UKTV Programs that survive on 625-Line Colour VT (1967-9)

[Mike Goldwater]

I'm in the process of constructing a database of UK TV programs that survives on 625 Line Colour VT that were made between 1967 up to the end of 1969 shortly after full colour transmissions began on BBC1 and ITV. A good proportion of the information I have comes from prior knowledge on programs of that period that I have already gathered over the years, however I did have to do some additional research using the Kaleidoscope Facebook group, TV Brain and Missing Episodes Proboards. This database is by no means complete, indeed I'm missing a good deal of information on live OB broadcasts from the late 60's that survive in this format for instance. Here's a link to the database below, which I posted to Google Docs:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR9fCNz37r6zbC3_4QDJe1ox1Amtjbja9xvnzF1e0f9MsfTe7lSJ-kNoCvmHxJHHfv0nY2C9ztp1FFz/pubhtml

When you go through the pages, you may notice I have divided the records into three categories in order to denote their archive status:



2"VT625-REC - Full Colour VT recording of a program pre-recorded for later transmission.

2"VT625-LIVE - Full Colour VT recording of a live PaSB recording for live transmission.

2"VT625-SEQ - Partial Colour VT recording from a show that doesn't have a complete copy.



If you have more information on existing shows from this period that I've missed out on, or would like to point out amendments/ corrections, then please let me know.

P.S: In case your wondering I'm currently lacking info on the 37 surviving editions of 'Play School' that were broadcast between 1968-9. According to TV Brain, three episodes survive as B&W TR's and a further episode (ED 1356) only survives in part; but that leaves the other 34 editions unaccounted for. I'am aware that not all editions of this show from this period were taped in colour, so there's a good chance that some of these extant editions were taped in monochrome. I have attached a PDF doc: Surviving Editions of Play School 1968-9.pdf (172.13 KB), listing the extant editions from this period. Perhaps someone may have knowledge of which extant Play School editions survive in colour. 

[Paul Vanezis]

Why are you limiting your trawl to colour videotapes?

The earliest colour programmes were live and may exist as film recordings with colour subcarrier chroma dots...

Paul

[Mike Goldwater]

Apr 12, 2022 13:18:56 GMT Paul Vanezis said:

Why are you limiting your trawl to colour videotapes?

The earliest colour programmes were live and may exist as film recordings with colour subcarrier chroma dots...

Paul

I'm trying to gather a list of what programs still survive on their native 625 line Colour VT format, and were transmitted in that format, even-though some of the examples I've found were unofficial test broadcasts that were shown on BBC1 and the ITV Networks prior to the official introudction of full colour television on these two channels. As far as film recordings go, information on which prints have chroma dots is harder to come by, and should warrent their own database; since it would be a useful resource for people who want to find out which programs survive as B&W film copies but have chroma dots embedded onto the prints. 

[timothyk]

Play of the Month: Maigret at Bay (09/02/69) was recorded in b&w (telerecorded direct to 35mm b&w film). It's on the Network Blu Ray set!

[John Wall]

“Year of the Sex Olympics” was shown at the NFT earlier this evening - b&w telerecording. Second time I’ve seen it. Are there chroma dots on it?

[Mike Goldwater]

Apr 12, 2022 15:23:01 GMT timothyk said:

Play of the Month: Maigret at Bay (09/02/69) was recorded in b&w (telerecorded direct to 35mm b&w film). It's on the Network Blu Ray set!

That's odd, since IMDb noted it down as being colour. It seems rather late for a show made in late 1968 to be telerecorded straight to film, instead of VT. There must have been a good deal of editing done in post production. A later edition of 'Play of the Month': Julius Ceasar (13/04/1969) with Edward Woodward was taped in colour and it can be viewed on YouTube. 

[timothyk]

Seems like IMDB is wrong in this case. Also the location film inserts were cut directly into the telerecording - so yes it would have needed a good deal of editing!

[Mike Goldwater]

I managed to find info on the existing colour editions of Play School from 1968-9, thanks to TV Brain. Here's a list of the surviving editions that were kept on Colour VT from this period:

Episode No*	TX Date
1020	04/06/1968
1045	09/07/1968
1046	10/07/1968
1108	04/10/1968
1204	17/02/1969
1206	19/02/1969
1207	20/02/1969
1208	21/02/1969
1249	21/04/1969
1314	21/07/1969
1315	22/07/1969
1318	25/07/1969
1319	28/07/1969
1321	30/07/1969
1323	01/08/1969
1340	26/08/1969
1341	27/08/1969
1342	28/08/1969
1389	11/11/1969
1391	18/11/1969

[Rich Cornock]

If only they had kept as many TOTP's as Play School from that period!

