PROSPEROThe newspaper for retired BBC Pension Scheme members • June 2020 • Issue 3

BBC PENSION AND BENEFITS CENTRE: COVID-19 UPDATE

PAGE 2PENSION SCHEME

2

| BBC BENEFITS

We’re focussing on maintaining ‘business as usual’ for Scheme members, although we have had to temporarily amend the opening

hours of the pension service line (029 2032 2811), now open from 10am to 4pm, in order to help us maintain essential services.

Some tasks may take a little longer, however, please be assured that the payment of pensions will continue as normal. Also, thanks to the very robust data protection systems we already had in place, your details remain secure even if our staff have to access them remotely.

The team would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding whilst the restrictions remain in place.

Please also remember that information relating to the Scheme can be found on our website: bbc.co.uk/mypension.

If you write to us or send an email to mypension@bbc.co.uk, we may take longer than usual to reply and we appreciate your patience.

Doorstep crime• Criminals targeting older people on their doorstep

and offering to do their shopping. Thieves take the money and do not return.

• Doorstep cleansing services that offer to clean drives and doorways to kill bacteria and help prevent the spread of the virus.

Online scams• Email scams that trick people into opening malicious

attachments, which put personal information, passwords, contacts and bank details at risk. Some of these emails have lured people to click on attachments by offering information about people in the local area who are affected by coronavirus.

• Fake online resources – such as false coronavirus maps – that deliver malware (a malicious software program) to damage or infiltrate data on your computer. A prominent example that has deployed malware is ‘corona-virus-map[dot]com’.

COVID-19 UPDATE

SCAM ALERT

As ever, the team at the Pension and Benefits Centre has risen to the challenge of working remotely from home.

Unscrupulous criminals are exploiting fears about Covid-19 to prey on vulnerable members of the public who are now isolated from family and friends. Please remember to be vigilant as there has been an increase of coronavirus-related scams. Some examples which have been reported to Trading Standards are as follows:

You can view your pension details and make certain changes via myPension online. You can view your pension payslips and P60s, or change your bank or address details.

If you haven’t already registered for myPension online and you would like to, please send an email to myPensionFeedback@bbc.co.uk, quoting your National Insurance number. We will then send you your personal security number. Then visit mybbcpension.co.uk, click on the ‘register here’ tab at the bottom of the page and follow the instructions.

Refund scams• Companies offering fake holiday refunds for people

who have been forced to cancel their trips. If you’re seeking a refund, please be wary of fake websites set up to claim holiday refunds.

Telephone scams• As more people self-isolate at home, there is an

increasing risk that telephone scams will also rise, including criminals claiming to be your bank, mortgage lender or utility company.

Donation scams• There have been reports of thieves extorting money

from consumers by claiming they are collecting donations for a Covid-19 ‘vaccine’.

To help protect yourself, you should:

• beware of adverts on social media channels and paid for/sponsored adverts online

• do not click links or open emails from senders you don’t already know

• take your time to make all the checks you need, even if this means turning down an ‘amazing deal’

• do not give out personal details (bank details, address, existing insurance/pensions/ investment details)

• seek financial guidance or advice before changing your pension arrangements or making investments

There is further advice on the FCA’s ScamSmart website (fca.org.uk/scamsmart) about how to protect yourself. If you suspect you may have been contacted in what could be a scam, you should call Action Fraud straight away on 0300 123 2040.

bbc.co.uk/mypension

3PROSPERO JUNE 2020 |

Letters 4-5

Prospero is provided free of charge to retired Scheme members, or to their spouses and dependants.

Prospero provides a source of news on former colleagues, developments at the BBC and pension issues, plus classified adverts. It is available online at bbc.com/mypension

To advertise in Prospero, please enclose a cheque made payable to: BBC Central Directorate. Rate £6 for 20 words. Please include your pension number in a covering letter.

Please send your editorial contributions, or comments/feedback, to: Prospero, BBC Pension and Benefits Centre, Central Square, Cardiff CF10 1FT

Email: prospero@bbc.co.uk

Please make sure that any digital pictures you send are scanned at 300dpi. Please also note that the maximum word count for obituaries is 350 words.

PROSPERO

Odds & ends 12Breaking bad (news)

Reunions

Classifieds

Caption competition

BBC benefits 2-3Covid-19 update

Scam alert

Volunteer Visiting Scheme

Mystery Sudoku

Prospero June 2020

The next issue of Prospero will appear in August 2020. The copy deadline is Monday, 6 July 2020.

Contents

Obituaries 10-11

Memories 8-9H.M.S. Pebble Mill at One

The British Entertainment History Project

BBC producers’ free first colour TV sets

Life after Auntie 6-7Keep calm and carry on

Funnies

There's life after the Beeb

Mystery SudokuE S T

E AL D R

A O RD O A E

W T L

E L WL A

S L O

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains the letters ADELORSTW in some order. One row or column contains a five or more letter word, title or name with a BBC connection. Solve the Sudoku to discover what it is and send your answer to: The Editor, Prospero, BBC Pension and Benefits Centre, 3 Central Square, Cardiff CF10 1FT by Monday, 6 July 2020.

The winner gets a £10 voucher. Many thanks to Neil Somerville for providing this puzzle.

The Sudoku winner in April 2020 was Peter Dean, who correctly identified the BBC connection ‘Mark Cole’.

Please note, vouchers will be issued once the lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

WIN£10

VOLUNTEER VISITINGSCHEME

COFFEE SHOP

Would you welcome occasional contact with

former colleagues?

Available throughout the UK to BBC pensioners over age 70

Visitors are also BBC pensioners

Operates from the Pension and Benefits

Centre

Visitors carry ID cards with them for your

security

Meet at home for aa chat or somewhere public like a

coffee shop

We can also offer support during

difficult times such as bereavement

Want to know more about what the VVS has to offer?Call the pension service line on 029 2032 2811 or

email myPension@bbc.co.uk

Over 2,000 pensioners already use the scheme

Volunteer Visiting SchemeIn line with Government guidance, face-to-face visits by the Volunteer Visitors have been suspended. However, this doesn’t mean that the visitors are not keeping in touch. They are making phone calls and, where possible and appropriate, utilising technology such as Facetime and Whatsapp groups to maintain contact with those with whom they keep in touch.

