Mary Whitehouse Experience (there's surely a cracking couple of hours in there)

Room 101 (Steve Punt, Danny Baker, John Walters, Frank Skinner, Caroline Quentin, David Baddiel - all of these were classics. No, really.)

Radio Active (still only one LP in 1983, and a single cassette ten years later. Why???)

What about the Chris Morris show from Radio 1 in 1994?

Lionel Nimrod featuring Lee & Herring (two series, 1992-93).

Saturday Night Fry (Radio 4, 1988). (While we're on the subject, why not video releases of Bit Of Fry & Laurie?)

On The Hour (in full)
Fist Of Fun (in full)
Chris Morris Radio 1
Chris Morris GLR
Victor Lewis-Smith Radio 1
Armando Iannucci Radio 1
Doon Your Way
The Harpoon
Down Your Ear
In Excess
Radio Active
Mary Whitehouse Experience


I'll be back with more later...

Some of Our Pilots Are Missing sounds like it would be worth a repeat, at least. Didn't hear it the first time round.
I think the BBC should repeat the more obscure elements of its back catalogue late at night or in the morning. OK, Fawlty Towers was great but we've seen it a million times. I know people complain about repeats, but why don't BBC talent inspire new writers with a run-through of "forgotten classics"?
Like 90s radio comedy shows, FOF on TV, Derek 'n' Clive. Things that paved the way for people like Chris Morris.

>Derek 'n' Clive

There's a lot of that available already, and I'm pretty sure it's nothing to do with the BBC.

I'm sure there is quite a bit of 'Not Only But Also' still unavailable, despite most of it being wiped. The BBC Comedy Classics video is a strangely shoddy collection - some brilliant, some weak padding.

It begins with a short introductory "reunion" in which "Pete" hurls abuse at "Dud", who just sits there, unable to quite believe the sheer vicious bewildering unpleasantness of it and smiling uncomfortably. It's a great pity that they fade it out at the end, when you can clearly see Moore pulling a face, as if to say "what the fuck was that all about!?"

TV:
Is It Bill Bailey? the series.
All the Fry and Laurie series

Radio:
Room 101
MWE
Armando Ianucchi (R1 and R4 stuff)

>It begins with a short introductory "reunion" in which "Pete" hurls abuse at "Dud", who just sits there, unable to quite believe the sheer vicious bewildering unpleasantness of it and smiling uncomfortably. It's a great pity that they fade it out at the end, when you can clearly see Moore pulling a face, as if to say "what the fuck was that all about!?"
That intro was recorded in 1990 when the video was released as "The Best Of What's Left Of ...Not Only But Also..."
Pretty uncomfortable viewing that intro - you can tell they can barely wait to get away from each other again. It's certainly nothing like as funny as what follows.

Was "Derek 'n' Clive" not put out by the BBC?

The Goodies (some episodes other than "that bloody kitten")
Lionel Nimrod

Grevious Bodily Radio (might act as a door through which 11oClock show viewers can see what proper comedy is about)

Peter Serafinowicz "chin chin" thing from Radio 4 a few years back, except the final episode which was just embarassing in it's ersatz "look back on their careers" angle

Son of Cliche

decent quality tape releases (or start doing stuff on CD or even MD). I have some recordings of The Shuttleworths from 1993 on the cheapest ferric tapes I could find, made on my Aiwa tape deck that was wearing out, yet they still sound far superior to the BBC released episodes in sound quality.

But then I've just spent 3 hours soldering up a SCART lead for my TV to replace the standard lead that came with my OnDigital receiver, so I'm probably just sad.

Three Hours! Were you melting the solder using the "sun and magnifying glass" method?

Everyone's going to say this, but... Fist Of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy on video, along with a full season by season release of The Goodies, a compilation of the best bits of Saturday/Friday night Armistice, The Day Today mininews, Inside Victor Lewis-Smith (the full versions, not the horrible 15 minute 'revised repeats'), A Life In Pieces (not brilliant, but still worth owning), any other Peter Cook and Dudley Moore stuff lying around (Behind The Fridge?), That Was The Week That Was...

>Was "Derek 'n' Clive" not put out by the BBC?

Derek And Clive (Live) was released by Island Records in 1976. Come Again and Ad Nauseum were issued by Virgin Records (Virgin Video put out the Get The Horn film).

Victor Lewis Smith's album Tested On Humans For Irritancy was also released by Virgin, not BBC.

