What - Sibford, Prime Minister?
“Whatever is going on?” everybody asked. “What are all those cables festooning the trees and crossing the road?” There were people, equipment and cars everywhere, The Wykham Arms’ Carpark was full of B.B.C. vehicles and its bars full of B.B.C. personnel! The inside of the Friends Meeting House looked more like a film set than a place of worship – full of scaffolding, flood lights, cameras, monitors and technicians galore – and so much coming and going.
It was all simply explained. Paul Eddington of ‘Yes Minister’ fame had been invited by the B.B.C. to be Cliff Michelmore’s guest on the programme, ‘Home on Sunday’ and, remembering his (happy?) days at Sibford Friends School and weekly visits to the Meeting House, he had asked that his choice of music be relayed from there.
By 10 a.m. on Wednesday 12th March the choir (from New College, Oxford) and musicians were installed and busy rehearsing. After lunch for about sixty at the Wykham Arms, the performance began and the cameras rolled – or whatever T.V. cameras do, so that by 5 p.m. it was all over bar the clearing up.
Later in the Spring, the cameramen will be returning to take some shots of the village, so please keep that litter down – or rather up! Then we must wait until June 22nd when the finished programme will be screened.
John Endersby