Death of Godfrey Baseley
Chris McMillan
We've heard this evening of the death of Godfrey Baseley. Sincere
condolences to his family. What better tribute to him than that we are able
to spend so many hours discussing his 'baby'.
I heard it first on R2, but chickened out of typing it but unfortunately
Toodles didn't know what I was wittering on about and got it all wrong. I
put it down to a very boring day for him and Hazel with my parents.
Sincerely, Chris
--
Mrs. Chris McMillan. Snail mail: 42 Eastcourt Avenue, Earley, Reading, Berks
RG6 1HH. UK. Tel. 0118 926 5450. Fax. 0118 966 8167. Though a screw is
small, its use is beyond measure. I want to be a screw. (Lei Fang).
Martin Fiddler
So, who might Godfrey Basely be? I guess I'm like many,
who know the names of the characters but are not interested
in their 'real' names. What character did he play?
In article <ant02220...@efsmciln.rdg.co.uk>,
d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk says...
>
>We've heard this evening of the death of Godfrey Baseley. Sincere
>condolences to his family. What better tribute to him than that we are able
>to spend so many hours discussing his 'baby'.
>
--
Martin
m.fi...@staffs.ac.uk
Phone:- mobile: 0976 382655 office: 01785 353334
http://www.staffs.ac.uk/sands/engs/staff/mf/mfiddler.htm
Sebastian Lisken
m.fi...@staffs.ac.uk (Martin Fiddler) writes:
> So, who might Godfrey Basely be?
I guess it would be best on this occasion to let him speak
for himself ... Stolen from The Times, 8 July 1996.
| GODFREY BASELEY, 91, devised The Archers in 1951 and was
| the original series editor.
|
| "I have watched the programme change for the worse over
| the years. There is now too much sex and violence. The
| Archers I knew was very clean. It was created as an
| educational programme for the farming community and it
| succeeded on those terms.
|
| "Each episode was full of hints and information for
| farmers and kept them in touch with the latest
| developments. The notion that a programme can both inform
| and entertain seems to be dying now.
|
| "When we originally devised it, the aim was to create a
| sort of country Dick Barton without the violence. On my
| instructions, the writers Geoffrey Webb and Edward Mason
| worked on scripts and on creating characters, many of whom
| were based on people I knew or had met.
|
| "The original actors were all amateurs and had day jobs.
| Dan Archer worked as a pottery designer, Doris Archer had
| her own shop and Simon the farmworker had a job in an
| employment exchange. We used amateurs because our budget
| was so small and we could not afford to pay professional
| actors. We paid each actor two guineas per episode.
|
| "I was amazed and delighted at how the show was received.
| Before long we had replaced Dick Barton as the regular
| series on radio and the cult of The Archers began to
| develop.
|
| "Although most of the team got on well, there was
| sometimes unrest behind the scenes. The actress who
| played Grace Archer, Ysanne Churchman, worried me. She
| was a strong supporter of trade unions and I was concerned
| that she might unsettle the other actors. So I decided to
| kill her off. She died in a fire; the story, which
| coincided with the first night of commercial television,
| was front-page news."
Brennig Jones
In message <E57Bs...@exeter.ac.uk>
Sebastia...@Post.Uni-Bielefeld.DE (Sebastian Lisken) writes:
> | "Although most of the team got on well, there was
> | sometimes unrest behind the scenes. The actress who
> | played Grace Archer, Ysanne Churchman, worried me. She
> | was a strong supporter of trade unions and I was concerned
> | that she might unsettle the other actors. So I decided to
> | kill her off. She died in a fire; the story, which
> | coincided with the first night of commercial television,
> | was front-page news."
I find this very interesting indeed. So instead of the popular myth
that Grace was bumped off to rival ITV's launch, she was actually a
political martyr.
B.
Mike Ellwood
Sebastian Lisken (Sebastia...@Post.Uni-Bielefeld.DE) wrote:
Sebastian,
Thanks for that delightful little vignette.
: | GODFREY BASELEY, 91, devised The Archers in 1951 and was
: |
I thought I read 1950 elsewhere, although I had always thought it
had started even earlier, in the late 1940s, myself. When exactly did
it start?
: | sometimes unrest behind the scenes. The actress who
: | played Grace Archer, Ysanne Churchman, worried me. She
: | was a strong supporter of trade unions and I was concerned
: | that she might unsettle the other actors. So I decided to
oops - this confirms what others have said in umra. So our Godfrey
was a bit of a reactionary. Still, his views would have been shared
by many of the farmers who were his original target audience.
I remember my late aunt, who farmed in Cumbria, telling us in hushed
tones about one of her (also farming) neighbours, "She votes Labour
you know", with incredulity clearly written all over her face.
