Associated Rediffusion

[Ben]

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but how did Associated Rediffusion come to lose so many episodes of their series? I read somewhere that they became defunct, so I would assume that they junked their films after that, but that's only assumption and I'd like to know for certain.

Also, did they sell telerecordings overseas? I'm currently making enquiries about a non-UK collector who apparently has episodes of Twizzle, though I imagine what he actually has is just the one existing episode. Would be fantastic if he had more, of course.

[Laurence Piper]

It's a long story as to why so much Rediffusion stuff is missing (the BFI has the bulk of what is still around, which isn't a huge amount, compared to other companies). The whys and wherefores are still a bit of a grey area to this day though (basically they lost their franchise, which set in motion the state of play we have today). Their stuff WAS sold overseas and so may still be out there somewhere. It's always worth looking as some material has been uncovered!

Personally, I reckon that some of the Rediffusion stuff is still around, closer to home.

[John G]

Maybe wrong? but Its fairly accurate to say that no Rediffusion videotape has been seen on TV since 1971.
Telerecordings due turn up as these were often purchased or given to those connected with a show, as well of course used in countries which had different TV standards.
The mystery remains though where all the VTRs went to,. The old chestnut about wiping tapes to save money, does not really ring true in the late 1960s with a cash rich ITV company.
Tapes were still at a point were they had to be checked BEFORE a recording for drop out .So if someone was spending 10K on a drama would they risk using an old tape that been around the houses a bit?

[ianj]

I recorded an old Rediffusion logo'd At last the 1948 show from ch.4 about 12 years back....it was part of the Tv Heaven series......ianj

[Laurence Piper]

[quote author=Guest-John G
The mystery remains though where all the VTRs went to,. The old chestnut about wiping tapes to save money, does not really ring true in the late 1960s with a cash rich ITV company.
[/quote]

This is the $64,000 question, John! Personally I think that the tapes largely just went AWOL or were dumped in a warehouse and forgotten about at the end of Rediffusion's life as a broadcaster. Sure, videotapes were re-used during the years they were transmitting (in common with other companies) but at the end of their life, there must have been a collection of video material spanning a large part of the previous 7 or 8 years that was lying there on the shelves. Some (along with some t/rs) was no doubt junked at this point and later. The most visible material that needed to be got rid of, no doubt .

However, as virtually NO Rediffusion VT exists at all from their entire 1960s output (and what does is from the late '50s mainly, along with a few colour experiments which exist because they were made for / residing overseas), it's fair to assume that a cache still exists somewhere. If some items were junked then individuals would have salvaged at least a few bits and pieces, as happened with all TV companies - yet NOTHING on VT has surfaced of Rediffusion material from this period at all. No junking programme is THAT total as to wipe any trace whatsoever (there are even a few VTs from their defunct stablemate ABC in existence, just to reinforce this point).

It's definitely the forgotten archive of UK TV - but if a chunk of it DOES exist out there somewhere then someone knows it's location and for whatever reason (possibly complex rights issues etc etc) is keeping the lid on it.

[Mark Boulton]

I personally still think these tapes a sitting on shelves in a long tubular tunnel beneath Tottenham Court Road/Goodge Street, myself.

There are archives down there for all major record labels and also 'some' TV companies (which ones are not readily identifiable).

Given also that 2" tape was used by the record industry for some years for multi-track recording (and in some studios and by some bands still are), Quad tapes would not stick out as physically they look the same and are even kept in exactly the same cases. In fact, it's the same type, but used for different formats of recording.

[Kev]

The UCLA has got a few shows.

My bet is that there has to be some stuff in the States.

I know of joint ABC/USA shows from the 60's but not (Associated) Rediffusion/USA shows.

Anyone know of any?

[Kev]

Oh yeah. And the Kal event in September should shed some light.

[Ben]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Didn't realise it was such an interesting topic.

As for my enquiries about The Adventures of Twizzle, as expected, the collector turned out to have the one surviving episode, though did mention that he's heard of episodes existing in the UK on film. Anyone know anything more about this? Perhaps he was referring to what was mentioned above - that maybe the Associated Rediffusion archive does exist somewhere.

[John G]

This reproduced booklet from April 1967,might be interesting to those not familiar with AR or too young to remeber it.


www.transdiffusion.org/tvh/studios/wembley1.htm

[Laurence Piper]

Guest-Kev said:

I know of joint ABC/USA shows from the 60's but not (Associated) Rediffusion/USA shows.
Anyone know of any?

Yes, there are a handful of Rediffusion colour VT shows, made around 1966 / 67 as co-productions with the U.S. They mainly reside in the states though, from when they were shown there. These are the exceptions to the rule that I was talking about though; the "main bulk" of Rediffusion shows made on VT for the UK for the whole of the 1960s have just vanished. With most companies, the odd VT item turns up in an ex-technician's attic or whatever - but nothing from Rediffusion at all.

What were the joint ABC / US shows you mentioned, by the way? Do any still exist? I wasn't aware of these.

[Kev]

Bing Crosby show (Special : 1961-12)
Title: The Bing Crosby show / a Bing Crosby production produced through the facilities of Associated-Rediffusion Ltd., London ; producer, Bob Wynn ; director, Peter Croft ; writers, Bill Morrow, Howard Leeds, Sid Green, Dick Hills.

Dial M for murder (Special)
Title: Dial M for murder / ABC ; produced by David Susskind in conjunction with Rediffusion Ltd. of London ; directed by John Moxey ; adapted for television by Frederick Knott.
Country of production: U.S. ; U.K.
Published/distributed: [1967-11-15 (9 PM PST)]
Cast/performers: Laurence Harvey (Tony Wendice); Diane Cilento (Margot Wendice)

[Kev]

The Dave Clark 5 did one in the 60's.

I believe it was a joint abc/American production.

Still exists too!

[Laurence Piper]

Guest-Kev said:

Bing Crosby show (Special : 1961-12)
Title: The Bing Crosby show / a Bing Crosby production produced through the facilities of Associated-Rediffusion Ltd., London ; producer, Bob Wynn ; director, Peter Croft ; writers, Bill Morrow, Howard Leeds, Sid Green, Dick Hills.

Dial M for murder (Special)
Title: Dial M for murder / ABC ; produced by David Susskind in conjunction with Rediffusion Ltd. of London ; directed by John Moxey ; adapted for television by Frederick Knott.
Country of production: U.S. ; U.K.
Published/distributed: [1967-11-15 (9 PM PST)]
Cast/performers: Laurence Harvey (Tony Wendice); Diane Cilento (Margot Wendice)

Those were co-productions with Rediffusion (not ABC UK, who were not involved) - ABC refers to the US company! Those were two of the shows I was referring to above. There was also The Hippodrome Show (1966), episodes of Half Hour Story (1967) and The Human Voice (a 1966 single play that is also out on region 1 DVD) and a few more. The only show I know of specifically that ABC UK made in colour was the drama Frontier (1968) although it doesn't seem to exist in the main, apart from one ep as a b/w t/r.

[RWels]

Guest-Mark said:

I personally still think these tapes a sitting on shelves in a long tubular tunnel beneath Tottenham Court Road/Goodge Street, myself.

There are archives down there for all major record labels and also 'some' TV companies (which ones are not readily identifiable).

Given also that 2" tape was used by the record industry for some years for multi-track recording (and in some studios and by some bands still are), Quad tapes would not stick out as physically they look the same and are even kept in exactly the same cases. In fact, it's the same type, but used for different formats of recording.

Call me a newbie, but why isn't that accessable than?