John (Williams) was an intake of management trainees the same time as Tony Brill, Bill Tomlinson, one or two others. He was very ambitious, John. He ran Tours very well, but I think he could talk about Charles Allen because he said… Allen said to John, because they had retail outlets for the tourists, “You should you put this item up to whatever.” And John said, “We can’t do that.” He said, “How much does it cost?” John said, “Well I don’t know.” He said, “Well if you don’t know, the punters that come around won’t know. Put it up.” It was very popular for a while. I don’t quite know why they closed it down, really.
Plowright’s dream was Media City, and we went to presentations in the boardroom put together by various local architects. It was his dream, and of course, it didn’t happen until after he’d died. I think, really, he wanted it on the site of the Victoria and Albert Warehouse. There was another warehouse there, which was used for Jewel in the Crown. I don’t know if you remember, but that was burnt down complete with the sets and the props.