posted February 11, 2005 12:07 PM               

I look forward to hearing from you.

posted February 16, 2005 09:22 AM               

Thanks again,

posted February 28, 2005 05:42 PM               

quote:

---

I will be out of the office filming on Monday 28th of Feb and Tuesday 1st of March.

---

posted March 01, 2005 10:56 AM            

Included - as far as I know - are Dr who Dalek's and Star Wars type models amongst many other non-space/non-sci fi objects.

posted March 01, 2005 02:57 PM            

No space-related items shown but did show early Bkko house (a model building kit of about 1950) , Wedgwood pottery (of course it was on their premises !) and other mainly pottery and ceramic items.

posted March 08, 2005 12:09 PM               

I have now found a collector who is willing to travel to the Roadshow we are filming at Goonhilly in Cornwall on the 15th of March.

The space item will be a part of a much wider show covering all C20 items it will not soley focus on space. Therefore, we will not need another collector for this programme.

Thank you for your interest and I am just sorry we can't feature all of your wonderful collections.

We do not have a transmission date for this programme at the moment I am afraid.

posted March 09, 2005 09:07 AM               

The program makers have asked me to bring along some spacesuit gloves and helmets to the show. As the researcher who rang me said 'They'll appeal more to girls than rocket parts'.

I hope they don't turn out to be too appealing; I'm taking my wife down to the filming and I'll have some explaining to do if I'm at the centre of a crowd of hundreds of space crazed women who want to touch my spacesuit parts.

Cheers,
Matt

posted March 09, 2005 10:56 AM            

I am earmarked for the second series where my space collection will be the 'feature' item.

Matt:

It is good fun though very tedious. I did Channel 4 Collectors Lot several years ago with my collection and it took 3 hours videoing for a 7 minute slot !

posted March 09, 2005 04:36 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by spaceuk:
I was approached by BBC but because the film slot for the Goonhilly piece is a "valuation" of a space item it is only a minute or so slot aparently.

---

That's not what I understood from my conversation with Rebecca. She seemed to want to discuss and place items in a historical context. Valuation seemed secondary. I offered my Apollo 13 CM Rescue decal - provided they had good insurance!

posted March 10, 2005 08:26 AM            

Sounds like broadcasting folk :-))

posted March 10, 2005 02:15 PM               

Regards,

Rick.

PS. Congratulations Matt on your planned appearance with all those crazed space groupies. I'll bet they'll be throwing all kinds of lingerie in your direction in true Tom Jones fashion. I just hope to goodness they are clean............

posted March 12, 2005 06:04 PM               

I just laid all my spacesuit stuff out on a table to practice talking about it with my wife Rachel – didn’t go well. Before I even got started we both had to suppress involuntary yells of terror when looking at the assembled collection.

I hadn't realized how many suit gloves I’d picked up over the last few years; the table looked like something Hannibal Lecter had arranged from left over body parts. A small sea of menacing arms waving at me from my dining room table isn't something I'm going to forget in a hurry.

Anyway, with about half the gloves removed things look slightly less disturbing, and I've run through some reasonably coherent explanations of what the stuff is, so I'm off to bed.

Off on holiday in the morning so I won't be online again until after the filming. Wish me luck

Cheers,
Matt

posted March 13, 2005 04:37 AM               

Bon voyage....!

Regards,

posted March 18, 2005 05:58 PM               

A very enjoyable if slightly frazzling day. We drove through Cornwall's beautiful countryside along various dirt tracks and footpaths masquerading as roads until the sight of a huge satellite dish told us we'd reached Goonhilly. At the same moment the sound of a small boy demolishing the child seat with his teeth told Rachel and I that Adam had reached the end of his patience with being strapped in, so we got out of the car and called Rebecca Whyte on her mobile.

Rebecca met us at the door and took us upstairs to a quiet area away from the bustle of the main visitors hall. Cups of tea and coffee were offered with spectacular frequency and we soon got settled in. Down below the star collector of the show was setting up his Doctor Who memorabilia with help from the crew. I won't give away too much, but suffice to say the BBC could probably film a new series just using the stuff this guy had.

