Saving Morecambe & Wise

[Analoguesat]

You will all remember the Doctor Who recoveries from 3 or 4 years ago - reels of film were salvaged from a Nigerian TV relay station in the small town of Jos. Along with the Doctor Who was an early Sky At Night, which was playable and a copy of Series 1 of Morecambe & Wise, which had badly deteriorated and was fused into one big block of plastic.

BBC R&D have a fascinating blog about how they got some images back from the ruined filmstock

Part 1 - 'You Can't See the Join!' - Recovering Morecambe and Wise (Part 1) - BBC R&D

Part 2 - Lasers and X-rays - Recovering Morecambe and Wise (Part 2) - BBC R&D

Part 3 tomorrow - I will edit the link in once its live

 

[Llew]

Is it heresy to say I never found M&W very funny?
Always seemed to be predictable pre-war music hall stuff updated, with added celebrity luvvies.

 

[Analoguesat]

They never did anything for me either , so the idea of them getting chopped up into little pieces with an industrial laser is quite appealing in a James Bond kind of way

 

[Channel Hopper]

Yes, heresy.

 

[Topper]

Predictable in a music hall kind of way yes, but good for a laugh in it's day, I especially liked their mastery in persuading the most unlikely stiff upper lipped guest characters to take part in their stupid performances. As regards it being heresy (not to like then)I could not give a monkeys either way it is what it is to each individual. I have sat through many a comedy performance on TV where my wife was in stitches and I did not break into even a smile, humour is very personal and definitely changes with your own mood at the time of watching. Some people hated Harry Worth, I liked him, others hated Kenny Everett, I enjoyed him, we are all different from each other and have different moods ourselves

 

[Analoguesat]

And finally

Part 3 -http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/blog/2017-12-morecambe-wise-film-recovery-processing-algorithm

which has some very clever tech talk about how they got some images back.

 

[Channel Hopper]

others hated Kenny Everett, I enjoyed him, ....

So did others.

 

[remlap]

Click on the weekend covered this:

Click - Let There Be Light

From 17:20.