Lost Hugh And I and Here's Harry episodes discovered
- A lost episode of sitcom Hugh And I has been discovered
- TV organisation Kaleidoscope has also found a missing edition of Here's Harry
- The programmes were first broadcast in the mid 1960s
Lost episodes of two BBC One 1960s sitcoms have been rediscovered.
The programmes are from Hugh And I, starring Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott (above), and Harry Worth (pictured, below) comedy Here's Harry.
Produced and directed by David Croft, a complete surviving collection of Hugh And I Series 1 and 2 was recently released on DVD. The sitcom ran for seven series, following Scott and his lodger and friend, Hugh, in a series of adventures.
The rediscovered episode is Series 6 Episode 3, Beau Jesters. This penultimate series takes the form of a single, continuing story in which the pair journey on a round-the-world cruise after Hugh wins £5,000 from Premium Bonds. The episode sees them stranded in Tangiers and accidentally enrolling in the French Foreign Legion as they attempt to find a way to Suez and rejoin their ship.
First broadcast on Tuesday 13th December 1966, Beau Jesters also features the first TV role for actor Jan Leeming.
Here's Harry episode The Musician has also been recovered, originally broadcast on Friday 22nd November 1963. Also lasting seven series, the Harry Worth sitcom ran from 1960 to 1965, totalling 61 episodes.
The Musician was the fifth episode from Series 5. It sees Harry practising, and then auditioning, for a place in the Woodbridge Municipal Orchestra. Unfortunately for both Harry and the WMO, neither he nor his childhood violin are in the greatest of shape. However, his aunt's position as a key benefactor to the orchestra presents the organisation with a dilemma.
Both episodes are amongst many thousands to be missing from broadcasters' archives. It was not until the very late 1970s that either television or radio were deemed to have any continuing commercial or cultural value, so tape was simply recorded over with new programmes, and other programmes were broadcast live and never recorded at all.
Over the last 30 years, bodies such as the British Film Institute and TV organisation Kaleidoscope have worked with the assistance and support of broadcasters and production companies to find and identify missing episodes. Some have been returned from copies made for sale and broadcast overseas, whilst others were copied by members of the cast and crew, and others still were saved by home enthusiasts making early video or audio recordings.
Last month, Kaleidoscope found a large collection of missing television programmes, amongst which were these two comedy finds. Other titles included landmark drama series The Avengers and Z Cars.
Kaleidoscope's Chris Perry says: "This huge haul of missing BBC television included both comedy and drama gems. Our website www.lostshows.com helps many people to check if they hold a piece of missing television or not. In the past we have found other comedy series including HMS Paradise and The Likely Lads. Earlier this year, one of our members returned a Till Death Us Do Part episode to the BBC. It's incredible, what keeps turning up."
As previously reported, the Till Death Us Do Part episode was discovered in August and is already available to buy on DVD.