| Description | MIKE MARSHALL interview at his home, 3 Queensberry Beeches, Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway on Wednesday 20th September, 2017. Interviewer Eric Crockart. Summary by Eric Crockart.
Three sessions were recorded on a Zoom H6 digital recorder. Interviewee and Interviewer wore Rode Lavalier lapel microphones. Interviewee is recorded on the left stereo channel, and interviewer is recorded on the right stereo channel. Indicative timings in the summary are given in (hour:minute:second) format.
SESSION 1.
(0:00:00) MICHAEL ALEC MARSHALL (Mike), born 3rd August 1941 in Edgware, Middlesex. At that time his father was with the National Fire Service, involvement with the Blitz in London. Had trained as a cabinetmaker. After the war joined London Transport, refitting buses with seats etc. Mother was a milliner by trade, during war a Red Cross nurse. Family lived near Wembley. Fortunate - on father's side a history of working with wood, on mother's side a history of photography, and things like engraving. Went back a couple of generations - still wonders if this creative talent background transmitted to himself later on.
(0:02:29) Went to a Prep school in Wembley. Recalls travelling on Tube Train by himself at age 6 to get to school. In 1949 family moved to St Austell in Cornwall. Parents wanted to run a grocery shop. Regards this as the most formative years of his early childhood. Prep school again, parents must have been reasonably well-off. Enjoyed school and Cornwall. Then family moved back to London because business did not work. Went to school in Regent Street, now the University of Westminster, was the Polytechnic in those days, the Quintin School founded by Quintin Hogg. Marvellous institution where you mixed at 12 or 13 years of age with art and science students, very catholic education. Part of the school there, rest of school based in Soho. Knew how the world worked at very early age. Describes how he decided he wanted to do medicine. But he could not grasp Latin, which you needed to get into medical school. Also still hankering for Cornwall, and the land. So looked at doing agriculture. Had to do what would now be called a gap year, working on a farm for a year before being accepted for university, milking cows in Cornwall. Contrasts his urban experiences to that point with the farm, did not know what had hit him.
(0:07:38) Arrived on train from Paddington, picked up by farmer. Did not know first thing about a cow. Describes experience of starting work on dairy farm in more detail. This was in 1960. Spent six months in Cornwall, started applying to universities to do degree in agriculture. Accepted at both Leeds and Bangor, preferred Bangor because smaller. It was suggested he should do another kind of farming, so went to work on arable farm in Hertfordshire, just north of London, could stay at home, going home on motor scooter each day. Drove tractors, ploughing, silage and hay-making etc. Then went to Bangor to start course. Very wide-ranging community of students, you had done year away from home before starting your education. (Interview interrupted at this point by arrival of fish delivery van)
(0:11:21) Agriculture students had acquired a certain degree of maturity. Students from other countries, also studying forestry, good mix of people studying rural sciences. Rest of students had just come from school. Three years studying agriculture. Had done photography at home and at school before going to college. Describes how he had developed and printed his own and others' films. Gone to university with knowledge of film, and also had an 8mm movie camera, so knew about things like editing. In his last year at university, BBC were on cusp of opening BBC2. So were recruiting graduates. BBC came to Bangor and showed Richard Cawston's fly-on-the-wall documentary "This is the BBC". Amazing, Mike thought that was where he wanted to go. So applied to be a BBC graduate trainee, with an interest in film. Asked to attend interview in London. Describes what happened. Interviewer suggested he might be suitable for film trainee post, and said he would be kept posted. So went back home. Nearly a year was to pass before he heard any more. About to leave Bangor with his Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture and rural science - what to do next?
(0:17:21) Read Situations Vacant in The Daily Telegraph newspaper. Saw BBC advert for holiday relief script-writers for television news. He applied. Very quickly got call from head of the news programme services at Alexandra Palace. Did not think he would make script-writer, but offered him temporary place in their film library, having told them he was waiting for a place on the BBC's training course. It was just like it was in early days of Alexandra Palace, black and white television. All the news film would come in there, and had to be logged. Explains what was involved. Rubbing shoulders with personality newsreaders like Robert Dougall, and a very young Michael Aspel. Because of his work at school, where he was a librarian, felt he could help organise the film library, the BBC's system was a bit crazy. Became interested in archival material. Worked at Alexandra Palace for a year, other BBC posts then came up and he applied and got sent to Bristol to work in the Natural History Unit. Another fascinating two and a half years spent there.
(0:20:30) While there met BBC2 producer Ronald Webster, who had been producer in Birmingham of television farming programmes that went out every Sunday lunchtime. When he discovered Mike had done agriculture degree, recommended he see the BBC's agricultural officer in London and see about getting a secondment to Birmingham. Sent to Birmingham for six months, which became a year. Never went back to Bristol, stayed with television farming unit, so his degree in agriculture suddenly very pertinent to what he was doing. Also the Common Market was on the horizon, so looking at what it would mean to Britain, involved trips abroad. Mike was directing and producing film for inclusion in the weekly farming programme from Birmingham. Explains this in more detail. His first story was about Milton Keynes when it was just a village, before it started being transformed into a new town.
