Remembering Carol- Part 3

I got to meet Carol's two sons, Daniel and Sam. I met Daniel when we first went to London together. He had a job working in a hotel in St Albans, where his dad lived. I'm not so sure about Sam. They both lived with us in the house in Crownhill. Some weekends Daniel went to live with his dad and would come home, bearing in mind he was coming to his education. I think he was doing his A Levels at the time I first met Carol. Because Sam was younger, he must have been doing his G.C.S.E.'s, but, looking back, I don't remember exactly.

When I came to live with Carol, after we were married, I got  job as a home carer for people with a range of disabilities or needs, for company called Guardian Homeware. I have discussed this in an earlier blog post, so I don't want to repeat it in this post.

We went to see several television and radio productions being recording. I was able to go on line and sign up to several websites which provided free ticket for such shows. We went to see a couple of radio shows being recorded, something which really interested me, because if you have an interest as I do in media, how either television or radio shows are made, then going to see a show as a member of the audience. The first was a  BBC Radio Four panel show called 'The Write Stuff,' and was recorded in a venue which I had never heard of near the British Museum. interesting to see how a show such as a panel show is recorded and we saw that what would at first appear to be spontaneous wasn't in the slightest, because some of it was rerecorded when some hitches took place. They record two shows back-to-back, probably because  a half-hour show isn't going to make an evening's entertainment for  live audience as well as being far more cost effective. The second show we went to see was a sitcom called 'Clement Doesn't Live Here Anymore.' That was interesting to see because I had always wanted to know how they managed the sound effects and music. What ruined it for us was when the producer came on and made some rather unnecessary rather rude comments which we didn't think amusing, particularly as there were children in the audience, so we left after the recording of the first episode and didn't return for he second episode. A great pity. I didn't think it was a particularly brilliant show, but never mind. When the tickets are free, who's complaining.

Then we went to Television Centre to see the television version of 'Dead Ringers' being recoded. It has to be one of my favourite radio shows, so it was interesting to see how it worked as a television series. As we waited outside in a queue before we went into the waiting area (a great deal of waiting a some time or other when visiting a television studio either as a participant, for example as a walk-on or supporting artiste or member of an audience, who should walk past but Gary Lineker. Carol shrieked and said 'Oh, it's Gary Lineker!!" He just walked on past, no doubt used to such ruction from  a member of the public. I turned to her and said 'We shouldn't be surprised to see someone well-known when we visit Television Centre."

Another free television audience episode was when I managed to get tickets to the very first of a revival by ITV of the iconic series 'Sunday Night At The Palladium.' We went to the recording on I believe a Sunday, and got into London earlier than necessary and spent some time wandering around London, something we often used to do. We knew exactly where the Palladium was and visited Liberty's store, which is virtually opposite the Palladium and then wandered down to explore the recently-opened Broadcasting House, which had been extended and revamped. We looked through the window of the studio where the BBC 1 early evening 'The One Show' is made (if you watch this show you can clearly see this window and passing people do look in, and you can clearly see people queuing opposite as they go into recording sessions in he main Broadcasting House building.) Then we returned to the Palladium as it was by then approaching time for the recording of the show to begin. There was a quite sizeable queue forms, members of the public, like us, who had tickets for the show. We thought it would be a long time before we got inside to take our seats, but we shouldn't have worried. There were several officials walking along the line checking tickets. When they got to us, one of them looked at ours, and said that we need not queue. We were lead off, past the other queuing people, taken inside the Palladium and right into the stalls of the auditorium and shown to probably some of the best seats in the house! Quite an overwhelming feeling, of being taken out of the queue. It was probably because I had managed to get the tickets early and hence being able to get better seats and probably a better view of the stage than the rest of the people queuing up outside in the street. To top it all, who should be on the bill of the show we were about to see, but Carol's favourite, Bryan Adams, which really made her day! We hadn't known this fact, it was a sheer coincidence that he happened to be in the show!

There is so much more I could say about Carol, but at the moment I don't want to. I've written the last of three blog posts, and at the moment that's enough for now, but I may continue with more in blog posts in the future.

Another Visit to Whipsnade

The thought of just sitting indoors all day today because of the awful weather we are currently experiencing was not going to be repeated. Daytime television is so awful. We wanted to get out, at whatever cost. Anywhere was preferable to being in the house. It seems unfair to Carol in particular, that you look forward to your summer holiday and plan things to do and then the weather turns nasty, wet and cold. Infact, too cold for the month of July. So, regardless of the weather (and when we set out mid-morning, it was cloudy and definitely threatening rain.) we decided on another visit to Whipsnade. We put together some items of food so that we didn't have to buy stuff to eat when we got there and went to Tesco's in Oldbrook to buy sandwiches and drink. We actually had a £3 Tesco Clubcard voucher which needed using before it expired. And once we'd been to buy our picnic we drove off out of Milton Keynes on the A5 south towards Dunstable and across the Downs to Whipsnade Zoo. For the first time ever we drove into the zoo, using Carol's new Z.S.L. Fellowship to not only get our entry free but also avoid paying to take the car in (all told about £75.) It was great to be able to drive around and park in the various spaces around the site. We saw a lot of the animals in action due to the fact that the weather was cooler, in particular the lions (took some great pictures of them.) as well as hippos wallowing in their pool, rhinos as well as very close-up views of cheetahs. We ate our picnic sitting on benches near the elephant enclosure.

We couldn't believe how cold it was, considering it was July. We took coats with us and I really didn't think we'd need them. I have recently bought a hooded fleece off Amazon and imagined that I'd not be wearing it until the winter months, but I was really glad I'd taken it to Whipsnade as it was really warm and cozy as we walked around the zoo.