If you haven’t received visits in the past but would welcome a friendly phone call, you can send an email, quoting your BBC pension number, to vvs@bbc.co.uk to opt in to receive a call and we can put you in touch with your local visitor. If you don’t have access to email, you can also opt in by calling Cheryl Miles on 0303 080 3558.

| LETTERS

4

Ada GreenSorry to read of the loss of Ada Hakeney née Green, in April Prospero obituaries. I do remember when Ariel ran a headline story ‘First BBC camerawoman’, Ada Green replied, ‘What are you talking about, I have been doing camera in Leeds for the last three years!’

Colin Pierpoint

Why ‘scanner’?Please excuse an outsider, but I have the feeling Prospero readers are likely to be among those most likely to help.

(I’ve never actually worked in the industry, but have always had a great interest in broadcasting, both technology and production. I did work at what was, when I joined it, Marconi Research Centre for 20-something years. Anyway…)

I have checked (my brother’s an executive editor there), and the Oxford English Dictionary does not have an entry under ‘scanner’, covering its use to mean a television control room built into a vehicle: I would like to remedy that omission!

My enquiries (mainly in the newsgroup uk.tech.broadcast) suggest that the term has never been an official term, but is in wide use, and would be understood by anybody in the industry. So I’d like to appeal, for what is normally the criterion for an OED entry: can anyone give me a citation of a printed use of the word? What’s needed is date, page/column, name of publication, author of the piece if known, and the sentence containing it (and enough from adjacent sentences to make the meaning obvious, if it isn’t clear from the single sentence).

Given the unofficial nature, I suspect the cites may be from Prospero itself, or other internal magazines or similar, rather than any technical handbook or other official publication. I get the feeling that the term dates from at latest the 1950s, but later examples will do to start with. (A current example is also useful, anyway.) Some have suggested ‘Pawley’ is a good source.

It’d also be useful – though not essential – to know why they’re called scanners; I've had suggestions of: source of scanning waveforms (dismissed), vehicles having previously been radar kit (possible but unlikely), and some connection with intermediate film (Baird system).

‘Folk etymology’ being what it is, though, I’m only after those who are fairly certain of their reason, not just explanations that sound likely.

Any citations or reasons please to G6JPG@255soft.uk, and I’ll pass them on.

John P Gilliver

Stephen Peet – Yesterday’s WitnessI am Stephen Peet’s son, Graham. Stephen died in 2015.

I am working on an illustrated book about his life. During his time at the BBC he made a series of oral history programmes, Yesterday’s Witness - 1969 and 1981. He recorded many stories that would otherwise be forgotten to history and it was based on a simple principle – ordinary people telling extraordinary stories.

I am hoping to record his story in the same way. So, I am trying to find any BBC people who knew or worked with him who would be interested in sharing any stories, photos or anecdotes to include in the book.

Graham Peet 27 Hodge Bower Ironbridge Shropshire TF8 7QQ

Tel: 0785 5956089

Email: gpeet@mac.com

Golden age of filmHarry Farrar’s ‘Remembering the Golden Age of Film’ was an attractive piece of nostalgia. But why not extend the theme to ‘The Golden Age of BBC Television’? Want a simple example?

Well, in 1963 (as a mere 32-year-old) I put up a proposal to produce and present a five-part series about the American West.

Someone ‘up there’ evidently liked the idea because, just four weeks later, I and a three-man crew were in Wyoming; we were shooting the first programme in what, some months later, was the first ‘travel’ series to be shown on the brand-new BBC2.

Yes, those really were the days – no messing, no committees, no year-long delays, no farting about. I could give you other similar examples, but I am told that present-day director-producers would find them unbelievable. As I say, ‘those really were the days…’

Tim Slessor

Looking for Andy AliffeI am currently doing some research about music hall singer Steve McCarthy. I found a letter sent to The Stage about Steve’s father, Victorian Music Hall comedian John McCarthy from a BBC Radio producer or researcher by the name of Andy Aliffe who had been researching the McCarthy family.

Mr Aliffe would have retired from the BBC ages ago, I imagine, but is perhaps a reader of Prospero. If he is or someone knows where his research notes may be, they could be invaluable to my research – so I would be most grateful if they would get in touch.

Peter Charltonpeter.charlton@zen.co.uk

5PROSPERO JUNE 2020 |

BBC radio programme with Ella Fitzgerald theme tune?My son is helping his professor with some research for a book on Ella Fitzgerald. Apparently there was a BBC radio programme that used her song ‘Every time we say goodbye’ as its theme music.

Do any readers remember what show it was, and maybe when it was broadcast and who presented?

Answers please to davidscottcowan@btinternet.com

Thank you.

David Scott Cowan

020 8752 6666BBC.CLUB@BBC.CO.UKBBC Club Broadcast Centre, BC2 B3, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP

Covid-19 and BBC Club In this unprecedented time of ‘lockdown’, BBC Club would like to thank all our fantastic members for their support. As an independent, not-for-profit and unsubsidised company, it is the support of our members and their monthly subscriptions that will hopefully allow BBC Club to come through the current pandemic crisis and be around for many years, bringing a wide range of benefits to BBC people, retired and current!

At time of writing, the lockdown is still in place. At time of publication, hopefully things are beginning to slowly reopen and become more accessible.

The outbreak of the coronavirus had a huge impact on BBC Club, starting with a sharp decrease in trade in the Clubs. The cessation of filming on both the Holby City and EastEnders sets in late March saw our Elstree site close its doors first, swiftly followed by the enforced closure by the government of BBC Club W1 and gym the following week.

As soon as we are allowed to open, BBC Club W1 will once more be there for morning coffee, retired members’ lunches, fine wine and good beer and of course – to pick up the Radio Times!

BBC Club Extra has continued throughout. April’s competition was for a ‘library of fragrance’ courtesy of Penhaligon’s Regent Street, while in May we offered a £200 voucher from sundried.com.

Our pop-up shops and Club Extra offers have been offered ‘virtually’ via the website and the lottery has seem a fantastic 61 members win prizes in March and the usual 11 winners in April and May. If you were one of them – congratulations!

Prospero Society Prospero Society outings are planned to recommence in September, but in the meantime it would be great to hear your personal accounts of life during the coronavirus pandemic, including any moving stories or funny anecdotes. Have you become adept at Skype or fed up with quizzes on Zoom? Has your garden never had so much attention or has this been a particularly difficult time? BBC Club will be compiling your stories as a record of these times. Please indicate whether you would be happy to share your story with others.

Please note, we are accepting correspondence by post or email only as the office is closed at time of writing and at this time we do not know the date of reopening.

Stay safe and healthy.

