SW
I don't know why he left in 1976, but as you say, Noel does make reference to it and then he returns in January 1977. But it's worth remembering in those days that all the producers were on the staff and the Beeb would reassign them to whatever project they saw fit, so presumably he was seconded to do something else for the second half of 1976. Of course, Johnnie Stewart was the original producer back in 1964.
Although Robin Nash remained in charge until 1980, you'll note that in 1978 he becomes Executive Producer and there was a host of other producers underneath - Phil Bishop, Stanley Appel and Brian Whitehouse were the most frequent, although there were many others, including the likes of Paul Jackson who would do a month or so, it was pretty much the case that every producer in the light entertainment department, at a time when that was run on military lines and you would work your way up, would do a few weeks on Pops as part of their development. At that point Nash was also Head of Variety and his role on the show in those days was basically to meet with that week's producer, decide on the running order and then let the producer get on with it. He wasn't very hands on.
That's also sort of the case with the show we're seeing now as while Michael Hurll is still in charge, the vast majority of the episodes since early 1985 have been produced by Brian Whitehouse or Stanley Appel, as Hurll had various other production roles at the time, most obviously on The Late Late Breakfast Show and The Two Ronnies. So while Hurll would still have been the big boss - hence why he was phoned up in Australia when John Peel talked about breaking wind - on a day-to-day basis he wouldn't have had much to do about it.
In those days Pops sort of ran itself anyway.
Slightly o/t but have been watching some of the 1976 episodes and in one episode Noel Edmonds refers to Robin Nash's departure. Although he was producer until 1980, why he did leave first time? Also noticed a range of producers in '76 after Nash (Brian Whitehouse and Johnnie Stewart) before Nash came back in '77.
I don't know why he left in 1976, but as you say, Noel does make reference to it and then he returns in January 1977. But it's worth remembering in those days that all the producers were on the staff and the Beeb would reassign them to whatever project they saw fit, so presumably he was seconded to do something else for the second half of 1976. Of course, Johnnie Stewart was the original producer back in 1964.
Although Robin Nash remained in charge until 1980, you'll note that in 1978 he becomes Executive Producer and there was a host of other producers underneath - Phil Bishop, Stanley Appel and Brian Whitehouse were the most frequent, although there were many others, including the likes of Paul Jackson who would do a month or so, it was pretty much the case that every producer in the light entertainment department, at a time when that was run on military lines and you would work your way up, would do a few weeks on Pops as part of their development. At that point Nash was also Head of Variety and his role on the show in those days was basically to meet with that week's producer, decide on the running order and then let the producer get on with it. He wasn't very hands on.
That's also sort of the case with the show we're seeing now as while Michael Hurll is still in charge, the vast majority of the episodes since early 1985 have been produced by Brian Whitehouse or Stanley Appel, as Hurll had various other production roles at the time, most obviously on The Late Late Breakfast Show and The Two Ronnies. So while Hurll would still have been the big boss - hence why he was phoned up in Australia when John Peel talked about breaking wind - on a day-to-day basis he wouldn't have had much to do about it.
In those days Pops sort of ran itself anyway.
