The project was conceived to raise funds to renovate the village hall in Wootton-by-Woodstock, which was built almost entirely from timber over eighty years ago. Few who have attended the nine talks in our first series would disagree that the evenings have been an engaging mixture of serious insight and comedic observation and we think we are catering for the current thirst for live events in smaller venues. We are confident that our second season, featuring ten talks, will offer equally exciting and stimulating speakers, who will leave an indelible impression on those coming to hear them.
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Gerry Anderson
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Thunderbirds were definitely Go! on the warm summer's evening of July 2nd when a packed hall was treated to a spellbinding talk by Gerry Anderson, the creator of iconic marionette shows, including Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Fireball XL5 and Supercar. It was particularly gratifying that Gerry had agreed to appear in Wootton (his first talk in public for several years) because he had undergone of couple of major back operations in recent months.
Gerry was in conversation with Richard Gregory, a leading puppeteer and animatronics expert, who has worked on several major Hollywood films, including the Batman series and other blockbusters. Richard had brought along a couple of the celebrated marionettes, Virgil and Scott Tracy from Thunderbirds, as well as the vehicles, Thunderbird I and II, which were unveiled to audible gasps as the evening went on.
A hushed and reverential audience of both the middle-aged and children listened to Gerry explain how he became involved with puppets and his remarkable relationship with Lew Grade, the multi-millioniare TV mogul , who ran independent television and gave him the financial backing to make some of the greatest children's television shows of all time. At first, though, Lew drove very hard bargains and insisted that the initial show's budget be cut by a half before being commissioned. After staying up all night, Gerry and his team could only reduce it by a third, but it turned out to be enough for Lew and the show was made - and the rest is history, with the two men working closely on many other landmark projects.
Gerry recounted a series of fascinating anecdotes, such as the American distributor insisting that his shows be cut down from one hour in length to 30 minutes to help them sell in the United States. After the torture of reduction was completed, Gerry was then told that, in fact, buyers had changed their minds and the shows could be transmitted at their original length after all. Colour versions of the puppet shows were initially only shown on television in the US and Gerry recalled how children in the UK were amazed when they saw the shows repeated in colour, having first seen them in black and white - with one little boy rushing to tell his mother, thinking that each frame had been coloured individually.
Clips featuring Thunderbirds and Stingray were shown on the hall's screen and it was significant that their quality had not diminished in the 45 years since first being made, with spontaneous applause breaking out after a wonderful sequence featuring a crash-landing in one of the Thunderbirds episodes. Gerry later revealed how the background music , composed and conducted by Barry Gray, often featuring a 100-piece orchestra, was a fundamental part of the shows, heightening the tension when the action became exciting. |
 The moment that Richard demonstrated the marionettes, pulling strings to make them walk authentically, was greeted with sighs of amused nostalgia and Robin Wheeler, from the Talks Team, did some excellent work in using a camera to transmit the puppet's faces on to the screen, so everybody could see their eyes - which had been such a key part in the development of the marionettes.
One question from the audience is a regular at Gerry's appearances - the origin of the call-sign "F.A.B" in Thunderbirds. Gerry said that he didn't want to use "Roger" during radio-communication becaue the shows were supposed to be futuristic. At the time, in the Sixties, the word "fabulous" was starting to be used everywhere, but it didn't sound right for pilots to be using it - even the word "fab" didn't have an authentic ring for radio-communication and so they settled on "F.A.B", which doesn't stand for anything at all, but sounded professional.
Following the talk, fans who had travelled for miles brought forward a range of items for signing, including Thunderbirds toys, original books and even the posters advertising the talk in Wootton. Gerry - sitting in an armchair because of his back operations - patiently signed everything given to him and both he and Richard said afterwards they had thoroughly enjoyed the evening. They were amazed that they had spoken for over 90 minutes, with the time flying by so quickly.
Proceeds frm the evening were £561, giving a total of £10,576 after nineteen talks.
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 The latest Village Hall Talk by Gerry Anderson was the first I have
attended and I must endorse the evening as a total success. As a
stranger to the village, I received a friendly welcome and any fears I
had were quickly dispelled. Everything was superbly organized from the
wine available on entry to the ample buffet after the proceedings.
