For a working class boy I was fortunate in the early '70's to get a place at University studying Mechanical Engineering. However as much as I learnt from the course I was after something different. Joining the student television club allowed me to express my creative side and eventually to meet an icon in the the then early years of TV Special Effects. So much so when I graduated I turned down ‘proper jobs’ and got a job with Bill King who provided special effects for Morecambe and Wise! I worked on their shows for two years. I then moved into the movie world for three years providing engineering solutions for the likes of James Bond. In 1980 I started my own business ‘Any Effects’ and was immediately successful. I was the ‘new and bright young thing’ in the developing TV world of London Weekend and Thames television. Also MTV was launched at the same time and I worked on many iconic Pop Videos. My talk remembers many memorable shows and the significant Special Effects and how they were achieved in the unique time of growth of TV production in a ‘never to be repeated’ era.