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Post by davemachin on Dec 10, 2009 17:39:15 GMT
Does anyone remember a drama series for children called Flower Of Gloster? I just did a bit of digging around on the web to find out what I could (other wise I would have spelled it Gloucester!) as it was something I can recall from the late sixties. Quite a creepy serial from the limited memories I have and set on a canal or barge?
My other questions are who made it and crucially does it still exist? I would love the chance to see it again. Any help or memories on this one from anybody would be welcomed. It seems something that has slipped through the net of nostalgia and never gets talked about. I have been meaning to mention this series for a while.
Dave
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Post by Peter Stirling on Dec 10, 2009 20:11:43 GMT
Dave there is some info here uk.imdb.com/title/tt0418392/it says its in colour, but I have doubts as Granada's Cyril Bernstein was apparently a Luddite towards colour and didn't want to waste money on 'a passing fad'. but who knows? CP maybe? Network is releasing a compilation of seventies children's programmes but I think we are doing well here with sixties programmes to make a compilation eh? The tyrant king mr piper the flower of gloster now who is for 'The devil in the fog' ? |
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Post by Alex Trelinski on Dec 11, 2009 1:17:15 GMT
From my memory as a kid, it had a lovely signature tune, and was produced by the Granada and later, Thames broadcaster, Bill Grundy.
The show was aired in 1967, and on searching the internet, there is a canals website which says that Bill Grundy gave a talk in Manchester on the making of the series and gave a screening of an episode(16mm colour) on a big screen. Lost Shows.com has the series as "status unknown", but as it was shot on film, then there must be a decent shout of some episodes being around somewhere. Granada certainly kept their 1969 children's colour film series, "The Owl Service".
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Post by Alex Trelinski on Dec 11, 2009 1:26:07 GMT
Just as a quick add-on. Looking further down the "Canals" website, a guy wrote to ITV in September of this year, and got a reply from ITV PLC Programme Sales saying that they could not do a full "run off" of the series on DVD but they could send him a maximum of two episodes at £95 each, for personal and private use!! Clearly the series exists!!
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Post by cperry on Dec 11, 2009 10:14:02 GMT
Two episodes only exist on lowband Umatic.
c
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Post by Alex Trelinski on Dec 11, 2009 10:26:56 GMT
Two episodes only exist on lowband Umatic. c Thanks Chris. How sad. Explains the maximum 2 episode "offer" to the canal enthusiast!!! |
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Post by davemachin on Dec 11, 2009 10:32:14 GMT
Just as a quick add-on. Looking further down the "Canals" website, a guy wrote to ITV in September of this year, and got a reply from ITV PLC Programme Sales saying that they could not do a full "run off" of the series on DVD but they could send him a maximum of two episodes at £95 each, for personal and private use!! Clearly they didn't tell him why they could only do him two episodes! Thanks for all your replies. I was reading down them slowly and getting excited until I read Chris's reply at the end about only two existing! Any reason why, Chris? Being on U Matic, the films must have been around until the seventies or eighties at least. Granada are usually good with their archive and particularly as it was a filmed series too. I wonder why it has such a disappointing survival rate? Very disappointing for me personally. Dave |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 11, 2009 11:31:27 GMT
I'm very disappointed about this too as I recall it slightly. Granada's track record is generally very good. This must also be one of the few times where a FILM series was actually junked! Especially sad as it was made in colour, which you'd think would have guaranteed it's survival.
How did the two U-Matics come to survive, Chris? Were the prints / negs around until comparatively recently before being copied over? Any particular reason these two were saved?
By the way, Peter, i'm with you on that '60s compilation of kid's shows (along the lines of the '70s volumes that Network are releasing). Tyrant King (bet they couldn't pass it, though i'd love to see it), Mr. Piper and Flower Of Gloster are obvious candidates. Add to that the one surviving Sexton Blake, an Orlando, Origami (which started in the '60s), the sole surviving series 2 Freewheelers episode and a few more. For a younger kid's volume, Snip And Snap, Pingwings, Hatty Town, Sara & Hoppity and sole surviving editions (that the BFI apparently have in their archive) of Playtime and Musical Box (I can predict access problems though in cases where the BFI / NFTVA have the only masters). Anyone got more suggestions we can add to the list? Hopefully Network will read it and take note.
What's Devil In The Fog, Peter? Don't recall that one myself.
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Post by cperry on Dec 11, 2009 12:33:32 GMT
no idea why only 2 survive sorry.
all of devil in the fog is at nftva on 16mm master neg. we have tried to access them and been denied, they want £4000 an ep which is their way of saying no.
c
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Post by Peter Stirling on Dec 11, 2009 12:45:47 GMT
good news about devil in the fog Chris thanks?
