behp0348-ann-turner-summary

SIDE ONE

Born 1927. Father a GP in Berkshire. Went to High School for Girls, Guildford, got her ‘Higher Schools’ [certificate: exam] but no place in ‘Oxbridge’; went to St Andrews where she got an MA (Hons) in English and History. Worked for a time with Mrs Langley Moore, (Costume Museum lady) [She helped found the Costume Museum, Bath. DS]. Tried for a BBC job, taken on as a trainee, provided she brush up her typing. She talks about her days working on Picture Page, then working with Richard Dimbleby on Around Britain and other programmes. She went off sick with TB and on return worked with John Read on Black on White, then on Read’s second Henry Moore film, as well as two films on Stanley Spencer [Stanley Spencer, Cookham Village DS]. She then talks in some detail about working on the Monitor programme.

SIDE TWO

More about Monitor. Then some detail on the preparation and filming of Civilisation – Kenneth Clark’s epic series. She talks about America: a personal history of the United States (Alistair Cook). In 1964 she is at last made a Production Assistant. In that year Donald Baverstock killed off Monitor, but she went to work on Pictures Without Frontiers. In 1967 she is made an Assistant Producer. She then goes on to talk about the planning of Civilisation in some detail.

SIDE THREE

Civilisation continued. Then about Alistair Cooke and the America series. She then talks about her programme on Inigo Jones (1973) then about her series on Pioneers of Photography. She then moves on to talk about the Royal Heritage series and the film she made [Victorian Memory. DS] about the Life of Princess Alice (aged 93, Countess of Athlone, grand-daughter of Queen Victoria). In 1978 she went to the [United] States to make a film about The Library of Congress and a series of ‘art films’.

SIDE FOUR

She talks about the difficulties of being separated from one’s base. Then about the preparation of the series on Scarlatti [Domenico Scarlatti DS] which were transmitted in 1985. She then goes on to talk about her programme on [John James] Audubon, [The Million Pound Bird Book DS] who was a pioneer in illustrating natural history. She then talks about her last film, on Donatello, which was transmitted in 1986. Finally, she talks about working for the BBC.

[END]