David Shepherd
Mike Ellwood <m...@unixfe.cc.rl.ac.uk> wrote:
: : | sometimes unrest behind the scenes. The actress who
: : | played Grace Archer, Ysanne Churchman, worried me. She
: : | was a strong supporter of trade unions and I was concerned
: : | that she might unsettle the other actors. So I decided to
: oops - this confirms what others have said in umra. So our Godfrey
: was a bit of a reactionary. Still, his views would have been shared
: by many of the farmers who were his original target audience.
I think it was also to do with the fact that he was running the
Archers on the cheap in Birmingham and relied on the fact that the
actors he used didn't demand ongoing contracts (which is what
Equity would have required them to have) but instead were prepared
to be paid for the times they were called in for recordings. In
an article in the Telegraph last year I think he said that he felt
that if the cast had become unionised at that point then they would
not have been able to afford to contniue.
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
david shepherd
SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics Ltd, 1000 aztec west, bristol bs12 4sq, u.k.
tel/fax: +44 1454 611522/617910 email: d...@bristol.st.com
"whatever you don't want, you don't want negative advertising"
Michael Hopkins
Brennig Jones (brenni...@zetnet.co.uk) wrote:
: In message <E57Bs...@exeter.ac.uk>
: Sebastia...@Post.Uni-Bielefeld.DE (Sebastian Lisken) writes:
: > | "Although most of the team got on well, there was
: > | sometimes unrest behind the scenes. The actress who
: > | played Grace Archer, Ysanne Churchman, worried me. She
: > | was a strong supporter of trade unions and I was concerned
: > | that she might unsettle the other actors. So I decided to
: > | kill her off. She died in a fire; the story, which
: > | coincided with the first night of commercial television,
: > | was front-page news."
: I find this very interesting indeed. So instead of the popular myth
: that Grace was bumped off to rival ITV's launch, she was actually a
: political martyr.
But Ysanne Churchman stayed on and played many characters, including Mary
Pound
Michael Hopkins
Mike Ellwood (m...@unixfe.cc.rl.ac.uk) wrote:
: Sebastian Lisken (Sebastia...@Post.Uni-Bielefeld.DE) wrote:
: Sebastian,
: Thanks for that delightful little vignette.
: : | GODFREY BASELEY, 91, devised The Archers in 1951 and was
: : |
: I thought I read 1950 elsewhere, although I had always thought it
: had started even earlier, in the late 1940s, myself. When exactly did
: it start?
It ran for a pilot week in Easter week 1950 and then ran continuosly from
Jan. 1st 1951.
Martin Drew
In article <5df54s$k...@milkwort.bri.st.com>, David Shepherd
>
>I think it was also to do with the fact that he was running the
>Archers on the cheap in Birmingham and relied on the fact that the
>actors he used didn't demand ongoing contracts (which is what
>Equity would have required them to have) but instead were prepared
>to be paid for the times they were called in for recordings. In
>an article in the Telegraph last year I think he said that he felt
>that if the cast had become unionised at that point then they would
>not have been able to afford to contniue.
>
quote:
... Since I was cast as Philip Archer from the start in 1950. no cast
member has been, or is, an amateur. ... In an uncertain profession many
actors have been forced to have <day jobs> which, as with some members
of the cast of the Archers, they abandon the moment they are <in work>.
We were all (as we had to be) fully paid up members of Equity and
therefore professional performers.
End quote.
Sadly the myth that they were real folk pulled from the hedgerows to
speak a part appears to be wrong.
--
Martin Drew
24 Hugh Street, London SW1.
linda
In article <TNcxGpAo...@expotel.demon.co.uk>, Martin Drew
<Mar...@expotel.demon.co.uk> writes
>Since I was cast as Philip Archer from the start in 1950. no cast
>member has been, or is, an amateur. ...
>Sadly the myth that they were real folk pulled from the hedgerows to
>speak a part appears to be wrong.
character of Phil was "cast" which doesn't mean that casting took place
before this didn't include non professional actors. Anyway, its fairly
well documented that not all the original cast were professional - most
recently of all in the book by Wm Smethurst.
--
linda
John Ross
In message <5det73$13...@newton.cc.rl.ac.uk> Mike Ellwood wrote:
> I remember my late aunt, who farmed in Cumbria, telling us in hushed
> tones about one of her (also farming) neighbours, "She votes Labour
> you know", with incredulity clearly written all over her face.
I once had a girlfriend whose father was a Yorkshire coalface miner.
He canvassed for the Conservatives.
