2 "Till Death Us Do Part" episodes found

[Dick Fiddy]

Press Release from Kaleidoscope:

PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Anthony Harvison EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12pm Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Tel: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]


LOST MASTERPIECES OF TV SATIRE REDISCOVERED
Sitcom episodes reveal corrupt politicians were just as much of a comedy target 40 years ago as today

TWO long-lost episodes of Johnny Speight's classic BBC sitcom Till Death Us Do Part have been recovered with the help of classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope.

The show, transmitted between 1965 and 1975, was one of the most important in television history. Conceived as a rival to Coronation Street, Till Death Us Do Part introduced the world to the monstrous, bigoted, right wing Alf Garnett, played brilliantly by Warren Mitchell; his vegetating wife Else (Dandy Nichols); the equally obnoxious left wing son-in-law Mike (Anthony Booth, Tony Blair's father-in-law); and the giggly, charming daughter Rita (played by Una Stubbs). Despite endless controversy, most famously involving Mrs Mary Whitehouse, Till Death was consistently top of the viewing figures during its ten year run.

Sadly, the majority of the show's 26 episodes from the first three series, broadcast in black and white between 1965-68, no longer exist. They were junked following transmission because storage costs of videotape were prohibitive. The recovery of two intact episodes, both from the second season of the show screened in early 1967. is therefore an extremely exciting event.

"In Sickness and In Health", first shown on February 13th, 1967, features Alf, the worlds worst patient, undergoing treatment on the NHS. Highlights include Alf cleaning his pipe with a scalpel and a hypodermic needle, a classic kiss between Alf and Else, and a hilarious hospital visit by Alf's family. Guests stars include sitcom stalwarts Graham Stark, Anthony Sharp, Tommy Godfrey, and Mark Eden, most famous for his role in Coronation Street as the murderous Alan Bradley.

"State Visit", transmitted the following week, was inspired by a front page of The Daily Mirror (Alf's "bloody Labour rag"), which was covering the state visit of the Soviet premier to London. Alf
rails at the deviousness of politicians, from his bête noire Harold Wilson to Peter Mandelson's grandfather Herbert Morrison, and from cheating chancellors to false expense claims in a period of nationwide recession. Just to make it even more eerily topical, the Deputy Prime Minister that most arouses Alf's wrath is another Mr Brown - George Brown.

The episodes came to light after former BBC film editor Graham Walker got in touch with Kaleidoscope via its website www.lostshows.com. Discovering the shows to be missing, he offered the not-for-profit TV heritage organisation his 16mm film prints. These included a third Till Death episode, "Peace and Goodwill”, that already existed in the BBC archives, albeit in an edited form. There are hopes that the excised footage found in Mr Walker's copy can be restored to the original BBC print.

Mark Ward, author of A Family At War: The Unofficial and Unauthorised Guide to Till Death Us Do Part, is delighted with the recoveries. He said:

“This is an astonishing find of major importance to British television history, one which we will all maybe (to use Alf Garnett's charming phrase) "bloody learn somefink".

“Neither episode has been seen in public for forty years, and both demonstrate the series ability to be funny, topical and utterly shocking despite the passing of time. “

Film collector Graham Walker, who has enjoyed watching the episodes over the years with his family, said: “These early episodes are just wonderful. Not only do they boast superb performances from all the main characters, but also the mixture of hilarious humour and pathos has never been bettered in British TV.

“They are indeed timeless and fantastic pieces of social history. It's amazing how much is still relevant today. The sentiments behind the wonderfully funny dialogue between Alf and Mike at the beginning of "State Visit" about Britain's role as a declining world power could so easily be transposed to events of now.”

All the episodes have now been returned by Kaleidoscope to the BBC for restoration and transfer to high-quality digibeta video. One edition will be screened at Kaleidoscope's forthcoming career retrospective and tribute to comedian's comedian Bob Monkhouse - Bob's Full House - which is to be held at the prestigious BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) headquarters, Piccadilly., on Saturday, October 24th.

Kaleidoscope's Chris Perry said, "This is a find of enormous cultural significance. We are very grateful to Graham Walker for letting Kaleidoscope screen this episode at our forthcoming Bob's Full House event and return them all to the BBC for future generations to enjoy.”

