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North 3 History and Restoration
CMCRs - History
North 3- Restoration
North 3 in service
CMCR1- The first BBC Colour MCR
The first scheduled colour Outside Broadcasts in the UK were from Wimbledon in 1967. The vehicles used were the first (Type 1) Colour Mobile Control Rooms (CMCRs) which were going to replace the existing black & white MCRs. They were built by the Pye company of Cambridge, in collaboration with BBC Research and Development. Although colour cameras had been around for some years, (notably the RCA 'Coffin' Image Orthicon), they were not really practical for the full programme service the BBC envisaged. The LDK3 cameras chosen for OB use were actually developed by Philips in Holland, who had patented the Plumbicon pick-up tube, which made practical, reliable and relatively compact colour cameras a viable proposition. Pye built three mobile control rooms using modified LDK3s (re-badged as Pye PC60s to satisfy the BBC's 'Buy British' policy), which produced very good quality pictures from three tubes. The colour system to be used had been finally settled on after years of tests- PAL, which gave considerable advantages over other systems available. Pye also built one of the best sound desks on the market, so it formed a 'state of the art' broadcasting facility.
North 3 in service
North 3- Restoration
North 3 in service
CMCR9- At the Lyceum, London 1970
This photo was taken very early on in C9s career by a photographer working for Pye, presumably for publicity purposes. We have some programmes confirmed as produced with C9 (then Lo5) from 1970/7, including The Proms, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey and many Match of the Days, Test Cricket etc. A notable OB was the live coverage of climbing the Gogarth cliffs on Anglesey over the bank holiday Monday in 1970, when C9 was used due to the capability of working with longer cable lengths compared to the 2001s on the other London based units. This programme, the first ever live coverage of climbing in colour was featured on the cover of the Radio Times. (Full details and photos -see link below.)
We know that during the Birmingham period it did many Gardener's Worlds from Percy Thrower's gardens (as in the picture with driver Ron Lane), and also Come Dancing, racing from Silverstone and many others, including an early location video drama based in Birmingham.
After transfer to Manchester we have a more detailed list from1980 until the last known OB in 1982. Click below for more details.
North 3- Restoration
North 3- Restoration
North 3- Restoration
CMCR9- Birmingham Driver Ron Lane
After many years storage in damp conditions, North 3 was in pretty bad shape. Mechanically, although the engine started quite easily, it was running badly, leaked water and air, and the clutch and brakes were seized. With the help of a local mechanic we got it driveable enough to get it on to a low-loader, which brought it up to Chester to the premises of Farrall's Haulage. Director Mark Farrall was invaluable with his help and contacts in the classic vehicle world, and it was nearly a year at their yard.
At first we concentrated on getting the vehicle mobile, before looking at any of the electronics. Then, with the help of a couple of friends who had worked on it at Manchester, we began to try and get some of it working. Some units were missing, some hoplessly corroded, others were repairable but with a lot of time and patience, parts of it gradually came back to life. Damp had caused the wires to many transistors to rust away, so components would fall off the boards if they were shaken. There were no original cameras, but we had two PC80s that had come from North 1, which had sat derelict in a field near Rye for over 20 years. Two ex-Glasgow studio EMIs were also installed, and work proceeded on getting the sound desk working.
North 3- Restoration
The production gallery covered in dust and corrosion after years of storage. Virtually nothing was in working order, so where do you start?
Driving North 3 out of the aircraft hangar in 2009 where it had been for over a decade.
It was about to be reversed onto Farrall's low loader for the journey back up north.
In 2010 North 3 had its first outing- to the Kelsall Steam Rally. No equipment was working yet. Retired BBC crew Jerry Clegg, John Chester and Con Jones came to visit the old girl. (Con is sadly no longer around.)
North 3 (C9) in service
A Pye publicity picture of a Type 2 taken at Lavenham near Cambridge, may be CMCR 9 but not yet registered
Pye brochure pic of interior.
Either C7, 8 or 9
The Pye assembly area- these are C7,8 and 9 as the camera is a PC80
A Pye publicity picture of the Type 2 sound area
Type 2 Vision area- again a factory photo.
In 1970, its first year of operation, C9 was based in London and was Unit 5. This was a publicity shot for Pye showing it in action, at the Lyceum Theatre
The sound desk iat the Lyceum n 1970
Vision Supervisor Roger Neal in foreground, at the same Lyceum OB in 1970. Bahind him are John King, Dan Cranefield and Campbell Ferguson.