--
John Ross
Southampton
Chris McMillan
In article <5det73$13...@newton.cc.rl.ac.uk>, Mike Ellwood
<URL:mailto:m...@unixfe.cc.rl.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Sebastian Lisken (Sebastia...@Post.Uni-Bielefeld.DE) wrote:
>
> Sebastian,
> Thanks for that delightful little vignette.
>
>
> : | GODFREY BASELEY, 91, devised The Archers in 1951 and was
The pilot series was run in the Midlands only in 1950, it went out
nationally from 1951.
Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
by Nigel Carrington, Hedli Niklaus is married in real life to whoever played
the part of Jim Coverdale (PC before Dave B) but it doesn't mention his
name.
Hedli herself is on her third Archers character: I don't remember her as
Libby Jones a milk recorder girl, though I do remember her as Eva, Home
Farm's au pair girl.
Roger Hume had 3 speaking parts in TA, he was John Tregorran for 2 years in
the early 80s, and also Sir Sidney Goodman, as well as Bert.
Crawford Logan played Matthew Thorogood and was Alan Fraser, one
of Caroline's boyfriends.
Steve Hodson was Martin Lambert. (He obviously went on to better things).
Ubiquitous? Nearly as much heard as Martin Jarvis.
Pat Gallimore had a part in the 'Forsyte Saga' - but which one, Helen?
Brenda - what does it say about Jack May in 'the Book'? I'm sure
that he played the part of a unknown age blind man (well he may have had
some sight, but he couldn't read print) who lived somewhere in the village
and you had the impression he'd recently lost his sight: it was in the
mid-70s, when Talking Newspapers for the Blind were being introduced. Jill
taught him how to use the cassette recorder. I have no idea how he vanished
from the script though.
Arnold Peters has played 3 parts: Len Thomas, the Rev. David
Latimer and Jack W. I have no idea where David Latimer comes in the line of
vicars (he's somewhere before Richard Adamson I know) but he 'died' and
Arnold Peters went elsewhere for work until he came back as Jack. -- Mrs.
David Shepherd
Mike Ellwood <m...@unixfe.cc.rl.ac.uk> wrote:
: I remember my late aunt, who farmed in Cumbria, telling us in hushed
: tones about one of her (also farming) neighbours, "She votes Labour
: you know", with incredulity clearly written all over her face.
I think in Cumbria (or more properly Cumberland and Westmorland) there
is still the remnants of voting patterns determined by whether people
were on the Lowther or Lonsdale estates - one was Liberal and the other
Conservative. In the rural areas Labour was almost unheard of (in the
village where my parents used to live Labour had to import a student
from Lancaster University - 60 miles away - to stand for them as a
candidate in the county council elections once. I did leaflet the
village for Labour in the by-election after Whitelaw got kicked
upstairs in 1983 but I think any Labour voters in the constituency
were in Aspatria - about 50 miles NW!)
Glynis Baguley
In article <ant08151...@efsmciln.rdg.co.uk>,
Chris McMillan <d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
>Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
>by Nigel Carrington,
The present alter ego, Graham Seed, played Nigel P., then for a short
time the part was taken by the other Nigel.
--
Glynis Baguley
Centre for the Study of African Economies
Oxford University
Glynis....@Economics.oxford.ac.uk
Mike Ellwood
Chris McMillan (d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk) wrote:
: Arnold Peters has played 3 parts: Len Thomas, the Rev. David
: Latimer and Jack W. I have no idea where David Latimer comes in the line of
: vicars (he's somewhere before Richard Adamson I know) but he 'died' and
: Arnold Peters went elsewhere for work until he came back as Jack. -- Mrs.
: Chris McMillan. Snail mail: 42 Eastcourt Avenue, Earley, Reading, Berks RG6
: 1HH. UK. Tel. 0118 926 5450. Fax. 0118 966 8167. Though a screw is small,
: its use is beyond measure. I want to be a screw. (Lei Fang).
Thanks for all that good stuff, Chris. hm...does that mean that
Jack Woolley's lovely Brumagem accent may not actually have been
carved in the backstreets of Brum, but in the studios at RADA?
Perish the thought!
--
Mike.E...@rl.ac.uk
Brenda Selwyn
>Chris McMillan <d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
I'm not sure where this bunch of questions came from, but here are a
few thoughts/answers (from The Book, of course).
>Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
>by Nigel Carrington,
The Book does not agree with this. It lists Graham Seed, Nigel
Caliburn, then back to Graham Seed again.
>Hedli Niklaus is married in real life to whoever played
>the part of Jim Coverdale (PC before Dave B) but it doesn't mention his
>name.
Leon Tanner.
