As well as containing chroma dots, which presents possibilities for future colour recovery, the black and white film recording also reinstates the musical performances by the episode’s two guest stars, neither of which were captured on the off-air audio. The acoustic Trio Athene performed a rousing rendition of the Greek song Lefteris, while the UK’s groundbreaking female pop group the Paper Dolls, hot on the heels of their recent Top 20 hit Somewhere Here In My Heart, sang their follow-up single My Life (Is In Your Hands) in front of an appreciative studio audience.

The lead singer of the Paper Dolls, Susie Mathis, has fond memories of the experience. “Doing The Morecambe & Wise Show has always been something very special to me. We had so much profile at the time, appearing on everything from Dee Time, Top of the Pops and The Val Doonican Show. But we were still very new, and to do The Morecambe & Wise Show was a step above, like hitting the jackpot. It was quite extraordinary too, because they usually went for established acts and we were nothing like Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen! We were worried about being good enough for the programme and we put our heart and soul into it. We were very grateful for the opportunity and all these years later, especially when I think about all the great guests they had, especially Glenda Jackson climbing down those steps, to have been on one of their shows is such a highlight.”

Following her decade-long career as a pop star, Mathis successfully moved into presenting, becoming the first female host of a daytime radio programme, winning two prestigious Sony Radio awards and interviewing hundreds of special guests on Piccadilly Radio. “When I think about some of the great comedians I’ve interviewed, people like The Two Ronnies or Leonard Rossiter, they were very serious people and quite difficult to interview. Morecambe and Wise were a different class; I have lovely memories of working with them both.”

“I didn’t think we were going to meet them much, but before the show, the two of them came and wished us good luck. They weren’t grand at all; there was a lot of warmth from them both. I remember Eric telling me that his son Gary had bought our record, which meant so much and gave me such a buzz. I learned so much watching them work; Eric was completely unique and authentic, he just had funny bones, while Ernie was very smart, he knew exactly what he was doing and could pull anything off. They knew every trick in the book and when you deconstruct their dynamic, you realise that they have played a part in comedy ever since and will forever more. After the recording, they both made a special effort to come and thank us, which is how it should be, but not everybody is like Morecambe and Wise. I just think they were astonishingly wonderful, they were, are and always will be national treasures.”

Having fronted her own Radio 2 show and editions of Top of the Pops, as well as raising millions for charity, Susie is currently bringing sunshine to Boom Radio every Saturday morning, and the news of her The Morecambe & Wise Show being found took the pioneering broadcaster’s breath away. “I can’t believe it, I’m absolutely overwhelmed by this news, it’s made my year. As you get older, you sometimes wonder if those experiences really happened – ‘Did I really meet those people?’ To have the chance all these years later to see my past and realise that I did do something, and was worth something, is an extraordinary feeling. It’s fantastic, thank you Film is Fabulous! I can’t wait to watch the episode, what a wonderful celebration for Eric’s centenary.”

“You’re joking?!” was the joyous reaction of another leading lady, Morecambe & Wise’s quintessential co-star Ann Hamilton, upon hearing the news. “The premise of television at the time was rather like working in the theatre…” explains Hamilton, “if you didn’t come on the Monday night, then you would never see Monday night’s performance again, which might sound silly now, but it never occurred to me that any of our work would ever be seen again, let alone found all these years later.”

Ann is excited to see the long-lost episode, especially as she has no memories of performing the hilarious nine-minute sketch where she plays Pauline, the manageress of a nudist camp, standing behind a carefully positioned hedge. “It’s so long ago and I am knocking on a bit now; I’m older than God! I forget most of the sketches I’ve done until I actually see them again. In fact, a few years ago, somebody said they’d loved a sketch where I played Maid Marian, and I was adamant that I’d never played Maid Marian. ‘I’d remember that…’ Then they showed me the sketch, from the 1971 Christmas Special, and I said, ‘Oh God, it is me!’ I did so many sketches and I enjoyed each and every one of them, because I loved working with Eric and Ernie.”