BBC Studio Visit
On 17th October a party of 15 (the maximum allowed) Rotarians and wives toured the BBC Studios in Manchester. The tour, which lasted about 2 hours, was guided by two female actors who made the visit both informative and very interesting.
The first port of call was the radio drama studio where there was a demonstration of special effects. The group then moved onto the BBC Philharmonic Studio which is large enough to house 89 musicians and an audience. This studio had been expertly soundproofed and it was proving to be a challenge to replicate at Media City (The orchestra will be one of the first to be moved and broadcast from the new centre in the next few months). A visit to a typical radio studio followed with the group learning how a show was hosted with music and guests.
Next and perhaps the highlight was the studio used for the presentation of North West Tonight. The tricks of the trade used by Gordon Burns and others at the news desk weather board and interview couches were revealed. Above was the controllers studio with a mass of equipment and screens showing outside broadcasts and interviews. It became clear that timing of a show to link with national network was of the essence. The final part of the tour allowed members of the group to demonstrate their skills in reading the weather on TV (Rotarian Jeff Hibbert was awesome!) and performing a scary radio play with effects (Rotarian Andrew Waller was frightening, in the nicest possible way of course).
The tour concluded with a short film on the developing Media City which demonstrated a rosy future for the BBC in the North West.
In view of the restrictions placed on numbers a second tour will be arranged in the new year.
Jeff Todd would like to give thanks to David Howarth and Jeff Hibbert for taking photographs.