Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2008 11:08:50 GMT
Steve Bryant of the BFI and Adam Lee spent a whole day going through the tapes to check what was already in existence and what had been wiped, originally.
A large number of sketches were recovered so I was told, and I was also informed some time later that the BBC had discovered a 1954 'Animal, Vegetable, Mineral?' (significant for being a very early edition) and a 1957 'What's My Line?' (with the traditional panellists). I said to Adam Lee that such programmes from the '50s should be treasured by the BBC and he agreed.
However, there was not a hint at the time of any purge of television programming. I now think this is just as well, because had this been known I would have had a near impossible task of persuading individuals to part with their items and the archives might have had far fewer programmes returned.
It would not have happened to the radio or sound archives or other great archives. So television, yet again, was 'singled out' for this wanton vandalism, particularly flying in the face of the recommendations of the 1976 Annan Report. No reasons can ever justify it, and it is, again, beyond the worth of understanding!
A watch over our television archives should be maintained by an organization equivalent to, say, English Heritage. It is the only safe way to keep a check on such situations.
(Is there something less fashionable about protecting the British television archives?)
Strangely enough, the BFI started up the first 'Missing, Believed Wiped' event the following year, and I would think such an event could have proven to be a lot more problematic had any of this been known outside the BBC.
Yours,
I can only agree wholeheartedly with most of what you say, Andrew. Although I think radio has fared even worse than TV archivally (if that's possible - sadly though, it is). But, as you say, TV's past has been uniquely savaged (and continued to be so to a lesser degree, despite those recommendations made by Annan in '76).
I too recall Adam Lee (seemingly proudly) intoducing some recovered items at the very first Missing Believed Wiped event in the early '90s. As you say, if it was known what he'd OK'd with the children's material shortly before, I can't see that a lot of the collectors holding missing material would not have felt any inclination whatsoever to return items! Why should they though in those circumstances?!?
As you say, there needs to be an English Heritage approach to preserving old TV. No single person (or even small group) should have the power to dispose of ANYTHING ever again in that way. That is where the system is wrong in the first instance. In the second instance, the "cherry picking" recovery method is deeply flawed; either ALL old TV is valued for what it is or NONE at all is (despite what the official line might be, I firmly believe that there is a clear "yes" and "no" list system in place, particularly with the BFI but with the others too, to a degree) .
Which is it to be though? The preservation of television is way too important to merely be left to the companies themselves to decide what is to be kept for us to watch again. We definitely need radical changes in attitude if we are to stop any more of the past just being thrown away.
By the way, Andrew, i'm interested in the Phillips reels you mention. Did these contain the Animal Vegetable Mineral item as well as the Marty stuff? Presumably these were dubs made from the masters of the material in question before they were junked? A worthwhile effort though! The companies just don't seem to make the connection between an item preserved and an item that makes it's way onto DVD a short time later! That IS a generalisation, I know, and certain material is recognised as "re-useable" (not necessarily "valuable" though) - this definition should cover everything in the archives and beyond!
As has often been said though: a price on everything but a value on nothing!
