SEE EMILY PLAYED AT THE BFI
~British Film Institute teams up with Kaleidoscope as London's annual television treasures event goes pop!~
A long-lost masterpiece of Sixties' satire courtesy of comedy writer Johnny Speight and a sitcom starring Ronnie Barker unseen since first broadcast are just two of the treats at this year's Missing Believed Wiped event (Jan 9th).
Other highlights in a packed schedule at BFI Southbank, London, include footage of Pink Floyd, The Who, Black Sabbath and Procol Harum during their prime; a vintage episode of acclaimed Sixties' sitcom Till Death Us Do Part, and the late Ronnie Barker shining in a long-missing comedy gem.
Organised and run by the British Film Institute, Missing Believed Wiped is an annual survey of recently rediscovered television material. It showcases the important work of missing episode enthusiasts and organisations in tracking down our lost TV heritage: programmes tragically considered ephemeral and disposable at the time of broadcast but now recognised as of great cultural value.
And this year, for the first time, the BFI will be running the popular event in conjunction with classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope, responsible for bringing to light some of the biggest discoveries of 2009.
Programme One: "A Mixed Bag" features episodes from two very different yet equally entertaining BBC sitcoms recovered with the help of Kaleidoscope. One of comedy's finest (and foulest) creations – Alf Garnett (played by Warren Mitchell) – rails against devious politicians and the world in general in an episode of Till Death Us Do Part entitled 'State Visit', from 1967. The second screening is of a show referred to as "Fawlty Towers mark one" by its writer and main star, the late great Ronnie Barker. In His Lordship Entertains, from 1973, Barker plays Lord Rustless, the owner of a stately home-turned-hotel. Truly an orphaned episode, "The Food Inspector" is the sole surviving instalment of this seven-part show.
Completing the first half of Programme One is an update by Kaleidoscope on the Bob Monkhouse archive, entrusted to the group by the family of the late comedian and comprising a vast collection of film reels, videos and audio tapes amassed by the performer during his lifetime, and a presentation on lost BSB satellite TV archive material from the 1990s.
Dick Fiddy, BFI TV Programmer/ Consultant, said: "For more than 15 years, the BFI's annual Missing Believed Wiped campaign has given the public access to vital material long thought lost from the British television archives.
"This year, we are once again very grateful to our partner organisation Kaleidoscope, who have collaborated with us on retrieving material and making it available for this screening."
Missing Believed Wiped runs in NFT1 at the BFI Southbank, London, on Saturday, January 9th. Programme One starts at 4.15pm and Programme Two at 6.30pm.