I met the presenter who was going to be interviewing me, Michael Can't-Remember-His-Surname, who was sporting a Dali moustache and Frank Zappa hair-do. A very easy guy to get along with, we began by chatting about the best angle to discuss the items from. He wanted to start off by talking about Kennedy's moon speech, so I suggested that we could tie that in to Alan Shepard's gloves representing the start of the space race and Harrison Schmitt's the end. Within fifteen minutes he seemed confident that we were ready so it was over to the filming table.

Suddenly things sped up; it was time to lay the gear out, quickly, picking the best bits in terms of visual appeal and historical importance. A few dabs of make-up, a radio mic up my t-shirt, the cameramen closed in and then - we hung about for 10 mins...

I'd been feeling completely calm up to that point, but as the lights glared down and I sat alone behind a table covered in rubber hands and lumps of 40 year old food I felt disagreeably nervous. Images of myself stuttering and gibbering in front of an audience of obsessive Cornish hoarders and a quietly appalled TV crew filled my head. Not good.

As it turned out the filming was a breeze, although my momentary lapse of confidence meant that my hands were gently shaking whenever I picked anything up. We talked our way around the items on the table for quarter of an hour; then the director asked if we were happy with the take. Being perfectionist types we of course said 'no' and did the whole thing again. Then the camera guys filmed everything in close-up and we were finished.

The most interesting part of the experience was remembering what ordinary humans (rather than obsessive space collectors like us) find interesting. The space food was maybe scoring 6 out of 10 on the 'interesting-ometer' until I mentioned that the velcro allowed you to stick it on the wall or ceiling while you did a task. Instantly people remembered that we were talking about floating about in space and were much more engaged, smiling and even nudging each other in a 'Ooh, Hilda, did you hear that?' kind of a way. A useful lesson when inflicting our collections on normal people.

There were no valuations as such. I gave some past prices for a few of the suit parts, including mentioning the wildly inflated Christies auction. We filmed about 30 minutes of footage, of which I guess about 2 or 3 mins will make the show. If it makes the show at all of course. The guy they were filming next had some pretty interesting looking telephones...

Before we headed back we redeemed our lunch tokens at the catering lorry and got some much needed red Thai curry followed by apple crumble and custard. All eaten in the comfort of the backstage catering bus. Excellent. Then it was back into the car for the three hour journey back to our holiday in Devon.

All in all an unusual and enjoyable day. Rebecca, Michael and all the crew were helpful, friendly and obviously very professional. It made a nice change from my usual routine of sitting in a studio making music at punishingly loud volume all day, and best of all it gave me a chance to talk about something I really enjoy. Maybe it might even bring one or two new faces into the hobby.

And in case you were wondering - no, I didn't get to speak to Alan Titchmarsh, but my wife stalked him discretely at a distance.

Apparently he looks younger but shorter in real life.

Cheers,
Matt

posted March 19, 2005 03:35 AM               

how much for your autograph? <LOL>
Look forward to the screening.

posted March 19, 2005 10:14 AM               

LOL... :) Thanks Matt. It is a challenge talking to normal people about our collections isn't it?

And, we do have to be careful not to inflict "them" with all the nuances of our obsession.

posted May 24, 2005 05:05 AM               

All I know at this point is that the Goonhilly show is being broadcast that evening, so I've no idea whether I'm in it for 5 minutes, 1 minute or even no minutes. I'll be watching it live for the first time as it airs, savouring that special excruciating embarrassment that comes from seeing what you actually look like on TV.

Remember the camera adds ten pounds.

And maybe an extra chin or two...

Cheers,
Matt

posted June 05, 2005 04:33 AM               

Regards,

posted June 05, 2005 01:52 PM               

Do you think they will swop shirts at the end of the football.....? I'm off to catch the end of the match.

Regards,

posted June 05, 2005 04:57 PM               

Dad that we didn't get to see some of Matt's collection on TV and that the hobby missed out on some great promotion.

Good that Matt wasn't forced to see what he looks like on TV and that Rick's family wasn't subjected to flying "trolleys" !

posted June 06, 2005 07:26 AM            

I've done several tv video pieces with different companies here in Uk. My average 'play rate' of interviews done has been about 75% over the past 10 years with companies like ITV,BBC1-and -2,Ch4

What is annoying is you trundle your gear to the studios, they make a 'fuss' and their "oohs and aah" about handling 'historic space kit ' and then do their videoing. Then their fateful phrase - ' We can't promise it will be played,of course'.