A long tradition of complaints

Did you know Cliff Richardson?Are you in this photo? Did you work with him? Do you have any stories or photos? I’m Cliff’s granddaughter and I’d love to hear from you. Back in 2003 I met some crew on the set of EastEnders who had worked with him. Sadly, we didn’t have much time to talk. I’d really like to discover more about him. Please contact me at creativeelc@gmail.com

Emma Cook

Bryan Baylis and Neville Withers are following a long tradition of complaints about the use of irrelevant music in programmes.

In 1957, when I joined the BBC as a technical operator, I was aware of letters complaining of this – and they are still appearing.

My career led me from London BH to the Radiophonic Workshop and then on to Bristol, where I had the great pleasure of balancing orchestras and other music, as well as film dubbing, during which I had much exposure to music. My son is now 30 years into a freelance music career – so music has always been an important aspect of my life.

It dawned on me early on that, of the billions of people in the world, no two have the same musical taste – something of which programme makers should be aware. Also, those of us who have old ears, such as me now, just can’t hear dialogue or commentary with intrusive music poured over it. I ended my BBC career as a radio producer in the NHU and I hope I avoided these mood musical pitfalls.

Producers, do please ask yourself why you are putting music into your production when your choice can upset so many people. From my film dubbing time, I realise cameras can work well at a much greater distance than microphones do, and a bit of music fills the gap in the soundtrack – but at what expense? Ask yourself, ‘why am I putting this possibly irritating music into my programme?’

John Harrison

6

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON| LIFE AFTER AUNTIE

By Joe Keaney

As the Volunteer Visiting Scheme (VVS) update on page 3 sets out, the VVS has had to adapt during these unusual times – with phone calls (and video calls) taking the place of face-to-face visits. BBC visitor Joe Keaney shares his experience of ‘visiting’ during lockdown.

As someone privileged to be a volunteer on the BBC Visiting Scheme, it has been great over

many years to regularly meet face to face with what my wife cheerfully calls ‘my BBC ladies’.

Now that this activity has unfortunately had to stop, we hope temporarily, I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon before Easter phoning round to check that all the people I normally see are safe and well.

What a wonderful, uplifting afternoon I had! My cohort are mainly in their eighties and early nineties, with one young one, a spritely 71.

They were all in good form, all resilient, all surrounded by friends and family who are making sure they have all they need.

One was happy that she had managed a two-week family holiday in Benidorm

in January and that her dog had a garden to run around in. Another was getting her head around the mysteries of Skype and seeing her grandchildren online and getting mightily frustrated trying to join Gareth Malone’s virtual choir.

One lady joked that at the start of the year her children were badgering her as to how she wanted to celebrate her 90th birthday in June. She chuckled that the pressure to come up with something clever and innovative was now mercifully off.

Another reflected on how kind people were and how she felt kindness was returning to our national conversation. Quite a few noted how much support they were getting from church organisations they were attached to and all remarked on how wonderful technology like the phone was in helping them stay in touch.

But of course only so far. One lady who listens regularly to Radio 3 misses meeting ‘her boyfriend’ at lunchtime concerts at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall. A few reflected on the fact that, for the first time in their lives, they would not be attending church services in actual churches over Easter. Another lamented she couldn’t be there for her granddaughter’s 5th birthday party and missed the cuddles.

All reflected on how lucky they were and how grateful they felt at having such a warm, close network of friends.

FUNNIESby Chris Blount, Volunteer Visitor, West Cornwall and Scilly

You may well have seen this among the scores of so-called ‘funnies’ that are doing the rounds at present, but, as you’ll see, it did trigger a strangely familiar memory from nearly sixty years ago...

On her first day at the seniors complex, the new manageress addressed all the seniors, pointing out some of her rules:

‘The female sleeping quarters will be out-of-bounds for all males, and the male dormitory to the females.

Anybody caught breaking this rule will be fined $20 the first time.’

She continued: ‘Anybody caught breaking this rule a second time will be fined $60. Being caught a third time will cost you a fine of $180. Are there any questions?’

On this point, an older lady named Alice stood up in the crowd and inquired: ‘How much is a season pass?’

When I arrived at the BBC’s Beaumont Hostel in Bayswater back in 1961, it was soon evident that socialising with one’s newly met colleagues would be a pleasurable introduction.

Many of us were teenagers far from home and there was a healthy mix of genders! However, the Corporation took its Duty of Care seriously and the matronly manageress in the Reception Office was quick to point out the House Rules. Priority was given to the one that informed us of the strict division between men and women on the upstairs floors.

There was a separating door with electronic connection to Reception during the caretaker’s night shift – probably after 10pm, I can’t quite remember. Anyone crossing the great divide would be quickly apprehended and dismissed from the monastery – sorry, hostel.

I was soon told by ‘lifers’ among the inmates that cigarette packets could easily be employed to silence the alarm. I couldn’t possibly confirm the effectiveness of such functionality.

'What a lucky person I am to talk with such a band of spirited, resilient people.'

One lady scoffed at comparisons being made with World War II though. She spent that bleak time as a pre-teen in the most bombed corner of unoccupied Europe, Malta, and said seeking refuge in a cave was far harder than anything she’s been asked to endure since. She laughed at the toilet roll crisis – we used newspaper, she recalled.

I came off the phone some three hours later thinking what a lucky person I am to talk with such a band of spirited, resilient people who are discovering via new technology (Skype) and older forms (Scrabble, jigsaws) ways to reframe lockdown into something positive and life affirming.

The last word goes to the lady who said, ‘I must go now, Joe. I've spent all afternoon talking to you and to family as well and it’s giving me a headache. And I’ve a new pasta recipe I want to try for my tea.’

7PROSPERO JUNE 2020 |

THERE’S LIFE AFTER THE BEEBBy Joe Keaney

by Walter Acosta

After 23 years at the BBC, the highlight being a hugely enjoyable period working as a radio drama director for BBC World Service, the idea of retirement to feed pigeons or sink into oblivion and slothful lethargy was never within my plans. On the contrary!

When I retired, John Pitman – my predecessor – wished me luck and said, ‘There’s life after the Beeb, Walter.’

He was absolutely right.

Soon after I left Bush House in 1990, I braved the London stage, directing my play ‘No one writes to the Colonel’, based on a García Márquez short story and led by Bernard Hepton in the title role. Then, as my wife joined the United Nations in Switzerland, I left dear old England and moved to Geneva.

