Congratulations to our “booty-ful” Jean, Veronica and Barbara who fronted the Surrey Harmony edition of BBC 1’s Car Booty. We raised £500 towards our new costume which was unveiled for the first time on the programme modelled by our choreographer Kären who designed it.
Our performance at the World Championships at Las Vegas was seen on a number of occasions and our singing at the car boot sale showed how great barbershop is for performing any time, any place, anywhere – even on a miserable grey damp Sunday morning in Dorking.
It was a wonderful experience and great publicity for both Surrey Harmony and Sweet Adelines. Thanks once again to the Car Booty team.
Here is Barbara’s behind the scenes story.
YOU’VE BEEN FRAMED!! - THE
BACKGROUND STORY!!
Now that the BBC1 Car Booty show has been aired,
I can reveal some of the background story after I
had foolishly agreed to lend a hand in the making of
the programme, not realising, of course, what would
be involved. I’ll also cover a few things that ended
on the cutting room floor…
My first shock!! February -
filming was to start at Veronica’s at...8am!! Since
retiring, I don’t do early mornings!! Filming that
day finished at …7.30pm. Jean, Veronica and I all
grabbed a sandwich as there’d been no time for a
proper lunch – and dashed to Chorus rehearsal,
spending the next three hours (un-enthusiastically
in my case) rehearsing!!
Second
shock!! Ten days later. Having agreed to be involved
with the two lots of specialist items, I had a
second day’s filming, but this time I had food and
drink to sustain me throughout the day! Start
time…8.30am. The first session continued non-stop
until mid-afternoon. The visiting expert, Matthew
Nunn from Apsley Antiques, a pleasant and
knowledgeable young man, selected a number of
interesting items from the medical/surgical
collection and these were arranged on the dining
table ready for filming. He talked in turn about the
various items and demonstrated the uses of many of
the medical instruments, some from the early part of
the 20th Century. A finger saw (for amputations), an
old tonsillectomy instrument and an early massager.
There were a number of different coloured medical
bottles/jars – some from foreign parts and a
selection of glass measures – all quite collectable.
There was a box containing a set of scalpels, and an
optical instrument and a frighteningly large syringe
used during the war by a doctor or surgeon to
relieve a haemothorax. Apparently the arrow-head
motif on the box and syringe indicated that it was
produced for use in that period. A Gladstone bag and
a wooden instrument for measuring the circumference
of a baby’s head completed the array of items. In
addition to these items, there were many other items
of lesser interest for the programme.
At the end of filming, an offer
for all the items featured, along with numerous
others was made, but in consultation with Veronica’s
husband, this was declined as it was felt to be
insufficient for the huge number of items gathered.
Therefore, it seems that although many hours were
spent filming these articles, because it was decided
not to accept the offer, lots of the interesting
descriptions and dialogue were destined for the
cutting-room floor. A real shame.
Once
this part of the day was wrapped up, there was a
quick dash down the motorway to the second expert
who was going to value the Chinese Plates. Filming
here with just two plates took another three and a
half hours!! Michael Cohen and his wife Ewa (rhymes
with never) are “big” in Chinese export porcelain
and have been dealing in antiques for the last 25/30
years. Originally based on the Portobello Road and
dealing modestly in plates, he now deals mostly at
the top end of the market. Two years ago he paid the
world record auction price for a piece of Chinese
export – 2.1 million for a pair of porcelain
leopards – pictured. Two other photos show me with
Michael Cohen and a highly valuable plate in
Michael’s collection.
Michael
was extremely complimentary about Christina’s plates
and commented that had she had a complete dinner
service, it would have been worth in excess of
£40,000. As it was, the plates had some chips and
hairline cracks rendering them of less value, so
taking account of this, it was decided to accept his
offer and Christina made a donation to Surrey
Harmony funds.
A day’s rest for me and then the
day of the Car Boot Sale at Dorking arrived. Jean,
Veronica, Jenny and Judith were asked to arrive
by…6.15am on the Sunday morning and I was requested
to appear around 11am for the closing scenes and
final total to be announced and filmed.
Another morning of filming was
needed for the “conclusion” where Karen revealed the
prototype costume which will have its first full
airing at The Miller Centre show
on Friday, 4th May – a week before we rise to
the challenge of trying for another medal at
National Competition in Birmingham.
Being involved was a fascinating,
if tiring, experience.
It is said that one learns
something new every day and with SURREY HARMONY that
is indeed true – during filming we learned new
jargon – “vox pops”, “cut-aways”, “singles”, “wides”,
and “noddies”. We all had to be extremely patient
and allow the friendly film crew time to get things
just right. As the programme showed, we were filmed
wrapping and unwrapping, placing items and removing
items from various locations, not just once but what
seemed like hundreds of times. And did you notice me
with a …duster…in my hand. I can assure you that’s a
very rare sight and one the family will not let me
forget!!
Second
shock!! Ten days later. Having agreed to be involved
with the two lots of specialist items, I had a
second day’s filming, but this time I had food and
drink to sustain me throughout the day! Start
time…8.30am. The first session continued non-stop
until mid-afternoon. The visiting expert, Matthew
Nunn from Apsley Antiques, a pleasant and
knowledgeable young man, selected a number of
interesting items from the medical/surgical
collection and these were arranged on the dining
table ready for filming. He talked in turn about the
various items and demonstrated the uses of many of
the medical instruments, some from the early part of
the 20th Century. A finger saw (for amputations), an
old tonsillectomy instrument and an early massager.
There were a number of different coloured medical
bottles/jars – some from foreign parts and a
selection of glass measures – all quite collectable.
There was a box containing a set of scalpels, and an
optical instrument and a frighteningly large syringe
used during the war by a doctor or surgeon to
relieve a haemothorax. Apparently the arrow-head
motif on the box and syringe indicated that it was
produced for use in that period. A Gladstone bag and
a wooden instrument for measuring the circumference
of a baby’s head completed the array of items. In
addition to these items, there were many other items
of lesser interest for the programme. 
Once
this part of the day was wrapped up, there was a
quick dash down the motorway to the second expert
who was going to value the Chinese Plates. Filming
here with just two plates took another three and a
half hours!! Michael Cohen and his wife Ewa (rhymes
with never) are “big” in Chinese export porcelain
and have been dealing in antiques for the last 25/30
years. Originally based on the Portobello Road and
dealing modestly in plates, he now deals mostly at
the top end of the market. Two years ago he paid the
world record auction price for a piece of Chinese
export – 2.1 million for a pair of porcelain
leopards – pictured. Two other photos show me with
Michael Cohen and a highly valuable plate in
Michael’s collection. 
Michael
was extremely complimentary about Christina’s plates
and commented that had she had a complete dinner
service, it would have been worth in excess of
£40,000. As it was, the plates had some chips and
hairline cracks rendering them of less value, so
taking account of this, it was decided to accept his
offer and Christina made a donation to Surrey
Harmony funds. 
It is said that one learns
something new every day and with SURREY HARMONY that
is indeed true – during filming we learned new
jargon – “vox pops”, “cut-aways”, “singles”, “wides”,
and “noddies”. We all had to be extremely patient
and allow the friendly film crew time to get things
just right. As the programme showed, we were filmed
wrapping and unwrapping, placing items and removing
items from various locations, not just once but what
seemed like hundreds of times. And did you notice me
with a …duster…in my hand. I can assure you that’s a
very rare sight and one the family will not let me
forget!!