(0:23:24) Talks about how his own film and photographic experience helped in working with BBC cameramen. Helped communicate with them. It's about telling a story, that's the most important thing. That's been his maxim throughout his life. Recalls what it was like having responsibility for BBC programmes before they are transmitted. Other BBC regions also produced farming programmes, including a regular monthly one for Scotland. Every so often producers for all these programmes would get together. Producer from Scotland, Pat Chalmers, mentioned they had a new controller in Scotland, Alasdair Milne (later Director General of the BBC). Milne wanted to see the BBC in Scotland depart from the tartan-clad image people frequently had, certainly down south. He wanted to see more documentary output from the island sites like Aberdeen, which then involved small groups of people injecting news stories into the network and maybe a bit of local radio. Pat said there would be a new department in Aberdeen, and would Mike consider coming there to take it on. Mike discussed this with his first wife. Decided to apply, and was duly appointed as Television Producer BBC Scotland (Aberdeen).
(0:30:04) Moved to Aberdeen in 1972. Looking at documentary programming with particular reference to Scotland's countryside and people. First impressions of Aberdeen - getting there you realised what a long way away it was. We went up the coast road - it took a long long time, all single carriageway, a lot of traffic, it was slow going. That first impression when you come over the hill at Altens and see the city, thought this is quite a place, grey, perhaps a little forbidding. Saw it in Spring that year, as did not move up till about June. There seemed very little evidence of oil, it was still a big village. When we went to the BBC Broadcasting House in Beechgrove Terrace, lovely place, typical BBC outpost, lovely people - they all went home to lunch! Two cars on the street were considered a traffic jam. They spoke different, the local Buchan and Aberdonian accents, two quite different accents. Had to decide where to live. When working for BBC in Birmingham was used to a 40-mile commute. Decided we would go as close to sea as possible, so went to village of Collieston about 20 miles north of Aberdeen - people queried why, considered it miles away, but Mike had cut his commute time by half an hour. Found house in row of former Coastguard houses on edge of Sands of Forvie nature reserve, so inspirational in terms of form of programmes we were going to be doing. House needed some work. That was first inkling, because building industry under some pressure because a lot of people in trades had been attracted offshore, chasing the big money with the oil business.
(0:35:38) Kids had not been born at that stage, so no knowledge of impact oil was having on education. Infrastructure then very good, wee schools scattered around, and had the staff as well, everything working well. Got to know the community. Devising a new programme strand for the BBC was consuming Mike. Started with series of programmes about the countryside called "Breathing Space". But in process became aware of other documentary programme potential. Had been using helicopters for the filming. To do anything in Scotland, flying was one of the easiest ways of getting about. Recalls oil helicopters flying over the house at Collieston. Looked at aircraft helping keep communities together, and get people to hospital from islands. Recalls story from Orkney about the banker who would fly out to the outer islands every week - flying banker was story that caught the imagination. Decided to make this 50-minute documentary called The Flying Scotsman. Shortly after it was aired in 1977 Mike got call from the Royal Bank of Scotland, who owned Loganair - call from Les Stewart, the public relations manager for RBS in Edinburgh. Said they had enjoyed the film, and they were looking for someone to make a promotional film telling the story of the bank. Came at a time when we were getting a little bit anxious about what was going on in the BBC - explains about acrimonious relationship between BBC Scotland and London about programme commissioning and network. First moves in Scotland towards devolution, causing a lot of anxiety, Alasdair Milne had left to become Director General. His place taken by Alistair Hetherington, a totally different personality, things took turn for the worse. Mike felt unsettled, particularly as it was getting ever harder to get programmes networked. So went to see Royal Bank, started ball rolling for setting up an independent company.
(0:43:43) From 1972-75 the BBC's Breathing Space documentary series ran to 25 programmes; can't say he was aware of the effect of the oil industry on rural areas, had to be nearer to Aberdeen. In 1977 was asked to make a documentary involving a helicopter-mounted camera - explains limitations of the technology for doing this at the time. For the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, BBC decided to mark it with three programmes, one from England, one from Wales, and one from Scotland. Did not do Northern Ireland because of the troubles. Mike decided to chart a journey from the Solway up to Shetland and all the way back down east coast to the border at Tweedmouth. Took about 112 hours flying to do coverage over several months. Always wanted to do Scotland from the air, and do the sort of observation that was difficult then, having a look at country from above.
(0:48:27) Describes in detail what was involved, places visited, with bits of commentary from local people. In amongst all this was oil. As you worked your way up the coast came to the Clyde, where shipbuilding industry was in serious decline. But at Ardyne they were building a platform, we flew in and around the four concrete legs of this platform, probably the Coromorant Alpha, incredible experience, suddenly aware of enormous scale of what was going on. Think they built one more there. But nearby at Portavadie, hoping to build another platform, but forever remained an empty hole in the ground, now a marina, speculation on oil industry demand. Not sure why - interviewer suggests it was because there turned out to be less demand in Britain for concrete gravity oil platform structures than there was in Norway.