"Rutland Weekend Television", including the 1975 Christmas special. I think it should be compiled, rather than in full, there are a lot of terrible padding scenes.
I'd also like to see a compilation of "Emu's Broadcasting Company", the 1977 season with its classic serial "Fracula and Drakenstein" is quite superb...
"Alexei Sayle's Stuff" both series, in full.

The League Against Tedium radio series, because I thought it was rubbish the first time round and I'd liked to be proved wrong.

Audio - Lee and Herring Radio 1 show

Video - Rutland Weekend Television, KYTV (series by series release), The High Life, City Lights, and a special Python tape featuring the Montreux special, the Mayday film thing, and any other stuff that the BBC might have knocking around.

All three series of "Alexei Sayle's Stuff" on video

Ooh yes, forgot about series three - I missed that during my first year at uni, too many Friday nights in the union and no VCR that I'd trust to stay unstolen from my room.

Armando Iannucci's 1994 1FM show - but this will never happen as it was more DJish than a proper comedy show and it was live.

I have the 'best of' on tape - I missed most of them as I only realised it was on on the penultimate week.

'The Pall Bearers Revue'. Very underrated Sadowitz gem.

With you on 'The Pall Bearers Review'.

Can we open this up a little and ponder over BBC's desire to compile/edit material. Some of this is unavoidable and understandable, but knowing that people fought for years to get complete episodes of series released (most early tapes were made into 'omnibus' editions) why on earth are video comapnies so patchy in this respect.

Drama seems to be the worst. 'The Singing Detective' was released during the 1994 repeat run on BBC1, but the tops and tails were removed. Yet they put episode titles up for each new segment/episode.

Telefantasy and comedy generally escape this, because fans are slightly more organised. The temptation to edit should either be across the board or not at all. Seems fair.

Worth noting is the fact that BBC Education put out single plays at stupid prices(£100) but you can't buy this on the shelf.

BBC need to rethink their policy and stop pandering to Goon Show collectors.

Also, no chance of the Armando Iannucci shows getting a release, given that 'Facts and Fancies' bombed. Sorry to report that.

I don't see why they need to stop pandering to Goon Show collectors; they just need to start pandering in a similar way to collectors of other things too. However I agree with your sentiment: it sets a worrying precedent - do we have to wait fifty years before entire series can be released?

How about
Jasper Carott - back to the front
Jasper Carott - that trial thing
Ben Elton - the last series he , taking tghe piss out of the BBC's new logos
The Stand Up Show - both series
All on video

Don't know about recent Carrott, but I reckon a Best Of Carrott's Lib might be a goer.

As would:
People Like Us (Radio 4 incarnation)(there's been six episodes released on BBC Radio Collection, but that still leaves ten unreleased shows)

Wasn't a fan particularly, but is there any reason why Newman & Baddiel's 1993 series never made it onto video?

Alexei Sayle's Stuff (agreed, all 3 series should be made available)

Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? (just six out of 26 episodes available at the moment - it is one of the five best British sitcoms of all time, IMHO)

Happy Families (or are the PRS clearances just too tricky? - it's been years since I've seen it)

If You See God, Tell Him (I've already said it was ace, and several people agreed - so come on, you can fit all 3 hours onto one tape)

Ever Decreasing Circles (underrated suburban sitcom - never released on video. Plus the final 90 minute special from 1989 has NEVER been repeated, certainly not on terrestrial.)

Plus most of the other suggestions on this thread, too.

The original Likely Lads series in B&W, or have the BBC in their infinite wisdom wiped them all?

Tutti Frutti

'Tutti Frutti' won't get a release/repeat because the writer won't play ball with the BBC. We'll have to settle for 'The Slab Boys' until then.

Am I thinking of the same guy? It's very late.

re;Likely Lads. Five b&w episodes were repeated in 1995, as I'm sure you're aware. Clips from the driving instructor episode appeared in a comedy compilation about motoring earlier this year. No idea where they found that.

Still, five episodes - one of them only 20 minutes long. I'd buy 'em.

Why are writers SO selfish? I thought the whole point of making TV programmes was to provide entertainment for people watching television.
What is so special about the National Film Theatre that enabled them to show Tutti Frutti a couple of summers ago? I should have gone along with a camcorder, filmed the screen, and made a fortune at Camden Market. With the writer getting NOTHING.
Arrghh

Without wanting to get involved in an argument about the NFT, they make acquisitions of material from all TV stations and film studios of which they have certain liberties with screenings.

I think it's great the NFT can show what they like and you can go to the BFI and view whatever YOU like for a reasonable sum, but not having them on video, at home, so you can laugh out loud is very sad.

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