Beyond The Fringe recovered

[Bert Thung]

This must be up there with the greatest archive recoveries ever.

2 hours of Beyond The Fringe have been discovered

Apparently raw footage, later edited to an hour for BBC Television and later still, almost entirely lost.

Details of it's showing (in New York):

www.mtr.org/exhibit/beyondfringe/index.htm

[Gary C]

absolutely brilliant news -- something to get excited about!!

[andrew martin]

Interesting - the VT clips that are usually shown of BTF seem to come from the 1972 Parkinson interview with the cast, which includes more that the usual clips - ie such as the original "One leg too few" sketch. The documentation for that states that it came from America - and the fact that it was an American production explains at least in this case why the programme wasn't kept - it wasn't the BBC's property... Excellent news that the material still exists, let's hope we get a chance to see it here.

[Gary C]

I'm looking forward to the DVD already!

[Nigel Bland]

There are 24 sketches in the script book - does anyone know how many of these are in the recovered footage?

[Laurence Piper]

Definitely one of the key finds in missing TV. If only On The Margin would now turn up too! A complete DVD release please. So who shot / owns the footage then? A U.S. TV channel presumably?

[RMF]

Guest-Laurence said:

So who shot / owns the footage then? A U.S. TV channel presumably?

Based on the way the write-up was written, I suspect that it's owned by the estate of Alexander Cohen, who produced Beyond the Fringe on Broadway.

[Bert Thung]

This report posted up by Apexjazz on the cookdandbombd site:

Was able to see two screenings of this, and for the fascists and fanatics here are some general impressions…
I’ll start off with the crudely obvious: Beyond The Fringe is one of the defining moments of comedy in the Twenieth Century, and fate has been kind to give such an incredible document of a full performance.
First, the quality of the tape itself: excellent. As good as any black and white tape from the era. All the clips I have previously seen in Cook documentaries were grainy with the bright areas looking washed-out. With this tape, the contrast is excellent with full spectrum of gray tones. Solid sharpness, no facial expression in the background is missed. The audio quality is very good. There’s a few minor drop-outs that could be easily dealt with if the soundtrack is beefed up for a DVD release.

The show itself remains spectacular. It is still fresh, still exciting, and still screamingly funny. The quartet are ultra cool. So much talent on one stage; incredibly intelligent, young and handsome, effortlessly performing like past masters. Even if you’re well acquainted with the audio recordings, it is like experiencing it for the first time. The physical performances are just as funny as the verbal, the visual element of all the sketches being surprisingly dynamic.
Curtain rise, the program starts cautiously with the least raucous sketches, keeps building until the second half, which has all the show-stoppers. Absent from the performance is Cook doing his Harold Macmillan impression; The Sadder and Wiser Beaver, the anti-capital punishment sketch, Miller’s Porn Shop routine, and Cook & Moore don’t banter during The End Of The World. But the show runs a very full two hours, doubtful that anything was cut from the filming session itself. During the course of the show, we get many shots of the audience, an interesting mixture of decrepit old farts and shinning young faces (very reserved at the start, but are loosened up after the intermission).
Dudley is awesome: brilliantly funny at both the piano and in sketches, constantly doing bits of business. He performs one or two piano pastiches I don’t recall hearing before. A very camp Jonathan Miller, overacting adroitly and pulling faces Rik Mayall style. Miller and Moore have an innate physicality to their performances that just hearing the LPs could only hint at.
Cook is a strong presence; elegant and stiff. He performs an extended version of the Coal Miner monologue that was new to me. Obviously Cook would change around the monologue during the course of the run, taking it wherever his whims willed. I won’t try to recreate the material here, but it rendered the audience (both times) and myself helpless with laughter. Seeing it a second time, I observed how eerie Cook’s glassy eyed stare is. It’s as if he’s in a trance, and the deeper he goes into it, the more fanciful and funnier the ideas get.
Cook and Moore’s chemistry together is obvious, even though they have only one sketch with real interaction (The Royal Box). Cook’s eyes betray a glint when he’s with Dudley and seems to be genuinely enjoying his performance.
Astonishingly, Alan Bennett, who still sounds like his vocal chords are in his nose, got the biggest laughs out of me. His Esau sermon being one of the night’s highlights.

I’m baffled as to why Dr. Miller in recent years rejects that Beyond The Fringe was satire. For me, the show defines it. All of the sketches are very hard hitting, each with a core meaning that gives the entire show an intellectual excitement (maybe with the exception of One Leg Too Few), and still has resonance today.
(oh, and speaking of Dr. Jonathan Miller….his recent History of Disbelief was beyond fantastic! It gave me a severe, if brief, case of BBC-envy. People like Jonathan Miller are rare in the world, as are shows of that quality. The Beeb should give that man carte blanche to produce anything he wants to!)

I guess I can’t say anything nicer than the fact it is 2005 and Beyond the Fringe is still making audiences howl with laughter and leave a theatre beaming.
It would be too odd if this wasn’t screened in the UK at some point. A DVD release would be ideal for everyone.

[Ben]

Um, never heard of it.

(Could this be an April Fool's Day prank?)

[Brian D not logged in]

Guest-Ben said:

Um, never heard of it.

(Could this be an April Fool's Day prank?)

The fact that the thread started weeks ago might put some doubt in your mind about this being an April 1 prank.........

[Ben]

Guest-Brian said:

The fact that the thread started weeks ago might put some doubt in your mind about this being an April 1 prank.........

;D Thanks.

I was only asking because there are a lot of hoaxes around today and I wouldn't be able to identify one for this series/whatever as I have no idea about it.

[Bert Thung]

I don't understand, do you think Beyond The Fringe is a made up show, or just the tape recovery?

Cause I can assure you, neither are.

[Ben]

Guest-Bert said:

I don't understand, do you think Beyond The Fringe is a made up show, or just the tape recovery?

Cause I can assure you, neither are.

Neither. (I really ought to learn not to post unless I know what I'm talking about!)

I've never heard of Beyond the Fringe, but it's clear that it exists from the replies. I was just pointing out that today is April Fool's Day, so perhaps it was best to tread carefully. I wasn't able to tell whether it was an April Fool's Day prank myself because I don't know anything about this series, so I was just warning in case everyone had forgot. I didn't realise it wasn't a new find today.

Ignore me. Please.

[Bert Thung]

If further proof were needed:

www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/beyondthefringe_1299000304.shtml

It's one of the most important moments in comedy history, Ben. I'll tell you who Peter Cook is if you want, and no, that's not a person I've just made up.

[Ben]

Guest-Bert said:

It's one of the most important moments in comedy history, Ben. I'll tell you who Peter Cook is if you want, and no, that's not a person I've just made up.

I'm not THAT ignorant.

[Googles "Peter Cooke"] He's a baker from Leeds.