(0:52:36) Interesting, because next staging point as far as oil concerned up the coast was at Kishorn, where Ninian Central was being built. Grandfather of all concrete structures, amazing, so huge. When you looked at the workforce needed, had accommodation ship there. Benefits to people who lived locally? Fell into two schools, brought money in, people had employment. But others said they regretted the change. Explains, and draws analogy with present day development of windfarms, and the way the land is being changed. See same kind of reaction, we need the energy, but we don't want to lose what we've got around us. Western Isles, life more relaxed and conservative by mainland standards, they liked the way things were. Very different to the east side, more cosmopolitan, influx of people that had come to Aberdeen. Lot of people did not like it, can remember people being racist, it was edgy stuff.
(0:57:10) Very much a "them and us" situation, but difficult. Mentions fishing - a good industry to be in then. The service industries, Aberdeen was always pretty prosperous, some people were doing pretty well. Recalls seeing old suites of furniture left outside on streets in Peterhead, where new suites had gone in. This was the new wealth coming in, fascinating. When you went to Shetland, saw Sullom Voe being carved out of a hillside, enormous earth movers, enormous work camps, incredible sight, engineering on a massive scale for that terminal. Later went back and saw how it had settled into the landscape, recalls yellow flares pulsing off the clouds. Heartbeat of energy industry, so important to Shetland.
(1:01:34) Certainly had an impression of scale from the air. But superficial, did not get to nuts and bolts of what made the industry tick. TV programming can be superficial, we had to make programmes that would pull an audience. Safety approaches then rudimentary. Recalls flying offshore on an S61N helicopter, then the workhorse of the North Sea in 1976. Film he made at time reveals how passengers travelled with freight alongside, no survival suits, aircrew in normal flying gear. Absolutely incredible. Did not have the video briefings you now have before an offshore trip. Refers to Chinook helicopter disaster off Sumburgh in 1986, but by then people wearing survival suits. Back then did not have any ear protection. Goes into detail about how this film was first recognition that something big was going on in Aberdeen, till then nobody really thought about oil in the BBC. Produces information about a series of programmes in 1977, under title "The Energy File". First time Aberdeen and BBC Scotland got on BBC network about the oil industry. Mentions Arthur Binnie was involved in making those programmes, he was news editor at the BBC in Aberdeen. Those programmes seminal in getting the story of the industry out. Recommends that Capturing the Energy get copies of these programmes. Six programmes involving Raymond Baxter and Michael Buerk. Mike was not involved in making these programmes. He was busy with "The Queen's Realm" and "The Beechgrove Garden".
(1:09:16) Aware of change in Aberdeen and local economy in the five years since he came to city in 1972? Can't say I was immediately aware of massive change going on. Couple of things. Got better air services. Explains in detail, including how airport changed. Railways needed to keep up, still eight or nine hours to get from Aberdeen to London. Started to do something about the roads. Started to see dualling projects. Other change was construction of pipelines, landfall at Cruden Bay, and these amazing pipeline projects going down to Grangemouth. Suddenly realised how important this national energy grid was going to be.
(1:15:38) Later in his independent film making business, Cinecosse, the firm would be called to do aerial video surveys of the pipelines from Cruden Bay/St Fergus to Grangemouth. Points out that pipelaying it is still going on, with construction of gas pipeline being built south of Dumfries, going to Ireland. Brought home to him Aberdeen was not going to disappear overnight, a permanent business. People finding ways to cope with this. His experience of getting round Aberdeen and the North-east for his work, when not using helicopters. Road infrastructure has improved, there wasn't volume of traffic then. Driving through places like Fochabers on way to Inverness, that was dreadful journey in terms of time it took. (Interview interrupted at this point by another visitor at front door)
(SESSION 1 ends at 01:18:58)
SESSION 2.
(0:00:00) Describes the setting up of Cinecosse, his independent film company, in 1977. Approached by Royal Bank of Scotland to make a promotional film. Had to think of his future, as inappropriate to make a programme like that while working for BBC. BBC going through period of political flux, thought it might be time to make a move. Aberdeen a busy place with oil business. Had made contacts over five years, interesting opportunities, business promotion beginning to matter to Aberdeen. Mike decided to set up independently. Made first film for Royal Bank, but interestingly it did not feature much about oil, not major part of their business. Gives his thoughts as to why. Mentions Bill Davidson Senior Business Development Manager with Royal Bank, whom he and his wife Jean knew socially. He heard they were making film for the Royal Bank. Bill gave them a lot of business advice, setting up first NE independent company on the film side. Explains what was involved. Partnership with Jean, Mike and Mike's father.
