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Post by John W King on Jul 15, 2013 9:18:39 GMT
You will see on a different thread (Earliest memories) that earlier in the year I recalled having seen the TELEVISION trailer and it fits in with this account of a radio trailer. As soon as I read the scipt posted here it brought back the visuals and the words are closer than I previously posted (Obviously!) I do hope they try to recreate them for Adventures in Time and Space". I can remember seeing the trailer on TV at least twice. One time was on the thursday either at the end of or during "Tonight" with cliff Michelmore. I personally find this report very exciting as it confirms my memory. I thought I was the only to recall this. Any news then of my other unique memory - the use of the final Dalek battle sequence used in the Hospital "Meet the Kids" programme shown sometime (May bank holiday 1968?) between the initial transmission and the repeat after Wheel in Space?. If only we could tap into our brains to replay our memories.........
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Post by John W King on Jun 4, 2013 10:27:38 GMT
Does anybody remember a french film series shown in the very early 1960's (1961 or 2?) called something like "Bel et Cristobel" (but most definitely NOT Belle et Sebastien which was much later). My memory was that it was shown on BBC TV on a Tuesday and Thursday evening at around 17.00 or 18.00. It ran for several week in the summer months (we missed the episode just before the last one as we were on holiday. I think it was dubbed rather than sub titled. It involved 2 children and an adult in a striped jumper??? I think it all ended in Paris. It was a long time ago and I was very young. Everything is annoyingly hazy. Anybody able to offer me more info and if it still exists. Thanks.
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Post by John W King on Mar 12, 2013 10:31:08 GMT
In the recent books on John Lennon's Letters an entry for 1968 records Lennon had a video recorded and used it often. On what and if anything remains perhaps Yoko knows? Frankie Howerd I believe also had a VTR and Peter Cook. Out of curiosity did any of the Royal family own recording equipment? If so what did they record? Did they archive anything (other than Royal Broadcasts?) The big, big question is who, out there would have the Brassneck to ask? And if any of them said "Oh, One has a pile of old videos in the Blue Room in Buck Pal. if you want to sift through them." Who amongst us would have the time or equipment to go through old tapes? I bet not all collectors are as meticulously documented as Bob Monkhouse.
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Post by John W King on Mar 12, 2013 10:19:34 GMT
Though I'd start afresh on this as it is currently getting lost with the Aztecs. The Galaxy 4 recon is, in my opinion - Stunning, best recon on DVD so far, it closely matches my memories of watching this story. Even the final moments in the Tardis leading into Mission to the Unknown match my memories (see thread on Earliest Memories). Slight quibbles - I recall the ground around the Tardis being lighter, almost white. At the time I was disappointed with this story as it looked cheap and obviously very studio bound. The floor/planet surface was unnaturally flat obviously to allow the Chumblies to move. This reconstruction has actually made me re-evaluate this story in that it looks very much better than I remembered! Other quibble is that in the last episode I can recall seeing the travelers running from the Rill space craft to the Tardis with the camera keep shuddering , white smoke drifting around and when the Rill Spacecraft exploded we saw the sky and a sudden flash. Quibbles. This is a first class recon and that very closely matches the original broadcast. I urge all fans to buy it for this story alone. The bonus features are all excellent as well although, if it existed, the Blue Peter feature on the Chumblies would have been nice as it featured Angelo Muscat (later in the Prisoner). Biggest memory shock was clearly seeing 4 Rills!!! Now that I had forgotten. ) I have yet to watch the Aztecs (always a great story)
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Post by John W King on Mar 7, 2013 10:02:40 GMT
Excellent animation and matches my memories of the action pretty well. At the time I always felt the ending of this episode was rather rushed and watching it made little sense. The action through out the episode built to the destruction on Mondas a bit of chat between Ben and Polly then they were knocking on the doors of the Tardis. Being pedantic, my recollection was the Tardis was more square on to the screen, the snow made it look quite fuzzy and yes, the animated snow flakes seem too large. However the animation looks more dramatic. Inside everything seemed very quick and confusing so yes, those quick camera shots of Hartnell's face are is it happened. Did we see Ben and Polly enter the Tardis? I can't be certain, I really can't be certain but no I don't think we did. If we did, it was a very brief shot and they were behind the console. And the pulsing light? Yes, I think that was there. It gave the impression the Tardis's heart was beating. The lighting seemed more subdued than the animation appears. I have already said that watching it all was rather confusing but the animation is, to my recollection, pretty accurate. But after all this time memory is strained to the very limit but if the remainder of the episode is of this standard it wll be the nearest thing to having episode 4. A miracle!
