Colin Pierpoint

Colin Pierpoint. ex BBC Communications Engineer and later Lecturer at the Engineering Training Department (which has since had several other titles). I trained many of the BBC's Studio Managers, camaramen & camerawomen, Audio Assistants and Technical Operators from 1980 until 1993 (also 1970 and 1975 on attachment.

I heard the HHG on Radio 4 at the original first broadcast. I was lying in the bath while listening to episode 1 on my sound system wired around the house to every room (don't worry! the bathroom pushbutton control was fed through an optical isolator; my Au Pair girl at the time used to love it. Also see note at end). At work, then at BBC Pebble Mill, I told my colleagues about the series, especially "mind those pieces of Whale meat". None of them had heard of it at the time.

Then, later in my career, I noticed that one of my student began carrying round a bag with the Vogon poem writted on it (in full). Another had a towel with some HHG reference on it. By that time the television series had been broadcast and it was more well known.

In my position as a lecturer I was able to go and talk to people who had made the television episodes. There were two groups: Ealing film studios (since gone) did the exterior shots, and the studio work was done at Televiion Centre. It involved an interesting mix of Colour Seperation Overlay (CSO) for the vision effects which was part on film and part electronic. As far as I know this had never been done before; I think the CSO blue screen was on the film print.

I have tried to publish a theory on Cosmology - and failed. However, the peer review system is not user-friendly to alternative theories. One referee said that I had to prove the current theory wrong before they would publish mine! This is completely the opposite of Scientific Method, where any theory is considered, in parallel with others, until it it proved to be wrong itself.

If the white mice were looking for the question to the answer, we could all be doing that of necessity anyway. It seems to me that you cannot decide what to do next in your life until you know why we are here. So I spend my time listening to my sound system, which is still operational in my house (including the bathroom - have you tried listening to Sibelius 2nd in the bath?); and climbing mountains in Scotland and North Wales. (at 67). I try to do a few more Munros every year, and in the snow I traversed the Aonachs in March 2010. What else can I do until I find out why I am doing it? By the way, I married the Au Pair; two years ago. (That could almost have been a Douglas Adams punch line.)

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Colin Pierpoint

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