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Post by Ben on Apr 15, 2005 18:51:53 GMT
A quick question (or two): what is the actual archive status of Steptoe and Son? The following link suggests that episodes are missing and some only suggest as unbroadcastable/unreleasable low-grade copies: www.xmission.com/~spectral/pythl/plpmis/mfta1/stepas.htmlHowever, I've become aware that this site may be out of date (see All Gas and Gaiters section) and seem to recall reading that the series is complete in the archives. My second question is about the following [TV] DVDs: www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=search&searchtype=r2title&searchstring=Steptoe&page=searchAre the two "Best Of" volumes random surviving episodes or actually specifcally selected best episodes? I'm planning to buy the series on DVD, but don't want to buy any redudant DVDs. (Nearly bought the two films today, but I'd already spent too much on DVDs.)
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Post by Dan on Apr 15, 2005 21:21:49 GMT
The series is complete.
The last episode to be recovered was "Men Of Property" from one of Galton & Simpsons home recordings. I'm told the tape was previously viewed and mistaken for Men Of Property, otherwise it'd have appeared at the same time as the other G&S recordings.
I'm told it's been broadcast on BBC2 sometime after 1995 (Remember the repeats around that time? After most of them had been shown they kept sticking an episode on at some stupid late time. The Seven Steptoerai must have been repeated at least 3 times. Gawd knows why they loved that one so much). If it was broadcast (and nobodys been able to confirm it to me yet) then it was in one of those stupid late night timeslots as a filler or something.
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Post by Dan on Apr 15, 2005 21:28:09 GMT
The last episode to be recovered was "Men Of Property" from one of Galton & Simpsons home recordings. I'm told the tape was previously viewed and mistaken for Men Of Property I meant mistaken for Men Of Letters.
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Post by Ben on Apr 15, 2005 22:15:28 GMT
Thanks. That's a great help!
How many, if any at all, are unbroadcastable/unreleasable? Just wondering about complete DVD box sets. Only Season 1 is available so far.
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Post by Gary Robinson on Apr 15, 2005 22:36:05 GMT
All of Steptoe and Son is broadcastable and releasable,only we have to put up with the B/W copies of the first 1970 colour season,found by Galton and Simpson,instead of the colour originals,I think nearly all S+S was released on VHS including an introduction from Galton+Simpson on one tape about recovering the 1970 series!
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Post by Dan on Apr 15, 2005 23:30:42 GMT
Yes, they're all broadcastable.
Galton & Simpson 's home recordings were made on (I think) a Shibaden machine or something similar, which recorded on a normal audio reel-to-reel tape. The definition is lower than VHS quality. I was amazed when BBC2 broadcast "My Old Man's A Tory", not because of the low quality (around 135 lines - I was able to count them!), but because they had the courage to show it! If only more archive stuff was broadcast.
My Old Man's A Tory (1965) is the only G&S recording that's such low definition, all the rest (recorded 1970) are of better quality. Obviously still lower definition than broadcast quality (maybe they used a different machine - it was 5 years later - or maybe the fact that they were recording a 625 line broadcast as opposed to the earlier one which was a 405 line broadcast had something to do with it), but theyre as good as other archive stuff recorded by the BBC themselves.
Oh, that site linked to earlier in the thread seems to not have been updated in a long time. One of The Goodies episodes listed as missing was shown on UK Gold years ago.
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Post by Dan on Apr 15, 2005 23:34:42 GMT
we have to put up with the B/W copies of the first 1970 colour season,found by Galton and Simpson,instead of the colour originals Except 'Come Dancing' & 'Cuckoo In The Nest' which exist in colour. I also heard a rumour that a colour off-air recording of 'Pot Black' exists, recorded off Australian TV.
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Post by Ben on Apr 19, 2005 14:42:03 GMT
Thanks for the information Dan. It's great to know that they all exist!
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Post by andrew martin on Apr 19, 2005 17:27:35 GMT
As a matter of fact there are two 'episodes' of Steptoe and Son which don't exist complete - these are the inserts made for Christmas Night with the Stars in 1962 and 1967. In the case of the former an excerpt from it exists in a schools programme called "Looking at Television" from 1963, in the case of the latter the filmed inserts exist, but not the complete insert.
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Post by Ben on Apr 20, 2005 17:36:46 GMT
After listening to Men of Letters on BBC7 last night, if I remember, I'm going to order Season 1 and Steptoe and Son/Steptoe and Son Ride Again later. Going to give the two Best Of releases a miss and wait for the complete seasons.
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Post by robw285 on Apr 21, 2005 15:27:23 GMT
hi Dan
where did you hear the rumour about POT BLACK 07/12/70 if a colour version exists i would consider that a major find
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Post by Laurence Piper on Apr 22, 2005 6:54:49 GMT
As a matter of fact there are two 'episodes' of Steptoe and Son which don't exist complete - these are the inserts made for Christmas Night with the Stars in 1962 and 1967. In the case of the former an excerpt from it exists in a schools programme called "Looking at Television" from 1963, in the case of the latter the filmed inserts exist, but not the complete insert. I remember watching one of these sketches at the time; the storyline went that all they had to eat on Xmas Day was a load of canned food! Which of those would it be, Andrew?
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Post by andrew martin on Apr 22, 2005 11:36:24 GMT
It may have been the 1962 one - the 1967 one seems to have been to do with them visiting a pub (the film sequences show them coming out of a pub, being stopped by some policemen, breathalysed - topical joke for 1967 - and arrrested: drunk in charge of a horse and cart!).
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Post by Laurence Piper on Apr 22, 2005 11:51:57 GMT
Ah, thanks, Andrew. I have seen the '67 inserts recently and didn't see how that footage could be integrated into the storyline I recall. Was it really '62? Time does fly! Just thinking of all those now missing programmes that I watched back then..!
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Stephen M Wolterstorff
Guest
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Post by Stephen M Wolterstorff on Apr 24, 2005 15:34:31 GMT
>However, I've become aware that this site may be out of date
Well, perhaps just a little. Been slacking I guess. Life gets like that now and then.
On that note, thanks to the group for all the notes in this thread. I love it when other people do some of my work for me.
-Stephen M. Wolterstorff (the 'Missing from the Archives' guy)
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