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Post by John W King on Jan 24, 2013 9:46:50 GMT
I've seen that Grimefighters. That's just one video hoarder - how many others are out there? Last year I heard a local college cleared out all it's old videos - tapes as well as cassettes going back to God knows when. Then there was a showing recently of Frankie Howerd - the Lost tapes. Howerd's house is preserved exactly as it was when he died. Amongst the items shown in the prgramme were BBC Transcription discs of his appearances on radio from as early as 1946! Programmes thought lost werer actually stored by his agent! Now there may be a place to seek missing episodes - theatrical agents and impressario's who, no doubt kept recorded material of their acts so they could tout them around to find business. Has anyone followed this avenue yet? If Frankie Howerd and his agent are anything to go by it may be a productive source. Look at the Bob Monkhouse collection. we can but live in hope.
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Post by John W King on Jan 24, 2013 9:37:34 GMT
I was 9 and it made a big impression on me. The snow went on forever and ever. The Thames at Abingdon (near Oxford) froze hard enough for a car to drive on it - I saw it by Abingdon Bridge! The sea froze! Kids made giant snow men and igloos. Boys wore short trousers then and your thighs were rubbed sore by the bitter winds. We went sledging at Boar's Hill overlooking Oxford. But it wasn't all fun. It was very hard work getting about as pavements and roads were like glass and often the wind was really raw. What it was like for adults like my parents I don't really know but I have known such an awfully cold, prolonged white time in my life. Films, as ever, give an impression but don't capture the reality of a truly bleak time. Few people had central heating or double glazing. Only coal fires. Few missing episodes then as most had yet to be made! If only we had foresight in 1963........ As a historical comparison - 1963 was 50 years ago. 50 years before that was 1913 - makes you think doesn't it?
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Post by John W King on Jan 24, 2013 9:21:50 GMT
I gave acomplete set of Radio Times and TV Times to a Mr Rob Moss way back in 2001 when I last moved and lost the space to store them. I can't remember but I may have had some from the 1970's as well. I agree that the Radio Times on line would be an incredible resource. I used to keep them in paper form before the advent of computers etc.
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Post by John W King on Dec 24, 2012 10:36:04 GMT
I know my posting was a few days ago but I got the impression it upset a few people which was far from my intention. I certainly didn't mean to sneer or put people down and am deeply hurt to think that is how my message was taken. I was most certainly not trying to offer a 3 course egotistical put down. I would dearly love video signals to be recovered in some way from the audio signal or otherwise. All I was attempting to explain is that with our current thinking and understanding it would seem to be impossible. Don't forget we are talking about data/programmes that were recorded a long time ago. I was only trying to help and offer information. I fond it very sad it was taken otherwise. By the way my final comment was a miss quote from William Hartnell when he turned to the camera and wished everyone at home a very Merry Christmas in 1965. Good luck with trying to explore the impossible.
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Post by John W King on Dec 21, 2012 9:19:45 GMT
Firstly - in the late 60's my brother and I tried experimenting with recording a video signal onto a domestic open reel tape recorder. All we got was a variable hum and a pulsating white flashing screen. The problem is simply the tape to head speed. Audio recorders have a static head. The problem was finally resolved by spinning the tape head. The fastest tape speed on domestic audio recorders was 15 inches per second (i.p.s.). Professional recording studios used 30 i.p.s. The speed needed to record video image has to be in excess of 20mph! Aido cassettes use a speed of 1 and seven eigths i.p.s. This explains why only audio signals could be preserved on open reel tapes and audio cassettes. Secondly - analog signals were recorded onto tape by magnetising the iron oxide particles in patterns running along the length of the tape (audio) and in helical scans (video). There are/were no layers to "peel back". It is very easy to disturb the patterns on the tape and lose the or distort the signal. Re-recording over a tape changed the patterns and effectively lost the previous signal. Heat was bad for tapes. Magnetic fields were bad for tapes e.g. magnets in loudspeakers, tv sets, naturally occurring magnetic fields - I used to store my tapes in a cool, dry environment wrapped in tin foil to isolate them. Please note:- hard drives record digital/not analog signals which is how data can be recovered from them. Finally:- space is an awfully big place and trying to recover signals from there would be as easy and likely as building a time machine and going back to recover or record the original transmissions. Mind you it makes a good fantasy, a good story. And a Merry Christmas to you all at home.
