Night Shift

// overview

The Story

Night Shift was a late-twentieth-century television series that portrayed people who work the night shift. Night Shift was made by a small independent production company called Addictive TV for the ITV network in the United Kingdom. Each episode of Night Shift lasted only five to ten minutes. The show's original run was from 1992 to 1994, while an additional series was produced in 1998. Several of Night Shift's episodes were filmed at the same location, most notably Gatwick Airport and Victoria Station. The original series featured a highly effective model shot, in which a camera moves across a Monopoly-style map of a city into the title, Night Shift, written as a street name. The shot was produced for a pilot in mid-1992, but utilized in the final shows too. The model was constructed by model-maker Peter Poole, and filmed by Dave Hicks. Despite the slick look, there was no professional film studio involved: just a Brighton garage. A mini-mist smoke machine was used to add depth to the backlit model, which was about 6 by 4 feet in size. A photo appeared in the design magazine, Creative Review, in the What's New In Design? section. The show, filmed entirely hand-held in a style very common now but not at the time, was presented in a lighthearted and informal fashion by the writer and actor, Colin Bennett. Bennett is also known for his appearance on the BBC children's television show, Take Hart, which was presented by Tony Hart.