I remember you had the same problem trying access 'The Informer' at Nfta.
Apparently 'The Owl Service' nearly didn't survive the years.
Granada had printed it in B/W for its premier showing in 69/70
and assumed it was a B/W programme, thus guaranteeing a precarious existence.
However the cameraman died in a car crash in the 1970s and it was while Granada was compiling a tribute they discovered the Owl Service had a colour negative.
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Post by gileshill on Dec 12, 2009 8:31:45 GMT
no idea why only 2 survive sorry. all of devil in the fog is at nftva on 16mm master neg. we have tried to access them and been denied, they want £4000 an ep which is their way of saying no. c What kind of negative is it? If it only exists as 16 mm a/b roll negative then £4000 is probably close to what most of the local London places would want to go from negative to finished prints to broadcast standard master tapes. The nftva probably want to make you pay for everything yourself because no one else needs a copy but they still want the process taken to the end of the line or not at all. But even the most simple print to show directly would be about £1000 to make. I have remembered now that the Doctor Who Restoration Team said they got the negatives for the Patrick Troughton stories out of the BFI to their own facilities to transfer direct by using the Donor Access scheme. If you got the owners of Devil In The Fog to ask for the negatives to be released then it might be cheaper. |
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Post by Peter Stirling on Dec 12, 2009 10:40:10 GMT
By the way, Peter, i'm with you on that '60s compilation of kid's shows (along the lines of the '70s volumes that Network are releasing). Tyrant King (bet they couldn't pass it, though i'd love to see it), Mr. Piper and Flower Of Gloster are obvious candidates. Add to that the one surviving Sexton Blake, an Orlando, Origami (which started in the '60s), the sole surviving series 2 Freewheelers episode and a few more. For a younger kid's volume, Snip And Snap, Pingwings, Hatty Town, Sara & Hoppity and sole surviving editions (that the BFI apparently have in their archive) of Playtime and Musical Box (I can predict access problems though in cases where the BFI / NFTVA have the only masters). Anyone got more suggestions we can add to the list? Hopefully Network will read it and take note. What's Devil In The Fog, Peter? Don't recall that one myself. The devil in the fog was a ye olde tale of smugglers and spooky country houses. Sort of a live action Skooby Doo melodrama if I remember correctly but dont quote me on it, its along time ago. LOL I have just remembered Hatty Town. Wasn't it an animation and all the heroes were hats ? I think the 'star' was called Sombrero or something and indeed was a sombrero hat. There was another animation called 'Yak' who lived in Tibet.Which I found very imformative as I had never heard of a yak before, had quite a sad theme tune. I suppose there is no hope in hell that 'Object Z' or 'The Master' exists anymore? Elephant's Eggs with Richard Beckinsale was one of the most bizarre things I had ever seen at the time. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2009 10:58:05 GMT
I remember watching Elephant's Eggs well too, Peter. A weird mix of Edward Lear type nonsense verse and comedy. It was a regular viewing habit for me although only the one series was made. I think i'm right in saying that an episode does exist (?)
Amazingly, Object Z exists in full; the first episode of the sequel does as well (a nice extra for the DVD when the first serial is released complete - hope!) The Master is all gone, I think, being Southern TV.
The main character in Hatty Town was Sancho (and his donkey friend, Carrots). A VHS release came out many years ago and it's very enjoyable. A DVD set would be welcomed by me. I remember watching it when screened by Rediffusion in 1967, although it was in colour (and later taken up by Thames and shown through till the early '70s).
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Post by davemachin on Dec 12, 2009 14:04:36 GMT
When does Devil In The Fog date from, Peter, and who made it? You have got my attention with this one as I do not remember it without seeing the thing. I always like hearing about series I wasn't aware of from the period I was watching a lot of tv.
Dave
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Post by Peter Stirling on Dec 14, 2009 10:38:23 GMT
When does Devil In The Fog date from, Peter, and who made it? You have got my attention with this one as I do not remember it without seeing the thing. I always like hearing about series I wasn't aware of from the period I was watching a lot of tv. Dave I thought it was Thames around 1968 but just checked with the BFI apparently a Rediffusion production. may not of had any smugglers in it after all LOL, but certainly a type of live action Skooby Doo with creepy country houses and kid heroes. here is another one completely gone from the archive and memory The Tingaree Affair ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/370565kids battle against terrorists at a dodgy embassy |
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