And Cue the Prompting Service

Cat Deeley certainly made her mark in the recent hit Channel 4 Peter Kay comedy, Britain's Got the Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice. Indeed, Cat was word perfect as she played the epitome of reality-talent-TV compare. And she has Barbara Baker and her colleagues in Rochdale to thank for her polished performance.

“While I was watching the programme I knew Cat was using one of our auto-cues, so it’s lovely to be able to watch the results of the team’s hard work,” explains Barbara, who, as manager of Prompting Plus North, specialises in providing prompting systems for every conceivable kind of occasion.

That’s why, this month, the company has been singled out for praise by being named Facility of the Month by Northwest Vision and Media, which works on behalf of the TV, film, radio, digital and games industries in the Northwest to grow a world-class media economy within the region.

“We’ve been in the business for 60 years in total, five of those in Rochdale, so I like to think we know what we’re talking about when it comes to providing prompting systems for all types of occasions,” explains Barbara, who is one of a seven-strong team working from offices in Rochdale, with a sister company in Birmingham.

“Whether it’s live news, sport, corporate videos, quiz shows, awards shows, comedies, interviews, conferences, AGM’s, concerts, location or outside broadcasts, we have a system and style to suit,” adds Barbara.

“We can choose the best systems from any manufacturer in the world, whether that’s a fully mobile, battery powered, hand-held system or a large screen on-camera unit. Productions or organisations provide the script or speech, tell us where and when, and leave the rest to us. If there’s a particular shot that’s needed then we recommend a system to suit.”

Using a mirror-glass prompter on stage has long been the best way to provide script support to a speaker on stage. But it’s not only ‘live’ event like these that need a prompting service. As Barbara explains: “We can save productions a lot of time during a day's recording, and more time in the edit suite, by providing a prompting service.”

The team’s work varies enormously, with no two days ever the same. “But that’s a good thing because it means our operators get to experience all sports of work,” explains Barbara.

“In addition to the Peter Kay programme we also work on The Jeremy Kyle Show,” says Barbara, who admits the TV work is her favourite part of the job. “I don’t get out of the office as much these days as I used to, but I’ve done a lot of TV in the past,” she says. “My favourite experience was doing In Suspicious Circumstances with Edward Woodward, I did that with him for years and always really enjoyed working with the cast and crew.”

In addition to concentrating on northern-based business, the team frequently travel around the country, and across Europe, in their quest to aid productions. “There’s always a new challenge to overcome,” says Barbara, “and there’s always more to learn. Every day something different presents itself so it’s a nice challenge to be able to work through things then go on to the next challenge. That’s probably why this is such an interesting job.”

For Barbara and the team, they’re hoping the future will bring more of the same. “We’re getting busier every year, which is great,” says Barbara. There’s not that many prompting services out there, so I like to think that we’re doing so well because we provide the kind of excellent service people expect. That’s why it’s so nice to be singled out as Facility of the Month, because it lets the wider industry know that we’re here, and we’re providing a really good service.”

· For more information, simply log on to: www.promptingplus.co.uk