FAN-MADE reconstructions of missing episodes of Doctor Who are getting ever more watchable and sophisticated.
Wiped shines the spotlight on one such recon, of the end scene of ‘Power of the Daleks’ episode five, and speaks to the talent behind it – amateur computer animator Jon Brunton.
You can find it on the Features Page or click Power Of The Daleks Power Reconstruction Spotlight.
Filed under Doctor Who, Features, Video
THE TWENTY Tens are off to a good start with the discovery of a missing sketch from The Goodies, only months after footage from another episode emerged from Down Under.
The newly recovered 30-second clip is a parody of an advert for Shredded Wheat shown at the time. Entitled “Dreaded Wheat”, the skit features a young mother seeing off her husband and son as they leave for work and school. The commercial’s jingle refers to the “men in her life”, which suddenly grows from two to a long procession of males (beginning with the milkman) running in and out of the house in fast motion.
From Out Of The Wilderness: A still from "The Lost Tribe" showing The Goodies: (L-R) Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden.
It ends with the now slightly disheveled young mother in the front doorway, being embraced by an amorous Tim Brooke-Taylor, before the door slams shut.
The partnership of Brooke-Taylor, Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden as The Goodies, resulted in one of the BBC’s most fondly remembered sitcoms of the Seventies. Running from 1970 – 82, it saw the cash-strapped trio offering themselves for hire and getting into some hilariously ridiculous situations.
Back in October ABC researcher John Williams located a censor clip from season two’s “The Commonwealth Games“. Now he’s done it again, even finding the material at the same location – the National Archives Of Australia.
“Dreaded Wheat” comes from another season two episode, “The Lost Tribe” (tx 22/10/71), and is representative of the early years of The Goodies, which featured cutaways parodying popular adverts of the day.
John revealed more on the find to Australian-based website The Goodies Rule – OK!, writing:
“The item was compiled along with other Goodies material (including the “Commonwealth Games” cuts) and was listed by the National Archives Of Australia as being from the episode “Pollution”.
“I did not recall this piece of footage from various episodes that I had seen, including the episode “Pollution”. I sent a copy of the DVD to Andrew Pixley (BBC Archives) to review just in case there was anything on it that might not be accounted for.
“Thankfully, Andrew’s expertise has helped identify yet another missing piece of Goodies footage by checking BBC paperwork to identify the “Dreaded Wheat” clip. The episode of origin for the clip was positively identified as being “The Lost Tribe”.”
Filed under Clips, Comedy, Discoveries
A LEGENDARY ‘lost’ performance by rock band Pink Floyd is just one of the many recently-unearthed television treasures being shown at a major London event this Saturday (January 9).
Other highlights in a packed schedule at BFI Southbank include footage of The Who, Black Sabbath and Procol Harum during their prime; a vintage episode of acclaimed Sixties’ sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, and the late Ronnie Barker shining in a long-missing comedy gem.
Organised and run by the British Film Institute, Missing Believed Wiped is an annual survey of recently rediscovered television material. It showcases the important work of missing episode enthusiasts and organisations in tracking down our lost TV heritage: programmes tragically considered ephemeral and disposable at the time of broadcast but now recognised as of great cultural value.
And this year, for the first time, the BFI will be running the popular event in conjunction with classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope, responsible for bringing to light some of the biggest discoveries of 2009.
Programme One: “A Mixed Bag” – features episodes from two very different yet equally entertaining BBC sitcoms recovered with the help of Kaleidoscope. One of comedy’s finest (and foulest) creations – Alf Garnett (played by Warren Mitchell) – rails against devious politicians and the world in general in an episode of Till Death Us Do Part entitled ‘State Visit’, from 1967. The second screening is of a show referred to as “Fawlty Towers mark one” by its writer and main star, the late great Ronnie Barker. In His Lordship Entertains, from 1973, Barker plays Lord Rustless, the owner of a stately home-turned-hotel. Truly an orphaned episode, “The Food Inspector” is the sole surviving instalment of this seven-part show.
Completing the first half of Programme One is an update by Kaleidoscope on the Bob Monkhouse archive, entrusted to the group by the family of the late comedian and comprising a vast collection of film reels, videos and audio tapes amassed by the performer during his lifetime, and a presentation on lost BSB satellite TV archive material from the 1990s.
Programme Two: “Music, Music, Music” brings together all of the year’s music finds, including a rediscovered Time for Blackburn featuring a live 1970s performance from The Who; a compilation of musical finds from the 1970s series Look! Hear! featuring rare performances from Black Sabbath and The Selecter, and introduced by the show’s presenter John Holmes; segments from Top of the Pops from the collection of DJ David Hamilton; and very rare 1960s material from Top of the Pops featuring these performances:
From TOTP 6th July 1967 (Presenter: Alan Freeman)
• Pink Floyd – See Emily Play
• Procol Harum – A Whiter Shade of Pale
From TOTP 27th July 1967 (Presenter: Alan Freeman)
• Dave Davies – Death of a Clown
• The Alan Price Set – The House That Jack Built
• The Turtles – She’d Rather be With Me
Kaleidoscope’s Chris Perry said: “The cultural significance of this TOTP material cannot be underestimated. Unearthed in an unnamed rock star’s collection, the material had been severely damaged and was in an extremely poor condition, but was retrieved as far as possible by BFI technicians.
“About 20 minutes of the material had been considered completely lost, and is sure to generate huge interest among music fans and music historians all over the world.
“Despite the fact that the quality of the footage is still poor, the recordings remain a highly important and fascinating document of some of pop’s greatest names.”
Dick Fiddy, BFI TV Programmer/ Consultant, said: “For more than 15 years, the BFI’s annual Missing Believed Wiped campaign has given the public access to vital material long thought lost from the British television archives.
“This year, we are once again very grateful to our partner organisation Kaleidoscope, who have collaborated with us on retrieving material and making it available for this screening.”
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