Who would have thought that this first appearance on TV at Imperial College would lead to a career on the BBC? Yes, it’s Pallab Ghosh now Science Correspondent for BBC News. Pallab studied Physics at Imperial which was probably a good all-rounder for what came next.
But before his BBC career he was the editor of the student newspaper Felix. I do have the videotape of his Felix Editor Hustings Speech from 3 March 1983 (we’ll see that soon). Prior to that though, he was the chairman of the Imperial College HG Wells Society. Back in 1981, he was speaking to STOIC’s Martin Cowen about the revival of the society and what was planned in the coming months, including a potential Loch Ness Monster expedition!
The photo above shows Pallab during a visit to Imperial College in 2014.
Colin Grimshaw May 2020
Thanks Colin. That brought back a few memories. Not just of WellsSoc but also of seeing the occasional lecture by Eric Laithwaite … including your guest appearance at the RI Christmas Lectures.
Ah yes. My claim to fame on BBC2 with Eric Laithwaite! I have a high quality copy on DVD from the BBC I’m happy to say. 1974 625 Colour TV was not that bad when viewed on today’s modern TV sets.
…and if Eric Laithwaite hadn’t been ill and had to postpone his lecture once upon a time, Pallab wouldn’t have had to call on me to do my (first ever) hypnosis show, and my life would have been very different.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for your feedback. Your name is a blast from the past that I remember well. I’ve just checked the STOIC card index, that I digitised, and there are two cards worth listed with your name (1982-1985), I’ll have to dig out those tapes!
Yes, please! I have the STOIC tapes from 1988-90 but no earlier.
Best to email me martinstaylor com
I’ll see what I can do. The entire collection is now within the college archives (where I managed to save them from going into a skip) so may take time, especially with Covid access limitations etc.
I returned to IC after a long absence (in Canada), and was sad to find that the HG Wells Soc has not suvived, despite a valiant revival effort by Pallab Ghosh in 1981. I was one of the first Chairmen of the Society and was there to thank Lord Snow at his 1966 memorial lecture on HG Wells. I was also disappointed that there was no news of Dr. Sinclair Goodlad who was the motivation for the Society in it’s early days. If anyone has news of him, I would dearly like to hear it.
Dilsher Virk, AGGI Mech Eng 1967. dsvirk@gmail.com
Addendum to my previous note on WellsSoc. I was able to reach Dr. Goodlad by telephone and am happy to report that he is well.