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Horrocks, Capaldi, and the Rain That Never Fell
The first time that he saw her was across the parking lot of a motorway service area. It was about a quarter to midnight, and it had been raining. He could see that she was tired and cold and that she’d probably been on her feet for some time. She didn’t look much more than…
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Granada Days
Kill transmission! Lime Grove? Fill in, will you. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Tell Presentation… My first steady TV job in 1975—my only steady job, ever—was with Granada Television’s Presentation Department. Prior to that I’d put in a few weeks as a researcher for John Willis in Yorkshire TV Documentaries, but I took…
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The Movies, Mr Fairbanks, and Me
Looking back, 1977 was a key year for me. I didn’t rocket to fame, I didn’t take British culture by storm – though I’m sure those were the dreams I was having at the time. What I did in ’77 was to stage a play with a local amateur company (a talented bunch who deserved…
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Bernice Summerfield Did My Headshots
Seriously. Lisa Bowerman – aka Doctor Who‘s Bernice Summerfield – is a talented portrait photographer, specialising in actors’ headshots. You’ll find numerous examples of her work in the Spotlight directory of performers. She works with traditional film negative and natural light, moving to digital for delivery. Photo credit: Lisa Bowerman Okay, so Pitt and Clooney…
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My Start
It’s only looking back that I realise how fortuitous my career timing was. With just one spec Saturday Night Theatre script it was like I stepped into radio’s National Theatre. My very first producer (on The Humane Solution) was the legendary John Tydeman, who’d pretty much launched the careers of Joe Orton and Tom Stoppard.…
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On Method
For anyone fascinated by process, and I know I’m not alone, here’s an example from Derren Brown’s blog in which he records, with staged photographs, the evolution of a painted portrait. It has a relevance to writing that I’ll explain in a moment. For those from outside these shores who may not be familiar with…
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Pipe Bursts
True story. The late ’70s weren’t exactly the biplane-and-barnstorming days of television technology, although looking back from today it can sometimes seem like it. In Granada TV’s Presentation Department we ran traffic control on live feeds both from network and our own studios, analog VT from two-inch tape, and an array of telecine machines that…
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In Sickness and in Stealth
Back in 1984 I travelled through Finland and Russia to research the book that would eventually become The Boat House. I say eventually because it was a far from easy road. Not the travelling, that was an adventure that I wouldn’t have missed for anything. Helsinki, Joensuu, Savonlinna, the towns of Western Karelia… then onto…
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Rewind
When I gave up the day job back in August 1980, we took half of the advance money from Chimera and set off for the US with the intention of stretching it out as far as we could and staying until it was gone. We travelled coast to coast and spent the main part of…
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My Own First Film…
…was on Standard 8mm and held together with sticky tape. As a logistical exercise it had a certain magnificence, for which I can take no credit at all. As a piece of filmmaking it’s barely watchable, which is entirely down to me. But as a formative experience… priceless. It was August 1974. Three of us…
Hauling Like A Brooligan
Stephen Gallagher
