FROM THE VICTORY PARADE TO THE CORONATION 1946 - 1952

In 1946, when I joined the staff of BBC Television at Alexandra Palace, there were no more than 20 Producers. Drama Producers chose the plays they wished to produce and most of them were plays written originally for the theatre. Following the go-ahead from the Director of Programmes; a financial budget and dates for transmission the production when into preparation.

The Producer and the Production Secretary formed the team - Stage Mangers were contracted for the same period as the actors, and Studio Managers for the final run-through prior to the studio day, (Studio Managers were on the staff).

The rehearsal script was typed on a stencil on a manual typewriter and, after printing the required number of copies, the stencils, sticky with ink, were kept in the officer for re-use later on a typewriter set aside for the messy job of typing on the camera instructions and script alterations.

We had one Roneo machine - in the corridor - and we fed it with ink and paper. I remember showering myself with the ink when a faulty tube split.

The Set Designer worked closely with the Producer at an early stage and the Producer would discuss the production with the costume and make-up supervisors and later with the senior technicians and camera crews. Lists of properties required, and the costume and hair style changes, including the time estimated for these changes, were typed by the Production Secretary from careful reading the script.

Producers did their own casting and, as well as arranging auditions and interviews for the current production, there were general interviews to be arranged. Artists and their agents wrote to Producers, or telephoned for interviews at Alexandra Palace, but sometimes the interviews took place in the offices of Artists' Bookings Department in Portland Place, not far from Broadcasting House. There were scripts to be read and ideas for the future to be explored, copyright to be cleared for future productions, visits to the studio to watch an experiment, or technical development. Leading actors and actresses were met and sometimes had to be persuaded to take part in this new medium.

Between productions there were other diversions - we once had a garden party in the grounds of Alexandra Palace and invited ALL the viewers. At that time (1947 or 1948, I think) there was only one transmitter - at A.P. for the London area. The stalls and side-shows were manned by the stars and personalities - and the staff too. I remember wearing full hunting dress to run the donkey rides - with the Production Secretaries from Outside Broadcasts. The viewers/guests were naturally collecting autographs from anyone and, rather than disappoint them, we were encouraged to sign their books, or programmes, to keep them happy. Celebrities weren't as familiar to audiences then - and names had been made in radio.

Rehearsal rooms were situated in a news behind a BBC building in Marylebone High Street and later, when drama output increased, more rooms were needed and draughty drill halls and church halls were booked for the purpose. They were usually very cold, thick with dust, and with few facilities for comfort - often without a telephone. Rehearsal room props and furniture were provided from a meagre store of what would now be regarded as junk. Telephone calls had to be made from a coin operated telephone in the building, or from a public telephone call-box nearby and, usually, you ran out of small change before you managed to get through to the Set Designer to tell him to hinge the kitchen door on the left and not on the right. Sometimes you were lucky enough to be allocated a rehearsal room over a public house - luxury - loos, a telephone, heating and sometimes food, (though food wasn't always served in pubs in the late 1940's or early 1950's). Some star actors had lunch delivered from home in a hamper, particularly when the rehearsal room was situated far from civilised London in the wilds of Ladbroke Grove or Balham.

The Production Secretary maintained contact between the production in rehearsal and the creative, craft and technical people at A.P. The journey was often made by public transport, but later a BBC bus service ran between A.P. in North London and Broadcasting House.

Camera scripts had to be prepared and some Producers dictated the sound and vision instructions in muttered tones during the run-through of a scene in the rehearsal room. Others handed over pages of their own script for you to decipher, and others preferred to work through it, slowly, after rehearsals.

I worked for Fred O'Donovan, an ex-actor, who developed a 'one-camera' technique - each scene was covered by one camera, (this was before the much publicised ten-minute take used by Hitchcock on film). The cameraman had an exhausting job - a great test of memory as the technical crews saw the production for the first time in the studio on transmission day. The actors had to remember uncomfortable swivelling moves critical to change a 2-shot favouring one actor to a position favouring the other. There were no cuts from one camera to another.

In 1952 Fred O'Donovan was invited to RTF to produce an English play using his one-camera technique in the studios of RTF in Paris. He chose Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. We worked in France for 6 weeks and transmitted the play in the Spring of 1952 for French audiences only, of course. Later the same year the first Eurovision link was made across the Channel for a joint BBC/RTF programme.

When working on productions using this one-camera style I did not have to preview shots to the studio crews during camera rehearsals and transmission as was customary, but I did keep a careful watch on the action ready with a warning of a rise from a chair, or a cross to a door.

The practical side of gallery work had its headaches - or cameras developing a fault, actors skipping a few pages of script, or not turning up on cue, or the crash of breaking china when then next scene should be the 'Dinner Party'. Any one, or all these events could play havoc with your timing and your nerves. A particular problem about Studio A was getting to the gallery by way of a vertical iron ladder - no problem if you had just been demobbed from the Navy. My nightmare was the likelihood of dropping the 20 or so music and effects discs clutched in one arm while I heaved myself up the ladder with the other. It happened. Fortunately during rehearsals and replacements were rushed from the Gramophone Library at Broadcasting House. No tapes then - just heavy discs - marked with chinagraph pencil for the gramophone operator.

There were few post-production parties in those days - a quick drink in the supper break at The Dive, a beer garden at A.P. was the most we had time for. Not many of the Production Secretaries had cars and, if you were not getting a lift home after transmission, it meant a walk to the bus stop through the grounds of Alexandra Palace - armed with a hat-pin. Public transport was more reliable then, and budgets did not run to taxis.

Artists were paid fees in guineas. For drama productions a performance fee of something like 20 guineas would be paid to an established artist playing a medium-sized part, or perhaps 40 guineas for the lead. Rehearsal days were paid at a flat rate of 2 gns a day, I think, and were usually called for a 7 hour day, from 10.30am to 5.30pm, but there was little to be done if the Producer chose to work from 2 - 8pm, or if you had to work around an artists film schedule or theatre performance. Most of the cast, playing smaller parts would not be called for the full rehearsal period and would have a lower performance fee. There were no overtime payments for working long hours.

In due course, the BBC and British Actors Equity drew up a more realistic agreement.

Other, no doubt, have mentioned the fact that all programmes were live and a second performance of a play was a second live performance and sometimes with a different studio crew.

In 1947 the country had a fuel crisis. Gas and electricity had to be rationed and all non-essential services were closed down. This closed down television, but we had to be ready to resume our postponed programmes. We sat in our un-heated offices wearing many layers of clothing plus blankets and hot water bottles with a hot drink in a thermos flask. We were stiff with the cold by the time we left for home, before it became too dark. I don't think it occurred to anyone to make a fuss or complain. Those who had so recently been in the Services turned up in flying boots and jackets, Army greatcoats and Royal Navy pullovers - we looked like refugees or displaced persons.

Sybil Cave (nee Drewitt)