TV TREASURE TROVE COMES TO STOURBRIDGE

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

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Kaleidoscope Raiders of the Lost Archives list 2009 – 2010

CLASSIC TV organisation Kaleidoscope has revealed its annual Raiders of the Lost Archives list for 2009 – 2010, detailing all the missing material located in the last 12 months by the group along with the BBC, ITV, BFI and missing episode hunters.

Particularly notable on this year’s list is the Library of Congress finds, where over 60 long-lost British dramas dating beween the late fifties and early seventies were discovered sitting in an American archive. The assortment of plays and adaptations boast a who’s who of acting talent including Sean Connery, David McCallum, Charles Gray, Susannah York, Patrick Macnee, William Gaunt, Norman Rossington, Ron Moody, Derek Jacobi, Maggie Smith, Ronald Pickup, Nerys Hughes, Patricia Routledge, David Hemmings, Kevin Stoney, Hywel Bennett, Thora Hird, John Gielgud, Michael Gambon, Hugh Paddick, Robert Hardy, Peggy Ashcroft, Leonard Rossiter, John Le Mesurier, Patrick Stewart, Brian Rawlinson, Michael Gough, Bernard Horsfall, Michael Hordern, Patrick Troughton, Jeremy Brett, Patrick Wymark, Bernard Cribbins, Betty Marsden, Edward De Souza, Patsy Rowlands, Gerald Flood, Donald Wolfit, Philip Madoc, Geoffrey Bayldon, Frank Finlay, Henry McGee,  Jane Asher and Graham Crowden.

Also on the list are classic comedy shows starring Benny Hill, Dick Emery, Frankie Howerd, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, the Monty Python team, The Goodies, Marty Feldman, Bob Monkhouse, Denis Goodwin, Ronnie Barker, Willie Rushton, Frank Muir, Denis Norden, Alan Bennett and Hattie Jacques; serial dramas such as No Hiding Place and The Troubleshooters; light entertainment including The Rolf Harris Show; music from The Hollies, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Showaddywaddy, The Arrows and Guys n Dolls; and children’s programmes by animator Oliver Postgate and the Smallfilms studio, including Ivor the Engine.

Last but not least, the list reveals some good progress in the BSB recoveries campaign of Ian Greaves, including episodes of The Happening, I Love Keith Allen and Up Yer News.

Speaking about the impressive list, Kaleidoscope’s Chris Perry said: “It’s been a great year for recoveries all round and goes to show there’s still more out there to find.”