[adriane17]

Absolutely fantastic news!

Any chance of one or both getting an airing at the next Missing Believed Wiped or better still a special evening at The BFI.

Best of all would The BBC actually releasing a DVD of all that now exists - but that would be asking too much now wouldn't it?!

[cperry]

Thanks for posting this Dick.

If you read the press release you will see that we are showing one in London in October this year, Adrian.

c

[Deleted]

This is a great find! It's the sort of thing where, after reading the text, you have to double-check it isn't April 1st!

Great work, Kal. Let's hope that, as the episodes are now back at the BBC, they'll put them to use. With these added to the total, there are now a fair few b/w Till Deaths existing. Thanks Graham too. It just goes to show that people can hang on to material all this time and still not know of it's rarity.

[cperry]

He knew they were rare, and he kept trying to tell the BBC but no one answered his emails. He rang up the BFI at Stephen Street and they didn't know who to put him through to and told him to ring the BBC.

Good job he watched Raiders of the Lost Archives lol.

c

[LanceM]

Indeed this is fantastic news.As has been said, just goes to show what may still be out there,you never know.

Sounds very similar to the chap with Space Pirates 2, and who had the Tomorrows World Moonlanding material. As his daughter had called and phoned the BBC trying to talk to someone who might be able to assist, they were forwarded to many people there before reaching someone who was able to assist.That is really surprising that no one at the BFI was able to assist more directly with these prints, would think they of all people would be very interested in any calls or e-mails stating "I know these are rare and missing from the archives, do you want them?".Great to hear they will be screened soon, a fantastic recovery!

Agreed, almost have to check the date, to make sure is after the 1st of April.Would hope as well, that a possible DVD release may be in the future, but seeing the sheer amount of lost editions,may never know for sure, can wish at least.

Might any screen-grabs be possible for posting on the episode recoveries section here? As really am hoping, for those who may not be able to make the events, may at least have the chance to see some photos possibly?

Excellent work,kudos yet again to the tireless work of Christopher Perry, and all at Kaleidoscope!Thanks for all your hard work as usual in ensuring TV history is preserved for future generations to learn from and to enjoy!

Cheers,Lance.

[Andy Howells]

Thanks for this info, this is great news and gives hope that there are even more gems out there! I'd certainly like to see more of this series having enjoyed the few early episodes I've seen and some of the later ones.

I've included a copy of the press release on my blog hoping it may encourage other people to return shows, good luck and well done to all concerned!

[Ant Harvison - WIPED NEWS]

If anyone's interested, I've put up a brief interview I did with Graham Walker on my website Wiped. You can find it at: wipednews.com/features/till-death-us-do-part-discoveries-a-chat-with-graham-walker/

[Steve Roberts]

Interesting that they came from EXACTLY the same place as the two Doctor Who episodes (including the missing 'Day of Armageddon') that Francis Watson had...

[Koen Br]

That's an interesting interview, Anthony.

Since you seem to be in contact with Graham Walker, perhaps you could direct him to the various threads about this find. Someone who has persevered to return these programmes, despite the BBC's irritating lack of interest, deserves a pat on the back and may be quite pleased to see there are people who are grateful for his efforts.

[Rich Cornock]

Aug 5, 2009 16:42:31 GMT @cperry said:

Thanks for posting this Dick.

If you read the press release you will see that we are showing one in London in October this year, Adrian.

c

might be worth asking Warren Mitchell along to this event as he wouldnt have seen it for 40 years either!

[cperry]

It's a Bob Monkhouse event, not a Till Death event.

It's included because Bob was a huge fan of Alf Garnett and had every book, TV episode and bit of info possible. Nothing missing though.

c

[Rich Cornock]

still nice to ask him tho!

[cperry]

Why?

They never worked together so how can Warren Mitchell talk about knowing Bob Monkhouse?

[RWels]

Can we get a search warrant somewhere for all former film editors for the BBC and other channels? Perhaps actively searching them out to ask for any old prints they might have would not be such a bad idea!