There, my association with GEDS, the oldest English speaking language theatre in the Continent, led to some gratifying productions; works by Priestley, Ayckbourn, Sophocles and Neruda’s epic poem ‘The heights of Macchu Picchu’, which had moved Emrys James and Michael Bryant to tears when I produced it in Bush House a decade earlier.

1985: Gordon House, Head of BBC World Service Drama with his team in Studio N41, Bush House. Standing from left to right, producers Walter Acosta and David Hitchinson, and production assistants Jo Hill, Nici Hildebrandt and Joanne Hopper.

'Soon after I left Bush House in 1990, I braved the London stage, directing my play ‘No one writes to the Colonel’, based on a García Márquez short story and led by Bernard Hepton in the title role.'

'The past two years have been particularly demanding. In 2018, I published some autobiographical memoirs, with many chapters about my work for the BBC and elsewhere.'

It was in Geneva where I also started writing plays. The confidence I had gained under Gordon House leadership in BBC World Service Drama spurred me onwards. There was a providential stroke of luck: my friend and great playwright Edward Bond sent me a hand-written poem on Pinochet as a Christmas greeting in December 1998. I owe that poem the inspiration to write ‘The scorpion and the weasel’, a play which was awarded a prestigious theatre prize by Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba, 2001.

Since then, life has taken me to rural France, provincial Spain and finally, Buenos Aires. I have concentrated on playwriting, workshops and one-man shows written by myself to brave the boards portraying both Shakespeare and Cervantes.

The past two years have been particularly demanding. In 2018, I published some autobiographical memoirs, with many chapters about my work for the BBC and elsewhere. The title in Spanish is taken from Hamlet´s dying words ‘the rest is silence’.

But despite such emphatic statement implying I would be keeping my mouth shut in the days ahead, I have just published in Buenos Aires my plays in Spanish, English and French. Whatever merits they may have, they show my interest and concern not only for history in the making (the Stalin regime, the Spanish Civil War or dictatorships in South America) but also for more intimate turmoils and tribulations like those of Diderot defying the French Parliament, Lope de Vega’s own hell, Brecht and Walter Benjamin in exile, Lorca shot in Granada or Miguel Hernández dying in Franco’s jails…

What now? My most cherished ambition is, of course, to see my plays on the stage – some of them at least – for as Brecht said, ‘every play worth its name can only be understood once it has been staged’. Time will tell.

8

H.M.S. PEBBLE MILL AT ONE| MEMORIES

A generation of students, the sick, the housebound and those – mainly outside of London – who went home for lunch each day

recall the mix of celebrity interviews, practical tips, music and spectacular stunts that were the show’s speciality.

In addition to Bob Langley and Marian Foster, the likes of David Seymour, Jan Leeming, Donny B MacLeod, Paul Coia, Josephine Buchan and Magnus Magnusson were among the regular presenters through the years from 1972.

The programme prided itself on being mainly ‘live’: and live meant that things could go wrong – and frequently did. That, as they say, is another story.

Marching bands, motorcycle display teams, abseiling special forces and even a couple of Fleet Air Arm Sea Harriers would literally drop in to get the show under way with a bang from Monday to Friday. Occasionally, the programme would do specials from places all over the world, as far apart as the Falkland Islands, India, Russia and New York.

Although the programme was produced in Birmingham, Ark Royal would set off from Portsmouth so it would be serviced by London OBs. A planning meeting was duly arranged with the experts at Kendal Avenue... Not to worry, I was told, OBs were used to doing live programmes from ships under way in the Channel. In these pre-satellite days, live pictures would be bounced off a links vehicle near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Just one problem I pointed out. Ferries and regular commercial ships tend to travel in a straight line from left to right or whatever. An aircraft carrier on the other hand had to be able to change direction at a moment’s notice in order to turn into the wind to recover aircraft. Ah, they said, we will need to think about that!

How easy it would all be nowadays with the technology available. It was a little more challenging then.

Tony Rayner effortlessly wove the live elements with some pre-recorded packages involving Samantha Fox, the celebrity of the time, and regular cookery expert Michael Smith. It was the first, and perhaps the only time, Tony had been given temporary command of two Sea Harriers at RNAS Yeovilton.

Nicky Barfoot, Beverleigh Wildman, Yasmin Archer, Annette Martin and Steve Pierson made up the rest of the Pebble Mill Team.

The ‘we bring you live pictures’ problem was solved by a dish at the front of the ship and a dish at the back and a poor links engineer in a duffel coat dashing between both to keep Ventnor in line of sight.

It all went splendidly – as did many live programmes that day from Ark Royal by Radio 2’s Ken Bruce and others.

That day, 7 April 1986, was the highest ever recorded audience for Pebble Mill at One, with BARB measuring nearly 6 million viewers.

Sadly, it was a bittersweet experience for many. The programme was due to come to an end later that year when Michael Grade and Roger Laughton claimed the one o’clock slot for their new Daytime programmes.

Gone would be the 12.40 Lunchtime News, trade test transmissions, the test card and Pebble Mill at One.

HMS Pebble Mill at One was sunk, but, as it happened, not without trace.

The famous lunchtime magazine programme of the 70s and 80s had a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the military. Tom Ross explains how a live broadcast from an aircraft carrier took the programme to new heights in audience terms.

I joined the show from BBC Scotland as assistant editor in 1984. One particular programme with which I was heavily involved helped bring together the military, the unusual and the full live television experience. That was an April 1986 special from the-then newly commissioned aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal, in the middle of the Channel.

It all began with one of those live marching bands. The senior naval officer in charge of the Band of HM Royal Marines that day, Captain James Weatherall, revealed that he was about to take up a new posting as Captain of Ark Royal. I may not have been long with the programme but I saw a golden opportunity when it bit me. Would there be any chance, I asked, that we could do the programme live from the new carrier? Of course, he said. ‘Take a signal, Wren Chasen’, as they would say on The Navy Lark.

Producer/director Tony Rayner and I set about planning the technicalities. The first problem to be overcome was the Ministry of Defence (Navy) itself. To put it mildly, they were not too keen. The suggested day was when the Queen Mother was due to visit. It was all very difficult. Maybe it was not a good idea.

Mercifully, Captain Weatherall came to the rescue and helped overcome that initial bureaucratic reluctance.

How easy it would all be nowadays with the technology available. It was a little more challenging then.

In the end, London OBs, Mobile VT and Links came up trumps. Lo 21 under engineering manager John Wilson and sound supervisor Chris Holcombe, LMVT4, a Lee generator and Links vehicles were winched onto the vessel’s focsle and hidden under tarpaulin. The show was transmitted live on BBC1 with only brief picture break-up at the start from the live link from a Sea King helicopter as presenter Josephine Buchan landed on the deck pre-title to join Bob Langley on board.

