Final Associated Rediffusion presenter Inquiry ?

[LanceM]

Hello,

Have been wondering of late of the possibilities that the final presenters of Associated Rediffusion were presented with a VTR copy or possibly TR of the final broadcast evening, much as in the same way that the two final perspective ABC presenters Sheila Kennedy and David Hamilton were discovered to have kept in thier posession ? Just been curious about the possibilities, any ideas, comments, info ?

Also, saw this posted on a Pebble Mill at One clip on you-tube,they posted this in the clip information box "It was amazingly short-sighted of the BBC to destroy so many of these (though some early ones probably weren't recorded). According to the Beeb there are 'several editions surviving from the 70's'. From a show that went out every day... But apparently the 2 inch master videotapes of Pebble Mill At One were still being thrown into a skip in the late 1990's.":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK7_cTHpip4

Here it is posted that this material was shot for a Royal visit in 1980, possibly 1981, mainly posted to be bits from the titles. Any ideas, info here would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Lance.

[Rich Cornock]

wow would love to know whats left of pebble mill, used to love watching it

[Simon Mclean]

The montage and royal visit stuff is from 20/11/81 - most of the clips in the montage are from the 1979-80 series.

I don't know how true the tale is of tapes of Pebble Mill being disposed of in the 1990s is, but I seem to recall someone (possbily Paul Vanezis?) mentioning one of the pilot shows had to be junked fairly recently because the tape was water damaged beyond salvation - I think one of the other pilot shows survives, though. Perhaps Paul can confirm, as I'd like to know myself!

[Deleted]

Jun 17, 2008 19:56:58 GMT LanceM said:

Have been wondering of late of the possibilities that the final presenters of Associated Rediffusion were presented with a VTR copy or possibly TR of the final broadcast evening, much as in the same way that the two final perspective ABC presenters Sheila Kennedy and David Hamilton were discovered to have kept in thier posession ? Just been curious about the possibilities, any ideas, comments, info ?

Well, Redvers Kyle has been interviewed on video in recent years about his time in broadcasting (and Rediffusion in particular) by Tony Currie and no reference to a VT has ever been mentioned. Jon Kelley died many years ago. Would love to think this was a possibility but different companies had different policies. Wonder if we'll ever know?

[Reg Long3]

[quote author=laurence piper board=general thread=3771 post=35523 time=1213781325
Well, Redvers Kyle has been interviewed on video in recent years about his time in broadcasting (and Rediffusion in particular) by Tony Currie and no reference to a VT has ever been mentioned. Jon Kelley died many years ago. Would love to think this was a possibility but different companies had different policies. Wonder if we'll ever know?[/quote]

Wow! didnt know John Kelley had died , always seemed so 'alive'.
.
Dont think the last transmitted drama "mr universe and the well known prisoner" exists either ?

Despite all the speculation and hints, its still a mystery to what happened to all the AR. VTs . Obviously some programmes were saved as TR.s for the AR's export company Global TV, but even a lot of these were junked in the 1970s. However there must have been a fair few VTs made in the last months of AR's life that did not get erased so where did they go?



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[Simon Winters]

I would think it unlikely that Rediffusion or ATV London would have kept their final continuity link, as it went out live and there was no dedicated programme, just a brief goodbye announcement.

However, with the ABC final broadcast, there is a full 25 minute programme where the invision announcer appears throughout.

Also, the ABC goodbye was recorded and edited earlier that evening, and was not broadcast live, even though it was supposed to 'look' live.


Therefore, a 2" copy HAD to be made, and this was clearly given to the presenters on the night. If it had been live, it probably would have been lost forever.

[Deleted]

Jun 18, 2008 10:18:12 GMT Reg Long3 said:

Despite all the speculation and hints, its still a mystery to what happened to all the AR. VTs . Obviously some programmes were saved as TR.s for the AR's export company Global TV, but even a lot of these were junked in the 1970s. However there must have been a fair few VTs made in the last months of AR's life that did not get erased so where did they go?

Good question! I don't accept for one minute that they were all erased. No wiping regime is ever THAT total and the odd thing (as we know from other companies) always slips through the net; even a few ABC VTs have managed to survive randomly from over the years. Everything that currently survives from Rediffusion is on t/r though (save for the few independent productions made on their behalf by Jack Hylton and a handful of 525 line colour trial shows that reside in the USA).

Also, just to add to what Simon says above, the off-air audio of Rediffusion's final link that exists is in such good quality as it was a direct line recording from Redvers' mike (so this implies it was only done as as a momento as there was no VT being made of it). Never say never though and it's always slightly possible someone did home-record it for posterity, at least...