Film is Fabulous! and De Montfort University’s Cinema and Television History Institute (CATHI) are pleased to announce the recovery of more television treasures that are missing from the BBC Archive:

The Basil Brush Show (Broadcast: 20th November 1970)

Play School – Auditions (Recorded: 1st December 1976)

Z Cars – Take it with a Pinch of Salt (Insert Rushes: 23rd August 1967)

The Basil Brush Show is the third from the 1970 season that has been recovered recently. Presented by Derek Fowlds, it featured a guest appearance from the pop group, Pickettywitch.

Play School is celebrating its 60th Anniversary, so the recovery of missing material is timely. The auditions show prospective presenters Judy Hepburn and Michael Maynard being put through their paces.

The Z Cars insert rushes are from the second of the two-part episode ‘Take it with a Pinch of Salt’, which was broadcast on the 16th January 1968. It starred Joss Ackland, and featured David Daker.

The three missing items will be returned to the BBC Archive, together with a selection of other episodes that are either superior in quality to those copies currently held by the BBC, or the sole surviving film prints of items for which there are only digital copies in the archive. The episodes include:

Dad’s Army: The Battle of Godfrey’s Cottage (Broadcast: 8th March 1969)

The Likely Lads: Entente Cordiale (Broadcast: 16th December 1964)

The Likely Lads: A Star is Born * (Broadcast: 23rd June 1965)

The Likely Lads: Far Away Places * (Broadcast: 14th July 1965)

Steptoe and Son: My Old Man’s a Tory (Broadcast: 8th November 1965)

*The sole surviving film print (the BBC Archive only holds a digital copy).

Further missing episodes recovered during the early stages of the pilot study, initiated by Film is Fabulous! and De Montfort University, will be announced shortly.

Film is Fabulous! Preserving film treasures for future generations.

24th April 2024