BBC at 100: Keith Massey recalls filming for Blue Peter

THE BBC is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary and I recall with affection contributing to its output from 54 years ago and some of my memories of York stories I covered.

My first ever story was in the 60s as a ‘mute’ BBC cameraman - a silent cameraman using a clockwork Swiss camera that was state of the art at that time. I was working at The Press Agency with the legendary John Pick.

For a story about the closing down of some York public toilets I went walking and filming into the men's toilets at Micklegate Bar only to find a man at the stalls who was relieving himself. When he asked what I was doing I replied: “Oh please don’t worry, I’m only filming for the BBC,” to which he sadly wet himself.

Then I covered a balloon flight from Bootham Park Hospital in 1971 celebrating York’s 1900th anniversary just before the Queen’s visit.

The balloon fiesta in York in 1971 (Image: Newsquest)

Unfortunately I had somewhat of a bad landing and was thrown from the balloon basket and broke my leg. At hospital the surgeon asked how I had broken it and when I told him I’d been thrown out of a balloon basket he thought it very hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing. The leg pot came off just in time for me to film The Queen and Prince Philip’s memorable visit with the Household Cavalry.

It’s exactly 50 years ago in 1972 that I shot a film in York for the iconic Blue Peter programme with one of its biggest stars, Valerie Singleton. It was a time of great archaeological discoveries in the city and Valerie had to make a featurette film with me on, of all things, a Roman sewer discovered at a dig in St Sampson’s Square next to W.P. Brown’s department store.

Keith Massey filming in the York sewer in 1972 with Valerie Singleton of Blue Peter (Image: Newsquest)

It was unusual in that at that time all the filming was done by big London crews from BBC Ealing Studios, whereas I was a freelance SOF (sound on film) cameraman under contract and based at BBC Yorkshire in Leeds - so I think the BBC were attempting to bring in a more cost effective and flexible approach as I was also acting as director.

I remember at the time being exceedingly nervous at the age of 27 with the thought of working with Valerie Singleton. I had been brought up as a lad watching Blue Peter and I regarded the presenters as Gods in the clouds - I was in awe.

About four years previously, as a press photographer, I had travelled down to the Blue Peter studio in London with a York lady - Mrs Fisher, a piano teacher of Bishopthorpe Road who had a 17-stone Great Dane dog named Sultan who had his own Co-op ‘divvy’ number due to his voracious appetite. I had worked on the story for all the national newspapers and international magazines and it received extensive coverage.

Blue Peter contacted Mrs Fisher to ask her if she would take her dog down on the train to the London studios but she declined as she was too nervous but that she would if Mr Massey could go with her (she was over 70 at the time as I remember).

It was quite a task getting the dog on to the train and then into a taxi at King’s Cross and I just prayed that it wouldn’t want to go the toilet at the ‘wrong’ time!

Incidentally, driving through the centre of London I happened to see Donald Bodley the York Theatre Royal director, who I hailed from the black cab. He came across and saw the big dog and looked at me incredulously!

At the studio, Mrs Fisher and I were introduced to the presenters, John Noakes, Peter Purvis and Valerie in the buzzing studio but Mrs Fisher was disappointed at the transmission to be left out of the interview - it was only Sultan.

Meanwhile back in the Roman sewer, Dr Peter Addyman, the new director of York Archaeological Trust, my sound recordist Gerry Troyna (later to be a director of Great Railway Journeys of The World and specialist on Indian railway films) Valerie and I spent a few hours crawling through the sewer on our hands and knees in almost total darkness up to our arm-pits in very dubious elements.

Fortunately the filming turned out well despite the atrocious conditions and Peter invited my wife and I to join him, his wife, and Valerie for dinner at his home that evening. Being star-struck with Valerie left me babbling my way through, but somehow I managed.

The following morning I went to York station to see Valerie off to London and as it had worked well we ended up filming again on another York project.

I was fortunate and privileged in working for the BBC at its height over several decades with some of the best colleagues - including Harry Gration who sadly died recently - who gave their talent and dedication to the organisation.