Missing Believed Wiped 20th Anniversary Special

[Dick Fiddy]

In September BFI Southbank will be presenting a 'Best of Missing Believed Wiped event showcasing some of the most precious material recovered in the 20 years since the intiative began. Of course that's not saying the initiative has been responsible for all the finds - far from it -but it has acted as a showcase in which to screen recovered material. For the 20th Anniversary screenings I'd like to have your suggestions (or pleas) for which titles should be shown - especially as this forum has proved to be such a vital one over the years of searching. So ... over to you ...

[ctraynor]

Nigel Kneale's The Crunch

The 1965 version of Nineteen Eighty Four

Out of the Unknown's Level Seven

Freewheelers season 1

[Mike S]

Gerald Priestland's BBC2 news bulletin, definitely.

Those continuity compilations from last year were excellent too.

[Spiny Norman]

Shows that were recovered 15+ years ago might not immediately register as missing anymore in our minds.

At last the 1948 show is now at 73% existing, I gather that at one point there was next to nothing. A remarkable re(dis)covery. But episodes of that have already been shown often before.
It's Marty 2.3? All gas and gaiters?

[fatcat]

The Tormentors -individual play from 1966 featuring James Mason and Stanley Baker
with a little help from Mike Reid as a heavy.

Also the BFI appears to hold quite few Armchair Theatres that were never transmitted for one reason or another, that might prove to be a rich seam to look into ?

[Mike S]

Can I also put in a request for the Monty Python 'Satan' animation? Only about 30 seconds, but it got a great reaction on the day.

[Mark]

Got to have some "Steptoe And Son", in there, somewhere, and "At Last The 1948 Show".

[ian b]

Nothing, in full, that's had a commercial release in the meantime please.

[Simon Coward]

Nothing, in full, that's had a commercial release in the meantime please.

But it wouldn't be a bad idea to include this kind of thing in some way - it's always good to show that material which has been rediscovered doesn't just disappear into an archive after a single airing at a Kaleidoscope event or an MBW, but can get out there for all to see.

[DavidAbsalom]

I'd like to see the whole of I Passed By Your Window. They only showed an extract of it at MBW but I recall it being hugely enjoyable - possibly because we were laughing at what seemed to be a very 50s stiff-upper-lip middle-class drama. I was, however, convinced it was meant to be funny (the scene featured Olive Sloane who was a master of that sort of thing). Seeing the whole thing might confirm this.

And it's in High Definition Film which is unusual enough in itself to get it a place in the special.

[carryonline]

I'd love to see the Hattie Jacques "Miss Adventure" series again - I recall that went down very well a couple of years ago.

[felixdembinski]

Thirty Minute Theatre - The Flipside
Thirty Minute Theatre - Emergency Ward 10
Wednesday Play - The July Plot
Theatre 625 - 1984

[Richard Bignell]

Can you make sure we don't have a repeat of "Watch the Donut, Not the Hole" again!

I really can't have that going round my brain for another year... :D

[atomic23]

Got to say David Bowie's 'The Jean Genie' from Top Of The Pops 1973.
The greatest music find in the last 20 years by far!

[didi-5]

Can you make sure we don't have a repeat of "Watch the Donut, Not the Hole" again!

I really can't have that going round my brain for another year... :D

You mean the one I had managed to wipe from my memory until you just mentioned it?

[David Boothroyd]

Absolutely essential: Speaking Personally - the Alastair Sim monologue. 15 minutes long and absolutely perfect.

Seconding the request for bits of 'At Last the 1948 Show'. I also liked the recovered Boyd QC and the Admags (especially the ones shown in one of the late 1990s MBWs featuring Kenneth Horne).

Also what about 'Up the Polls'?

[Spiny Norman]

Seconding the request for bits of 'At Last the 1948 Show'.

A few sketches could be selected that 1) are not on the DVD 2) have not been screened before 3) have not been on the internet yet.
Based on my own itemisation I'd say this is relatively easy to do.

[didi-5]

Is there a date in September set for this yet? Is it going to be a weekend or an evening, or more than one screening?

[David Buck]

It was raiders at Bafta rather than MBW but that footage from Steptoe And Son: A Winter's Tale was wonderful to see and deserves a bigger audience; speaking of which; Doctor Who could be represented by the as yet unreleased The underwater Menace ep. 2 since the BBC are taking so long to do anything with it.

