Mystery Solved

The gentleman who sent the photo is Dave Hounsell who worked as a member of the production crew at the Chelsea Palace in those years. He emailed me to introduce himself and went on to say "I sent you a cropped version of the photo but it is interesting as not only are Geoffery and Bill Podmore there, Tony Yarlett who ended up in LA as a chief cameraman on several US comedy series, and Clive Winter who is still working in the industry as a sound man and whose latest movie is Charlotte Gray are also in the full picture. As are also Alfie Bass and the cast of that very funny show...40 years ago I and many others drank with Geoffery in the pub on the corner of Sydney and Britten Streets just up from the old Chelsea Palace, (now long gone), on Friday nights after the Army Game."

I asked, of course, for the uncropped photo, which you can see enlarged by clicking on the photo above left.

Dave immediately sent another message:

Here's the uncropped photo. There's quite a few people in the photo who went on to other things, as I said. Bill Podmore, the Coronation Street producer is the guy behind the camera. Standing behind Geoff the slightly beefy guy in the light grey suit is Peter Eton of Goon Show production fame. The thin guy with glasses standing photo left of the guys kneeling is Max Morgan Witts who went on to a successful writing career, Clive Winter who has had a very successful career in movies (Charlotte Grey, The Killing Fields among many others)as a sound man is the guy standing on the sound boom. As well of course the actors, Mario Fabrizi, Alfie Bass, Ann ?, Bill Fraser, Harry Fowler, the other two I can't remember. I thought Tony Yarlett (cameraman on Dave's World, Charles in Charge) was there. He was a crew member, but maybe not that day. I had thought I might offer copies to Granada TV archives if such a thing exists as they are a record of some value of a great time in the TV industry, and I'd hate after my time for them just to be destroyed as happens to many such things.

Thanks very much to you Dave for the picture and
background which, I'm sure we all find interesting.

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