(0:06:43) Spied an advert in The Listener, (a BBC publication) searching for for production staff for Radio Telefis Eireann in Dublin. Knew the agricultural producer there who was looking for staff for RTE's newly launched second channel with programmes about agriculture and countryside, for a year. Mike thought this might be a liferaft. So went and lived in Dublin for a year, Cinecosse ticking away in background. Ireland interesting, but incredibly frustrating to work in, 22 trades unions. (Another interruption by someone coming to front door resulted in pausing the interview recording at this point) Cinecosse moved back to Aberdeen. Had to promote ourselves. Explains, mentions being first producer of The Beechgrove Garden programme, had to make presentation using pictures and music together. Started making programmes using this system, no one could afford 16mm film, no lightweight video then, so slide-tape presentation became travelling salesman's blessing, could show services they offered using 35mm photography.
(0:11:47) First couple of programmes Cinecosse made were for company called Consolidated Pneumatic, involving air tools, also P&W Offshore, a logistics management company. Explains involvement with oil industry of these sorts of companies. Not easy story to tell with these kinds of companies. Not dealing at that stage with oil companies themselves, who used London-based film companies, or like Shell had their own film unit. Smaller companies Cinecosse was dealing with, saw a need. Cinecosse had no video equipment but a 35mm camera, a darkroom, a couple of TEAC tape recorders, and a Uher portable tape recorder. Staged an exhibition at Holiday Inn at Dyce, showing what they could do, including primitive video equipment. Had a couple of hundred people over three days, which was how they built up first platform of contacts.
(0:18:19) First one that came was BP Petroleum Development. Their PR man Peter Fitch had not long been in Aberdeen, and his assistant Crawford Gordon, talked to them. BP described their need to tell story of what was happening in the North Sea - using a bank of three slide carousel machines, a control system and a sound system. Cinecosse proposal was accepted, it felt like we had won the Pools. Interesting working relationship, BP has enormous resource in its archival library in London. Mike started writing script, telling story of BP in North Sea, and lead up to it. Goes into detail. People said it was a lovely film, but it was all slides. Mike at that time not really computer lkierate, still lived in the world of an electric typerwriter, paste-ups and a photocopier.. One company that came to the exhibition were Ferranti Offshore Computers, selling these enormous mainframe computers called Argus. Explains they wanted to explain to their customers what computing was all about. Mind-blowing two or three months devising scripts explaining mathematics of computers. Hilarious. Got Derek Cooper, the voice of the BBC science programme "Tomorrow's World", describes difficulty of language involved. New word was "digital".
(0:25:24) Cinecosse business grew, explains involvement of Royal Bank, still operating out of Mike's home at Collieston. Still using slide-tape system and not film by the early 1980s, much less costly than film. Explains. Not just doing programming for the oil industry. Then met George Edwards, PR for Conoco, he enjoyed making films. Conoco had competition round schools in Aberdeen, winner to get visit to Murchison platform. The kids were flown from Aberdeen to Sumburgh, then suited up and flown to Murchison, filmed by Cinecosse, one of the first times they had used moving images. Explains. Mike was cameraman.
(0:33:10) At that time they had started learning how to use video cameras, which were fairly primitive and temperamental then, by doing wedding videos. So Murchison trip was filmed using a video camera. Explains technical details. Mike's first opportunity to film a working North Sea platform. Explains in detail the problems he faced, including effects on a video camera of a stack of drill pipes, the magnetic fields causing the picture to rotate in the recorded material. Thinks this was in 1982. He had one other assistant with him to carry and work the video recorder, which was separate from the camera, but connected by cable - difficulties this caused.
(SESSION 2 ends 0:40:19)
SESSION 3.
(0:00:00) Describes working for other oil companies, after the trip to Murchison with the schoolkids in 1982. BP, Total Oil, Britoil, found ourselves being asked to do training programmes, more specifically safety briefing programmes. For people arriving on a new platform. Explains in detail. Interested in showing as well as possible about conditions offshore, to reassure people going offshore for first time. Reasonably comfortable, despite testing conditions outside, friendly place, teamwork. How you ate, slept, kept in touch with world outside. In the 1980s there was not the satellite infrastructure we have now. Lot of platforms relied on bouncing radio signals using tropospheric scatter. If you wanted to make a phone call back to the beach, had to book it. Wanted to keep in touch, but some guys quite glad to be offshore and get away from worries onshore, and see their mates. Very flexible kind of industry. Skilled people in demand. Very cosmopolitan, not all Scots.
(0:07:07) If you went to Total Oil, would expect to find a heavy French contingent. Mike thinks what Cinecosse was doing was a first in terms of the North Sea. Explains what process was involved in making these films. Different companies had different characteristics - some more formal, some more easy-going. But once you got to know them all, it was pretty much the same kind of thing. Total a lovely company to work for, Nigel Abbott was the London PR, sometimes came to Aberdeen. Also mentions Mary Dwyer who worked in Aberdeen, and who he thought was very good at summing up company policy and strategy, which was dictated not from London but Paris. Between them Nigel and Mary, and later Doug Allsopp, so easy to work with them - mentions trips to P84 drilling rig, North Alwyn platform, and MCP01, the big pump-house in the middle of the North Sea. They understood the limitations of the technology Cinecosse were using.