Every effort had been made to enhance the talk by supplying two Thunderbirds
original puppets and two original Thunderbirds models.Gerry Anderson
and his friend Richard Gregory were very informative and
collecting autographs and being allowed to photograph the exhibits
completed a very worthwhile evening. I will certainly attend again in
the future. May I convey my sincere thanks to all those involved in
this venture - David Brown, Oxford
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SAM KILEY
 September 17th
Sam is Britain's leading war reporter and has won a string of awards for his coverage of over 30 wars and insurgencies over the past twenty years. Educated at Oxford, he joined the Times in 1987, and since 1990 has worked as a foreign correspondent all over the world, most notably in Africa, where he won acclaim for his coverage of conflicts in the Congo, Somalia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. He has made over 20 films for television, mostly for Channel Four, the BBC and Sky, and he is a frequent contributor to the The Observer, The Times, The Spectator and the Mail on Sunday. His latest book, called Desperate Glory, received glowing reviews and chronicles the six months he spent in Afghanistan with 16th Air Assault Brigade and is a raw and unflinching front-line account of the British military offensive against the Taliban. Sam, who is married with two children, lives in the Suffolk countryside.
If you are interested in attending this talk or would like to reserve a ticket please Contact us |
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JON SNOW
 November 5th 2010
Jon is the much-admired anchor of Channel Four News, which is widely regarded as one of the most trusted and reliable news programmes in the world. He has been the chief presenter for the past 20 years and is renowned for his polite and yet determined interviewing technique, often familiarising himself with complex issues only a short time before going on air.
Jon, the son of a bishop, was educated partly at St Edward's School, in Oxford, and is also a former Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University, where he oversaw many major developments during his much-praised term of office.
Jon has worked for ITN - which produces Channel Four News - since 1976. He served as Washington Correspondent between 1983 and 1986 and was then Diplomatic Editor until 1989 before becoming the main presenter of Channel Four News, where he is also famous sartorially for his wide range of colourful ties and socks.
Jon has won several major Royal Television Society awards during his illustrious career, including two for reports from El Salvador; one for his coverage of the Kegworth air disaster and two for Presenter of the Year.
One of the most memorable on-screen incidents occurred in 2003 when Alastair Campbell - then the Downing Street official spokesman - rushed into the ITN studios at the height of the "Dodgy Dossier Affair" to demand the right to rebut statements put out by the BBC. With no notes or preparation, Jon proceeded to forensically grill Campbell.
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JEREMY PAXMAN
 Moved to 2011
Jeremy is a celebrated broadcaster, journalist and author, who is perhaps best-known for his forthright style of interviewing on the BBC's Newsnight programme. He has also gained strong reputation for being a fair-minded quizmaster on University Challenge, after taking over from the legendary Bamber Gascoigne.
Jeremy joined the BBC in 1972 and began his career on Radio Brighton. He was then posted to Belfast to report on The Troubles before moving to London in 1977. Two years later, he transferred to the Panorama programme, reporting for over five years from many hot-spots, including Beirut, Uganda and Central America. He then read the Six O'clcok News for two years before joining BBC Breakfast Time.
Jeremy has been a presenter on Newsnight since 1989 and has conducted many memorable interviews, including the iconic confrontation in 1997 with Michael Howard, a former Home Secretary, about a meeting with the head of the Prison Service.
Jeremy famously repeated the same question twelve times in succession. Later, in a 20th anniversary edition of Newsnight, Jeremy told Howard that he had simply been trying to prolong the interview because the next scheduled item was not ready for broadcast.
In 2003, former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, opted to make the case for the invasion of Iraq, via questions from a studio audience, with Jeremy mediating. The programme is often remembered for his asking Blair if he and President Bush prayed together. Blair replied, "No, Jeremy. We don't pray together."
Jeremy's individual approach is not restricted to political interviews. When Newsnight's editor decided to broadcast brief weather forecasts instead of financial reports, he openly ridiculed the decision: "And for tonight's weather — it's April, what do you expect?" he said. The financial reports were re-introduced after a few weeks.
In a Radio Times poll of 3,000 people in 2006, he was voted the fourth "scariest" TV personality, but he has a definite gentle side, as witnessed when he traced his family roots on Who Do You Think You Are?. Last February, his well-received four-part series, called The Victorians, exploring their art and culture, was shown on BBC Television.
 For his visit to Wootton, Jeremy will be giving an illustrated talk on Victorian art.
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Local Links
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