Nothing, beyond the Doctor Who trailer, seems to have yet emerged from Andrew Martin's search through the tops and tails of the BBC film recordings - since this includes clips from completely missing series and plays it would be very nice if some sort of compilation of these bits could be included - only survivng footage from "R3"; "united" etc. and the trailer to "Sunday night theatre : So Many Children" - featuring Michael caine, Arthur Lowe and Thora Hird would be very nice too.

and another vote for the aborted BBC2 opening - it was a real treat to see something that looked worthy but dull in the programme notes actually turn out to be one of the highlights of the screening

[andrew baker]

Nigel Kneale's The Crunch

The 1965 version of Nineteen Eighty Four

Out of the Unknown's Level Seven

Freewheelers season 1

I didn't know The Crunch existed. I did see it at the time but I can't say I remember anything about it - it blurs in my memory into The Avengers "The Morning After"

[Mike S]

But it wouldn't be a bad idea to include this kind of thing in some way - it's always good to show that material which has been rediscovered doesn't just disappear into an archive after a single airing at a Kaleidoscope event or an MBW, but can get out there for all to see.

In clip form I'd agree, but I feel it would be a waste to screen stuff in full if it's available on DVD.

Doctor Who could be represented by the as yet unreleased The underwater Menace ep. 2 since the BBC are taking so long to do anything with it.

Bah, at least you'll get it eventually, which is more than us Out Of The Trees fans can hope for!

Talking of which: Out Of The Trees.

And I second the Sim monologue too.

Oh, and this wasn't screened as part of MBW, but: what about those Derek and Clive out-takes that were found in Lin Cook's garage? They were quite a find, and I daresay a fair few C&M fans missed them.

[David Buck]

Doctor Who could be represented by the as yet unreleased The underwater Menace ep. 2 since the BBC are taking so long to do anything with it.

Bah, at least you'll get it eventually, which is more than us Out Of The Trees fans can hope for!

on the other hand of course It's not hard to see "out of the trees" - whether or not anyone agrees or disagrees with the use of file sharing sites or youtube it is out there; whereas access to the Doctor Who episode has been deliberately limited, probably to prevent a "cam copy" getting out

[Mike S]

As I recall, there wasn't really any outrage about those two Doctor Who episodes being kept under wraps - the reaction from Who fans who couldn't make the screening was generally 'Ah well, I'll see it eventually.' There's no such certainty for fans of other stuff.

This isn't a dig at Who fans, though - in fact, it's the opposite. They've got an organised fanbase who will make sure this stuff sees the light of day, so hats off to them. Getting people interested in a deluxe Derek and Clive Get the Horn re-release is more of an uphill struggle.

[David Buck]

As I recall, there wasn't really any outrage about those two Doctor Who episodes being kept under wraps - the reaction from Who fans who couldn't make the screening was generally 'Ah well, I'll see it eventually.' There's no such certainty for fans of other stuff.

I think there would have been had they known just how long it would be before they got to see them - In the meantime the episodes, in their raw unrestored forms, could have had screenings at the BFI, it's national offshoots and partner art cinemas - all of whom would surely have welcomed the revenue, failing that there's no reason why the meidatheques couldn't have had them available.

[Spiny Norman]

Bah, at least you'll get it eventually, which is more than us Out Of The Trees fans can hope for!

on the other hand of course It's not hard to see "out of the trees" - whether or not anyone agrees or disagrees with the use of file sharing sites or youtube it is out there;

Yes, and if it wasn't dead easy to find, OOTT has also been screened twice already.
Apart from that, how many "OOTT fans" are there? Most everyone agrees - and this is people who sought it out - that it's not that good despite coming from Chapman and Adams. It was nice to've seen it and it has one or two funny sketches, but on the whole, not exactly a winner.

[Richard F]

I'll third the Sim monologue - it's a masterclass in comic timing and delivery.

The final segment from the Secombe and Friends recovery shown a couple of years ago is a wonderfully sustained piece of nonsense whose imagination puts most of today's comedy efforts to shame.

The Flip Side.

If it's been confirmed as recovered then the "Return to Vienna" episode of Around the World with Orson Welles would be a must-see for me.

[Spiny Norman]

In September BFI Southbank will be presenting a 'Best of Missing Believed Wiped event showcasing some of the most precious material recovered in the 20 years since the intiative began. Of course that's not saying the initiative has been responsible for all the finds - far from it -but it has acted as a showcase in which to screen recovered material. For the 20th Anniversary screenings I'd like to have your suggestions (or pleas) for which titles should be shown - especially as this forum has proved to be such a vital one over the years of searching. So ... over to you ...

If it isn't planned already, perhaps a few people should be officially thanked as well, for quietly doing lots of work that no-one else does. The people who spend their own time checking catalogues and I understand there's a chap at the BBC who checks in returned stuff but pretty much does so only by sacrificing his lunch hour. No doubt there are many other volunteers that I do not even know of.

[David Buck]

"And as if by magic..." o.k. so the Doctor Who episode is now out there too so I guess my original argument is now moot but they could still show the restored version if the BBC were amenable.