(0:12:59) Total very keen on staff communications, keeping them informed onshore and offshore. Had magazine and video magazine called TomTom- play on Total Oil Marine. Explains how this enabled Cinecosse to get closer to the workforce, rather than a safety briefing. Like an on board diary, proved very successful in terms of company intelligence and information network. Video magazine produced three or four times a year, kept very busy doing elements for this, each programme about 15-20 minutes. When completed programme would be copied on to video cassettes and sent offshore to be viewed on different locations. Back in 1982 Mike had idea of doing a video magazine for the energy industry, took it round to companies like BP, but they didn't bite. May have been before its time. Different now, because communications are so instant. Video cameras then rare, no mobile phones, now everyone has these tools at their disposal.
(0:16:51) Other companies. BP pretty good on the whole. Doug Riach was our main contact, head of safety at the time. Asked them to go to Magnus, Beatrice, Buchan Alpha, Forties - the principal ones. We worked almost entirely in Northern North Sea. Doug became BP's offshore presenter, good in front of camera. But things would come up that would render programmes useless, and would have to be remade - explains. Sometimes companies needed you to jump when something was happening, could make things difficult for Cinecosse, but could not give them that exclusivity. Cinecosse in mid-80s and into 1990s up to a workforce of 10, 3 camera capable shooters, one or two recordists. So 5 people actively out front with equipment, and rest back ashore editing and admin.
(0:21:25) Had to switch mental bandwidths, Mike described coming from offshore and then filming on a farm, or in historic castle for National Trust for Scotland. Also working on electrification of the East Coast main line for British Rail - that involved a lot of filming over 7 years. Mentions project involving BP, linking the Iolair fire-fighting rig and its gangway - gangway made at John Brown's yard at Clydebank, and then taken by barge to Hamburg to be joined to the Iolair. Shell was the stiffest company of the lot. Explains why he thinks this. John Moorhouse was the PR then. Recalls he wanted Cinecosse to record the inauguration of the Tern platform by the Queen Mother. John wanted an outside broadcast. So we made up our own outside broadcast unit, hiring in big screens, material also had to be edited and video cassettes made to send offshore. Tom Fleming doing the commentary live. Also made the odd training programme for Shell at Woodbank in Aberdeen. Shell wanted to record their training programmes. It was 'death by PowerPoint', and they wanted this recorded for video. Cameras locked off while this guy droned on and on. Shell would not accept that there were other ways to train people, this was obviously the Shell way of doing this. Recalls his business partner Graeme Mowat falling asleep when the client from Shell came to view the rough cut. Total opposite of what programming should be all about.
(0:27:58) Interesting approaches by some of the oil companies with the general availability of latest video camera equipment. Shell was one, BP went the same way. When they saw this new technology come along, decided to do it themselves, we don't need professionals. So they bought lovely kit, but they didn't know how to use it, it usually sat in a room or a cupboard unused. They soon realised it took more to do this - the programmes do not make themselves when you switch on the equipment.
(0:29:15) Involvement with Reverend Andrew Wylie, who became first industrial chaplain to the North Sea oil industry. Going back to 1985, not specific oil-related project. Cinecosse making programme for independent school in Switzerland, Andrew was chairman of board of governors. Briefly introduced, he understood we were from Aberdeen, he was then based in Greenock, effectively as the industrial chaplain for the ship-building industry, then going through fairly torrid times. Next encounter together by chance when Cinecosse working at Greenock with IBM, did lot of work with them, particularly over development of the new personal computer range. Suddenly met Andrew Wylie walking down a corridor, who was visiting IBM to see if there was a pastoral need among 1500 employees there. Asked Mike to come and see him, as it looked as though he was going to be moved to Aberdeen. He was the Church of Scotland industrial chaplain, had previously been the minister at St George and St Andrew in Edinburgh, by St Andrew Square. Asked Mike for introductions in Aberdeen. He provided contacts for people in PR like Mary Dwyer, also others in the safety field. Andrew's mission was to go in and sound out the companies, to see if there was a pastoral role, enormous workforce out in the North Sea, who can they talk to? Explains problems people faced, particularly after Piper Alpha disaster. Andrew got on well with John Moorhouse of Shell. Andrew went offshore to Fulmar platform at Christmas, really appreciated by the workforce. Highlights how important the human ingredient is, something Mike thinks in the early days the oil companies never really grasped, the whole psychological approach. Some companies were really good, but Chevron showed Andrew the door.