Apr 13, 2022 12:20:44 GMT Mike Goldwater said:

I managed to find info on the existing colour editions of Play School from 1968-9, thanks to TV Brain. Here's a list of the surviving editions that were kept on Colour VT from this period:

Episode No*	TX Date
1020	04/06/1968
1045	09/07/1968
1046	10/07/1968
1108	04/10/1968
1204	17/02/1969
1206	19/02/1969
1207	20/02/1969
1208	21/02/1969
1249	21/04/1969
1314	21/07/1969
1315	22/07/1969
1318	25/07/1969
1319	28/07/1969
1321	30/07/1969
1323	01/08/1969
1340	26/08/1969
1341	27/08/1969
1342	28/08/1969
1389	11/11/1969
1391	18/11/1969

[Paul Vanezis]

OK. So unfortunately the edition numbers are incorrect for Play School on TV Brain.

The episode that was broadcast on June 4th 1968 'The Lock' and is indeed in colour (recorded on an outside broadcast vehicle) is actually episode 1076.

The episode broadcast September 10th 1971 'Friday Science Day' is labelled as episode 1855 on TV Brain. It's actually episode 1929. It's also incomplete.

Other early colour VT's are:

Resurrection - Episode 4 TX: 07/12/1968
Sammy Davis Jnr at The Talk of the Town TX: 01/10/1967 (I have played this tape)
Nana - Episode 4: The Queen TX: 21/09/1968
Nana - Episode 5: Fall of an Empire TX: 28/09/1968 (Episodes 1&2 also exist on colour VT, but these are NTSC conversions I found in the archives of BBC America in the late 1990's so not original VT's)
Wimbledon Men's Final TX: 30/06/1967 (I have played this tape as well)
Apollo 8 Launch TX: 21/12/1968 (The outside broadcast from Houston is black and white and this recording does have issues with it, because the outside sources including from Jodrell Bank were not synchronised to the studio and this causes the VT to unlock. The film recording has a similar issue.)
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 1: Whither Canada TX: 05/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 2: Sex and Violence TX: 12/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 3: How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away TX: 19/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 4: Owl Stretching Time TX: 26/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 5: Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century TX: 16/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 6: It's the Arts TX: 23/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 7: You're No Fun Anymore TX: 30/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 8: Full Frontal Nudity TX: 07/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 9: The Ant, An Introduction TX: 14/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 10: Untitled TX: 21/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 11: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom TX: 28/12/1969
It's Marty TX: 06/05/1968
It's Marty TX: 27/05/1968
It's Marty TX: 09/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 16/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 30/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 06/01/1969
It's Marty TX: 13/01/1969
It's Marty TX: 17/03/1969 Montreux Special
Take Three Girls - Kate TX: 17/11/1969
Take Three Girls - Avril TX: 24/11/1969
Colour Me Pop (Late Night Line-up) - The Move TX: 04/01/1969
Colour Me Pop (Late Night Line-up) - The Moody Blues TX: 14/09/1968
Late Night Line-up - Frank Zappa TX: 26/05/1969
Dad's Army Series 3 - 13 out of 14 episodes survive on colour VT. TX: 18/09/1969 - 11/12/1969
Comedy Playhouse - Up Pompeii TX: 17/09/1969

Loads more...

Paul

[Paul Hayes]

The First Churchills, Donald Wilson's (production, not narrative, obviously!) follow-up to The Forstye Saga, from the autumn of 1969 exists in its original colour VT format.

[richardmarson]

Following on from Paul's interesting list, I think there are quite a few of the early colour BBC2 Classic serials with at least a representative episode, starting with the first, Vanity Fair (episode 3 in its 625 form). Some are complete: Cold Comfort Farm, Pere Goriot and Portrait of a Lady from 1968. There's one of The Spanish Farm and one of The Canterbury Tales from 1969, 3 out of 4 of The Tenant of Wildfell Farm and most of Point Counter Point. One 1969 episode of The Expert is in colour. At least one Thirty Minute Theatre plus one Out of the Unknown.

And the 1969 play series W Somerset Maugham mostly survives in colour (from memory, two are BW telerecordings)

[Mike Goldwater]

'Carols From Kings' which was broadcast on BBC1 on the 24/12/1969 exists on Colour VT. It was the first time the service was broadcast in colour.