The famous foyer in action.

A Sea Harrier lands at Pebble Mill in 1979.

Tony Rayner and Josephine Buchan (and Sea Harrier) at RNAS Yeovilton.

The crew of Lo21 with EM John Wilson.

9PROSPERO JUNE 2020 |

THE BRITISH ENTERTAINMENT HISTORY PROJECT

T he interviews tell us about the challenges they had to overcome, the skills they employed, the enduring human relationships they forged as Britain developed into one of the world’s major centres of the

entertainment industries.

The project was the brainchild of producer/director Roy Fowler who started his BBC career working at Alexandra Palace in 1948.

Fearing that the story of early British film, radio and television production would disappear forever with the passing of industry pioneers, the History Project volunteers set about the task of recording interviews with some urgency.

In the space of a few brief years, they had created a unique archive of international importance. Their pioneering work means we now have an audio and video collection of almost 800 interviews which are archived at the BFI.

We have hundreds of BBC Television and Radio voices from the past century since its inception in 1922. Our collection includes many interviewees who will be well known to Prospero readers: Sheila Hancock, Shaun Sutton, John Schlesinger, Pete Murray, Jimmy Gilbert, Julia Cave, Bill Cotton Junior, Jenny Barraclough, Johnny Speight, Philip Donnellan, Charles Wheeler and too many more to mention here.

There are also interviews with men and women who you may personally have worked with at the BBC over the years – camera operators, radio producers, film editors, hair and makeup artists, actors, OB technicians, writers, dubbing mixers, costume designers – every craft is there. You can browse through the Gallery View of the collection on www.historyproject.org.uk.

The History Project is entirely reliant on volunteers to help nominate interviewees, conduct research, shoot interviews, digitise, transcribe, index, and manage the digital archive.

Our main driving force is to fulfil the vision of the original History Project pioneers – to make these valuable recordings freely available to current and future generations.

To this end we have been in discussions with the BBCPA committee chair, Albert Barber and colleagues, to explore ways in which we can draw on one another’s strengths for the benefit of members and the archive itself.

We continue to record new interviews, and as the collection continues to grow we welcome suggestions of potential interviewees. Would you like to interview or shoot some of our interviews for us? Perhaps you would enjoy transcribing some of our many BBC interviews?

Please browse our website and tell us about any of the interviewees that you recognise – do you have any memories or photos of them?

For further information on how to become involved in the History Project, please contact Sue Malden, BEHP Secretary at: sue.malden@btinternet.com, or Mike Dick, BEHP Chair, at: mikedick@blueyonder.co.uk

For more than 30 years, the members of the British Entertainment History Project have been quietly and painstakingly recording and archiving interviews with working men and women from the UK film, television, radio and theatre industries to ensure that their lives and experiences are preserved for future generations.

BBC PRODUCERS’ FREE FIRST COLOUR TV SETSAnyone remember these large – and very heavy – colour TV sets which were issued for ‘home viewing’ to BBC staff producers in the late 1960s?

Most TV producers at the time were, of course, still working in black and white. These big Radio Rentals sets (Baird 701 models) were issued to us to presumably familiarise us with colour production – but were, in fact, a huge tax-free perk.

The cost of buying such a set was evidently considered to be outside the financial reach of most BBC staff at the time – and given the sort of salaries the BBC paid in the 60s there was some weight to that argument (although it was rather unfair to staff who didn’t qualify for the largesse).

As far as I remember, the sets were ‘dual standard’ 405-line and 625-line (hence the two tuning knobs). There was a clumsy and rather crude Heath Robinson mechanical switching mechanism clunkily buried somewhere inside the set.

BBC1 was still in black and white on 405 lines and BBC2 was a ‘piebald’ service – only partially in colour. I think the first colour TV programme had been the 1967 Wimbledon Tennis Championships.

by David Morris Jones

Sorry the photo of the set is in black and white – that’s what happened to be in the camera when the picture was taken... back in the days when fake-brick anaglypta wallpaper was as trendy as a colour TV.

Even though these colour sets came free to staff producers, we still had to pay for our new colour TV licences out of our pockets – and rightly so.

Johnny Speight. Charles Wheeler. Philip Donnellan.

Roy Fowler and Mike Dick. Julia Cave.

| OBITUARIES

Chairman of the BushmenWe have lost a brilliant, gentle, positive force for good with the passing of Bennett Maxwell.

In his quiet way, Bennett infused his life with joyful enthusiasm. If at first sight Bennett seemed unassuming, his conversation soon corrected that impression. Bennett was the most skilful anecdotalist who ever held an audience enthralled. The skill was inherited.

Bennet admired his father. In emulation of this doctor parent, Bennett studied science. Then, unexpectedly, he switched to humanities for his ‘A’ levels. Oxford dons were intrigued by this radical student. Bennett won a place at Magdalen.

After graduation he made his way to London to take up a role as an assistant stage manager at the Arts Theatre under Peter Hall. This was the period of Beckett and Pinter.

His experience led to the BBC, where he added further strings to his bow. As a successful producer in radio and television, Bennett was able to deploy all his skills as Number Two in radio training. Between devising memorable courses, Bennett was given licence to broaden his experience even further.

As if training in the BBC was insufficient, Bennett taught radio production at Morley College. When the opportunity presented itself to lead a group of Morley students on a trip to Paris, Bennett was happy to take on the challenge. This led to annual Morley trips to European cities to visit museums, places of worship and tasteful restaurants.

In some ways, Bennett’s forte were his short courses in memory training. His final flourish would be to recite, in correct order, hundreds of numbers hidden in a coil of paper.

Finally, Bennett gave up Morley for the pleasures of co-founding a theatre group which still meets after 20 years.

Bennett deployed his accumulated wisdom as a much-loved secretary of the Bushmen. It was quite natural that he should conclude his career as Chairman of the club he had served so well and among the colleagues with whom he had shared such a rich and varied life.

Michael Kaye

Prospero’s crossword compiler

With a fascination for music and recording technology, the BBC was the ideal home for Jim Palm who died on 9 April 2020.

Born in 1935, he grew up in Edgware, Middlesex and after grammar school, became a Post Office engineer.

Briefly returning to the GPO following National Service, Jim joined the BBC in 1957 where he worked in the Sound Effects Department under Harry Morriss.