(0:40:12) Became North Sea industrial chaplain just before the Chinook helicopter ditching at Sumburgh. Mike describes his experiences with Occidental, the company who operated the Piper Alpha platform. Knew of company's charismatic boss, Armand Hammer. No other company had done an emergency exercise where it was filmed for the post mortem on things that went wrong. So the internal emergency exercise was new. Oxy had just recently taken over a new building at the Bridge of Don, wanted to carry out emergency exercise involving Claymore platform, not Piper Alpha - thinks this was about 1982 or 1983. This was new to us as well, discussed with company team a framework for the exercise. Would take 4 or 5 hours, wanted as much as possible recorded as a fly-on-the-wall production. Goes into detail of what was involved. Mike thinks this was imaginative. Started about 6.30 on a Saturday morning. More detail on what happened. Security guy taking first call at the Oxy building has to go through a list of phone numbers trying to get people to respond - no mobile phones in those days. More description.
(0:49:13) Then describes how the exercise starts to collapse, because communications system can't cope. Information they have to hand is woefully inadequate. In the exercise room there is a telephone directory and a Yellow Pages directory, that's all they've got apart from some company handbooks. They ran out of space, people from emergency services in another room, could not communicate with them. So about 10 in the morning a team of builders come in and start demolishing a wall between these two rooms, this is a brand new building. Mike began thinking this is degenerating into total farce. So from what was an innovative idea, suddenly realised these guys have not got themselves sorted out, and if something really does happen they are going to be left wanting. At that time the operators were all running scared of the scenario that happened at Ekofisk (reference to Ekofisk Bravo platform blowout in North Sea in 1977, operated by Phillips Petroleum). Grampian TV's video at the time showed boss of the company involved had flown in and was being crucified by the media, had no answers to give them, improperly briefed. Went on for several days till Red Adair was brought in. Video used in many training sessions.
(0:52:41) The Oxy exercise post mortem was left very private. Does not know if Armand Hammer was involved. Salutary exercise for any oil company, and that was a relatively unsophisticated one. Cinecosse gave the raw footage they had filmed to Oxy, including the guys knocking down walls, did not have to edit it. As time went on Cinecosse did more oil company exercises, and also media training - an area where a lot of them felt very very vulnerable, facing up to the people who take no prisoners on the other side of the lens. Started devising media training programmes, mentions Dick Mutch at Mearns and Gill - that company did a lot of work on this. Media training exercises particularly interesting, we would fly up a couple of guys from London who were well used to that sort of interview technique - mentions Martin Young of "Rough Justice". Cinecosse no longer a cottage industry, have moved twice since being based in Collieston. Moved to Ellon, premises over the Bank of Scotland, across the square had an annex with our studio. Eventually outgrew that, and bought a manse in Ellon which became a big house where we could spread our wings. Meant we could invite companies to come to Cinecosse for media training. Explains what was involved. Reveals how surprise interview with one offshore manager revealed not the alleged alcohol problem in the company he was being asked about, but an actual drugs problem. Training exercises allowed the companies to identify and decide who should represent them in actual media interviews.
(0:59:43) The emergency exercises got more complicated, and Cinecosse also created and produced simulated news inserts. Most complex one was with BP Exploration in London, tied to Aberdeen and Switzerland where there was a fire, with tankers of LPG going off like rockets. Implications for a big multi-national, ties this to what actually happened to BP years later (in 2010) with the Macondo blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. Had to keep in training for this, like a football player or ballet dancer.
(1:02:36) Oil companies got more adept at handling the media, these exercises helped them become more aware of themselves and what they could do. If something has gone wrong, hold up your hands and admit you messed up - draws analogy with then contemporary position of Michael O'Leary (mistakenly calls him O'Reilly) of budget airline Ryanair, re thousands of cancelled flights. Don't try and avoid the truth, they will find you out. They all learned that lesson. So I'm pleased, our job was done. But goes on - new staff need to be trained. (1:05:00) On attitudes to safety, talks about how a lot of operators had got away with things prior to Piper Alpha. But personally never met anyone on a platform who said this is a rusting hulk, or an unsafe place. The people I met were all genuinely concerned about maintaining the highest level of safety. Think everybody had been on a reasonably lucky streak till Piper. Then made everybody think very carefully. Cinecosse had no contact with Occidental at the time of Piper Alpha or afterwards. Only contact Mike had was being woken by all the helicopter activity over Collieston early in the morning after the disaster.
(1:08:03) Speaks about his involvement with Shetland. Recalls his first trip to Shetland in 1973, working for BBC. All single track roads, getting to Lerwick from Sumburgh took an age, still old RAF buildings at Sumburgh Airport. Flew over Shetland later for "The Queen's Realm" and saw Sullom Voe being built. Then flew in with Conoco and the schoolkids when with Cinecosse - new terminal building, but only for oil flights, everyone else still using the old RAF building. Roads had been widened. Admires the deal that Shetland Islands Council and then chief executive Ian Clark got from the oil companies. Oil fund really put Shetland on its feet, still doing them good today. Pays tribute to Shetland character. Oil just one new dimension for them. Did programme for Shetland Islands tourism, then as result Shetland Oil Industries Group asked for a promotional video. Brought us into contact with all the local service companies, that we identified with as smaller companies. Enjoyable experience, fisheries people followed, Shetland salmon people, got so much work up there. While filming at Up Helly Aa he was asked why Cinecosse did not get a place in Shetland - had a point, local hotels outrageously expensive. Bought a small A-frame chalet at Whiteness. Became an accommodation lodge and office, became Shetlanders in a way, plugged into the community. Talks of benefits of this.