[Mike Goldwater]

Apr 15, 2022 14:33:05 GMT Paul Vanezis said:

OK. So unfortunately the edition numbers are incorrect for Play School on TV Brain.

The episode that was broadcast on June 4th 1968 'The Lock' and is indeed in colour (recorded on an outside broadcast vehicle) is actually episode 1076.

The episode broadcast September 10th 1971 'Friday Science Day' is labelled as episode 1855 on TV Brain. It's actually episode 1929. It's also incomplete.

Other early colour VT's are:

Resurrection - Episode 4 TX: 07/12/1968
Sammy Davis Jnr at The Talk of the Town TX: 01/10/1967 (I have played this tape)
Nana - Episode 4: The Queen TX: 21/09/1968
Nana - Episode 5: Fall of an Empire TX: 28/09/1968 (Episodes 1&2 also exist on colour VT, but these are NTSC conversions I found in the archives of BBC America in the late 1990's so not original VT's)
Wimbledon Men's Final TX: 30/06/1967 (I have played this tape as well)
Apollo 8 Launch TX: 21/12/1968 (The outside broadcast from Houston is black and white and this recording does have issues with it, because the outside sources including from Jodrell Bank were not synchronised to the studio and this causes the VT to unlock. The film recording has a similar issue.)
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 1: Whither Canada TX: 05/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 2: Sex and Violence TX: 12/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 3: How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away TX: 19/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 4: Owl Stretching Time TX: 26/10/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 5: Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century TX: 16/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 6: It's the Arts TX: 23/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 7: You're No Fun Anymore TX: 30/11/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 8: Full Frontal Nudity TX: 07/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 9: The Ant, An Introduction TX: 14/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 10: Untitled TX: 21/12/1969
Monty Python's Flying Circus - Episode 11: The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom TX: 28/12/1969
It's Marty TX: 06/05/1968
It's Marty TX: 27/05/1968
It's Marty TX: 09/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 16/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 30/12/1968
It's Marty TX: 06/01/1969
It's Marty TX: 13/01/1969
It's Marty TX: 17/03/1969 Montreux Special
Take Three Girls - Kate TX: 17/11/1969
Take Three Girls - Avril TX: 24/11/1969
Colour Me Pop (Late Night Line-up) - The Move TX: 04/01/1969
Colour Me Pop (Late Night Line-up) - The Moody Blues TX: 14/09/1968
Late Night Line-up - Frank Zappa TX: 26/05/1969
Dad's Army Series 3 - 13 out of 14 episodes survive on colour VT. TX: 18/09/1969 - 11/12/1969
Comedy Playhouse - Up Pompeii TX: 17/09/1969

Loads more...

Paul

Thanks for the details, regarding Play School; could you send me the correct episode list if in case TV Brain has the wrong one, and made an error with their paperwork. On the subject of the Sammy Davis Jr tape, I checked BBC genome and it was first broadcast on BBC1 in B&W on the 1/10/67  (https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_one_london/1967-10-01) and it was repeated in Colour on BBC2 on the 24/5/68 (https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_two_england/1968-05-24) as part of their Talk of the Town series. I guess it was a pilot for the Talk of the Town series, and repeated as part of the main series strand the following year. His two-part special was repeated as Episodes 2 and 3 of the first series that year.

[Paul Vanezis]

Apr 16, 2022 0:43:40 GMT Mike Goldwater said:

Thanks for the details, regarding Play School; could you send me the correct episode list if in case TV Brain has the wrong one, and made an error with their paperwork. On the subject of the Sammy Davis Jr tape, I checked BBC genome and it was first broadcast on BBC1 in B&W on the 1/10/67 and it was repeated in Colour on BBC2 on the 24/5/68 as part of their Talk of the Town series. I guess it was a pilot for the Talk of the Town series, and repeated as part of the main series strand the following year. His two-part special was repeated as Episodes 2 and 3 of the first series that year.

Mike, you're going to have to accept that as a research tool, TV Brain is imperfect. The only way you can guarantee the accuracy of your own research is to... do it yourself!

I'm not sure I understand your point about Sammy Davis Jnr being TX'd in black and white. It was still broadcast from the same tape, a 625 colour recording on BBC1 when it was still a 405 line service. You are trying to catalogue surviving colour recordings from the 1960's of which this is just one. It's an interesting recording; it has cutaways recorded at the end, audience shots, applause etc... Featured in these shots are amongst others, actor Richard Harris and actress Jacqueline Pearce. She was going out with Sammy at the time.