Thursday 13 October 2016

515 Behind the Scenes with ...


First  viewed :  10  September  1981

This  was  a  ten  part  documentary  series  going  "backstage"  with  various  creative  people. I  only  watched  the  first  episode  because  its  subject  was  Pamela  Stephenson.

It  was  clear  from  the  word  go  that  Pamela  was  preparing  for  a  solo  career  so  the  programme  increased  fears  that  Not  The  Nine  O  Clock  News  was  no  more.  It  also  gave    clues  as  to  why  Pamela  ultimately  failed  to  become  a  top  comedienne  outside  of  the team. For  one  thing  she  was  trying  to  be  too  many  things  at  once , dancer, author, actress  and  singer. For  another,  she  made  some  lousy  choices  when  looking  for  collaborators. As  you  can  see  from  the  picture  she's  throwing  shapes  with  ex-Shock  duo  Tik  and  Tok  who  were  only  headed  for  the  dumper. For  her  musical  debut  she  called  on  Richard  Burgess  and  John  Walters  from  briefly  popular  jazz-rockers,  Landscape,   after  appearing  in  the  video  for  their  second  ( and  last ) hit  "Norman  Bates". The  EP  she  made  with  them,  "Unusual  Treatment",  died  a  horrible  death  when  released  at  the  beginning  of  1982. The  programme  included  her  performing  the track  "Music  Bitch  Weekly".

Of  course  Pamela  bounced  back  in  various  guises  but  the  programme  was  an  interesting  look  at  someone  taking  a  wrong  turn  at  the  height  of  their  fame.

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