Apparently one of 'Our Dinosaurs' is missing.

Patrick Moore's coverage of the Moon Landing
Several Dennis Potter and Alan Mercer plays
Kenneth Tynan saying fuck on 'BBC3'
Most of 'Not Only...But Also...'
Most of 'The Likely Lads'

believe me, 'Dr Who' is just the tip of the iceberg.

But it's an incredibly large, short sighted tip.

Graham Chapman and Douglas Adams' 1976 pilot 'Out Of The Trees' is rumoured to be wiped. But fear not - the full script will be appearing in the SOTCAA update next week.

>Several Dennis Potter and Alan Mercer plays

Potter is only slight in terms of gaps. Most of his contributions to 'TW3' and 'Not So Much A Programme More A Way Of Life' are gone, as is his first play 'The Confidence Course' and 1967's 'Message For Posterity'. The latter was remade after his death.

Other Potter losses are with independants, losing stuff like 'Shaggy Dog' for LWT.

>Kenneth Tynan saying fuck on 'BBC3'

Yep, as featured on that awful documentary the other week.

>Most of 'Not Only...But Also...'
>Most of 'The Likely Lads'

As in early episodes of the latter. Only about six survive, plus the 'Christmas Night With the Stars' insert. Did anyone spot Bob's learning to drive episode(WIPED) featuring in some ITV compilation on comedy motoring earlier this year? I'd like to know more.

>believe me, 'Dr Who' is just the tip of the iceberg.

This tends to get very generalised. Remember, 20-odd copies were made of most programmes for overseas market. These may be cut or stored in an uncatalogued warehouse soemwhere. They crop up now and again but for a large part, stupid things were junked. they kept every sporting event but wiped stacks of 'Steptoe', several hundred 'Z Cars' and on and on...

Then there are the collectors who set up elaborate rediscoveries in order to cover up their own collections. Cruel people.

In the next update bar one I'll be putting up an article on the wiping history at the BBC. It'll appear in The Goodies section.

The 'Out Of the Trees' info is hard to find out. Fragments exist according to archive obsessive Kevin Davies who used a clip for his 'Making Of Hitch Hiker's' documentary.

Does anyone know about 'live' programmes ?
For example, I wonder if the BBC keep old news bulletins (I know they keep the film inserts seperately). I also know many 'Pebble Mill at Ones' were not recorded and I wonder say for example, how many programmes like 'Blue Peter' or 'Top of the Pops' suffer from missing material ?

Apparently, most of Top Of The Pops before about 1974 has disappeared - there was an interview in Q years ago with someone from the BBC Archives (name escapes me now) and he said there's only about a dozen complete editions.

Wasn't Hendrix's appearance on The Lulu Show junked too? Even things like The Pink Floyd performing on The Late Show (not the Sarah Dunant incarnation, a satire-type thing from the mid-60s).

Apparently, the policy then with entertainment was to keep the first and final show of everything. Which might be the only reason why anything from Not Only (for instance) survives at all.

Im pretty sure old news is kept because clips are often shown on documentaries. And as for Blue Peter, they must at least record SOME of them. After all, we've all seen the elephant one.

HAHAHAHAHA! :) a classic!

It's always good when the radio times print something like - "i'm sorry, but that programme can not be shown, because the BBC accidently misplaced it during the 70's."
Honestly, are the BBC so arrogant... no, forget i said that.

The BBC is just...full of completely clueless tossers.

>The BBC is just...full of completely clueless tossers.

Where do i sign up?

How about 'It's a Royal Knockout'?

'Carol Smilie Fists Old Ladies'

I can't wait 'til the archives are open to the public (BBC's long-term plans) What would everyone watch?

>I can't wait 'til the archives are open to the public (BBC's long-term plans) What would everyone watch?

"Open to the public"..? Can you explain more, as I didn't know this was in their long term plans ?

Does that mean we can just go in and take whatever we want?

It was something i saw on Ceefax. They didn't actually say "open to the public" but something more like "more available to the public" They'd probably have viewing rooms, with footage stored on computer. A bit like what they've got in some public libraries just now.

I imagine though, that London will be the main beneficiary of this.

On screen 1: Basil Fawlty meets the Germans!!
On Screen 2: Del Boy falls through a bar!!
On Screen 3: "Don't tell him you name Pike"!!!
err.. that's it.
Cost - £10 per screening (£5 for students/OAPS)

THE BBC - BECAUSE QUALITY DOESN'T COME CHEAP

I actually did my Media Studies dissertation on the archives (ITV and America as well as the BBC), and might hold some of the the answers to some people's questions. However, knowing me, my answers will be too long-winded to go into here, but if anyone - including any of The Corpses - wants to ask me anything, then by all means mail me via my site (http://www.bluejam20.freeserve.co.uk/), and I'll see what I can do. I can't promise definitive answers, but at least I'll try to help!

I'm doing a media course soon!

Thanks for listening.

Re recording live shows - didn't they forget to record the start of one of the TMWRNJ programmes sot ehy refilmed it for the repeat.. ha ha, yeah right! If it's that easy to do then maybe it could be a cause for other live shows to not be recorded.

Re the archives would it be like the National Sound archives which any one can listen to? Though am I right in thinking that's JUST theatre or does it also include music and other things? Never actually been myself though I keep meaning to. I'm working at BBC Worldwide at the moment and was perusiing through all their publicity sheets for programmes to sell abroad and there's loads of fantastic things that I just wish they'd repeat over here, never mind sell abroad! -Some of the BBC play for today type things that are never going to get another terrestial showing cos people think they're dated I suppose. And what about Tutti Frutti. Come on BBC!!