Not Only... But Also
November 2, 2010 7:33 AM Subscribe
Not Only... But Also, the 1960s Peter Cook and Dudley Moore sketch show, was one of the many programmes where many of the episodes were lost due to the BBC's strangely appalling archival policies. Last month, however, audio recordings of 11 of the lost episodes were found at the home of NOBA fan Graham Webb, who had recorded them off the TV at the time of transmission, using a reel-to-reel tape recorder.
A couple of the recovered sketches can be heard in the collected news reports in the mp3 player at the bottom of this post.
A couple of the recovered sketches can be heard in the collected news reports in the mp3 player at the bottom of this post.
Copyright violators at least have the merit of preservation.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:57 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:57 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
To a certain subset of the American populace, Peter Cook is best known as the impressive clergyman whose speech impediment (Mawidge!) is played for laughs in The Princess Bride
posted by The Confessor at 8:32 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by The Confessor at 8:32 AM on November 2, 2010
If I ran heaven or this life or anywhere in between, there would be a special place in the kingdom for these people who have saved so much culture simply by being obsessives with a tape recorder who wanted to control their media long before their were words for it like time-shifting.
There are reasons obvious to anyone who knows me why I hold them in such high regard. But I also do because I understand the impulse. I did this with an old tape recorder long after it was technologically necessary because my family didn't own a VCR and even after we did, it wasn't something I could use. So sitting in front of the TV, I can remember being asked why I was recording shows that we were already watching without the pictures. And I hope I answered "why not?" but I'm sure I did not. Probably because I didn't know.
But it seems obvious now. Who doesn't want to be in control of when you laugh? If it was funny then, and would be funny later, why not let yourself get to decide when you get to laugh.
At first. Eventually my dad couldn't figure out how to record UHF channels on the thing (it involved fine tuning a station to a pre-set location using a tiny screwdriver) and Star Trek: The Next Generation was at the same time as the football games he was coaching, his life long interest in Star Trek outweighed his pride at being technologically-bested by his offspring
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:46 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
There are reasons obvious to anyone who knows me why I hold them in such high regard. But I also do because I understand the impulse. I did this with an old tape recorder long after it was technologically necessary because my family didn't own a VCR and even after we did, it wasn't something I could use. So sitting in front of the TV, I can remember being asked why I was recording shows that we were already watching without the pictures. And I hope I answered "why not?" but I'm sure I did not. Probably because I didn't know.
But it seems obvious now. Who doesn't want to be in control of when you laugh? If it was funny then, and would be funny later, why not let yourself get to decide when you get to laugh.
At first. Eventually my dad couldn't figure out how to record UHF channels on the thing (it involved fine tuning a station to a pre-set location using a tiny screwdriver) and Star Trek: The Next Generation was at the same time as the football games he was coaching, his life long interest in Star Trek outweighed his pride at being technologically-bested by his offspring
posted by MCMikeNamara at 8:46 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]
Hmm. Only audio recordings, you say? Looks like an excellent use for the Cookbot and Robo-Dudley.
posted by klangklangston at 10:15 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by klangklangston at 10:15 AM on November 2, 2010
Performing the closing song on Ready Steady Go
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:51 AM on November 2, 2010
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:51 AM on November 2, 2010
I've just finished work and I'm too lazy to look up the article right now, but one of the stateside equivalents of these obsessive audiotapers had the privilege of presenting to Don Pardo of SNL fame an off-air recording he had made of Pardo breaking into NBC programming with the news that shots had been fired at President Kennedy in Dallas. This is a piece of history that would not have existed without the taper in question, and I understand Mr. Pardo was most grateful.
posted by evilcolonel at 12:08 PM on November 2, 2010
posted by evilcolonel at 12:08 PM on November 2, 2010
Don Pardo of SNL fame
And of Jeopardy Fame. Seen here.
But Cook and Dud, well - much to look forward to here, and many thanks.
posted by IndigoJones at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2010
And of Jeopardy Fame. Seen here.
But Cook and Dud, well - much to look forward to here, and many thanks.
posted by IndigoJones at 1:33 PM on November 2, 2010
Lovely! I wasn't aware of Wiped... but after stumbling around for quite a while, I still don't understand how or where they'll be made available so I can listen to 'em.
Beyond the Fringe was formative for me, too, Kalessin. I had both BTF and BTF '64 completely committed to memory at one time, ready to pop out at a moment's notice in any given drunken haze... I can still do a creditable job on Bollard and So You Want to Know About the War...
posted by drhydro at 4:04 PM on November 2, 2010
Beyond the Fringe was formative for me, too, Kalessin. I had both BTF and BTF '64 completely committed to memory at one time, ready to pop out at a moment's notice in any given drunken haze... I can still do a creditable job on Bollard and So You Want to Know About the War...
posted by drhydro at 4:04 PM on November 2, 2010
Some more found British TV shows: The 65 plays – starring actors such as Sean Connery, Maggie Smith and Derek Jacobi – were transmitted by the BBC and ITV between 1957 and 1969, but were only seen once. Subsequently, if they were asked after by historians or biographers, they were found to be missing, presumed wiped, a frequent fate in a period when the preservation of TV programmes was an expensive business. However, during a recent stock-taking at the Library of Congress in Washington, these vanished pieces of British TV were found; they have now been sent home, to be filed in the National Archives of the British Film Institute – and screened at its annual festival of rediscovered TV this Sunday.
posted by dng at 4:43 PM on November 3, 2010
posted by dng at 4:43 PM on November 3, 2010
Did they find all the missing Dad's Army episodes? Anyone wanna save me some Googling.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 10:12 PM on November 3, 2010
posted by uncanny hengeman at 10:12 PM on November 3, 2010
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