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Post by John W King on Dec 20, 2012 9:20:44 GMT
Just for the record guys, I record onto CD using a Toshiba compact disc recorder and NOT a PC. I tend to use CD-R discs tather than CD-RW. I believe they are more stable. I have discs over 12 years old that still play with no probs. I will try to help where possible. Let's hope we can strike gold with unlocking missing progs.
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Post by John W King on Dec 19, 2012 8:47:33 GMT
In the 1960's and 70's electrical audio equipment like Hi-systems were usually connected by phone plugs. These consisted of two wires - the central feed wire and an earthing wire. The actual plugs were usually had a sealed plastic head (sometimes the plastic could be screwed on) on top of metal pin. They were simple and robust to use. When stereo came in you used two separate leads - RED for right and WHITE or YELLOW for Left. Older machines, headphones and electrical music instruments used a larger chunkier version called a jack plug. Then in the 70's the 5 pin DIN plug was developed. As I recall 2 pins took the left signal, 2 took the right signal and 1 the earth. These connectors were quite good but made of softer metals and occasionally had the ability to bend and distort. The common fault with all the plugs was that if the earth was damaged or the wire touched the line feed you often ended up with the dreaded hum. Hum could also be picked up if the leads were too long. Then came scart leads, USB etc. etc. which i just use rather than understand. Interestingly it is still possible to easily get phono leads. By the way, I am not an electrician or really technical so if what I have said is "technically" inaccurate - tough. you just need simple help from a user.
Don't forget you are dealing with old technology and aged machines may include valves and capacitors. This means your recorder may get hot (which is normal) but as it gets hot sometimes some parts of the electronics can cut out as hairline cracks open up. Be careful about working on the electronics IT CAN BE DANGEROUS. In the early 70's I was cleaning my machine up, unplugged and touched the back of the capicitor (which stored a very high current). I was zapped and literally thrown across the room. Apparently I was lucky to be alive. Older machines have PCBs (Printed circuit boards). The common fault with those could be hairline cracks which either cause crackiling sounds or total failure. They can be repaired with a fine soldering iron but it us very difficult.
The next fault is a dirty recording/playback head. Audio tapes are made of an iron oxide with a plastic film backing. The older they get the more fragile they get. Iron oxide tends to fall off and collect around the tape head. This causes reduction in sound production with the audio becoming muffled and qiet. Tape heads can be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds. When you by a recorder check the head is clear and bright with no sign of flattening on the surface. You used to be able to replace heads but it is avery tricky business trying to line up the head. An out of aligned head will either produce no sound or muffled and distorted sound. Finally for now, tapes can actually snap or worse - stretch. Snapped tapes can be repaired fairly easily but a stretched tape is a disaster.
Hope this helps. Please let me know what other infor you require.
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Post by John W King on Dec 18, 2012 8:46:44 GMT
Jgreen -What help do you need? I used open reel decks from 1966 to 1980 when I got a video recorder. I taped the sound tracks of every Gerry Anderson series from Fireball to UFO as well as many other programmes. My brother was technically proficient and fitted a phono plug to our TV so all my TV recordings are "clean", i.e. not extraneous sound. He taut me the difference between phono's, DINs and jack plugs and how to connect them up. Biggest problem was to avoid hum on recordings (I think mains hum could sometimes be picked up).
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Post by John W King on Dec 18, 2012 8:39:59 GMT
Joe, My Adam Adamant extract is exactly what is found as an extra on the current Adam Adamant DVD release. Alas I was not credited on that release. It consists of the opening titles, the sequence where Adam recalls pursuing the Face and Louise, falling into a net and confronting the Face, Adam starts to wake murmuring "Louise, louise, Lou... " , the Closing Titles. This is actually from a "Slight Case of Reincarnation" and NOT "A Vintage Year for Scoundrels" as I stated earlier. It lasts a few minutes and the backing music is different from Vintage. Sorry for any confusion. I recorded it at 3.75 i.p.s. when " A Slight Case..." was repeated as part series of Dramatic repeats that included an episode of Maigret, Detective, etc. shown on BBC 1 on Sunday afternoons.
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Post by John W King on Dec 17, 2012 9:02:48 GMT
Dudley Simpson's music was wonderful not just on Doctor Who but also series like Triton, Pegasus - does that music stil exist? A CD in tribute would be a wonderful thing to have.
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