The Big Freeze

Boxing Day evening 1962

The Christmas Number One at the top of the hit parade was Return to Sender by Elvis Presley

All around the country, families were settling down after a busy two days of eating, drinking and making merry.

Small screen entertainment on the tv that evening included a hilarious variety show from the London Palladium featuring Bruce Forsyth and Norman Wisdom and the BBCs big Boxing Day movie was Moulin Rouge starring Jose Ferrer and Zsa Zsa Gabor

And then, it began to snow. A day late and tantalisingly close to giving the country a proper White Christmas, but snow nevertheless. The temperature dropped…..and it continued to snow.

And it snowed and snowed, and it got colder. And it snowed and it snowed some more

And that was how it would be for the next one hundred days or so as Britain was plunged into an icy wilderness that would last until the following March.

Industry ground to halt as businesses and schools were forced to close. There was widespread panic as ambulances and fire crews were unable to respond to emergencies. Essential supplies and medication failed to get through to hospitals and over half the natural wildlife population died in the freezing temperatures, unable to forage to food.

Nothing could be done to stop the bitter temperatures and the relentless snowfall

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of The Big Freeze

 

 

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This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

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Scott

WE’RE BACK!!

Our first episode in two years is finally with you – and it’s a cracker. Join Scott as he tells the story of the making of the movie Zulu.

RAINBOW VALLEY – THE MAKING OF ZULU Rainbow Valley is a monthly podcast where your host, Scott takes a look at key events and personalities that shaped one the most influential, vibrant, tumultuous and swinging decades in history. Join us as we celebrate the 1960’s with the stories surrounding the music and news events of the decade that shook the world.

22nd January 1879, Rorkes Drift, Natal, South Africa. A remote mission station, the setting for one of the most famous, battles in British history.

But until 1964 and the release of the movie Zulu, the story of the events of those ten hours were not particularly familiar to the British public.

In reality, 100 British soldiers defended a series of attacks by approximately 4000 Zulu warriors. By the end of the battle, which lasted from late afternoon until dawn the following morning, 15 soldiers were dead, two mortally wounded and surrounding them, the bodies of some 350 Zulus

Possibly one of the most celebrated and documented battles in British history you might think. But you would be wrong, for if it were not for the release of the movie 85 years later, it’s likely it would have remained a mere postscript in the annals of military conflict.

The story of the making of Zulu begins with a magazine article written in 1958 and takes us on a journey that will change the lives of many people along the way. People such as director, Cy Endfield, producer and actor Stanley Baker, Zulu tribal leader, Chief Buthelezi and a certain young actor from south London called Michael Caine.

A movie that remained on cinema screens almost constantly for 12 years before becoming one of the most regarded and best loved British movies of all time, the story of its creation is almost worthy of a movie in its own right.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the making of Zulu.

 

You can find all our previous episodes everywhere you download your podcasts.

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Scott

@scophi

 

NEXT TIME – THE BIG FREEZE OF 1963

1964...and the world was still reeling from the assassination of John F Kennedy. Racial tensions continued in the southern states of the USA and tension was rising elsewhere as the conflict in Vietnam escalated.

But it was also the year of the Tokyo Olympics, The Blue Streak, Donald Campbell and Radio Caroline.

There was music from not only the Fab Four, but Dusty, Manfred Mann and the Beach Boys.

And on TV, we saw a surge in the poularity of Steptoe and The Avengers and a phenomenon known as Dalekmania.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the Hits and Headlines of 1964.

 

You can find us on Player FM

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A Stinking Pause production.

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Scott

The return of Rainbow Valley – the podcast that tells the stories about the swinging decade.

Episode 023  The Theft Of The Duke Of Wellington

Dr No, the first big screen outing for Ian Fleming’s James Bond. Its 1962, and the movie would start to lay out a successful formula for most of the other movies that would follow in the series.

Of course when we speak about  Dr No, most of us will remember Bonds introduction at the casino, Ursula Andress as Honey Ryder emerging from the sea in ‘that’ bikini or the scene where the spider crawls up Sean Connery’s arm. But what about this scene….and in particular, one specific moment.

James Bond and Honey Ryder have just met the evil Dr No in his underground lair. Before crushing an ornament with his metal hand and telling the pair of  SPECTRE’s dastardly plan to hold the world to ransom, they are led away. As they walk up a small set of steps, Bond stops, noticing an oil painting on an easel to his right ….

The painting was a portrait of Arthur Wellesly the first Duke of Wellington, painted by Francisco de Goya - and only several months before the release of Dr No it had been hanging on display in London’s National Gallery. When it was stolen however, one early August morning, it made national and international headlines. The story would develop with an unlikely villain, who like Dr No, would hold the British government to ransom. A story that would span many decades and involve a high profile court case, the introduction of a new criminal offence, and, of all things….the British tv license!

