BBC TS LPs - RtH/SIRTA/Robin Hood

[Cliff Chapman]

Hi,

An acquaintance has in her collection 8 LPs that come in light orange/rich yellow sleeves from the BBC, which her late father owned (yes, that old story!). They just have "BBC TS" on the sleeves.

They include (presumably one or two episodes on each disc from) 'I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again,' Round The Horne, and Robin Hood, and possibly something else as well. The Round The Horne disc has "Bonna (sic) Seats" noted on it, which may pinpoint one episode to a Julian and Sandy fan I've heard a few and enjoyed them but I'm not an authority...

One of the discs has a rather gorgeous etching of the BBC Logos/Crests on the back.

From notes on the labels, saying "Expiry 1974" or "Expiry 1979" I would presume these are non-commercial LPs pressed for broadcast on BBC World Service or something like that. Or maybe even a local BBC station. I would guess that means they were meant to be destroyed then... but ended up in private hands.

A nice curiosity regardless, but as I'm not familiar with how long those sort of copyright terms would last, can anyone tell me -

1) The copyright term on these sort of things?
2) Any chance any of these might be missing?

I'm going to pop in either tomorrow or Sunday with my digital camera and take some photos for reference.

So, worth further investigation? Or would the expiry dates indicate programmes too 'young' to be likely missing? Cheers for any input. As I say I'll sort pics out over the weekend if they're wanted.

[Gary Critcher]

these would be Transcription Service discs - I used to work there!! Copyright for these is held by the BBC. We used to issue radio programmes to radio stations abroard. You name it, Transcriptions issued it ; light music, drama, pop music, comedy; anything. They are now called BBC Radio International.
Any more questions, please ask away!

[cliffchapman]

Ah thanks So, as they had 'expiry dates' can this give us a clue as to when they were made and give a clue as to whether the material is missing or not? One had 'Expiry 1974' on and another was 'Expiry 1979'. Was there a specific term for the 'legal' lifespan these recordings were supposed to have?

I didn't get a chance to study them in depth, so maybe I missed some info, and might end up answering my own question tomorrow...

[Adrian Gregg]

nope i'd say it all exists, TS discs are rareish but all if not most reside at the beeb or in private collections. hell i got's me a few myself. (10 inch goons from thier 1st TS pressings)

in regards to RTH all the shows have been issed on CD and most are complete. the ts versions have about 2-3 mins cut from them.
Don't know about robin hood.. and all the ISIRTA TS editions exist.. i have a few EX ABC 15ips open reel's and again they are cut, which is a shame.
but would love to have nice scanns of the labels..

yeh i have a disc with the bbc emblem on one side, its very nice. its a dad's army disc

[cliffchapman]

OK, here we go - she showed me about eight yesterday, but there's 26 in total - all Horne or ISIRTA.

Robin Hood is actually noted on one of the 'ISIRTA' discs so must be a sketch that identifies that show, rather than a radio drama, sorry.

I noted down the info here...

26 discs

Round The Horne 1-26 all 26'50"
codes on labels -
Cn1450/NPR
Exp 31/12/74
117643-117674

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 11/12
Supernatural
Robin Hood

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 15/16

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 17/18

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 19/20

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 21/22 Grim fairy tale
Space

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 23/24 cn2138

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 27 (back has the etched BBC Transcription Service on back) note Helen of Troy cn2138 27'00"

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 30+31 exp 31/12/80 c1975 both 27'00" cn2369 note arkwright

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 32/33 cn2369

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 34/35 Operation choc/ bow legs cn2369

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 36/37
Macbeath and Robinson Prunestone

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 38/39

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again 40/etching (films)

So, interesting anyway. The lady who owns them has a small hotel and does the best and biggest afternoon tea you'll ever get for a tenner. As she's not particularly interested in them, any idea what she'd get if she sold them? The LPs themselves are in great condition, although some of the sleeves have a few minor rips (only a couple though.

I'm off to upload the pics to photobucket now. Only a 3 mp camera and the lighting wasn't great but hopefully a few will give a nice nostalgia kick for Gary at least

[cliffchapman]

[Gary Critcher]

unfortunately, those links don't work for me.
Any idea where yr lady friend got the discs?

[cliffchapman]

Hi Gary, drop me a PM with your email and I'll send some over to you if you like.

Her father accumulated all sorts of stuff - he enjoyed auctions in the Isle of Man and also lived in Zimbabwe (or rather Rhodesia as it was then) so that gives a couple of options.

[Gary Critcher]

got the pics now, thanks. Yes, those things bring back memories! I worked at Transcriptions from 1976 - 1983, when I left I was in charge of the Tape Library.