Roger Neal, (In red) in the Vision supervisor's position in N3
on the Royal Holloway University ADAPT project in 2016.
(click photo to see a video about this project)
(Pic: 'Broadcast' magazine)
In August 1970 C9 was used for the live televising of Joe Brown climbing South Stack cliffs in Anglesey. The climb was ocovered all day on Bank Holiday Monday
An early shot of C9 on the road, unknown location thought tobe near Epsom.
After a year or so C9 was exchanged with Birmingham. Its designation changed from Lo5 to CM1 (Colour Midlands 1). It was based at Pebble Mill studios. Click picture to see film clip.
CM1 pictured at 'The Magnolias'- Percy Thrower's house, where 'Gardeners' World' was first televised.
CM1 pictured at a 'Match of the Day' by a football ground in South Wales
In 1979 C9 was moved to Manchester to become North 3. However this shot was taken in Westminster. Click to see a short clip from an 8mm film - and another of N3 at Troon in 1982
North 3 at an annual fixture- the Grand National at Aintree. This was 1982, the new Type 5 scanner is visible behind as well as a mobile VTR truck
One of the last OBs done by N3 was the 'Open' Golf from Troon in 1982. Several scanners would have been involved
North 3 (C9) Restoration
North 3 in storage at Honiton Airfield
The production gallery. Everything was corroded and faulty
Vision mixer and power distribution. Everything covered in dust and rust
On Farrall's low loader on the 300 mile trip home
In Farrall's workshop to start work on the vehicle
The engine witth leaking and corroded water pump removed
The engine with new water pump, front plate and reconditioned alternator- ready for overhauled radiator
Brake drums were siezed and needed heat to get them off
Rear mudguards were corroded through, new sections were fabricated by Geoff James of Nescliffe who
Strip down for body repairs and re-painting
Paintwork preparation at Nescliffe
Paint job finished- ready for sign writing
Paint job complete
On the Cheshire Run 2011
EMI 2001 camera set up inside with repairs under way. The test chart was outside
The vision mixer was one of the first units to get working, along with the monitors, which have all required repair- multiple times
Almost every piece of equipment was faulty. Even this little 5" monitor needed the EHT transformer rewinding
The BBC had replaced the oriiginal Pye colour monitors with 19" Prowests in the 1970s. Getting and keeping them working has been an ongoing challenge
The Pye sound desk was complete but had been attacked by corrosion and was riddled witht faults. Many hours of work were spent on it, including by expert audio engineer Tom Goodwin, sadly no longer with us
Sound crew re-united and ready for action on the ADAPT project in 2016
Former N3 Sound Supervisor Jerry Clegg in the hot seat
N3 Events
N3 on the way to Astle Park Steam Rally in 2010. Bodywork restoration and signwriting not yet done- and driver still on 'L' plates!
BBC Manchester reporter Dave Guest going live on the last edition of 'Northwest Tonight' from New Broadcasting House , Oxford Road. This was the last programme made there before the move to Media City in November 2011.
Anne Reid and Brian Cox on location with N3 in the background on 'Theatre of Dreams' in 2011. N3's film debut.
Cameraman John Chester with one of the PC80 cameras at the Manchester Science Fair at Salford University in 2011. N3, in new paint and livery was parked right outside the building on the Media City piazza in Salford.
N3 and a current BBC satellite news van attract visitors outside the BBC studios at Media City in Salford, in 2013. We were linked to a TV history display which we set up inside the Salford University Science Fair
The Mayor of Cheshire signs the visitors book at the Wilmslow Show in 2013
Vision engineers John Coupe, Roger Neal and Peter Foster at the controls during the ADAPT project by the Royal Holloway University in 2016. Click to see video.
At the opening of the Pye Museum in Cambridge in 2019. We set up 2 of the original cameras inside the museum and visitors including many ex Pye employees came inside. To see a video click here.
Former Vision Supervisor Dan Cranefield who conducted acceptance testing on N3 in 1969, at the controls again- 50 years later in 2019.
N3 and the Dodge links van on set at Elstree Studios for The Crown in December 2019
N3 outside the fictional TV studios of 'TVC' on location in St Helens for 'Funny Woman' (Sky Max)
N3 and LO23 at Kelsall Steam Rally in 2023
Showing Sir David Jason round N3 on 'David and Jay's Touring Toolshed' in 2023