The Call Centre

Last updated

The Call Centre
GenreDocumentary
No. of series2
No. of specials1
Original release
Network BBC Three
Release2013 (2013) –
2014 (2014)

The Call Centre is a BBC fly-on-the-wall documentary following staff at the call centre of a Welsh company called Save Britain Money. Although now in administration [1] at the time of filming the call centre was described as Swansea's third-largest. [2] Two series and a Christmas special aired on BBC Three, totalling 12 episodes, beginning in 2013 and concluding in 2014. [3]

The call centre was officially named Save Britain Money and it was based in Swansea's Enterprise Zone. [4] It employed approximately 600 staff was owned by Bhupinder Sidhu and was run by Neville (Nev) Wilshire. Wilshire famously opened the working day with a mass sing-along, and claimed he'd previously sacked two people for not participating. [4] In 2013, it received a considerable fine of £225,000 for breaching regulations on cold calling by failing to run their database past the Telephone Preference Service (TPS), an opt-in service that supposedly stops marketing calls. [5] In order to bypass these regulations on marketing calls, Wilshire set up an Indian call centre, which is outside the scope of British regulators. This was documented in a 2016 spin-off show for Watch called Nev's Indian Call Centre and saw staff from The Call Centre rejoin the cast. [6]

A break-out star amongst the staff was tea-lady Hayley Pearce. [4] Pearce went on to pose for Zoo magazine and had a breast augmentation. She later opened a cafe (which she shut within a year), [7] moved to and worked in India for Nev's Indian Call Centre and then returned to the UK and began presenting a number of shows for BBC. In 2016, she presented a show on 'tanorexia' - an over-reliance on fake tan. [8] [9] [10] In late 2016, a three part show called Hayley was released online on BBC Three, before airing on BBC One in January 2017. The show looked at issues facing young people including cosmetic surgery, boozy holidays and dating apps. [11] A second series aired in early 2018 and examined tattoo culture, body-shaming and the slimming industry. Pearce presented the six-part BBC show Hayley Goes in mid-2019. A six-episode second series aired in mid-2020. [12]

Nev died in December 2021. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Secombe</span> Welsh entertainer (1921–2001)

Sir Harry Donald Secombe was a Welsh actor, comedian, singer and television presenter. Secombe was a member of the British radio comedy programme The Goon Show (1951–1960), playing many characters, most notably Neddie Seagoon. An accomplished tenor, he also appeared in musicals and films – notably as Mr Bumble in Oliver! (1968) – and, in his later years, was a presenter of television shows incorporating hymns and other devotional songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swansea</span> City and county in Wales

Swansea is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swansea University</span> Public university in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom

Swansea University is a public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Bay</span> Area and lake in Cardiff, Wales

Cardiff Bay is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it is the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of water was converted into a 500-acre (2.0 km2) lake as part of a pre-devolution UK Government regeneration project, involving the damming of the rivers by the Cardiff Bay Barrage in 1999. The barrage impounds the rivers from the Severn Estuary, providing flood defence and the creation of a permanent non-tidal high water lake with limited access to the sea, serving as a core feature of the redevelopment of the area in the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sian Williams</span> Welsh journalist and television presenter

Sian Mary Williams is a Welsh journalist, current affairs presenter, and psychologist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euros Lyn</span> Welsh film and television director (born 1971)

Euros Lyn is a Welsh film and television director, best known for his work in Doctor Who, Sherlock, Black Mirror, Daredevil, His Dark Materials and Heartstopper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwegian Church, Cardiff</span> Arts centre, based in a church, in Wales

The Norwegian Church Arts Centre is a point of cultural and historical interest located in Cardiff Bay, Wales. It was a Lutheran Church, consecrated in 1868. Under the patronage of The Norwegian Seamen's Mission it provided home comforts, communication with family and a place of worship for Scandinavian sailors and the Norwegian community in Cardiff for over a hundred years.

<i>Rownd a Rownd</i> Welsh-language soap opera

Rownd a Rownd is a Welsh-language soap opera created by Rondo Media and shown on S4C since 11 September 1995. It was claimed to be the first Celtic-related language soap specifically directed at a youth audience. It is set in the fictional harbour town of Glanrafon in Anglesey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Comer</span> British actor (1924–1984)

John Comer was a British comic actor. He was best known for his roles in Coronation Street as Mr Birtles, then as a taxi driver, and later as Wilf Jones, in Emmerdale Farm as Ernie Shuttleworth, Les Brandon in I Didn't Know You Cared, and cafe owner Sid in Last of the Summer Wine.

