The more interesting jobs in 2007

EastEnders Throughout 2007	Again throughout 2007 the majority of my work was on BBC's Eastenders filmed at BBC Elstree. Unlike some past years, my 2007 at Eastenders has been relatively uneventful, it's been other people's turn to work on the major stunts. However it has had some highlights like filming in St Pauls cathedral (to be shown in February 2008) and some less pleasant moments spent filming in prison cells. One of the most memorable days was helping shoot the first one-hander in popular drama (soap to us), shown in late January 2008. The episode featured The amazing June Brown who plays Dot Branning(nee Cotton) making a recording for her sick husband, Jim, lying away in a hospital bed. June's performance was astounding, word perfect each take, real theatre in front of the cameras. The episode got critical acclaim and June richly deserves further acknowledgement of such a fantastic performance.

Channel 4 racing Throughout 2007	2007 saw me working at most of the major horse racing meeting throughout the year for Highflyer productions who provide coverage of horse racing for both Channel 4 and the dedicated subscription channel Racing UK. The first big event of year for National hunt racing is still the spectacular Cheltenham Festival meeting. As in recent years Channel 4's coverage was exemplary, despite the freezing wind we all had to endure to bring the coverage to the punters sitting at home in the warm. Next major event was the Grand National meeting at Aintree. Although the main coverage was carried on BBC TV, Channel 4's early racing programme 'Morning Line' came partially from Aintree and I stayed on to help with Racing UK's coverage of the event. The summer treat was working at Goodwood racecourse, for the 'Glorious Goodwood' meeting, probably the most spectacular and beautiful course in the UK. The last major meeting was the The Open meeting in November. The first two days of the meet were glorious late autumn weather, lulling us into a false sense of well being as the last day's weather was truly appalling.

International Cricket July 2007	One of the nicer calls of the summer invited me to work on an international cricket match. The match was a warm up match for India's test match tour and was against Sussex County cricket club at their ground at Hove. The match didn't attract much attention in the UK, being just a warm up for the Indian team, so on the mid-week play days the crowd was rather sparse to say the least. It's not ofetn you can go to an international sports event and are able to count each individual spectator! Despite the lack of UK interest in the match, full facilities were provided as the estimated audience in India was a staggering 500 million people.

Match of the Day Throughout 2007	My work in 2007 started on a freezing new year's day at Reading football club covering the Premiership. Much as I like working on football coverage, sometimes the weather can take it's toll. This is especially so when stadiums require cameramen to be on their positions well before the match. The photo on the left is taken from a perfect example; Chelsea football club at Stamford Bridge, have several suspended gantries for cameras. For crowd safety reasons the cameramen have to climb into the roof to man their cameras before the fans arrive and then have to pull up the access ladders behind them. There we must remain patiently in the cold until well after the match and the stadium has been cleared. Not always the best job in television those days.

Other recent work Throughout 2007	Whilst it's nice to be able to display some pictures of the programmes I've worked on, it's not always possible. So here a few other programmes I've worked on already this year. The Proms, BBC. See previous years features International football, BBC facilities for Greek TV. Saving Planet Earth, concert at Kew Gardens(left) for BBC.