…that I used to work in TV… (I can see the eye rolls of many of my current and ex colleagues as I launch into this…)
I started at Yorkshire TV on a work placement from University and immediately fell in love with everything about it. The early mornings, the working outside, the fact I could wear jeans to work, the creativity but mostly the people. Everyone was brilliant, even the directors and artists that had a reputation of being a bit difficult and quirky, I always seemed to get along with. After the work placement had ended I was offered a contract which began as soon as I left Uni, which, looking back, was incredibly fortunate, I’m not sure how many of my friends fell directly into work after we had finished our degree.
My very first job was on the ITV hit Emmerdale as an Assistant Stage Manager, basically being a prompt for the artists, sitting with them as they went through lines, sometimes being involved if they wanted to change lines but generally being a support system to them. One of my early memories was the great storm that killed the much beloved Trisha as the Woolpack fell on her. There were huge wind and rain machines that were turned on when we were recording and it felt like we did about 50 million night shoots (which were always fun!) One time, I had to be placed discreetly in the rubble near to where Tisha was buried and listen to the dialogue as Marlon realised that she wasn’t going to make it, making note of any lines that they changed during each take. Needless to say, the waterproof that I was wearing was inadequate against the wind and rain machines and I remember getting soaked to the skin and freezing – but exhilarated at the fact that this was my actual job! I bloody loved Mark Charnock and Sheree Murphy, we had so much fun and properly belly laughed with the rest of the cast and crew throughout the whole shoot. The First Assistant Director on this shoot was a gentle giant called Andy who spent a lot of time shouting ‘We’re losing the light!’ as we fought against the setting sun to get the daylight shots in before the ‘moon’ was hoisted up on a 30 meter Cherry Picker for the night shoot.
I soon learnt how important tea breaks were and if the runners hadn’t sorted the hot water or the biscuits out in time, there would be a potential mutiny, especially from the Sparks and Grips.
Another memorable moment at Emmerdale was when I stood in as a ‘stunt double’ for Adele Silver. I had moved into the props department at this point and was responsible for all of the props for all of the scenes that we were recording in the filming block. This ranged from arranging sheep to run through the Emmerdale Village (not an actual village but a set built specifically for the show in Harewood in Leeds) to making sure that the artists had the drinks that the director had asked for for a particular scene. I also had to watch every shot that was recorded to make sure that the set looked as it should and we weren’t shooting ‘off the set’ – meaning that the shot missed the edge of the set and caught a glimpse of the lighting rig above etc… or there were any scripts or plastic cups on the set left over from tea break. On one particular day, for some reason (I have no idea why), the stunt double hadn’t been booked to drive ‘Kelly’s’ TVR into the village at speed. As I was responsible for the cars on set and because we didn’t have enough time to reshoot the shot, I was put forward to drive the car into the village (Remember it was a different time back then – this certainly wouldn’t happen these days!) I must have spent about an hour in make up recreating the look of Kelly Hope with a long wig on and huge eyelashes (kudos to Claire for her patience with trying to make me look a tiny bit like the character!) I could only squeeze my top half into her dress, there was no way it was going to fit over my arse and so I had my baggy dirty jeans on the bottom and then the costume of a very glamorous strappy dress on the top half – I’m sure it must have looked like a sausage squeezed in! We rehearsed and rehearsed the scene with me razzing the TVR over the small bridge and into the village. It wasn’t an easy drive either, the car was so low it was difficult to see over the bonnet when a was speeding over the hill on the bridge, but it was great great fun to do (I think I missed my calling in life to be a stunt double!) There were other many happy moments during my time there when I was called on to be an extra, ‘villager walking through the village with dog’ was a classic as was ‘pregnant woman in hospital bed’ when I was 8 months pregnant with my first baby.
It was when I was on A Touch of Frost as a Stand By Art Director that I think the MOST embarrassing thing happened to me. I was going through a breakup with my boyfriend (who also worked in TV) It was a messy break up (we are friends now though!) and I was struggling to keep it all together as we navigated selling our house, shared custody of the dog and working incredibly long hours on the show.
One of my tasks was to create all of the police paperwork that David Jason’s character Jack Frost had to sift through as he was piecing together the complex case that he was working on. Not really thinking, I created a ‘criminal’ profile based on my ex boyfriend, listing everything that I was feeling towards him and the breakup, including things like, ‘breaking my heart, I hate him, how can he go off with someone else, I hate valentines day.’ I did not think for one second that David Jason would actually read some of the things that I had written down or that the director would want to do a cut away shot of the paperwork.
You can imagine what happened next… I heard David Jason’s voice booming across the set, “Who has written this and who is so heartbroken?” silence, and slowly I realised what he was referring to. I scuttled over to him, “erm, sorry David Jason, that was me, I didn’t think that you would actually read what I had written!” David Jason just looked at me (for what felt like an eternity) and then burst out laughing, “Ha! The man is a fool! But I am pretty sure that we can’t shoot a close up of this, unless I am investigating the death of a relationship which I don’t think this episode is about!” Cue David Jason and the Director laughing about what I had done (and me just wishing the ground would open up and swallow me whole) and the Director having to cut the close up shot of the paperwork due to my terrible unprofessionalism and ultimate heartbreak.
Another time during that shoot, I measured a bus stop sign incorrectly for the graphics that were being printed to cover it up, so when the graphics arrived, they were the size of a postage stamp and in no way would cover what they needed to. This is when having a brilliant props team is invaluable. I don’t know how, but together we patched something together and I absolutely got away with it – this is definitely where the rule ‘measure twice, cut once’ is incredibly relevant!
I left the glamorous world of TV in 2013 after working for a few years on other shows and mainly Coronation Street. My biggest claim to fame when I was there was being part of the first live episode. What an experience!
The TV world was a huge part of my life and I realise how lucky I was to have had that experience for many years. Whatever shoot I was on, everyone became family. We went through the highs and lows of life together and I treasure my memories of that time.
I am still in touch with a lot of my colleagues thanks to social media and I still love catching up with what they have been up to on set or what they have moved on to do. It still gives me a buzz whenever I see someone I know flash up on the credits and I know that my kids are sick of me saying ‘I’ve met them’ or ‘I’ve worked with them’ and then start to reminisce about ‘the good ole days!’ Mr Me-Myself-And -Eye still works for ITV in the post production department and it is so lovely when one of my old colleagues will ask about me or send their love, especially when he comes home and says ‘”someone was asking about you today, you know, the lovely lady with the brown hair” and I immediately know who he is talking about!
A huge thanks to everyone who I worked with during that time, not only for shaping my career, but for also giving my tons of stories to bore my children with 😉
Hx
Me, myself and eye 