>Hedli herself is on her third Archers character: I don't remember her as
>Libby Jones a milk recorder girl, though I do remember her as Eva, Home
>Farm's au pair girl.
Eva Lenz married PC Coverdale: art imiates life or life imiates art?
> Brenda - what does it say about Jack May in 'the Book'? I'm sure
>that he played the part of a unknown age blind man (well he may have had
>some sight, but he couldn't read print) who lived somewhere in the village
>and you had the impression he'd recently lost his sight: it was in the
>mid-70s, when Talking Newspapers for the Blind were being introduced. Jill
>taught him how to use the cassette recorder. I have no idea how he vanished
>from the script though.
I believe you must be referring to Arnold Lucas, a retired solicitor
who rented the Dower House for some years. His eyesight deteriorated
during his time in Ambridge due to inoperable glaucoma, and he
eventually went to live with his daughter in Worthing. He was played
by George Woolley. I don't know if Jack May has played any other
parts. As I've already explained in another thread, The Book does not
list all the characters an actor has played, only the other way round,
so this sort of information is very laborious to find.
Brenda (Self Appointed Keeper of The Book).
--
***************************************************************
Brenda Selwyn
Rose Cottage, The Hook, Timsbury, Bath, Somerset
bre...@matson.demon.co.uk
http://www.matson.demon.co.uk/brenda.htm
Robin Fairbairns
>Libby Jones a milk recorder girl, though I do remember her as Eva, Home
>Farm's au pair girl.
Libby Jones was an early flame of Tony's, IIRC.
--
Robin (Campaign for Real Radio 3) Fairbairns r...@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK
Home page: http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rf/robin.html
Pat Hanby
On Mon, 10 Feb 1997, Brenda Selwyn wrote:
> >Chris McMillan <d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
>
>
> >Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
> >by Nigel Carrington,
>
> The Book does not agree with this. It lists Graham Seed, Nigel
> Caliburn, then back to Graham Seed again.
Can't remember the first name. but wasn't it someone Carringtom who was
David before Tim Bentinck took over? Can't check now - The Book is at home
and I'm at work.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pat Hanby Book Orders Librarian Reading University Library
PO Box 223 Whiteknights READING RG6 6AE UK
P.M....@reading.ac.uk Tel. 0118 9318777 Fax 0118 9316636
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Brenda Selwyn
>Pat Hanby <vlsh...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
>Can't remember the first name. but wasn't it someone Carringtom who was
>David before Tim Bentinck took over? Can't check now - The Book is at home
>and I'm at work.
As luck would have it, mine is right in front of me:-)
David Archer has been played by: Gordon Gardner, Nigel Carrivick, and
Tim.
Brenda
Chris McMillan
In article <Pine.SOL.3.95q.97021...@suma3.reading.ac.uk>,
Pat Hanby <URL:mailto:vlsh...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 10 Feb 1997, Brenda Selwyn wrote:
>
> > >Chris McMillan <d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk> wrote:
> >
> >
> > >Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
> > >by Nigel Carrington,
> >
> > The Book does not agree with this. It lists Graham Seed, Nigel
> > Caliburn, then back to Graham Seed again.
>
> David before Tim Bentinck took over? Can't check now - The Book is at home
> and I'm at work.
Aren't they all on permanent loan to umrats on main site (grin)?
Sincerely, Chris
>
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Pat Hanby Book Orders Librarian Reading University Library > PO Box 223
Whiteknights READING RG6 6AE UK >
P.M....@reading.ac.uk Tel. 0118 9318777 Fax 0118 9316636 >
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > > > >
--
Brennig Jones
In message <5dnal8$l...@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk>
r...@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns) writes:
> Libby Jones was an early flame of Tony's, IIRC.
Wot? U mean they used to have lots of arguments? <grin>
B.
--
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but whips and spurs excite me!
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/bjones - a sign of an unwell mind.
56/40/30+ M B G: A3 L- I- S- P++ CH++ Ar+ T++ H-
Chris McMillan
In article <5dn0ou$3...@mercury.dur.ac.uk>, Michael Hopkins
<URL:mailto:Michael...@durham.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> Chris McMillan (d.m.p.m...@reading.ac.uk) wrote:
>
> : Other 'useless' things which have been asked: Nigel P. was originally played
> : by Nigel Carrington
>
>
> Graham Seed ariginally played Nigel P., then Nigel Carrington took over,
> then Graham Seed cam eback. Like June Spencer/Thelma Rogers as Peggy
Thanks - you've answered the original question much better than I could have
done. I was just pointing out that, yes, Nigel had changed his 'voice' which
is what we'd been talking about. Now we all know.
Sincerely, Chris
