Gallery 2

Picture Gallery - Part 2

1960 - 1965
BBC Puppet Theatre at the new
Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush

When the BBC?s new Television Centre opened in London in June 1960, just 0.75 km from the old studios, it had one of the best-equipped puppet theatres in the world. This was where the later ?Rubovia? films and other puppet stories were made for children?s television. Each play lasted about 20 minutes, and took anywhere from six to eight weeks to complete. Practically everything in the theatre was miniature, about one-third full size. Tables, chairs, pianos, trees, doors, and all manner of other things were all constructed on the spot. Stage sets were made of a featherweight plastic foam sheeting which, when suitably treated, could be made to look like wood, brick, stone, or plaster. Trees were made of corrugated cardboard covered with plaster, and then painted to look like the real thing. The puppets were marionettes, operated from an overhead steel ?bridge? using a control of Gordon Murray's own design (see Puppets section). Foam latex rubber, plastic, wood, glue, wire, lead and various textiles were used to make the two-foot high puppet characters.

(click for larger image 151K)	The King and Queen of Rubovia as never seen on the front cover of the Christmas 1962 edition of Ariel, the BBC's house magazine! The actual Ariel cover, shown at right, has the following caption: The King and Queen of Rubovia busy decorating their tree in the Puppet Theatre, Television Centre. Point of Interest: This issue of Ariel also has a short article written by Gordon Murray (see Printed Media section).

(click for larger image 105K)	All is set to film a scene from the "Rubovian Legends" play, Bees and Bellows, at the BBC?s puppet theatre in the new Television Centre, early 1962. Gordon Murray is positioning the clapper board for a ?take.? The puppeteers (L to R) are: Bob Bura (Pongo), Audrey Atterbury (Weatherspoon) and John Hardwick (the Lord Chamberlain). The dialogue was pre-recorded in a sound studio, and the tape played back during filming, with the puppeteers pulling strings to make the necessary gestures and mouth movements in synch with the sound. Sound effects and music were added later. Points of Interest: If you look carefully at the bottom edge of the picture, you can see the top of puss's head. Another photograph taken from a different angle shows that the queen is actually not appearing in this scene, but is instead hanging from her control, out of view of the film camera, two feet up above the stage! Notice that her control is hanging on a hook, higher up than the controls in the puppeteers' hands. This picture originally appeared in the article, The Tiny World of Puppets, Look and Learn magazine #38, 6th October 1962. Photograph by Rosemary Mathews. Look and Learn was published by Fleetway Publications Ltd.

(click for larger image 140K)	A scene from the "Rubovian Legends" play, Bees and Bellows, first transmitted 2nd October, 1962. Seen here as it was never shown on television?in glorious colour. Mr. Weatherspoon works on his newly invented steam-driven vacuum cleaner, watched by Pongo the Queen?s baby dragon, and Rubina his cat ('puss'). Point of Interest: Careful examination of a hi-resolution scan of this picture revealed a faint image of Weatherspoon's cat 'puss' sitting beside Pongo. For reasons unknown, perhaps due to damage on the original print, puss was partially retouched out. Puss's image has been partially restored here to gain a better idea of what the picture might have looked like. This picture originally appeared in the article, The Tiny World of Puppets, Look and Learn magazine #38, 6th October 1962. Photograph by Rosemary Mathews. Look and Learn was published by Fleetway Publications Ltd.

(click for larger image 49K)	A publicity still from Spray Fever, first transmitted 9th August, 1960, and the first "Rubovian Legends" play to be produced in the new BBC Puppet Theatre, at the new Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush, West London. Mr. Weatherspoon is showing Rubina how his magic scent sprayer works. Point of Interest: The four-inch tall perfume bottle in this scene appears to be in the shape of a mustached soldier wearing a tall shiny helmet and breastplate armour, perhaps modelled after that worn by 'Sir' Albert Weatherspoon in his defence of the Kingdom in A Knight for a Day.

(click for larger image 45K)	A publicity still from The Troublesome Double, first transmitted 3rd December, 1963. Although very little is known about this episode, this picture seems to show both Mr. Weatherspoon (sitting on the floor) and 'puss' being quite taken aback by the sudden emergence of Weatherspoon's mirror-image "double" from a mirror in the front room of Rubovia Castle. Predictably, the "double" who is the product of some more of Mr. Weatherspoon's wayward (but ultimately harmless) magic, turns out to be trouble.

	These photographs originally appeared in Girl (companion to Eagle, Swift and Robin; every Wednesday 5d), 17th March 1962 (Vol. 11, No. 11), page 6, in an article entitled, "A Peep at Rubovia". A full transcript of the article appears in the Printed Media section of the website. (click for larger image 185K)

(click for larger image 62K)	Publicity still, episode unknown. Possibly Bees and Bellows, first transmitted 2nd October 1962. L-to-R: Pongo the Queen's baby Chinese dragon, King Rufus of Rubovia, and Queen Caroline of Rubovia. Front room, Rubovia Castle. Published in The Age of the Puppet by Sylvia Haymon, The Guardian, Women's Page (page 9), February 16, 1962.

(click for larger image 74K)	A publicity still from Gala Performance, first transmitted 6th November, 1962. Mr. Weatherspoon and his cat Rubina search the palace basement for fireworks.

A scene from Gala Performance, first transmitted 6th November, 1962. Mr. Weatherspoon & an assistant (Prince Rupert?) are lighting fireworks for the assembled guests. This photograph originally appeared in Television Puppet Theatre, the Aug 1963 issue of the London Calling, the BBC's Overseas Journal.