When Morriss retired in 1972, Jim accompanied him on to BBC Radio 2’s Late Night Extra where listeners challenged them to come up with an array of outlandish effects. It was with a sense of pride for Jim that nobody was able to beat them. That same year, Jim became assistant librarian (intake and returns) in the Gramophone Library.

Jim also made programmes, and from 1973 presented and produced Rail, a programme for railway enthusiasts. Initially on BBC Radio London, it later aired on a variety of local stations including BBC Radio Bedfordshire and BBC Radio Solent.

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By the time that the programme ended in the early 1990s, Jim had presented around 250 editions of the monthly show, however his personal favourite was the 40th edition in which he interviewed the nation’s best-loved railway enthusiast, Sir John Betjeman.

Having left the BBC staff in 1984, Jim and his sister, Doris, moved to Salisbury and in addition to his freelance work for the BBC, he narrated several steam railway videos and produced articles on railways and light music, as well as crosswords for Prospero and Best of British.

It is as editor of the latter publication that I had known Jim for the past nine years and will treasure my many telephone conversations with this good humoured, learned and gentle man. I finally got to visit Jim at his Salisbury home last summer, where we enjoyed lunch while talking about his life, career and collections, which included a near-complete set of Radio Times, plus stacks of records including transcription discs of his own field recordings for the BBC, and Mantovani’s ‘Holiday for Strings’, the first record he ever bought, back in 1944.

Simon Stabler

Publicity Section manager, Engineering Information Department

John Hawkins died on 27 December 2019, shortly after his 80th birthday, while he and his wife June were visiting their daughter and family in the United States.

He joined the BBC in 1962 as a TA at Sutton Coldfield Transmitter, and in 1965 he

moved to Site Acquisition Section at Transmitter HQ in London, where promotion to planning engineer led to his assuming responsibility for the technical aspects of the section’s work and for the site acquisition teams.

In 1973, he joined Engineering Information Department and in 1979 was promoted to manager of Publicity Section, assuming responsibility for a wide range of EID’s printed material produced for the public, retail trade, broadcasters and industry.

John’s ‘farewell’ tribute, written for Ariel by colleague Henry Price on the occasion of John’s early retirement in 1990, describes some of the many humorous episodes in his career. John once described his own career as ‘a series of humorous episodes punctuated by odd annual interviews and paid for by the very listeners and viewers that he always tried to help’.

Henry continues, ‘One particular project in Wales, where a small community could not receive television, involved removing the signal measuring equipment from an EID survey vehicle and humping it over difficult terrain to the top of a hill, using a team of Welsh ‘Sherpas’ from the village. It was found that good television signals could be received at the summit and the community was able to install its own cable system – one of the first self-help schemes to go into operation.’

In retirement, John was able to make much use of his ‘hands on’ engineering skills and the very well-equipped workshop in his garage. Much of this involved helping others. I benefitted greatly from his help during our 50 years of friendship, ranging from teaching me about plumbing to the six very happy weeks that we spent working together restoring my unwisely purchased MG Midget.

John’s very well-attended service of thanksgiving took place at All Saints’ Church in Marlow, where moving tributes were read by June, daughters Caroline and Sophie and grandson Kaylan.

Dave Le Breton

Pebble Mill senior dresser

Joy Pugh joined the Costume Department at Pebble Mill in 1975 as a dresser. She brought with her a maturity of judgement and sound common sense, plus experience as a professional singer and dancer.

Quickly settling into the team, she was a splendid example to us all. Efficient, conscientious, caring for the Wardrobe stock, her work colleagues and her artistes and unfailingly cheerful despite an unhappy marriage, she endeared herself to everyone.

I valued her opinion highly and she was later appointed to the post of senior dresser, to the unanimous approval of her colleagues.

Each of the designers wanted Joy allocated to their programme and she willingly adapted to them all, costumes period, modern or futuristic, but her two favourites were Howard’s Way and Nanny. The theme music from Howard’s Way was played at her funeral on 11 February.

The accompanying photo shows how happy she was to be retiring from such an energetic and important position but it was a sad day for the rest of us and she was very much missed.

She left her Birmingham home and moved to Hampshire, where many of us remained in touch, and we rejoiced that she found happiness in her marriage in 1993 to Charles Leach and all his loving family. She took on a large garden, which blossomed under her skilful fingers, and made new friends while keeping her old ones.

The bond with artistes is exemplified by the knowledge that Wendy Craig remained in contact with Joy for the 30 years since Joy was her personal dresser on the series Nanny.

The Costume Department at Pebble Mill was much enhanced and our lives enriched by our friend, Joy Pugh.

Joyce Hawkins

From junior technician to Head of Corporate Publicity

My husband, Richard Gilbert, died peacefully on 4 April 2020 after a long illness. When he was retiring from the BBC, his friend and colleague Michael Williams (who died in 2018) wrote the following about him:

Born in London 1937, Dick was educated at Midhurst Grammar School and Corpus Christi, Oxford, where he read History.

After leaving Oxford, he became a teaching assistant at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles for a year.

Dick’s career began as a junior technician, then a radio producer at Bush House in the mid-60s, when we were both members of that broadcasting college known as Overseas Regional Services, run by that dean of two cultures, George Steedman.

He moved from there to Radio 4, where he demonstrated unusual versatility by producing a range of totally different broadcasters and programmes. He put his stamp on numerous magazine programmes, especially Start the Week, the arts programme Kaleidoscope and many documentaries, where he worked with

11PROSPERO JUNE 2020 |

presenters as different as Marghanita Laski and Monty Modlyn, Derek Cooper and Vivian Stanshall.

Later he moved to The Listener as deputy editor and finally moved to working as Head of Corporate Publicity. Dick moved gracefully between these two worlds. He could come from a session with Jeffrey Bernard (broadcasting a cure for hangovers) and turn out a finely crafted feature and book on the culture of Los Angeles or a riveting magazine programme with the likes of Kenny Everett.

He had a mole’s ear for the quirky revelation, the compelling oddities, the tantalising tangents of life.

Although possessed literally of a first-class mind, no one could be less ‘academic’; if Dick were forced to live in an ivory tower, it would be equipped with a piped supply of real ale and New Orleans Jazz.

He had an eagerness for the multitudinous variety of life – there was a mischievousness in him, the quality Hugh Green insisted every true journalist should have.

He was a wit, a bon viveur and a ray of sunshine in a greyish world.

