Frost on Sunday release

[Jeff Leach]

With the release of the 1968-70 Frost on Sunday multiple disc set in the next few weeks i wondered how many of the shows exist, as there seems to be a various opinions on the archive status

[Peter Stirling]

The other problem is of course is there was also Frost on Saturday and Frost on Friday- but maybe they will be a follow up if this release is a succcess?

the first episode should be interesting from a technical point of view as all the studio equipment was operated by the management , after all the camera crew etc had walked out in a union dispute.
very dodgy lookin pictures IIRC

[Andy Howells]

I'm seriously contemplating getting this set, will be interested to see The Two Ronnies bits!

[Deleted]

If Chris Perry is reading this, can he possibly provide us with an archive update on all three series? It would be much appreciated as there are a few discrepancies when comparing the listings of the ITN database, the old Kal guide and Lost Shows.com site:

Lost Shows lists two editions of "Frost On Saturday" as surviving that ITN do not list: show 9 from 28/9/68 (no details on guests) and show 16 from 16/11/68, featuring Patrick Macnee and Denis Norden (the latter I seem to think was screened at a Kal event once??) Do these definitely survive? Another that the Kal guide lists as surviving is an episode of Frost On Sunday" (22/12/68 featuring Kathy Kirby and The King Brothers). Again, ITN do not list this one, so it's status is unclear.

I'm assuming the Bob Hope edition of "Saturday" from 3/8/68 exists too (although Lost Shows lists it as missing) as I have a t/r clip from it myself, complete with titles. ITN list this item too, so maybe it's just a segment only?

Totalling the info up though, I make it ten editions plus compilation reel of "Sunday" surviving (or eleven if the 22/12/68 edition also exists), seven of "Saturday", including the Bob Hope show (or nine if the 28/9/68 and 16/11/68 editions do actually also exist) and six editions plus a film insert from "Friday".

I'm hoping that the Frost On Saturday and Friday series will be released too! Definitely i'll be buying the "Sunday" set myself though. There are apparently ten surviving shows from the Sunday series, which are all on the set (Lost Shows totals only nine although there could even be eleven!). There is though the compilation VT reel of b/w and colour sketches that (which are very good and also contain appearances by Michael Palin as well as the two Ronnies) which was unveiled at a "Raiders Of The Lost Archive" event in London in 2007. Unfortunately this doesn't seem to be included on the DVD though but maybe one of the other sets will add it as an extra if they are released? I hope so particularly as these include the editions with John Lennon / Yoko Ono and The Rolling Stones, both of which I would really like to see! I can anticipate a rights hell for them though.

An update on the archive situation would be most appreciated though. Thanks.

[Kev Mulrenan]

Mar 18, 2009 11:10:57 GMT @laurencepiper said:

I'm hoping that the Frost On Saturday and Friday series will follow suit too! Definitely buying this one myself. There are apparently ten surviving shows, which are all on the set, although there is a long compilation VT reel of b/w and colour sketches that turned up a while back (which are very good and also contain appearances by Michael Palin as well as the two Ronnies) and this was unveiled at a "Raiders Of The Lost Archive" event in London in 2007; unfortunately this doesn't seem to be included on the DVD though but maybe one of the other sets will add it as an extra if they are released? I hope so.

As far as surviving shows, there seem to also be about eight shows from "Friday" surviving and about seven for "Saturday" (that's the amount I can make out from the Kal guide and the ITN database), including one with John and Yoko and another with The Rolling Stones, both of which I would really like to see! I can anticipate a rights hell for these two though. One of the series (not sure which) will also contain the show where the yippies take over the studio briefly! Another moment worth making available to all!

If Chris Perry is reading this, can you fill us in on exactly what survives of the three series please?

Did the Stones appear twice?

I think I have one colour and one b/w clip.

Of course DF made shows in the USA so it could come from those.

[Andy Howells]

Which one features The Beatles performing Hey Jude? I imagine that one would be a rights issue problem too...

[Deleted]

The Stones only appeared once (in b/w). They may have appeared in colour on Frost's U.S. series of a similar nature at this time though. Actually, I think they may have appeared in '69 in the U.S. version (does the colour clip have Mick Taylor in there? If so, that'll be it - Brian Jones is still there in the '68 b/w UK clip).

The Beatles edition doesn't exist as such although they didn't actually "appear" on the show; the Hey Jude VT promo was shown preceded by an intro by Frost with The Beatles, shot on the set of the promo (to appear as if the group were on the show). All the Beatles material used on the show (including Frost intro) therefore exists in full colour in the Apple archive, even though the actual edition went out in b/w. This was seen in the Beatles Anthology series.

[Andy Howells]

Thanks for clearing that up Laurence - thank goodness Apple kept a recording of it!

[Peter Stirling]

John and Yoko's lost first appearance (before the Hey Jude edition) from August 68 was recovered from somebody's privately owned telerecording a while back.


Even when the Frost show had nobody famous on and was dealing with domestic issues it use to get pretty lively. I can recall
a couple of times when guests were shouting at each other and starting taking their jackets off.. but cant remember if it actually got to fisticuffs? One of those 'Yippees' is now Felix Dennis, multi millionaire publisher--proving there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Somebody might confirm but I think the early ones were made at the Intertel studios (at the back of the Ace Cafe) in Stonebridge Pk,? which was fully equipped for colour.




.

[Deleted]

I think the promos were shot by Intertel on what looks like 525 line colour tape (and their studios were very near to the actual original LWT studios too, which would have been very handy for Frost to pop along).

I guess that when the Beatles clips were inserted into the UK show, they would have been standards converted first. I wonder how sharp (or not) they looked when they went out at the time, compared to the rest of the (405 line b/w) edition?

[Kev Mulrenan]

LWT got into serious financial difficulties.

I wonder did this increase the pressure to reuse valuable videotape and thuse wipe editions of Frost?

Or was it the normal random no rules approach to archiving?

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2009 13:10:59 GMT Kev Mulrenan said:

Or was it the normal random no rules approach to archiving?

The normal random no rules approach to archiving (but masquerading as "responsible, selective, representative", as ever though), I guess.

Although LWT's archiving is far far better than most of the others at that point (with the notable exceptions of Granada and Anglia and probably about equal to Yorkshire), they still have some horrendous gaps in their first 18 months - and even then, "good archiving" (as with most companies at the time) could only be applied to drama and comedy output; chat shows, light entertainment and magazine / discussion programmes were scarcely considered.

I've also heard the suggestion that some of the early editions went out live and unrecorded too, making the chance of further recoveries less likely.