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Post by Ed Brown on Sept 20, 2012 9:12:12 GMT
All of the radio episodes do survive in the BBC archives, judging by the repeats on Radio 7 over the years. The only episode I can't immediately trace in my notes is s04e04, 'A Box in Town', but I seem to recall hearing it repeated on the radio on at least one occasion in the last five years. Repeats of Steptoe are currently running on BBC radio. To record the show from BBC iplayer, check out this link - beebotron.org/phorum/read.php?17,15259
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Post by Ed Brown on Sept 20, 2012 8:44:41 GMT
Marc was kind enough to let me have .wav recordings from his original tapes, to replace the mp3 files he had posted online.
The .wav's are intended to be used by the Dad's Army Appreciation Society archive section, who are carrying out a restoration of this series.
Unfortunately the .wav files run to hundreds of MB each, so are too big to post on line. But the DAAS hope to present a restored set of episodes to the BBC once the restoration work is finished.
However, I don't know how long the restoration work is likely to take.
As Marc has already posted mp3 versions of the files, I'm not proposing to repeat that, as a fresh encode to mp3 will be identical to his mp3's, coming from the same source tapes.
But .wav files are of a technically better quality for restoration purposes, as they retain all the analogue sound frequencies - unlike mp3!
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Post by Ed Brown on Sept 20, 2012 8:30:18 GMT
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Post by Ed Brown on Aug 26, 2011 20:55:50 GMT
Can anyone comment on the Troughton serial 'The Space Pirates' ?
I was recently sent a set of mp3 audio recordings of this serial, and every episode ended with an announcer talking over the end credits, in an Australian accent, telling viewers that the next episode would air next Sunday at the same time.
This clearly was not a recording from the original UK transmission, as the show was never broadcast on a Sunday on the BBC. Not to mention the strong Australian accent!
Is there an explanation, known to more informed fans, as to where this mp3 set originated? Or is this a previously unknown source?
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Post by Ed Brown on Aug 26, 2011 20:48:51 GMT
If you are looking for suggestions, in addition to Saga's magazine it might be worthwhile contacting 'This England' and 'Evergreen' magazines, which cover topics of interest to an older readership. Both must have a wide circulation, as they are sold in WH Smith.
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Post by Ed Brown on Oct 29, 2010 16:46:09 GMT
The lost 1947 'Paul Temple' radio serial, The Sullivan Mystery, has been found. Wikipedia is reporting the recovery of recordings of all 8 episodes - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_TempleHowever, at present these recordings do not appear to be available anywhere. Certainly the BBC site is not indicating any intention to release them. This recovery may cause some consternation at BBC, since they are currently trying to sell the (rather good) 2006 remake of this serial. Incidentally, the original 1947 production starred Kim Peacock, not the wonderful Peter Coke. There is one lost Peter Coke serial, but it isn't this one.
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Post by Ed Brown on Oct 19, 2010 11:12:33 GMT
This, of course, is a BBC Local Radio station.
BBC Manchester has existed since the 1930s, mostly at Broadcasting House in Manchester ("B.H. Manchester"), where it originally provided a regional Home Service transmitter as part of the Home Service network.
Real local radio existed from the earliest days, because the Home Service was originally a purely regional operation, in the days before it was possible to join multiple stations together so that both could broadcast the same feed simultaneously.
It was only when the BBC decided that Home Service was too grand to offer regional opt-outs any longer that they began developing the modern concept of "local" radio.
Is local radio worthwhile? Does it really meet a need? Is there, indeed, any real demand for it today? In the early days, when the only BBC station was the local Home Service transmitter, it was the only means of hearing radio. This was true until the Light Programme (originally the Forces Programme) was introduced.
Now that it is no longer the only means of receiving radio, and has degenerated into a largely unused service (when did YOU last listen?) is it worth the cost?
