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Post by Jonathan S Miller on Mar 29, 2007 11:24:08 GMT
I was thinking about this the other day, and i wanted to ask what the likelihood was that BBC workers would of been able to steal episodes ratehr than wiping them? From what I have seen, the actual tapes were rather large and clunky, and walking out with episodes marked for destruction would of been much easier said than done?
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Post by Peter Elliott on Mar 29, 2007 11:30:46 GMT
From what I have read this may have been likely. We do know that BBC workers managed to prevent material from being wiped, 2 notable examples being Jimi Hendrix on "Happening For Lulu" and The Small Faces "Colour Me Pop" show. The Small Faces show was about to be wiped over when the engineer checked over the tape and was horrified to see he was expected to wipe that tape because he was a big Small Faces fan himself.
Theres also the tale of the first episode of "Z-Cars" being taken by a man who loved the show who was later able to return it.
I would also guess that back in the 60s and 70s security measures were not as strict as they are today so yes it would had been possible to sneak out material.
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Post by hartley967 on Mar 29, 2007 13:29:04 GMT
Presumably then once they had started up the air compressor, they could watch these on the Ampex in their living room.
A few fluffy cushions could drown out the motor noise eh?
Its a bit of an insult really to accuse honest citizens of stealing stuff without proof .
The tapes that were saved by engineers were hidden and squirrelled away in the BBC, they were not taken off the premises.
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Post by Paul Vanezis on Mar 29, 2007 14:09:06 GMT
The tapes that were saved by engineers were hidden and squirrelled away in the BBC, they were not taken off the premises. Er... that's actually not strictly true. 'Hassan' from 1971 was returned by the editor who had kept his own Quad copy in his attic for 25 years. Although he didn't pinch the TX master (that was wiped) he did "squirrel" several tapes away at home, including his 'safety' dub. I'm glad he did; it stars John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson amongst others. Regards, Paul |
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Post by hartley967 on Mar 29, 2007 17:52:50 GMT
Whoosh! the sound of my reply deflating after PV has inserted pin. walks away with tail between legs  |
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Post by LanceM on Mar 29, 2007 18:30:30 GMT
I have talked with a chap from yorkshire who had kept some old C format quad tapes of the shows he worked on. There was also the most recently discovered Dr.Who episode that Francis Watson rescued from the Lime Grove studios rubbish room he was asked to clear out, which he did. Thankfully for us he kept the films safe. I think it is likely more recoveries will be made through ex-employees, and foreign broadcasters.
Lance.
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Post by garyjordanbrum on Mar 30, 2007 13:26:13 GMT
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Post by Alan Jeffries on Mar 30, 2007 14:19:18 GMT
There was a thread last year about the Palace holdings. They were contacted by one of the members here and it has been established that they have no TV shows of any kind.
Alan
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Post by Robert Manners on Apr 9, 2007 22:19:38 GMT
2" Quad tapes in your loft, how would you even get them out of the BBC? After all they were hardly small and compact now were they!
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Post by Steve Roberts on Apr 10, 2007 6:55:34 GMT
Oh, I've walked out of (and back into, I hasten to add!) the BBC with all manner of equipment - bags full of tapes, technical gear, a video projector most recently. True, I have a "get out of jail free" card (or 'Permission to Remove Equipment from BBC Premises' pass, to give it its official title) but I've never been stopped whilst doing so. I know a few people who used to use old quad or 1" spools as toolboxes, so the sight of them being taken in and out of the BBC was hardly something of note!
Steve
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Post by Gary Critcher on Apr 11, 2007 13:53:32 GMT
I know the guy who 'borrowed' the Small Faces' 'Colour Me Pop' programme, and he had a bit more than just that one spool at home. All now safely back where they came from, though.
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Post by Robert Manners on Apr 19, 2007 18:54:11 GMT
I know the guy who 'borrowed' the Small Faces' 'Colour Me Pop' programme, and he had a bit more than just that one spool at home. All now safely back where they came from, though. Did he return them or did something happen to make this occur Gary? |
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Post by johnstewart on Jun 4, 2007 19:29:25 GMT
I agree with Hartley we shouldn't go pointing the finger at anyone; but then; as Steve Roberts points out; it wouldn't be unusual in the course of a Technicians job to officially carry some cans say from one suite to another part of a BBC premises.
I'm equally surprised that anyone could get anything as big as 2 inch reel out; but the way I know this is I had one at my place about 11 years ago!
The answer to the big question there is; a friend was helping a friend move in to a house in Wood Green. He was aware I was a keen TV Archive enthusiast; and whilst clearing the Attic they found;
one 2 inch PAL tape spool; and one small reel (7 inch) 16mm can. I've had two of the latter turn up (one from a boot sale). The contents of one I passed onto 16mm collector Mick Hall to assess. This was silent excerpts from a glass blowing documentary.
The first can described had a label reading 'BBC NEWS'. It then had an item name - M1 or m3; and TX date (something - 73) and catalogue number. The tape spool had a number felt tipped onto the reel but was an empty copper like spool. It was too big for me to keep so I passed it on to someone. The NEWS can was empty!! Due to the size of it I gather it might have been rushes; not big enough for a complete broadcast.
As I say it could be in the course of ones job though; a friends Dad was a Porter at Granada in the 1970s and popped by home in transit to a job to get something. The can apparently read LIFT OFF! Pity he didn't leave that one at home!!
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Post by Steven Sigel on Jun 4, 2007 20:41:18 GMT
I walked out of the BBC with a Film can (it was mine) and no one even looked askance at me...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2007 10:18:27 GMT
I think the term "pointing the finger" at technicians for walking out with tapes implies criticism - to my mind they are heroes, having saved many programmes the BBC at the time didn't care about or have the vision to preserve.
By all accounts it was much easier to take stuff home (for whatever reason) in the past than now. Which is good news as the potential is there for much more missing material to still be out there.
Interesting thread...
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