(1:16:20) Describes Cinecosse involvement with filming at time of the Braer tanker grounding and oil spill on Shetland in 1993, for Ultramar. Called in to record how things got mopped up. Weather was atrocious. Terrible smell of hydrocarbons everywhere, right up the mainland of Shetland. Describes what experience was like. Sumburgh Airport was really under pressure from the media, who were camped out there - Braer was just across adjacent field. Barry Stevens the airport manager called in Cinecosse and said they needed training quickly. Sumburgh Airport has an upper floor, he had got them up there and set up a huge media office. Satellite trucks. We had to train the Islands' Council as well as the airport people on how to deal with the people who will not take no for an answer. When ship finally sank, media left even though there was still a lot of work to be done. Says Barry was told by an Italian reporter: "No boat, no story - bye bye!" Mike says all those satellite trucks then on way to shootout at Waco in Texas. That's the nature of the world's media. Explains that Cinecosse were filming for Ultramar, because they were the owners of the Braer tanker. It was a compilation job, pulling in library material as well.
(1:23:45) Talks about Rockall Data Systems. Another example of a little Aberdeen company that started and then grew. Marvellous success story. Walter McKinlay used to have the Udny Arms Hotel in Newburgh (near Aberdeen). He decided Aberdeen needed a conference centre. Somewhere nice and residential, Cinecosse put in all the hardware facilities - video links, public address, projection etc. This was at Foveran House. This ran quite successfully. Walter had also started an enterprise based in Dyce, called Rockall. Had seen that oil companies were amassing considerable quantities of data - in paper form, geological samples, well logs and so on. Asked where they were storing this, had brainwave of taking warehouse space in Dyce, fitting it with fire prevention systems etc. Invited companies to store the things they needed to keep. Cinecosse looked at making a programme about this operation for him, during period of making it he opened similar facilities in Cardiff, London and Kent. Describes involvement with film industry storage. This was in the mid-1980s. Cinecosse filmed all this material coming in. Walter eventually sold out, and must now be in his 80s, moved to south of France where he now has successful wine business with his family. Nice little success story for local businessman who started as a hotelier, got on to oil industry and then provided service much needed. A product of its time. Rockall also became a kind of agent for all these well logs and other bits of information about potential oil reserves round the world, so became like a broker - explains. Cinecosse also did work for the Balmoral Group, but it was another colleague who took that on.
(1:31:35) One person who does come to mind in the quite early days of Cinecosse, Mike went to two offshore conferences in Houston and Singapore. Needed to find contacts and business opportunities. Good way of doing that by joining tours, mentions Munro's Tourist Agency and Jack Stewart, for four or five days. In Houston made a very good contact there involved with Petroleum industry training films, which went all round the world, went to Austin for the day to see what kind of programming they were doing. Talks about this. Other person on the team, legendary Ronnie Ferrari of Peterhead. Had marvellous knack of lapsing into the Doric, Americans could not understand what was being said or going on, and then he would come back with the deal - way of buying time.
(1:34:49) Cinecosse worked for Balmoral Group, but Mike was not involved, let colleague do that. Eric recalls colleague when he was working at the BBC in Aberdeen referring to Mike Marshall as the man who was the first to film North Sea oil platforms and make them look beautiful - so what were the challenges from a filming point of view? Had already seen material from others who had gone before him, not the first. There was a great cameraman in Aberdeen called Mike Herd. He did a programme for a BBC2 documentary, he was out in the Brent Field - it was titled something like "Cities in the Sea". It was quite remarkable, in those days it was the early 1970s, we had fairly slow speed colour film, made filming at night difficult, but his shots of platforms at night were absolutely stunning. Mike Marshall always remembers those pictures, so when chance came for him to film installations offshore asked himself how do you approach them? Depends on time of year, lighting you have - and in majority of cases only the light available to you. In early days of film that was challenging, unless you force process the film, but that makes the pictures grainy. Now can film with cameras to astounding effect. There was a beauty about the platforms. Goes into extended detail about the process of filming them. Talks about the marvellous light at times, and an industrial beauty. More detail about looking for the shots, but not letting that get in the way of telling the story.
(1:45:12) Addresses safety requirements he had to meet in order to film and work offshore. Admits that he escaped "The Dunker" - reference to the underwater escape training carried out then by RGIT (Robert Gordon's Institute of Technology, later Robert Gordon University) in Aberdeen. All the other staff had to do it. He filmed it, but not a swimmer so did not appeal to him. One recordist did not have a good time, he could not get his bearings and was swimming in a circle, and they had to go in and get him. Mike quite happy to write the scripts and supervise the editing of the stuff that came back, he had done his time offshore. Physical side of working offshore also a factor, although he did not mind that so much.