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Post by Ed Brown on Oct 19, 2010 9:07:42 GMT
No! This is not a poll, inviting you to nominate your choice for the title of the worst-ever BBC radio series. ;D
Eddie Braben, who became well-known as scriptwriter of The Morecambe and Wise Show on television, also had a career as a scriptwriter for radio, where his most famous work was probably as Ken Dodd's scriptwriter in Doddy's various radio series during the 1960s. As a consequence of this he was offered the television job with Morecambe and Wise.
However, during the 1970s - whilst becoming famous through television - he simultaneously continued his radio work, writing sketch-based variety shows in a similar vein to Round the Horne, and frequently with one of the former RTH cast, namely Bill Pertwee.
I may be teaching my grandmother to suck eggs here, but the earliest of these shows, in 1975, which Braben not only wrote but also appeared in, and which ran for 13 weeks, was entitled The Worst Show on the Wireless, produced in Manchester by James Casey ('The Clitheroe Kid', 'The Enchanted World of Hinge and Bracket', 'Listen to Les', 'Star Parade: The Ken Dodd Show', etc).
Subsequently, Braben would go on to write many more shows that were produced by Jim Casey: The Show with Ten Legs (13 episodes, 1978), The New Improved Show with Ten Legs (13 episodes, 1979), and The Show with No Name (1982-84). Along with Worst Show, these all had a common cast, in that they nearly all featured a line-up of Eddie Braben, Bill Pertwee, Alison Steadman, Eli Woods, and David Casey (the latter being Jim Casey's son).
Scarcely remembered today, I'm tempted to say that this nine years of work between '75 and '84 sank without trace. Very few of the shows seem to exist, which, given the significance of the partnership of Jim Casey and Eli Woods in the history of Northern comedy, and the importance of Eddie Braben to tv comedy, seems a pity.
Is there a definitive list anywhere of the surviving editions of these shows? Did the BBC in fact retain any of them, or are they all now lost? Am I the only person who even remembers them?
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Post by Ed Brown on Jan 2, 2010 16:06:01 GMT
The episodes of 'The Men From The Ministry' which you mention certainly don't exist in the BBC Sound Archives, as the BBC hold almost NO recordings from that show prior to 1970 (series 1 to 5), and very few recordings of any description prior to series 12 (1976).
These are the episodes held by BBC (and broadcast on BBC Radio 7) -
The Men from the Ministry - s01e02 1962-11-06 - The Big Rocket The Men from the Ministry - s02e02 1965-08-01 - Something about a Soldier The Men from the Ministry - s03e13 1967-03-05 - A Slight Case of Demolition The Men from the Ministry - s06e01 1970-06-30 - Bye Bye Mildred The Men from the Ministry - s06e02 1970-07-07 - Bare Necessities The Men from the Ministry - s06e14 1970-09-29 - Bill Stickers is Innocent The Men from the Ministry - s07e01 1971-07-29 - Rolling in It The Men from the Ministry - s08e01 1972-07-11 - The Conference Trick The Men from the Ministry - s08e07 1972-08-22 - Something of Value The Men from the Ministry - s09e05 1973-04-03 - A Private Affair The Men from the Ministry - s10e07 1974-07-29 - Sky High The Men from the Ministry - s10e12 1974-09-02 - In The Picture The Men from the Ministry - s11e01 1975-05-26 - Nothing But The Vest The Men from the Ministry - s11e02 1975-06-02 - That's My Baby The Men from the Ministry - s12e01 1976-07-06 - All Cisterns Go The Men from the Ministry - s12e02 1976-07-13 - A Problem Shared The Men from the Ministry - s12e03 1976-07-20 - The Whitehall Castaways The Men from the Ministry - s12e04 1976-07-27 - Off The Rails The Men from the Ministry - s12e05 1976-08-03 - Penny Wise The Men from the Ministry - s12e06 1976-08-10 - A Turn for the Nurse The Men from the Ministry - s12e07 1976-08-17 - Seal of Office The Men from the Ministry - s12e08 1976-08-24 - Birmingham Is Revolting The Men from the Ministry - s13e01 1977-07-04 - Mission Inedible The Men from the Ministry - s13e02 1977-07-11 - Horse Play The Men from the Ministry - s13e03 1977-07-18 - The Big Big 'Big Ben' Bungle The Men from the Ministry - s13e04 1977-07-25 - A Motley Crew The Men from the Ministry - s13e05 1977-08-01 - Not on Your Telly The Men from the Ministry - s13e06 1977-08-08 - One Way Only The Men from the Ministry - s13e07 1977-08-15 - Take Your Pick The Men from the Ministry - s13e08 1977-08-22 - Claws The Men from the Ministry - s14e14 1990-12-26 - The Christmas Spirit
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Post by Ed Brown on Jan 2, 2010 15:49:45 GMT
I don't quite see what you mean by "political circumstances".