As soon as videoing over (usually less than about 15 minutes ) you are 'left' on your own to pack up and manhandle heavy gear through their buildings and back to the car - which in some UK cities can be hundreds of yards - even miles - from the studio as most are in city centres and no onstreet parking! So Mr Parker - we've got to go to next piece - "Have a Nice Day" ,goodbye !

Yeah,right!

So you struggle back to car with kit and drive many dozens of miles back home - arrive in the dark and have to unload.

So you wait and wait for the appointed newscast or programme time and it doesn't get played. What a waste of your day! But, of course, for the tv company you and your family and friends have been tuned in to see your item - so the viewing figures rise!

Sometimes I get impression that its the DJ or interviewer who wants to get to see and handle the piece of kit and really really is not interested in whether the 'news item' or 'program item' goes out or not?

The better radio/tv interviews are the ones done'live'. That way more or less 'guaranteed' to get aired.

My space collection was on a similar programme to BBC C20 Roadshow called "Collectors Lot" aired on national Channel 4 some years ago (1997 I think?) and has been replayed twice to my knowledge since then on that TV Channel.

My other tv plays have been for Apollo , Space Colonies,Skylab, Viking , early Shuttle launches, Apollo 25 years and Apollo 30 years events , Cassini to Saturn (launch and arrival)and The Millennium Space Rock which were aired on ATV,Granada TV,Central TV,Grampian TV and several other BBC regional TV stations and Channel 4 TV.

I've done many many radio spots over the years national BBC Radio,many regional BBC stations (Edinburgh, London, Birmingham, Humberside, Manchester, Liverpool, Stoke, Oxford ,etc) and many regional commercial stations (eg BRMB and so on). I've done a couple or so euro tv/radio stations and numerous newspaper UK and euro magazine interviews as well but that's another story!

So all is not 'lost' - there will be other 'opportunities'.

But, it is getting harder to get items aired - especially during this era of 'reality shows' where Tom,Dick or Harry losing their swimshorts in the reality show house 'duck pond' will make national news whereas an historic landing on Mars will be lucky if it makes it to the teletext pages let alone radio or tv news !

But, if you have a UFO or Hoax story you'll be gauranteed an air play - the dafter and nuttier it is the better they like it!

Phill
UK

Phill
UK

posted June 13, 2005 05:48 PM               

Ingredients - One BBC television programme. One egg. One face.

1. Get invited to take part in BBC television programme
2. Get filmed for BBC television programme.
3. Tell dozens of your family and friends that you'll be on TV! Tell hundreds of your fellow space fiends that you'll be on TV!
4. Get cut from BBC television programme.
5. Put egg on face.

I'm already becoming familiar with a certain sympathetic/horrified look on friend's faces as they ask "Surely you weren't more boring than that woman with the coffee cups?"
"No!" I cry. "The director decided that there was too much pre-arranged stuff in the show already, what with that Dr. Who madman and their own experts blathering on about phones and dresses, so they decided to drop me in favour of people who'd turned up on the day looking unrehearsed and gormless with 350 Star Wars figures in a carrier bag!"
"Oh right" they say, but their eyes tell a different story; 'You were more boring than the coffee cup woman, weren't you!'

Oh well. I look forward to spending the rest of my life explaining to distant cousins at weddings, christenings and funerals why I wasn't on the program.

Still, it was a damn fine Thai curry that day

Cheers,
Matt

posted June 13, 2005 06:27 PM               

Regards,

posted June 14, 2005 02:59 AM               

I think the problem with this sort of thing is that you have to have an opinion from their 'expert' whom for the purposes of television you have to appear (at least) to be less knowledgeable than. They want to see your stuff and ask you a little about it but the 'expert' has to be the pivotal figure.

With space stuff it's so specialist, they wouldn't, I guess, have anyone to hand who would even know what the stuff is, let alone comment upon it and give a valuation.

Now if Neil Armstrong had worn a Vivienne Westwood vest, or the Apollo 11 food locker HAD been an old painted fridge, then we're talking!