Claudia Milne – Granadaland

Claudia Milne remembers how she came to join Granada Television

I was working in Selfridges in the co-ordinates department, just literally to earn money. And my mum was a teacher and I had a half day and I was lighting the fire for her before she got home from school, and it was the beginning of November, this time of year, and I was shoving…

Claudia Milne recalls the early programmes she worked on

It was a light entertainment programme called Nice Time. It had Kenny Everett and Germaine Greer, and Sandra Gough who was a Coronation Street star, and Jonathan Routh who had done a programme called Candid Camera, I think. It was very popular. It went out on a Sunday afternoon and they were hiring because it…

Claudia Milne remembers Granada Reports and becoming a director

Granada Reports was a six o’clock magazine show. Maybe it was at six thirty; I can’t remember. It was linked to the six o’clock network news and it was the regional opt-out so it only went out in Granadaland. It was studio-based but with film inserts. It was a typical magazine, so it had sport…

Claudia Milne remembers filming Margaret Thatcher and Jim Callaghan at the party conferences

I was heavily pregnant at the time and we were at the Tory Party conference in Blackpool. There was no security in those days. We had to finish shooting by the Wednesday I think because it went out on Thursday night, or was it Friday? Friday, 10:30 I think. So we filmed the first few…

Claudia Milne on the challenges she faced when she became a mother

I was on maternity leave. I was the first woman at Granada to get maternity leave on a written-down basis. They had said to a couple of other people, “Come see us when you’ve had the baby, dear, and we’ll see if we’ve got anything for you.” But I wanted to go back onto…

Claudia Milne’s thoughts on Granada’s links with the North West

People like Plowright were very proud of its links with the north. I don’t think that came from Forman as much as it did with Plowright. I might be wrong. As far as I know Forman never lived in Manchester and Plowright did live in the North West. I don’t think he lived in Manchester.…

Claudia Milne on World In Action’s macho culture

I can remember for instance when I was Manchester based. Everybody on World in Action was invited to this Christmas party, and I went along, and suddenly this strip dancer appeared and started stripping. I was just absolutely appalled. All these what I thought were nice men were standing round leering, jeering and laughing. I…