The Dr Who serial in question (starring Tom Baker) fell victim to a technicians strike at the BBC in 1979, after 4 episodes of a six-part serial had been filmed.
It proved impossible to complete the final two episodes, due to the on-going strike action, in time to meet the scheduled broadcast dates. So four half-hour episodes, not merely one, had to be scrapped.
Many years later, all the completed footage from that serial, entitled 'Shada', was released on home video.
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Post by Ed Brown on Jan 2, 2010 15:20:23 GMT
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Post by Ed Brown on Apr 18, 2009 5:07:34 GMT
The quote you're discussing sounds like it originated in the Piccolo book, 'The Making of Doctor Who', written in 1972 by Terrance Dicks and Mac Hulke, a source which is notoriously vague and unreliable in regard to the 'facts' cited in it.
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Post by Ed Brown on Apr 18, 2009 4:53:13 GMT
I lived in Cyprus for three years from 1966 to 1969, on an RAF base. And I later lived on an RAF base in West Germany from 1972-74.
Doctor Who was not shown on the BFBS television service in Cyprus while I was there in the Sixties. I recall watching 'Lost In Space', 'Lassie', 'Batman', 'Get Smart', 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', and many other American shows; but I never once saw Patrick Troughton. I do fondly remember endless repeats of 'Daktari' though!
Some Dr Who episodes were recovered on film in Cyprus in the 1980's, from a civilian (Cypriot) tv station in Nicosia. But these were not screened by BFBS on the Forces' network, at least not in the Sixties.
In Germany the BFBS did not provide the television service. We watched the American Armed Forces network. AFAIR all the English-language tv in Germany was provided by the Americans. I remember our tv set going off to the RAF lab, for an NTSC conversion for that purpose. So we couldn't have watched a BFBS PAL station on it!
The tv service we got was therefore American shows only. We saw 'MASH' 2 years before it debuted in the UK. Also shown were Hawaii 5-0, The High Chaperal, The Flintstones, etc. But no BBC shows.
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Post by Ed Brown on Jan 19, 2009 19:01:14 GMT
I suppose this is meant to imply that all cassette recordings are acceptable and broadcastable, when in reality that is plainly not so.
WHTTLL was a special case. The recordings were made by a former BBC employee, and were in much better condition than the average cassette recording.
Normally, there is no prospect of restoring a cassette recording to broadcast standard. This is not because of the recording medium (since cassette can be a good quality format in experienced hands, if recorded using good quality equipment) but because of the use of a poor quality source (often an AM transmission, recorded with an open microphone).
A typical open mike amateur recording lacks most of the base or treble of the original signal, and/or suffers atmospherics on the audio, or lack of level, or distortion (or all four!), due to the shortcomings of the home recording equipment used.
It is rare to find a good quality recording from a home recorded source. There are, for example, many mp3's on the internet which faithfully reproduce all the faults of the home recorded open reel tape or cassette that was used as the encoding source.
The Sound Archive has a limited budget. There is no point in it squandering its limited resources on recordings which cannot be restored to broadcast quality.
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Post by Ed Brown on Jan 18, 2009 22:03:44 GMT
Cost is the over-riding consideration. If you are returning something in a broadcast format, such as a Transcription Services disk, the cost of restoration is much less than for an off-air recording in a home recording format such as compact cassette, where the item will probably never be capable of being restored to a broadcastable condition.
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