<i>Bear Behaving Badly</i> British childrens television series

Bear Behaving Badly was a British children's sitcom produced by Darrall Macqueen Productions, which originally aired for four series and was broadcast on CBBC from 3 September 2007 until 21 December 2010.

<i>Fireman Sam</i> British animated childrens television series

Fireman Sam is a British animated children's television series about a fireman named Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other residents in the fictional Welsh rural village of Pontypandy. It was broadcast for the first time in November 1987 on Welsh TV channel S4C and is shown in more than 155 countries across the world.

Sian Reese-Williams is a Welsh actress, best known for playing detective Cadi John in three series of Hidden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wynne Evans</span> Welsh singer, comedian, and actor (born 1972)

James Wynne Evans is a Welsh opera singer, presenter and actor, known for his role as Gio Compario and latterly himself in Go.Compare insurance adverts on UK television. Evans hosts a regular radio programme on BBC Radio Wales and has hosted programmes on BBC Radio 2.

cariad@iaith:love4language is an S4C reality television series in which people attempt to learn the Welsh language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elis James</span> Welsh comedian

Owain Elis James is a Welsh comedian, broadcaster and actor. James is known as a stand-up comedian and for his weekly radio show and podcast for BBC Radio 5 Live, his football punditry and presenting, and his TV acting roles. James's first language is Welsh and he performs stand-up in English and Welsh.

<i>Catfish: The TV Show</i> American reality-based documentary television series

Catfish: The TV Show is an American reality-based documentary television series airing on MTV about the truths and lies of online dating. The series, which premiered on November 12, 2012, is based on the 2010 film Catfish.

<i>Iceland Foods: Life in the Freezer Cabinet</i> 2013 British TV series or programme

Iceland Foods: Life in the Freezer Cabinet is a British documentary television series about the Iceland supermarket chain that was first broadcast on BBC Two on 21 October 2013. The three-part series was co-produced with the Open University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Grand Teddy tea-rooms paintings</span> Three oval paintings by Édouard Vuillard

The Grand Teddy tea-rooms paintings is a collective name for three glue distemper oval paintings executed by Édouard Vuillard for Le Grand Teddy tea-rooms in Paris in 1918. The largest is privately owned, but is sometimes exhibited. One of the smaller works was featured on an episode of the BBC television programme Fake or Fortune? which first broadcast on 19 January 2014. The location of the third is currently unknown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honey Wright</span> Fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty

Honey Wright is a fictional character from the BBC medical drama Casualty, played by Chelsee Healey. She first appears in the series twenty-nine episode "The Last Call", originally broadcast on 11 October 2014. Honey is introduced as the new tea lady in the emergency department (ED) of Holby City Hospital. The character and Healey's casting details were announced in May 2014. Producers approached Healey's agent about a role as a nurse, but she struggled with the medical terminology, so the character of Honey was created instead. The actress was contracted for four months as a semi-regular character and began filming in May 2014. Honey is characterised as a vivacious person who is "fun, bubbly, nice" and caring. Despite being based in the ED's coffee shop, Honey travels around the department with a tea trolley. She has a pink car with big eyelashes attached to the headlamps.

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales during 2021. There are significant differences in the legislation and the reporting between the countries of the UK: England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

References

  1. ↑ Turner, Robin (9 October 2014). "The Call Centre firm Save Britain Money goes into administration". walesonline. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  2. ↑ Lawrence, Ben (11 June 2013). "The Call Centre, episode two, BBC Three, review". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  3. ↑ "The Call Centre - Episode guide - BBC Three". BBC.
  4. 1 2 3 Turner, Robin (14 July 2013). "Shot at fame brews for The Call Centre's cult tea lady Hayley Pearce".
  5. ↑ "The Call Centre boss 'Big Nev' fined £225,000 over nuisance calls". Independent.co.uk . 19 June 2013.
  6. ↑ Both shows were narrated by welsh actress Kimberley Nixon. Nev’s Indian Call Centre | W Channel
  7. ↑ Owen, Cathy (14 June 2016). "The Call Centre's Hayley has closed down her cafe".
  8. ↑ "Hayley: Call Centre's Tanning Addict - BBC One". BBC.
  9. ↑ Mears, Tyler (23 March 2016). "Why The Call Centre's Hayley Pearce is trying to give up her trademark fake tan".
  10. ↑ Williams, Kathryn (21 September 2016). "Here's what the cast of The Call Centre is doing now". Daily Mirror .
  11. ↑ "Series 1, Hayley - BBC Three". BBC.
  12. ↑ "Hayley Goes".
  13. ↑ "BBC Tribute".
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.