|  Author | Topic: Fraggle Rock UK (Read 3,423 times) |
Alex Taylor
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|  | Fraggle Rock UK
« Thread Started on Aug 24, 2011, 6:17pm » | |
As some of you may be aware, the UK version of Fraggle Rock was a co-production between Henson and TVS. 96 episodes were produced in all, but reportedly only 12 can still be located today. It is not clear what may have happened to the others following TVS' demise, and I understand that Henson regards them as lost.
Those 12 are definitely not the only ones still surviving - I've posted a list here [http://www.nightshade.org.uk/fraggleuk.html] - but there are obviously still a few gaps, at least in my knowledge!
So, does anybody know the answers to any of the following?
- what happened to the TVS archive after they closed down?
- did the Fraggle Rock tapes survive?
- are there any others known to exist which aren't on my list?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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Ian Wegg
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #1 on Aug 24, 2011, 9:25pm » | |
Aug 24, 2011, 6:17pm, Alex Taylor wrote:
- what happened to the TVS archive after they closed down?
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Now there's a question!
The short answer is that by a twist of history the greater part is legally owned by Disney. However they have no interest in it or the associated paperwork, rendering it effectively "lost".
There is some information and discussion in the "Terminally Unreleasable" topic over at m-club here: http://www.mausoleumclubforum.org.uk/xmb/viewthread.php?tid=14661. Look at the later postings by Scene South East and Greg Taylor
~iw
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Alex Taylor
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #2 on Aug 24, 2011, 9:55pm » | |
Yeesh  Yeah, I'd heard rumours Disney were involved somehow. Strange, really - AFAIK Henson were actively looking for the tapes a number of years ago for a DVD release, and of course Disney now own the Muppets (although not Fraggle Rock - that's still Henson's property) so you'd have thought it would be possible to do something.
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Steven Flavell
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #3 on Apr 15, 2012, 2:26am » | |
Aug 24, 2011, 6:17pm, Alex Taylor wrote:As some of you may be aware, the UK version of Fraggle Rock was a co-production between Henson and TVS. 96 episodes were produced in all, but reportedly only 12 can still be located today. It is not clear what may have happened to the others following TVS' demise, and I understand that Henson regards them as lost.
Those 12 are definitely not the only ones still surviving - I've posted a list here [http://www.nightshade.org.uk/fraggleuk.html] - but there are obviously still a few gaps, at least in my knowledge!
So, does anybody know the answers to any of the following?
- what happened to the TVS archive after they closed down?
- did the Fraggle Rock tapes survive?
- are there any others known to exist which aren't on my list?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
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thanks for the list. Is this some of the studio footage that's mentioned?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbojIZUz-gs
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George D
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #4 on Apr 15, 2012, 6:52am » | |
If thats what the show was, i dont like it. That guys singing hurts my ears.. (groan).
Im curious how much of this footage he has and if shows could be reconstructed.
In the comments Admeek says he has 2 on vhs. Perhaps this is a find?
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phillipgruber
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #5 on Apr 15, 2012, 10:07pm » | |
Didn't the BBC repeat some episodes when Henson was working with them in the late 80's... possibly later? My memory banks may be getting clouded but I seem to recall some were repeated at some point after the original ITV transmissions on another channel. I wasn't that big a fan of Fraggle Rock hence I didn't take as much notice as I should!
I'm sure all of them will exist as VHS off air recordings taped from the broadcasts, but it's shocking to discover only 12 of them officially exist
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Steven Flavell
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #6 on Apr 15, 2012, 11:41pm » | |
Apr 15, 2012, 10:07pm, phillipgruber wrote:Didn't the BBC repeat some episodes when Henson was working with them in the late 80's... possibly later? My memory banks may be getting clouded but I seem to recall some were repeated at some point after the original ITV transmissions on another channel. I wasn't that big a fan of Fraggle Rock hence I didn't take as much notice as I should!
I'm sure all of them will exist as VHS off air recordings taped from the broadcasts, but it's shocking to discover only 12 of them officially exist |
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If any other channel did repeat them I'm sure it wasn't the BBC.
In addition to the outside world setting being different, the Uncle Travelling Matt sections were also different as can seen here in the UK and US versions of Marooned.
US. Skip to 7:55
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmzeU88o-rY
UK skip to 0:25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VcYNg05vHE
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Alex Taylor
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #7 on Apr 16, 2012, 11:47am » | |
Yes, that's the footage. There's about 30 minutes of it, covering three episodes from the final series, but unfortunately it isn't enough to reconstruct the shows. The opening of the clip on YT is from 'A Tune for Two', and appears to be the final scene plus a cutaway shot from an earlier scene. The remainder of the material is the first and last scenes from 'Beyond the Pond' (but maddeningly not the middle scene, which I'm fairly sure was shot on location) and multiple takes of the opening scene from 'Junior faces the Music'.
The singing was a one-off, and it's supposed to be bad  BJ and Sprocket are entering a talent-contest...! I have the two episodes 'Admeek' refers to - they are 'Sprocket's Big Adventure' and 'Uncle Matt's Discovery'.
I don't have a full history of repeat broadcasts, but: all repeats were on ITV, most were of episodes from the first and second series; and none of Fulton Mackay's episodes were repeated after he died. All showings since TVS closed down have been of the US version of the show.