As we were walking through the 'Africa' section of the zoo, having been to see the cheetahs (and, goodness, how close we got to them. I don't think I've ever seen them that close, or, if it comes to that, so active. We also saw a red kite flying overhead. Quite exciting to see these amazing birds as well as the zoo animals.) Carol said she saw Brendan Cole, one of the professional dancers from the B.B.C. Saturday evening show "Strictly Come Dancing." With his wife and children, although I didn't notice as there were so many other families. Apart from that, I'm not a particular fan of this show. Just over-rated, personally, and I don't go for television 'reality' shows stuffed full of 'celebrities.' Several years ago we were on holiday in and around Northumberland and Hadrian's Wall. We drove up to Gretna Green, as we had joked when we were about to get married that we could go there to get married. We were disappointed in how naff and contrived the place was, expecting there to be only one of these places where you got married, something about a blacksmith's forge or something. It turned out that there are numerous places, all making money out of the 'marriage' industry. Anyway, we didn't stay long and then drove away and went to an outlet shopping centre just outside Gretna Green, a bit like the Bicester Village outlet we visit often. As we were walking around the shopping centre, Carol said she saw someone famous sitting and having coffee outside somewhere like a Costa or Starbucks. She said it was Elton John. I wasn't sure and we didn't stand and stare, as most people would do. We could, I suppose, have gone up to him and asked for an autograph and probably a photo, a 'selfie' with him. I wasn't sure whether she had seen him or not, but when we got back to the cottage we were staying at for the week, we turned on the television and apparently Elton John was about to do a concert somewhere in or around Carlisle or a near-by town. So, it was very likely it was him we'd seen, although he had made every effort to not be recognised. Who would imagine he'd have gone to somewhere like the shopping outlet centre for coffee, as a superstar and famous person?  I think he must have been relieved that we didn't break his cover by going and speaking to him or acknowledging him because I reckon we must have been the only people to recognise him as he was dressed in such a way, with a cap on and a scarf around his neck, that without looking closely you wouldn't have known that was who it was and also it was an unlikely place for him to be. Anyway, whatever the reason, it certainly made Carol's day!

A few years ago we managed to get free tickets for a recording of the B.B.C. Television comedy show "Dead Ringers." It was quite an event, not only getting the tickets, but going to Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush in London and being a member of the audience. As we were queued up to go into the studio, who should walk past but Gary Lineker, the former footballer and sports presenter. Carol got quite excited, but to me it was just another bod off the television. I'm not that keen on football, but I suppose he would have been working there on some show such as "A Question Of Sport." 

Tickets for I.T.V. Revival of Sunday Night at the Palladium

We're both really excited as we've got tickets for the revival of the I.T.V. show 'Sunday Night at the Palladium.' I've been signed up for quite a while with an on-line company which issues free tickets to a very wide range of television shows. We've been to see several things being recorded, notably the television version of 'Dead Ringers' which was recorded at Television Centre and two radio shows, one a panel show called 'The Write Stuff' and a sitcom  'Clement Doesn't Live Here Any More.'   Both were broadcast on BBC Radio 4. These were both recorded at The Drill Hall near the British Museum. It was interesting to see how radio shows are made and in particular the sitcom as I've always been intrigued by how they do the sound effects. When I worked in stage management I quite often had to operate the sound system and cue in pre-recorded sound effects as well as music and we sometimes had to produce live or 'practical' sound effects, usually off-stage, such as door slams, glass crashes or gun-shots.

If you go to see television show being recorded you have to bear in mind that it won't be like going to see a play in a theatre as you don't always see directly onto all of the sets as some are obscured by bits of other scenery, cameras and equipment gets in the way and you often have to watch pre-recorded segments on television sets or monitors and there are often quite long breaks in the recording when actors have costume changes, bits of scenery is moved about and sometimes when there is a technical problem. Also, they might do several 'takes' or a scene or an actor forgets his lines or they want the audience to applause or perhaps not. Then they have a warm-up man or woman come on and keep the audience entertained until the set move is changed or the costume change completed. A half-hour show can take over two hours to complete and with radio they usually record two half-hour episodes on the same evening and the audience has a break in between the recordings.

Free Tickets for television show "Pointless"

We have got tickets to see the gameshow "Pointless" being recorded at B.B.C. Television Centre on 16th February. We applied a few weeks ago, and I was wondering if we'd been successful. We have seen "Dead Ringers" recorded at Television Centre and went to see a couple of BBC radio shows recorded at the Drill Hall in London, one was called "The Write Stuff" a literary panel game which had Sebastian Faulks, author of "Birdsong" as a contestant. The other was a sitcom called "Clement Doesn't Live Here Anymore." No, I don't think it has survived much beyond one series. Not particularly funny, but it was interesting to see how they did the sound effects and how the actors performed for the microphone. I have seen quite a few television shows recorded over the years, going back to around the time I left school in the late '60s, a sitcom with Derek Nimmo, set in a monestry (I forget the title of it now.) an episode of "The Dick Emery Show" and something at London Weekend Television, the name of which totally escapes me now. It was when I was building up an interest in television as a career and working in theatre as an A.S.M. and it was useful to be able to see how a television show was put together and produced. The tickets are free so it makes a good evening's entertainment, although you must never treat it like a theatre performance, as you don't always see all the sets as you would in a theatre, some of the scenes are shot of sets that are not seen by the audience (you watch these scenes on a monitor) and the show may take a good deal longer than the running time of the broadcast, as there are breaks for scene changes, or whenever there is a technical problem. "Dead Ringers" took around two hours to record, as there were quite a few technical hitches, the actors fluffed their lines etc etc.