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the theft of the Duke of Wellington.

You can find us on Player FM

 

…and anywhere you download your podcasts

 

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Or send us your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

 

#Podpals

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This has been a Stinking Pause production.

Thanks for listening

Scott

The return of Rainbow Valley – the podcast that tells the stories about the swinging decade.

Episode 022 - Tammi Terrell

Join us as we tell the story of one of Motown's greatest stars. The story of a life cut tragically short, but thankfully a life that brought us one of the greatest soul singers of all time. 

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of Tammi Terrell.

You can find us on Player FM

 

…and anywhere you download your podcasts

 

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast

 

Join our Facebook group

 

Or send us your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

 

#Podpals

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This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

Thanks for listening

Scott

The return of Rainbow Valley – the podcast that tells the stories about the swinging decade.

Episode 021 – The Zapruder Film.

 

Season three opens with the story of a sequence of film that runs for approximately 22 seconds.

 

A piece of 8mm film that is only 25 feet in length and yet is possibly the most watched piece of celluloid in history….and certainly the most famous home movie ever.

 

For within that 22 seconds, Dallas dress manufacturer, Abraham Zapruder managed to capture the death of the most powerful man on the planet on November 22nd 1963.

 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of The Zapruder Film

 

 

This and other episodes are available on our website  rainbowvalley.libsyn.com

You can also find us on Player FM

Sticher

Spreaker

I Heart Radio

…and anywhere you download your podcasts

 

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast

 

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This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

Thanks for listening

Scott

Episode 020 of the Rainbow Valley podcast – telling the stories that made the swinging decade.

Emil Savundra, for a brief period in the late sixties, was probably the most reviled man in the UK. A Sri Lankan swindler, the collapse of his Fire, Auto and Marine Insurance Company left about 400,000 motorists in the United Kingdom without coverage.

As a post-war black marketeer, Savundra committed bribery and fraud on an international scale before settling in the UK to sell low-cost insurance in the fast-growing automotive market. By defaulting on mandatory securities, he funded a lavish lifestyle and travelled in fashionable circles.

This attracted the attention of the press, who uncovered evidence of major fraud. In a TV interview with David Frost, Savundra demonstrated contempt for his defrauded customers (some of whom were in the studio audience) and denied any moral responsibility.

That particular tv show witnessed the birth of trial by television and is a fascinating piece of broadcasting history.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of David Frost, Emil Savundra, and the trial by television.

 

 

 

This and other episodes are available on our website  rainbowvalley.libsyn.com

 

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast

Join our Facebook group

Or send us your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

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This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

Thanks for listening

Scott

http://rainbowvalley.libsyn.com/podcast

Episode 019 of The Rainbow Valley podcast – telling the stories that made the swinging decade.

 

Join me as I tell the story of one of the finest singers Britain has ever produced.

 

A true icon in the world of popular music, and one of the defining voices of the 1960s.

 

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of Dusty Springfield.

 

 

 

This and other episodes are available on our website  rainbowvalley.libsyn.com

 

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast

Join our Facebook group

Or send us your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

#Podpals

#podernfamily

 

This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

Thanks for listening

Scott

http://rainbowvalley.libsyn.com/podcast

Episode 018 of The Rainbow Valley podcast – telling the stories that made the swinging decade.

Join me as I tell the story of the movie that nearly brought 20th Century Fox crashing to the ground.

The longest and most expensive movie ever made at the time.

The movie that nearly killed it’s leading lady, Elizabeth Taylor.

The movie that sparked one of the greatest romances of the twentieth century.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the making of Cleopatra (1963)

 

This and other episodes are available on our website  rainbowvalley.libsyn.com

 

You can follow the podcast on Twitter @rv_podcast

Join our Facebook group

Or send us your thoughts and feedback to [email protected]

#Podpals

#podernfamily

 

This has been a Stinking Pause production.

 

Thanks for listening

Scott

http://rainbowvalley.libsyn.com/podcast

1963 - a massive year in terms of news events. 

 

A year that would see an increase in tensions in America as the battle for racial equality raged on. It would be the year in which a scandal in the UK involving call girls, Russian spies and MPs , would eventually bring down the government.  The Beatles would begin their dominance of the UK chart signalling the beginning of the British invasion, the Russians would make history as the first woman blasts off into space and Martin Luther King would declare to the world that he had a dream.  Along with the Great Train Robbery, the beginning of what would become known as the Moors Murders, the death of the Pope, and the assassination of the US president it truly was one of the most remarkable twelve months in the swinging decade.

Ladies and gentlemen, Rainbow Valley is proud to present the story of the hits and headlines from 1963.