(1:49:23) Talks about his involvement with the oil industry in his career - thinks he was a very lucky guy. Knew nothing about the oil industry when he came to Aberdeen, remembers watching films about the industry when he was at school. Looking back Mike feels he has been privileged to work as an observer of the industry as it has grown and waned. Fascinated by directional drilling. Sheer scale of the industry. Saw that technology advance. Mentions Hutton TLP (tension leg platform), and seeing the two enormous vessels that were involved in getting the platform to its location. Compares this with recently seeing Brent platform being piggy-backed away from its location, it's like reliving the tension leg platform almost in reverse. Asks where we would all be without the industry. Quite an amazing story.
(1:53:35) As a coda to the interview, Eric asks Mike about his other claim to fame - creating "The Beechgrove Garden" programme for the BBC in the late1970s - BBC Scotland's iconic gardening programme, which at the time of the interview is still broadcasting, and has nearly reached its 40th anniversary - still with one of the original presenters in the person of Jim McColl. Mike recalls it was coffee time at the BBC Beechgrove studios in Aberdeen in 1977. Mike stared out of his office window at the back lot, comprising a car park, an unused green space and an enormous transmitter mast. He suddenly thought "What could we do with that?" Said to Jean Hodge, who was then his production assistant, but is now his wife Jean Marshall - do you think we could start a garden here? Because he had come from Birmingham, that was the home of "Gardener's World" (BBC network programme series). Mike knew the producer of that series, Barry Edgar. Phoned him for advice. Barry loved outside broadcasts, and would take OB equipment to cover racing and sports events. Occasionally would do Gardener's World from the garden of Percy Thrower (nationally known British gardener and broadcaster at the time - died in 1988). Told Barry he was thinking of doing a Scottish version of Gardener's World, gardening season in Scotland about four weeks behind England, so Gardener's World not really relevant to Scotland. Barry understood, and when Mike told him he needed to look for a presenter, Barry told him that just a fortnight before he had been at Pitmedden Garden near Aberdeen, owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and they had filmed a lovely man there called George Barron, the head gardener - recommended him. Mike got in touch with George, who was a bit bemused, but came to look at the plot at Beechgrove Terrace. Needed someone else as a foil to George, so Jim McColl who had already been doing some broadcasting work came in. He could parley with George, and agree to disagree. BBC Scotland liked the idea, Mike got to do a pilot programme. Had only one colour camera then, so got another one up from Glasgow.
(2:00:06) George started working on the site, does not know how much previous building material there he had to shift, it was a labour of love but he got it done. Simple garden plan, cameras on huge dollies, so had a cross of paving slabs for them to run on, that gave them four chunks of garden. Cameras connected by cables inside BBC in Aberdeen - and what cameras are recording is going on to video tape, but the video machine is in Glasgow. Once recorded Mike had to go on train to spend next day or so in Glasgow editing it all together. It seemed to hit the mark as far as an audience was concerned. Dimension of the two presenters speaking in Scots? Yes and no. Mike says when it came to the programme review board, The Beechgrove Garden occasionally popped up, there were the odd comments about this, but nothing unusual in this. Mike remembers early days of Scotland trying to network its programmes - mentions productions by drama producer Pharic Maclaren which had very strong (Scots) dialogue. Managed to get this accepted for network with the proviso that it was subtitled. Glasgow said no way, Pharic was quite right, it was an insult. That was still the days of Received Pronunciation. Eric points out that those productions were scripted, but the Beechgrove Garden featured more off the cuff comments in Scots Doric. Mike thinks it opened metropolitan Scotland's eyes to the fact that there were different dialects in what is quite a small country. People became aware of this rich variety of language we have.
(2:06:39) Pilot programme was made in the autumn of 1977, so first series of The Beechgrove Garden was in the spring of 1978. Mike thinks there were ten programmes, started by broadcasting the pilot and then brought the story up to date with the second programme bringing the garden out of winter. Mike also refers to the mythical plant behind them, the huge transmission mast, which never appeared in shot. It was a great experience, it was not done on film, it was done semi-live, involved some staff coming up from Glasgow because BBC Aberdeen did not have the human resource then. Mentions people like John Macpherson and David Gloag who went on to continue working on the programme. Mike produced and directed the first series, but by June 1978 he had the move feeling coming on, about to move to Dublin in the autumn. No idea at the time that the programme would be broadcasting almost 40 years later. It's amazing, the fact it has become this institution, when you saw the likes of Scotland the What? (comedy show) taking them off. This is what local broadcasting should be about - always nice to see this sort of programming, which is down to earth and nothing more than that, real people.
(SESSION 3 ends at 02:12:18) |