend, Gopa who’s a paediatrician, sister covering the art of fell walking. and Bangladesh. But for me it was an edit sound effects). On the day of a Family: The scenery is absolutely fan- suite at White City. I was glad to be back. show I’m joined by my sound Susannah, and parents in North Wales. Dad was an en- tastic and it’s great therapy to I’m not sure that that terribly rushed ‘last crew colleagues who set up and gineer, and Mum was a drama teacher, so I’ve ended-up put everything else on hold for a will and testament’ would have been operate the sound equipment somewhere between the two as a tv sound engineer. couple of days and just relax. legally binding anyway. according to my plan. I sit in the Interview: Peggy Walker Tough Guy or Chicken, BBC Three, Aug 27 > CONTACT PEGGY WALKER TO SUGGEST A COLLEAGUE FOR THIS FEATURE 16 a 25·08·09 green room ▲ THE ARIELAT0R WE HEAR THAT. . . A weekly take on life at the BBC: E ICK OF COURSE trails are specifi cally designed to at- ▲ who’s up, who’s down, who’s off B A OTH R R tract human viewers, but it seems their hypnotic N effects have been rubbing off on dogs as well. ▲ ‘I’ve just had an email asking if a BBC One trail is L on iPlayer because her dog enjoys it (Does the ▲ I THE WAL dog have a licence?),’ Yammered John Collings, N information agent, last week. It turns out the trail ▲ used several names the dog recognised from its family, making him get particularly excited whenever he heard them emitting from the funny ▲ fl ashing box in the living room. Sadly the viewer had to be informed that iPlayer doesn’t show ▲ trails, though in this multiplatform age 360 Dog UPSIDE Brilliant brother Ravinder Sang- TV surely cannot be too far off. ▲ hera, a producer at Radio Sheffi eld, made the trip over to Hull to visit his sis- NATURAL HISTORY is not just about hanging ▲ ter Inderjeet, a ba at Look North so they off waterfalls and traversing caves in search of could celebrate the Indian festival of rare forms of salamander. The creatures in your ▲ Rakhsa Bandhan together. It marks own back yard can be just the relationship between brothers and as impressive, as John ▲ sisters with the tying of a rakhi (holy Blades, senior health thread) on to the wrist. ‘Threads come and safety risk in lots of varieties - you can get outra- manager with ▲ geous designs or simple ones,’ Ravinder Workplace, explains. ‘The nice thing is that you’ve found when ▲ got that symbol on your wrist for how- looking out of ever long it lasts. It’s always sad when his window in ▼ the thread splits or starts fraying, but White City – a I’ve had one that has lasted a whole year place not nor- ▼ before.’ Perhaps mally associ- both working at ated with exotic ▼ the BBC is the so- wildlife. This fl am- lution to sibling boyant character rivalry? JAMES MAY adds another layer to Deciding to build a house, for his (pictured, right) is a ▼ his Lego house, a garish domicile upcoming series James May’s Toy Vapourer moth caterpillar. DOWN: He was a made entirely from the titular bricks. Stories, may seem a staid choice for ‘I had a look the other day and it had disappeared, ▼ double agent who These aren’t extra large blocks either a Top Gear presenter, but factor in it may have pupated by now’ says John. The com- betrayed the se- - look closely and you’ll see each of the working shower and toilet and paratively dull adult moth apparently resembles ▼ crets of the West the large bricks is made of individual there’s plenty of room for extrava- an oak tree, and no doubt looks back upon its to his Soviet allies during the cold war, pieces, 272 to be exact. gant feats of engineering. youthful existence of bingeing on endless leaves ▼ and an often unpredictable hard drinker. and wearing long hair and outrageous clothes as But you know what Guy Burgess’ big- the best days of its life. ▼ gest sin was? Maxing out his expense account. ‘Guy Burgess abused BBC ex- SCENES MORE appropriate to a rock concert at ▼ penses,’ said the Telegraph last week. It CREEP-OUT CAVE the ukulele prom last Wednesday, when enthusi- seems even in the ‘40s expenses came asts across the country converged on the Royal under great scrutiny, with Burgess often A BRUSH WITH THE OTHER SIDE, and while Anne-Marie thought perhaps Albert Hall to witness the Ukulele Orchestra of ▼ called upon to justify his extravagant we’re not talking Channel 4, awaited someone was shouting at them from Great Britain in action. In true proms fashion the actions. ‘I normally travel fi rst class,’ producer Anne-Marie Bullock and the entrance. Emerging into the light event even managed to attract a demographic he explained on one occasion, ‘and see Helen Mark when they investigated they found no-one in the vicinity… not known for its love of classical music. ‘There no reason why I should alter my prac- Portcoon cave in Country Antrim for Afterwards Andy quietly requested a were a load of teenage boys there and they were tice when on BBC business, particularly Radio 4’s Open Country. Inside the copy of the recording for another lis- all really good,’ relates Green Room’s cultural cor- when I’m in my best clothes.’ His bosses cave the pair were being told about ten as ‘it’s not often that he’s creeped respondent, who, though attending ukulele in mused, ‘It requires a very strong char- one of it’s legendary residents - a lo- out inside a cave’ but it was ‘very bi- hand, failed to practise the song before the per- acter to reduce this expenditure but the cal hermit who wouldn’t accept food zarre’. For her part Anne-Marie says formance and was left red-faced and fumbling in attempt should certainly be made’ - from human hands, surviving only on she felt no fear: ‘My commitment to the surprisingly tuneful mass play along. advice as true now as it ever was… what was brought to him by a friendly capturing the sound overrides eve- seal - when their guide Andy McIn- rything else’ she laughs, exhibiting roy paused mid-sentence. An eerie nerves of steel that would be of use Win The Street EARWIGGING howl passed through the darkness, in any further paranormal investiga- followed by a series of bangs. Pulling tions. Ghostly seal or whistling wind? series three on dvd OVERHEARD AT THE BBC himself together Andy dismissed the Listen for yourself on Open Country disturbance as a bird or on Radio 4, August 29 at THE THIRD and fi nal series of …I think I’m getting posher seal (brandishing a plate 6am or Septem- Jimmy McGovern’s emotionally of chips perhaps?), ber 3 at 3pm. powerful drama, The Street, was and posher as I get older… again a huge hit with audiences, attracting an average audience …Pigeons in Italy are so of fi ve million. Starring a host of sexy, the ones here are just famous names, including Bob Hoskins, Anna Friel, and Timothy rough… Spall, its six episodes explored …I’m no Maggie Thatcher!… the darker side of human nature with McGovern’s trademark combination of wit, in- …I’ve been described as a hippo with telligence and compassion. To enter to win one Anne-Marie Bul- of fi ve Series 3 dvds, just answer this question: attitude… lock (left) and Which drama serial starring Robbie Coltrane did …If the club stops serving alcohol at 2, what Helen Mark before McGovern create in 1993? the disturbance Email ariel competitions by September 1. are we supposed to do on a training course?… > IF YOU HAVE A STORY FOR THE GREEN ROOM, CONTACT ADAM BAMBURY