TV treasures lost for over 40 years will get a rare showing in Stourbridge this weekend.
Acclaimed 1960s’ crime anthology series 13 Against Fate and star-studded dramas featuring the likes of Derek Jacobi, Leonard Rossiter and Jeremy Brett are among the vintage shows being screened at the Talbot Hotel, High Street, on Friday and Saturday.
They come from an incredible collection of nearly 150 hours’ worth of British TV programmes found in an American archive last year and only recently returned to the UK.
Also on the bill is a 1965 BBC adaptation of George Orwell’s classic sci-fi novel 1984 by celebrated screenwriter Nigel Kneale.
The event is being organised by Midlands-based TV research group Kaleidoscope, which worked alongside the British Film Institute (BFI) in recovering the haul, described as the “most important” find of its kind in over 20 years.
There will also be talks with special guests Colin Edmonds, a comedy writer for the likes of Bob Monkhouse and Paul O’Grady, and 1984 actress Jane Merrow.
Chris Perry of Kaleidoscope said: “It’s a fantastic line-up packed with genuine classics, many of which were only located last year by Kaleidoscope and the BFI in the archives of the Library of Congress in Washington, America.
“It’s wonderful to be able to enjoy again first-rate dramas such as The Typewriter, starring a young Jeremy Brett, farce Dr Knock, with Leonard Rossiter and John le Mesurier, and a lavish 1967 version of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing boasting Derek Jacobi and Michael Gambon.
“This marks their first showing outside of London and we are grateful to the BFI for their assistance in making this possible.”
The event runs from 9pm to 12.30am on Friday, September 9, and 12 – 7pm on Saturday, September 10. Admission is free and all proceeds will go to the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. For more information visit www.kaleidoscope.org.uk
Wiped News 
Wonderful. I am really thrilled at hearing so many classic TV programmes being discovered. For my own part I would love to have someone discover my own pot of gold that I have been searching in vain for ever since I heard the episodes were missing that is the old time classic 1966 TV series “Mystery and Imagaination”. Wonder if they will ever turn up. There must be someone out there who has some clue to where they could be.
Wonderful site Hope you discover more classic TV programmes soon.
Tony.