They came from somewhere else

[Greg H]

I was wondering if anyone else around here had any memories of an obscure early 80s alternaitive comedy sci fi show called 'they came from somewhere else'? It seems to have been entirely forgotten despite being pretty decent. As I recall it was shown very late at night so probably not many people originally saw it in the first place.

Now I recently noticed that some of the material that is missing was broadcast astonishingly late in the game, ie the adventure game etc. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the existence of this show in the Channel 4 archives. Does anyone know if they still hold a copy? Im sure its one of the things that were being parodies in 'garth merenghi's dark place. Btw I really dont have a clue about channel 4 archive policy or what exists or doesnt in their archive.

Anyway, even if anyone else in the world remembers this show, it would be interesting to hear from them

[Colin Watson]

Made by TVS so is unlikely to be in the C4 archive.

www.tv-ark.org.uk/itvsouthandsoutheast/southcontacts.html

has details of one of the most recent owners of the TVS Archive.

More info on programme here:-

www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/t/theycamefromsome_1299003102.shtml

[Greg H]

Interesting. So this is probably owned by the Americans now, judging from the contact details on that page. I wonder what impact that might have on the situation? The Americans had much better archiving policy didnt they? So if it has vanished it might have done so before then. Im just speculating.

Yeah the BBC link was good, they didnt mention the giant killer prawns that were living in the sewer though They were pretty cool!

[Andrew Pixley]

I remember this serial quite well, in fact I think I have soundtracks to the last four episodes somewhere. The first episode or two weren't that great, and I recall a lot of the police based gags later turned up on "Mornin' Sarge" ("Have you any idea how awful it is to tell a wife that her husband's dead?" "Christ! No. How did she take it?" "I dunno. She was out so I scribbled it on a bit of paper and shoved it through the letter box"). By the last episode it was quite, quite wonderful and daft, complete with beam-me up underwear and the revelation that the 1980s town was a fake - a penal colony from the future ("constructed from a substance very like formica only cheaper").

Ahhhhh - happy memories.

[Greg H]

Yeah! I remember them reusing the material as well! I guess they figured like no one was watching the first time round