The long road to Spain Part 3

It was the early nineties and Paul was beginning his last 60 hour return journey to finally complete his six-part reality TV series. Following passengers on a coach holiday to Spain, his hopes for an

It should have been the final trip to get the series finished but as I pushed the broken-down coach from behind in the company of other passengers, my legs were feeling decidedly painful. I then tried to make sense of the director’s message on my phone telling me the crew were point blank refusing to visit the campsite for the final few scenes. What on earth was happening?

My legs had started to be painful the previous week and as I was normally fit and well, I decided to visit the doctor before my final trip.

” Been doing anything unusual which involves sitting for prolonged periods?” the Doctor enquired. “Well, where do I begin? “For the last few weeks, I have been on a coach traveling to Spain for approximately 60 hours each trip. The Doctor just stared at me with a slightly open mouth. It transpired that it was possible all this inactivity sitting and lying in a coach could be a sign of a potential deep vein thrombosis and I should cease immediately.

This was not an option, I thought. I have all but died on that coach and I am going on this trip even if it would be my last. With a resigned stare the Doctor gave me strict instructions to keep moving and should I get severe pains at any point report to the nearest hospital.

I had taken his advice, and on my final trip, I was never still. I went up and down the aisle of that coach so often some of the passengers were starting to get annoyed and questioned my sanity.” Can’t you just sit down like the rest of us?” said one. Not a chance, with deep vein thrombosis hanging like a Sword of Damocles I was nervous to sit down at all. Which was why I nearly fell over as the coach suddenly ground to a halt!

I could not believe it; my last trip and the coach had broken down and worse than that it was blocking the road. To be fair to the coach company maintained the vehicles to the highest standard and had a plan for a replacement which could be sent at a moment’s notice. This, however, would take time and we still blocked the road. It was now I found out the true grit and spirit of these brave souls who ventured on these types of holidays. “Don’t you worry mate” said one, to our long-suffering driver,” we’ll push it to the side of the road, it can’t be that hard.” And so it was that passengers and crew went to the back and moved our coach into a safe place. I do not think the company was too happy that I filmed it but it was too good a sequence to pass up on, although I did push as well out of a sense of comradery.

It took a few hours for a replacement coach to arrive. This left me pondering my crew's mutiny. It was indeed a worry. My cameraman and sound recordist had been with me for years and I counted them among my friends as well as work colleagues. They were highly experienced, and professional, refusing to film was totally out of character. Immediately I arrived at the resort I went to see them. To be honest I was baffled and not a little annoyed. “What are you playing at?” I said to them.

As they explained their refusal, I struggled to keep a straight face. One holiday party I had asked them to follow was a huge group of thirteen people who were so overcrowded that the teenagers slept under the caravan. They were led by two fearsome ladies who kept control of the party with an iron fist. Imposing, not only in their character but also stature.

They had, however, unbeknown to the crew taken a shine to my sound recordist and cameraman and had suggested that they might like to join them as they were going to watch the sunset on the beach. Following my instructions, the crew collected film gear and set off.

What they hadn’t bargained for, as they came from the back of the crew van with their kit, was to be met by the ladies who had taken the opportunity to remove all their clothes and suggested they should follow suit! They quickly got back into the crew van and left.

I didn’t ask them to go back to the site, I felt we had all done enough. The shoot was over and the crew (slightly scarred) would move on to the next job. I had weeks of editing ahead of me to bring “Coach Trip” to the screen but at least I didn’t have to go on another coach!

All told it was a success, the ratings were good but it would be a long time, if ever before I would make another series involving coach travel!