Michael Williams (written before Michael died in 2018) and Nikki Gilbert

Film equipment managerRon Steer was one of many Film Department admin staff supporting some 400-plus mobile film crew personnel, who together made a significant contribution to the output of BBC Television in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Ron was a Devonshire man although he was born in Acton, West London on 31 May 1925. His parents, Ernest and Nellie, moved to Devon just six weeks after his birth and settled in South Molton, where Ron grew up.

Some years later, Ron moved to Kingsbridge, Devon where he started his working life in the local cinema as a film projectionist. Unfortunately, military duty called and in 1944 Ron initially joined the Royal Navy as a conscript, although he later transferred to the Parachute Regiment.

In 1945, Ron became part of the biggest airborne operation of the Second World War, Operation Varsity, which saw the deployment of 16,000 paratroopers over Germany. Later, he went on to serve in India, the Far East, Palestine and finally Singapore.

Having served for his country, Ron settled with his wife Gladys in south London and returned to his career in the cinema. Working for the Rank Organisation, he was assigned to many cinemas in the south of England and in 1960 the family moved to Hemel Hempstead, where Ron took up the post of Chief Projectionist at the newly constructed Odeon Cinema.

He subsequently joined the BBC in Projection Department, working initially at Crystal Palace then TVC and finally in Film Department at the TFS Ealing preview theatre suite.

Having sought promotion, Ron took up a position in the Equipment Allocation office and was later promoted, responsible for the location of well over 80 film cameras, audiotape recorders, microphones, lenses and miscellaneous support equipment. Ron’s responsibilities also involved the hire of film equipment and freelance Grips.

For many years, Ron managed an efficient, well-run happy office with a combination of authority and good humour; he was a joy to work with.

Ron will be remembered as a loving caring father, husband and grandfather. He passed away December 2019 aged 96.

Mike Robinson

BBC Scotland Head of Personnel

Steve Ansell, who died on 25 February aged 73, was Head of Personnel at BBC Scotland from 1983 till 2005.

Steve was born in Northampton and after school trained as a psychiatric nurse but never practised. He felt the pull of London and found his way into a junior administration post in Broadcasting House.

A successful attachment to personnel set his future path. He moved to TV Centre and working in Design and Scenic Services gained a reputation as someone who solved problems and unlike some ‘was not a fence-sitter’.

Arriving in Scotland, he restructured and expanded the personnel operation, driving change across the operation, consolidating his reputation as someone who got things done. Steve seemed to know everybody and would wander through BH Glasgow, or any of the other nine centres, dropping in to see people, checking all was OK or teasing out a problem with someone who seemed off-form. He was trusted by everyone and everyone knew that he and his colleagues were there to offer help.

He took a real interest in staff development, welcoming students on work experience, mentoring younger staff and encouraging people with talent to aim higher. Many senior people in the broadcasting industry tell of the conversation with Steve that changed their career.

Steve was at ease in Glasgow’s West End, taking full advantage of the many social opportunities it offered. He liked meeting people and work and leisure overlapped with many a problem solved over a glass of wine or two.

In 1994, Steve graduated with an MBA degree from the University of Glasgow; his dissertation was on ‘The introduction of Producer Choice into BBC Scotland’. When he retired from the BBC, he took on a part-time role as tutor in the Department of Management Studies at the Business School.

Steve was kind, generous and unassuming, with a wonderful self-deprecating sense of humour. The crisis averted, the problem solved are rarely known about. The tributes being paid to him now by so many are a wider recognition of how he enhanced the lives of so many over the years.

John McCormick

Irreplaceable editor, Pebble Mill

Steve Weddle died suddenly from a heart attack following a chest infection in early March. The unique and ever-youthful Steve had just celebrated his 70th birthday. He was an absolute ‘legend in his own lunchtime’ and his sudden death has shocked and

saddened his numerous friends from the great days of BBC Pebble Mill, Birmingham.

Steve was born and died in his beloved Sutton Coldfield. After graduating in Sociology in London, he became a cub reporter on the Birmingham Post and Mail and his press cuttings reveal his mischievous sense of fun and love of the ridiculous.

In 1976, he joined Radio Stoke but soon moved to Pebble Mill at One as a researcher. He was very versatile, excelling in hard news items, comedy, music and the offbeat. First and foremost, Steve was fun. He was of course talented and creative, wacky and wonderful and supremely sociable, but he also had great empathy and kindness and was friends with one and all. A lot of creative thinking was done in the BBC Club.

In the 80s, he produced the programme as well as spin-offs; 6.55 Special, and the comedy series Cool It with impressionist Phil Cool.

Pebble Mill at One was axed in 1986 as Steve was busy producing The Tom O’Connor Road Show, an OB variety show. Steve recalled this as ‘the most fun show to work on’ and had appeared on location in his signature chicken suit for the merriment of all. He loved dressing up.

In 1987, he was appointed Editor of Daytime Live, a music and chat show which he renamed Pebble Mill in 1991. His staff adored him, but like its namesake the show was finally axed in 1996.

Steve created one last show, Style Challenge, and took early retirement in 2000. Since then he published three books, ran a marathon and became a passionate season ticket holder at Spurs.

He was gutted by the demolition of the Pebble Mill building and started the successful campaign for a commemorative blue plaque.

Irreplaceable and sadly missed.

Stephanie Silk

Tom Beesley When Tom Beesley died suddenly at his home in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, on 22 March, the Midlands lost one of the most effective champions of Local Radio and Regional Television of his generation. He was 82.

Tom was a larger-than-life character. He was a talented

journalist and an outstanding manager who inspired strong loyalties in those who worked with him.

He learned his craft on papers in Leicester before Army service in Cyprus, where he was seriously wounded.

He joined the BBC as East Midlands Correspondent in the l960s. He was an entertaining raconteur who loved to recall how he reported on the planned path of motorways in England by tracing their routes with toilet rolls in the absence of sophisticated electronic graphics.

Tom was personally drawn to the community aspect of BBC Local Radio and became Manager Radio Nottingham where in the 1970s he helped to make it one of the most successful stations in the country. He was then appointed Senior Manager Local Radio with responsibility for stations east of the Pennines.

Former Controller of Local Radio, Michael Barton, said, ‘Tom brought all his skills to the more senior role. He knew instinctively how to allow stations freedom to celebrate their individual character and encourage them to be journalistically sharp and fearless.’

Tom later became Regional Television Manager Midlands and managed much of the coverage of the Miners’ Strike. He also increased output for the East Midlands, which paved the way for separation from the West Midlands years later.

