Helen Norman
GNP General Manager retires.
19 July, 2013
It's the end of an era for Grant Naylor Productions this month, as we extend our warmest wishes and heartfelt thanks to Helen Norman, who is retiring from her position as General Manager after twenty-three years of loyal and incredibly hard-working service. Doug Naylor writes:
In the early days, Rob and I were based in 76 Oxford Street, the 6th floor which was longer than a Red Dwarf post-production schedule. As part of our deal we had our own P.A., who we were told was also the computer software expert for the entire production company and all its staff. I worried that with so many computers we'd never see her, until Rob pointed out that whenever she was called on to spell her job title she always spelt software, "softwear". Which was a worry.
It soon became apparent we needed someone to work with us full time, an Office Manager who could spell software and also introduce Rob and I to strange new terms, like "filing" and "being organized" and "knowing what you're doing". We didn't know how to find such a person until Linda Glover came to the rescue and recommended Helen. "Are you sure she's right for us?" we asked. "She'll be absolutely perfect," Linda promised, and as we all know - she was.
Twenty-three years seems to have passed in a flash. And I know the cast and crew of Red Dwarf, BBC Worldwide, UKTV, all the people at Shepperton, all the people who have worked at GNP down the years, we'll all miss Helen terribly, me especially. She is the utter professional, totally dedicated, thorough in everything she does, but also has a great creative eye, as well as being kind, caring, patient, a diplomat like no other, always making time to help anyone and she never ever loses her cool which is quite incredible considering how closely she had to work with me.
When some people retire they get gold watches, Helen deserves a George Cross. She has performed a million different kinds of job which include Producer of Back to Earth, Producer of all the Red Dwarf DVD Extras, Merchandise Quality Control, General Manager, Line Producer, Unpaid Lawyer, Clearance and Rights Expert, Andrew Ellard's Mum, Mr Flibble's P.A., Head of Removals, Psychiatrist, Confidante, Friend and Extra (who can forget her role as "Woman Knitting at Bus Stop" in Back to Earth?) We're all going to miss her, and the million things she gave us, terribly.
You can read more about Helen's work on Red Dwarf over the years in her own words, courtesy of this interview with Mr Flibble from 2002. Everybody at GNP wishes Helen a long and happy retirement!
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