Man, You're Kidding!

Perry’s Blog

Man, You’re Kidding!

I once had the joy of working alongside the Production Designer John Anderson on a BBC epic series called Seven Wonders of the Industrial World.

At the time I met him, he had been in the industry very many years and knew the business inside out: but he relayed a story from his early career which had me chuckling for days. John, in one of his earliest assignments, had been a young Art Department Assistant on Dad’s Army. Not long after joining the team he was tasked with an onerous responsibility. One of the scenes in this classic British comedy series required the character Private Pike (played by Ian Lavender) to climb up a flag-pole, only to “slide” back down it and land in a pile of horse manure. John was given the job of sourcing the manure for Pike’s landing. Fresh-faced and new to the business, John duly went off to organise a nice big pile of it.

When it came to the filming of the scene, Ian Lavender slid down the flag-pole on cue, and landed on his posterior in the straw and manure mix that John had created. He stood up, sniffed his hands, and declared: “This is real manure!” John, of course, could not see the problem at all – since he had done exactly what he'd been asked. But he was told that, in TV, real horse poo was unnecessary… and quite possibly a health and safety risk!

The question, I suppose, is: how would YOU have achieved this effect? Answers on an email postcard please!