The Benny Hill Show

[Joe Wilson]

Do the editions dated 20.04.1964 and 23.10.1964 of The Benny Hill Show still exist?

[David Buck]

if you look at the UCLA site again you'll see it's actually 20-04-68 , not 64 , which does exist , the 1964 edition listed does not match dates given in the Kakleidoscope guide , I think one or more of those sketches made it onto the us video release Benny Hill : The Lost years , I don't recall if anyone worked out which episode this is , it's a couple of years since it was first discussed here.

[John Stewart Miller]

I seem to recall 14 shows at the BBC being qouted by Adam Lee surviving around 1990. The 50s shows are in a variety format, the 1961 and 63 series I believe are 'Benny Hill' which was a series of one off character plays, not the usual format. 15 now should survive at the Beeb as 'Portrait of a bridegroom' (1961) has been recovered in recent years.

All the material for 1966 and 67 I believe exists. This includes also Bennys ATV one off special 1967.

There were relatively short runs, I think the 1963 broadcast ran to 3 editions, with edition 2 'The mystery of Black Bog Manor' surviving. Bob Monkhouse was a fan & friend and talked about the shows either in a biography he wrote of Benny or himself (some years since I read it)!

There is something from 1964 definitely. As far as I know holdings for 1968 are good, with film inserts held for 2 of 3 missing shows, and only 1 completely missing.

I think 2 Thames shows from 1971 are missing.

The earliest surviving material I think is 1957, the second BBC series and was presumably recorded to monitor the output when the show became a success.

Hope this is of help.

[Deleted]

John said:

I think 2 Thames shows from 1971 are missing.

No, all Thames Benny Hill shows exist. The 1970 and 1971 shows are to be released by Netowrk in two respective boxsets later this month (if they're not out yet).

[Paul Reid]

BBC Benny Hill

1955 (3 live shows, not recorded),
1957 (6 live shows, not recorded),
1958 (4 live shows, first two not recorded, third has some surviving sequences, fourth the "Pepys Diary" edition - first fully recorded show);
1961 (two runs of 3 editions each, first three survive with one being "Soap Box Jury"; second three lost or not recorded)

(- then the 19 30 min sitcoms, of which only 2 survive, these were the first to be originally recorded onto video tape, surviving editions on film recordings -)

1964 (1 surviving edition plus a short special Christmas sequence made on film called "The Lonely One" - is this on the VHS tapes?)
1965 (4 taped editions, all survive as film copies)
1965-66 (4 taped editions, first possibly(?) lost, last three survive as film copies)
1968 (1 Easter special which survives as film copy ("Lorre/Greenstreet" edition?) and series of 3 of which only some film sequences of the last show survive as the tapes were wiped in pique by the BBC after Benny signed for Thames TV in 1969)

Total 32 + Christmas sketch, all made in b/w (not including 19 "Benny Hill" sitcom series)

He also made about 6 ATV specials c1957-61 as well as the 1967 Special and two editions of "Showcase" also for ATV