All told, of the 96 shows produced, 29 definitely exist in broadcast-quality - the 12 available on DVD, plus a further 17 at the BFI. I'm trying to find out whether Henson are aware of the latter. In addition I have a further 28 on VHS, mostly as off-air recordings, so 57 exist in some form. I have copies of 46 of these, including VHS copies of 6 of the episodes that the BFI hold (although not from their tapes!). I have passed my recordings on to Kal for preservation.
As always, if anyone knows of any episodes not on my list, or has copies of the 11 marked solely as 'BFI', I'd love to hear from you
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Ian Wegg
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #8 on Apr 16, 2012, 1:35pm » | |
@Steven:
Thanks for the links, it's interesting to compare the US and UK versions.
@Alex:
Have you tried the YouTube user TheMeakers, http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMeakers, who uploaded the studio footage? He must be one of the leading authorities on TVS if you can get a message to him. He also uploaded a complete episode in the last few days, he could have more.
~iw
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Steven Flavell
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #9 on Apr 16, 2012, 2:43pm » | |
I noticed someone uploaded the first two parts of The Bells Of Fraggle Rock onto Youtube, but for some reason not the last part. There is a breakdown in transmission on that copy that falls right in the middle of a scene set in Fraggle rock. If this is the only copy I would hope that nothing from the outside world was missed. I also noticed that the opening credits shot inside the lighthouse seems to be a one off featuring Christmas decorations. It looks like the recording only just caught this as well as the opening is clipped.
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Steven Flavell
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #10 on Apr 16, 2012, 2:46pm » | |
Apr 16, 2012, 11:47am, Alex Taylor wrote:Yes, that's the footage. There's about 30 minutes of it, covering three episodes from the final series, but unfortunately it isn't enough to reconstruct the shows. The opening of the clip on YT is from 'A Tune for Two', and appears to be the final scene plus a cutaway shot from an earlier scene. The remainder of the material is the first and last scenes from 'Beyond the Pond' (but maddeningly not the middle scene, which I'm fairly sure was shot on location) and multiple takes of the opening scene from 'Junior faces the Music'.
The singing was a one-off, and it's supposed to be bad BJ and Sprocket are entering a talent-contest...! I have the two episodes 'Admeek' refers to - they are 'Sprocket's Big Adventure' and 'Uncle Matt's Discovery'.
I don't have a full history of repeat broadcasts, but: all repeats were on ITV, most were of episodes from the first and second series; and none of Fulton Mackay's episodes were repeated after he died. All showings since TVS closed down have been of the US version of the show.
All told, of the 96 shows produced, 29 definitely exist in broadcast-quality - the 12 available on DVD, plus a further 17 at the BFI. I'm trying to find out whether Henson are aware of the latter. In addition I have a further 28 on VHS, mostly as off-air recordings, so 57 exist in some form. I have copies of 46 of these, including VHS copies of 6 of the episodes that the BFI hold (although not from their tapes!). I have passed my recordings on to Kal for preservation.
As always, if anyone knows of any episodes not on my list, or has copies of the 11 marked solely as 'BFI', I'd love to hear from you
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Thanks for all the info. This is one show I really want to see on DVD. I wouldn't care if the UK bits have to be sourced from VHS copies and reconstructed around the US footage set inside Fraggle Rock. I just want to see them again.
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Alex Taylor
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #11 on Apr 16, 2012, 2:59pm » | |
Apr 16, 2012, 1:35pm, Ian Wegg wrote:@Steven:
Thanks for the links, it's interesting to compare the US and UK versions.
@Alex:
Have you tried the YouTube user TheMeakers, http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMeakers, who uploaded the studio footage? He must be one of the leading authorities on TVS if you can get a message to him. He also uploaded a complete episode in the last few days, he could have more.
~iw |
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Already in contact
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Alex Taylor
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #12 on Apr 16, 2012, 3:00pm » | |
Apr 16, 2012, 2:43pm, Steven Flavell wrote:| I noticed someone uploaded the first two parts of The Bells Of Fraggle Rock onto Youtube, but for some reason not the last part. There is a breakdown in transmission on that copy that falls right in the middle of a scene set in Fraggle rock. If this is the only copy I would hope that nothing from the outside world was missed. I also noticed that the opening credits shot inside the lighthouse seems to be a one off featuring Christmas decorations. It looks like the recording only just caught this as well as the opening is clipped. |
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I have a complete copy of the episode here. Kal also hold a recording of it.
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Steven Flavell
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #13 on Apr 16, 2012, 5:21pm » | |
Apr 16, 2012, 3:00pm, Alex Taylor wrote:
I have a complete copy of the episode here. Kal also hold a recording of it. |
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That's great to know. Any idea if Uncle Travelling Matt presenting CITV exists?
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Ken Griffin
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| | Re: Fraggle Rock UK
« Reply #14 on Apr 16, 2012, 5:43pm » | |
Apr 16, 2012, 2:46pm, Steven Flavell wrote:| Thanks for all the info. This is one show I really want to see on DVD. I wouldn't care if the UK bits have to be sourced from VHS copies and reconstructed around the US footage set inside Fraggle Rock. I just want to see them again. |
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You'll never see it on DVD. The issue isn't that the tapes have been lost but that different entities apparently hold the tapes and the exploitation rights but nobody knows for certain because all TVS's sales documentation was dumped into a skip at some point,
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