C & U history of B (on the list?)

[RWels]

In light of the BFI event, I was curious how much of the Complete and utter history survives in what form. I read the leaflet but I still couldn't exactly make out what came from where. One episode was found on the internet? Whose copies survive?
Where do the filmed inserts come from?

Perhaps it could be added to the list at
www.btinternet.com/~m.brown1/eplist.htm

And maybe DNAYS should be there too. Or is there a reason they aren't included?

[Stuart Douglas]

Jul 2, 2008 23:49:00 GMT RWels said:

In light of the BFI event, I was curious how much of the Complete and utter history survives in what form. I read the leaflet but I still couldn't exactly make out what came from where. One episode was found on the internet? Whose copies survive?
Where do the filmed inserts come from?

Perhaps it could be added to the list at
www.btinternet.com/~m.brown1/eplist.htm

And maybe DNAYS should be there too. Or is there a reason they aren't included?

No reason at all Norman - if anyone has definitive, verified information on exactly what's held and what's missing I'll be delighted to add it to the site list.

So, does anyone know how much of C&U H of B survives?

Cheers

Stuart

[RWels]

I've been trying to get confirmation. I saw the leaflet of the recent BFI event but it didn't say for sure what was there.
Two episodes survive and so do the filmed inserts. Because I have seen them. Maybe I'll write that email to Dick Fiddy to ask. But there is also something with copies surviving as they were produced?

Do Not Adjust Your Sey could be on the list as well, the episodes on DVD, and the xmas special survive.

[RWels]

Jul 3, 2008 16:13:58 GMT @DickFiddy said:

Two episodes shot as one and two (but later edited together to become episode one) - these were returned from director Maurice Murphy and aren't of outstanding technical quality but hugely valuable as a record.

Then there is episode one as broadcast

Also episode two as broadcast (this was sent to us on a disc downloaded from a US website - our archive have worked extensively on it and we now have a near pristine condition copy)

Plus there are all the filmed segments for all episodes which were retained by Terry Jones and donated to our archive some years back. These are 'fine' quality but most of the material is mute.

So this comes down to:
Episodes 1 and 2 as produced survive as copies made for the director. Episodes 1 and 2 also survive as broadcast. (Episode two was recovered from internet!)
Filmed inserts for several episodes survive (the ones that I saw definately weren't mute).

But I am not 100% sure I got it right - episode 1 and 2 were aired as one big hour long episode 1. But the episodes on the internet are both just under 30 minutes.

[A Peel]

Episode 1 was originally two separate episodes and the whole series was going to be seven episodes instead of six. So in effect, can consider the episodes to be 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Each of these were 30minutes in length (or 25 minutes to allow for an advert break). And episode 1 is an edited version of 1A and 1B with material deleted to bring the run time back to 25 minutes.

The four episodes that survive are Episode 1 (as broadcast), Episode 2 (as broadcast) and both 1A and 1B. Three of these three episodes that were shown recently at the NFT.

Andy

[RWels]

Are you sure? Wouldn't that mean that you saw a number of sketches twice at the BFI? And some in very basic quality?

[A Peel]

My source who went to the NFT viewing says that the three shows were episodes 1, 1A and 2. If this is indeed the case then there would have been a bit of repetition in sketches between episodes 1 and 1A.

[RWels]

I was told it was 1A, 1B and 2.
And the quality of the first episodes wasn't up to date.

What I didn't understand at first was that episode 1 was 25 minutes.

It's all clear now: we have episode 1 and episode 2 as transmitted (the latter was recovered from the internet); also, home copies from the director of 1A and 1B, these were produced but then edited into episode 1; and filmed inserts from Terry Jones.

[Deleted]

Jul 3, 2008 21:50:06 GMT A Peel said:

Episode 1 was originally two separate episodes and the whole series was going to be seven episodes instead of six. So in effect, can consider the episodes to be 1A, 1B, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Each of these were 30minutes in length (or 25 minutes to allow for an advert break). And episode 1 is an edited version of 1A and 1B with material deleted to bring the run time back to 25 minutes.

The four episodes that survive are Episode 1 (as broadcast), Episode 2 (as broadcast) and both 1A and 1B. Three of these three episodes that were shown recently at the NFT.

Andy

The two recordings that came from the director are domestic copies (on, I think, Sony reel to reel), taken from the masters; these have been optically converted from VT and contain a mix of tx / non-tx material. There is also a t/r of the first episode as transmitted and another t/r episode which i've never been able to conclusively identify but believe to be episode 2 (this i've never managed to see but you seem to know for sure). The film inserts, incidentally, come from Terry Jones' collection.

[RWels]

The titles and the voice saying "EPISODE TWO" could perhaps indicate that this once was, indeed, episode 2.

[Deleted]

Jul 4, 2008 15:21:28 GMT RWels said:

The titles and the voice saying "EPISODE TWO" could perhaps indicate that this once was, indeed, episode 2.

Yes, well, as I said above, I knew there was a second t/r surviving but haven't actually seen it myself and so therefore wouldn't know it said "episode two"!

[RWels]

OK, but by the time you posted I had already figured out my own question.
Both episodes have been on a popular *snip* site that doesn't host anything commercially available.

[Adrian Gregg]

Ive worked on the audio from the "directors" open reel and have obtained a usable sound from it.. I did this via a DIVX of the tape and of course the audio was in MP3 format. So my results were far from what I'd like. does anyone have a Better "up the chain" copy of this?
I'd love to work on this, so any ideas?

if you wanna hear some of my work (ok my blog only covers 78RPM sofar! and includes the 1st english stereo 78 !!) ade42.blogspot.com

[Koen Br]

Jul 5, 2008 7:45:40 GMT Adrian Gregg said:

Ive worked on the audio from the "directors" open reel and have obtained a usable sound from it.. I did this via a DIVX of the tape and of course the audio was in MP3 format. So my results were far from what I'd like. does anyone have a Better "up the chain" copy of this?
I'd love to work on this, so any ideas?

if you wanna hear some of my work (ok my blog only covers 78RPM sofar! and includes the 1st english stereo 78 !!) ade42.blogspot.com

It must have been your restored copy I downloaded some time ago. Thanks for that, I'd downloaded the unrestored version as well and your work was definitely an improvement!

As for stereo 78s, never known they ever existed. Some 78s that are actually 80rpm is about as rare as it goes for my collection. :-)

[Adrian Gregg]

The restored copy of C&U H as i said was a rather ropy restoration! I had a poor mp3 to work with and the transfer (i think) could have been betterd (sometimes its amazing what you get from lowband video tape when you play with the alignemt of the audio Playback head. this transfer was a little off) so with a better copy the real work could begin!! .

Ok its not a real stereo 78 but with the aid of some multitracking software one side out of the left channel the other side out of the right channel type thing and its stereo. why?
a UK Parlophone series of 4 78's with the cream of the brit jazz musos soloing on one side of the disc and then just the backing band minus lead! the 78's were meant to teach people how to imporvise ( i think!)

The song - When youre Smilling - Nat Gonnela Trumpet.
I have another by Freddie Garnder on sax. I havent done yet.
If you download it you will get 2 versions of restoration ( A good one and a Too Much NR one) and 2 Stereo combinations.

and for those python fans I have located my copy of the LP
Wally Stott - Sounds of london. one of the 1st Philips Stereo Lp's
why whould python fans care about mr stott and his lp?
Well one or two of the tracks feature in some of the Flying circus Epps!! it will be on da blog soonnnn.

BTW sorry about being way Off topic (breaks several Victor Sylverster 78's over my head)