Out of this World (1962)

[B Thomas]

Just a quickie...

It's well known that episodes of "Out of the Unknown" (1965 - 71) are missing.

I am researching it's "precursor" "Out of this World (1962)" and I was wondering if any episodes of this series were missing or if they all still survive?

Episode list is:

0- 1 24 Jun 62 Dumb Martian
1- 1 30 Jun 62 The Yellow Pill
1- 2 7 Jul 62 Little Lost Robot
1- 3 14 Jul 62 Cold Equations
1- 4 21 Jul 62 Impostor
1- 5 28 Jul 62 Botany Bay
1- 6 4 Aug 62 Medicine Show
1- 7 11 Aug 62 Pictures Don't Lie
1- 8 18 Aug 62 The Vanishing Act
1- 9 25 Aug 62 Divided We Fall
1-10 1 Sep 62 The Dark Star
1-11 8 Sep 62 The Immigrant
1-12 15 Sep 62 Target Generation
1-13 22 Sep 62 The Tycoons

[Colin Cutler]

Sadly, only Little Lost Robot still survives.

If you're in the research mode, a good point of departure is the Action TV ep guide at:

www.action-tv.org.uk/guides/outofworld.htm

Irene Shubik also has a few interesting things to say about her time on the series in her book: Play For Today: The Evolution of TV Drama.

Colin

[Frederick Thompson]

Is "Little Lost Robot" readily available? I do not suppose so but are copies ever available? I would love to see it again. Pity about "Cold Equations" being missing as it had Jane Asher in it.

[B Thomas]

Thanks Colin - thats a great help. what a bugger, eh? at least we have ONE example, I guess...

[Andrew Doherty]

I must be one of the few to have seen the entire series, when it was broadcast in the summer of 1962.

Yes, I remember Jane Asher in the drama mentioned.
She looks as good now as she did then. Remarkable!

I would say another of my favourites from this series was 'Vanishing Act'. As I remember Maurice Denham played the leading character that inherits a cabinet from a magician and finds when items are place in the cabinet they vanish. To add to this he is suspected of murder (his wife, I think), needless to say wrongly. Derek Newark played the police inspector who decides to confront the Maurice Denham's character. Consequently, he decides to take his chances with the 'vanishing cabinet'.

You don't get nice stories like that anymore.
If you read my comments on page 14 of the "has the BBC ever apologized" thread, I give a few examples of television plays, which I found to be of the kind seldom produced, if at all, and a few with a twist or two in the plots.

Yours sincerely,