Benny hill: Last Series for the BBC

[mikejones]

Its been said the BBC wiped the last series of Benny hill show because he jumped ship to Thames. Has anything ever been found? 

[RWels]

Last three episodes were wiped although a domestic recording exists of one of them. I've not heard any evidence that tapes were wiped out of spite, although I am certainly not an expert I would say this is more like to be a story that is retold because it sounds good than because it's true.
From lostshows I get the impression that really quite a lot survives from a very early date onwards, so much that it would almost be too much for anyone except the most fanatical and completist viewers.

[Kelvin Walker]

Here is Benny's last BBC show from Boxing Day 1968, Mike
youtu.be/Oxo2PawIHT4

[mikejones]

Cheers, He is so underrated nowadays. He was way before his time in some of his ideas, youtu.be/fBRFsvrg2-A?t=2067 he did this a decade before M&W

[Nathan Dickel]

According to the Mark Lewison Book, The BBC did indeed wiped the tapes. They were meant to repeat the programs, but refused out of spite, just gave Benny the money for the repeat fees then erased the tapes.

[Nathan Dickel]

Jan 22, 2017 9:47:30 GMT RWels said:

Last three episodes were wiped although a domestic recording exists of one of them. I've not heard any evidence that tapes were wiped out of spite, although I am certainly not an expert I would say this is more like to be a story that is retold because it sounds good than because it's true.
From lostshows I get the impression that really quite a lot survives from a very early date onwards, so much that it would almost be too much for anyone except the most fanatical and completist viewers.

Yeah, suprisingly quite a lot of his BBC stuff exists (and most of his ATV stuff for Lew Grade in the 60's too). I hope it all sees the light one day, I'm a hill fanatic.

[RWels]

If you sat down to watch it all, I suspect that you'd probably see a lot of sketches in early versions and later reworkings. Wouldn't have been an issue at the time, obviously, without repeats or releases.

[Nick Cooper]

Mar 14, 2017 23:53:32 GMT Nathan Dickel said:

According to the Mark Lewison Book, The BBC did indeed wiped the tapes. They were meant to repeat the programs, but refused out of spite, just gave Benny the money for the repeat fees then erased the tapes.

Urban myth. There were four episodes in the 1968 series, of which two survive in full. They weren't repeated, but then only two of the previous eight episode 1965-66 series were. All of the latter survives but only a small minority of episodes from previous series.

[John Williams]

Apr 3, 2017 16:21:52 GMT Nick Cooper said:

Mar 14, 2017 23:53:32 GMT Nathan Dickel said:

According to the Mark Lewison Book, The BBC did indeed wiped the tapes. They were meant to repeat the programs, but refused out of spite, just gave Benny the money for the repeat fees then erased the tapes.

Urban myth. There were four episodes in the 1968 series, of which two survive in full. They weren't repeated, but then only two of the previous eight episode 1965-66 series were. All of the latter survives but only a small minority of episodes from previous series.

Barry Took's book about Benny Hill and Frankie Howard ('Star Turns') reproduces the BBC memos between Paul Fox and Tom Sloan which clearly state that they were very unhappy about Hill's move to Thames and didn't want to build an audience for his new show by repeating them. Fox states "if paying the repeat fees will fulfil our obligations, well and good." Tom Sloan then wrote to Hill's agent expressing the BBC's unhappiness at not being given the opportunity to make a counter-offer: "I consider your action in not allowing us to even make Benny an offer has released me from any obligation to actually run these repeats. I am therefore going to ask our Contracts people to make the appropriate payments in lieu."

I don't really see this as particularly spiteful behaviour by the BBC. In their eyes, they'd been shafted by an agent, and didn't want to be taken for mugs any more than they already had been.

No idea if there's any evidence they'd wiped the tapes because of this.