When Tom left the BBC in 1986, he set up a commercial company which included the Leicester News Agency. I went into partnership with him when I left the BBC in 1994. Among other activities, we helped to win licences for six commercial radio stations.

Tom was also Chairman of the Broadcast Journalism Training Council which oversaw national industry standards.

Tom Beesley is survived by three children and seven grandchildren. His wife, Iris, died in 2012.

David Waine

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| ODDS & ENDS

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| ODDS & ENDS

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There have been many alarming moments as the coronavirus pandemic has unfolded, not least when UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson was admitted to intensive care. BBC World News presenter Kasia Madera (pictured) was live on the BBC News channel as the news came in. Kasia recounted the experience for Ariel.

Caption competitionThe winner of a £10 shopping voucher is Neville Withers with the caption: Freddie is saying ‘What do you mean you forgot to renew our AA membership’.

Please note, vouchers will be issued once the lockdown restrictions have been lifted.

Post your entry to Prospero by Monday, 6 July 2020.

Or, you can email your entry to prospero@bbc.co.uk, with ‘caption competition 3’ in the subject line. Please include your BBC pension number. Good luck!

The picture shows Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in a Star Trek spoof for series 9 of The Two Ronnies.

BREAKING BAD (NEWS)

Yorkshire Region reunionI would ask you to SAVE THE DATE, Thursday 13 August 2020, but of course right now I cannot tell you whether our reunion will go ahead. However, we will be optimistic and make plans anyway so, yes please, do put 13 August in your diaries!

The Reunion/Pensioners’ Lunch for the Yorkshire Region will once again be held at the very popular Dower House Hotel, Knaresborough on Thursday 13 August 12.30 for 1pm.

Come along and catch up with your former colleagues and meet new acquaintances. Enjoy good food and good company!

Please will you pass on this information to any colleagues who may not know about this very popular gathering and venue.

For any further information please contact me, Sue Pagdin, on 0113 2612613 or email spagdin1@aol.com

BBC Radio London, 50 years onThe organisers of the Radio London 50th anniversary reunion on 6 October are still hoping to go ahead with it, but at the time of going to press, it’s obviously difficult to predict. For the latest information, email ann@annkaye.com

Queries For benefit and pension payroll queries, call the Service Line on 029 2032 2811 or email mypension@bbc.co.uk.

Prospero To remove a name from the distribution list, ring the Service Line on 029 2032 2811. Prospero is provided free of charge to retired BBC Scheme members only. Prospero is also available on audio disc for those with sight impairment. To register, please ring the Service Line. Alternatively, it is also available online at bbc.com/mypension, under ‘Documents’.

BBC Club The BBC Club in London has a retired membership costing £3 per month or £36 per year. Members can also add friends and family to their membership for a small additional cost. Regional clubs may have different arrangements. Please call the BBC Club London office on 020 8752 6666 or email bbc.club@bbc.co.uk for details, or to join.

Benevolent Fund This is funded by voluntary contributions from the BBC and its purpose is to protect the welfare of staff, pensioners and their families.

Grants are made at the discretion of the Trustees. They may provide assistance in cases of unforeseen financial hardship, for which help from other sources is not available. Tel: 029 2032 2811

Prospero Society Prospero Society is the only section of the BBC Club run by and for retired BBC staff and their spouses. Its aim is to enable BBC pensioners to meet on a social basis for theatre visits, luncheons, coach outings, etc.

Prospero Society is supported by BBC Club funds so as to make events affordable. If you would like an application form, please contact:

Gayner Leach, BBC Club, BC2 B3 Broadcast Centre, 201 Wood Lane, London W12 7TP

Tel: 020 8752 6666 Email: bbc.club@bbc.co.uk.

BBCPA The BBCPA was founded in 1988 to promote and safeguard the interests of BBC pensioners. It is independent of the BBC. For details of how to join, see the panel on page 4 or download a membership form at bbcpa.org.uk.

CONTACTSOn the evening of Monday 6 April, while presenting BBC Outside Source, I broke the news that

the Prime Minister had been moved into intensive care.

At that point, the UK was starting its second week in lockdown. Previously we had been gripped by the rising figures of deaths in other countries. Now the deadliness of Covid-19 was becoming a brutal reality in the UK. So to see a line of copy from 10 Downing Street saying the PM was in intensive care was an immense shock for a country in trauma.

Although Mr Johnson had been admitted to hospital the night before, we were told it was for routine checks. Until that night, the Government had made it clear the PM was in charge. Earlier on Monday, Mr Johnson had even tweeted that he was in good spirits. Now we were dealing with an unexpected situation, made all the more serious by the devastating nature of this disease.

As I was saying the words out loud, I was taking them in for the first time myself. At that moment I knew our running order was being metaphorically ripped up.

After initially breaking the news, I can still hear the words spoken in my earpiece by Harriet Ridley, the senior journalist outputting that hour: ‘Stay with this. We’re trying to get Laura.’ With just those few words I knew I had to fill until we could get our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg on air. There was no script, just a line of copy and hours of output ahead.

Within 40 seconds of first breaking the news, Roger Simpson, the director, played images of St Thomas’ Hospital. Although I was ad-libbing, cutting away from the studio let me look away from the camera to search the wires for more details.

Mr Johnson’s twitter feed proved a good source, enabling me to quote him directly. His earlier tweets were characteristically upbeat so it felt the right balance given the gravity of what we were learning.

Within a minute Laura was on the line and I was relieved to hear she also reiterated the shock of this news. We were able to focus on the question she had posed during that day’s daily government press briefing: whether the PM was in a position to govern if he was not well enough to leave hospital.

Laura and I spoke for 10 minutes before she went to our radio services. For the next five minutes, I was acutely aware of my tone while I reminded our viewers of what was happening. Then the guests started coming through. The first was Sir Iain Duncan-Smith, who sounded shell shocked.

Aaron Safir ably took over outputting the next hour and with a mixture of live guests and our health correspondent, James Gallagher, on set we sustained hours of rolling news.

With these breaking news scenarios – and I have had a fair few in my 18 years

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at the BBC – so much goes on behind the scenes. Everyone pulls together as the BBC News machine kicks in. The newsroom becomes a hive of activity and the gallery is at the centre.

Currently, we are working with fewer people who are more spaced out across the gallery and all communication is via open talkback, rather than through headsets. This means presenters can hear more of what is happening in the background, which can be disconcerting.

However, on that night I was able to witness the Herculean efforts of my colleagues and am extremely grateful to everyone involved. It is also a huge relief that Mr Johnson has recovered.

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