Two further lost British sitcom episodes have been discovered via the BFI’s Missing Believed Wiped initiative. Here are the details.
Thanks to the hard work of the BFI, it’s an incredible time to be a fan of vintage British comedy.
In the last few months, the entire series of The Complete And Utter History of Britain and episodes of Til Death Us Do Part, Hugh and I and Sykes and a… have been found.
We can now add two more to the list, according to the British Comedy Guide. The first is the fifth episode of 1964 series Lance At Large, the first sitcom by The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin writer David Nobbs.
Previously thought entirely wiped, the show was written by Nobbs and Peter Tinniswood, and starred Lance Percival and Bernard Spear. The recovered episode also features guest stars Fred Emney, Hugh Paddick and Diana Chappell.
Thanks to the hard work of the BFI, it’s an incredible time to be a fan of vintage British comedy.
In the last few months, the entire series of The Complete And Utter History of Britain and episodes of Til Death Us Do Part, Hugh and I and Sykes and a… have been found.
We can now add two more to the list, according to the British Comedy Guide. The first is the fifth episode of 1964 series Lance At Large, the first sitcom by The Fall And Rise Of Reginald Perrin writer David Nobbs.
Previously thought entirely wiped, the show was written by Nobbs and Peter Tinniswood, and starred Lance Percival and Bernard Spear. The recovered episode also features guest stars Fred Emney, Hugh Paddick and Diana Chappell.
- 12/1/2023
- by Jake Godfrey
- Film Stories
Carl Davis, the composer known for his BAFTA-winning score for “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981), died of a brain hemorrhage on Thursday. He was 86.
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
- 8/3/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
"What keeps me in it is it's infinitely interesting," says 82-year-old Gloria Steinem, the most prominent feminist of the last half-century — and a 2016 Emmy nominee, in the category of outstanding documentary or nonfiction series, for Viceland's Woman, 51 years after her first nom for writing on the SNL antecedent That Was the Week That Was — as we sit down at the Empire Hotel in New York to record an episode of The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast. "It's angering, but it's alive and vital and connecting, and I just can't imagine anything more
read more...
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- 8/28/2016
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It's safe to say that, 17 years ago, The Daily Show was a fledgling show. "Daily satiric news anchor" was not a job. And Jon Stewart was just a stand-up comic and occasional actor, not yet the comedy nerd/political junkie's lord and savior.
Which isn't to say that Stewart and the team behind Comedy Central's late-night staple invented their own genre of topical tomfoolery. Shows like That Was the Week That Was experimented with the satirical news format as early as the Sixties. Everything from Bob & Ray to HBO's...
Which isn't to say that Stewart and the team behind Comedy Central's late-night staple invented their own genre of topical tomfoolery. Shows like That Was the Week That Was experimented with the satirical news format as early as the Sixties. Everything from Bob & Ray to HBO's...
- 8/6/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Lewis Black has seen more than a few changes at The Daily Show since his Back in Black segments began airing during the show's inaugural season in 1996. Host Craig Kilborn gave way to Jon Stewart; the program gradually changed from a smug TV-news parody to an institution that viciously mocked hypocritical politicians and the media establishment that covers them; and legendary correspondents like Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and John Oliver all moved onto their own projects. The only things to truly survive all 19 years are the Moment of Zen, the theme song — and Black himself.
- 8/4/2015
- Rollingstone.com
Sony is still reeling from the switch in roles of talent-friendly free-spending Amy Pascal and tough fiscal conservative Tom Rothman as studio head and star producer, which has led to Sony/Columbia producer-turned-production co-chief Michael De Luca taking his producing shingle to Universal, where chairman Donna Langley seems to be righting the ship. She was responsible for launching blockbuster franchise "Fifty Shades of Grey," which De Luca will now return to as a more active producer. She needs his help, with producer Dana Brunetti, to keep the sequels on track, as demanding author E.L. James drove away director Sam Taylor-Johnson. De Luca's great strengths as a producer are script development, casting and talent mongering. Read More: That Was the Week That Was, From Scandal to Agency Defection and Studio Player Moves Universal Pictures today made the announcement official that the studio has entered into a three-year, first look production agreement with the Academy.
- 4/10/2015
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Lance Percival has died at the age of 81.
News of the actor's passing on January 6 was confirmed in an announcement in The Daily Telegraph.
"Lance (John Lancelot Blades) died peacefully on 6th January 2015 after a long illness," the notice read.
"Much loved father of Jamie and brother of Elizabeth and Penelope."
His funeral will be held on Tuesday, January 20 at Putney Vale Crematorium.
Donations can be made to The Royal Marsden Hospital.
Percival became known in the 1960s for his performances on That Was the Week That Was, and went on to appear in films like Carry on Cruising in 1962 and Up Pompeii in 1981.
He voiced Paul and Ringo in The Beatles' animated TV show from 1965 to 1969 and went on to play Old Fred in 1968's Yellow Submarine.
Percival had a top 40 hit in the UK singles charts with his cover of 'Shame and Scandal in the Family'.
Watch a...
News of the actor's passing on January 6 was confirmed in an announcement in The Daily Telegraph.
"Lance (John Lancelot Blades) died peacefully on 6th January 2015 after a long illness," the notice read.
"Much loved father of Jamie and brother of Elizabeth and Penelope."
His funeral will be held on Tuesday, January 20 at Putney Vale Crematorium.
Donations can be made to The Royal Marsden Hospital.
Percival became known in the 1960s for his performances on That Was the Week That Was, and went on to appear in films like Carry on Cruising in 1962 and Up Pompeii in 1981.
He voiced Paul and Ringo in The Beatles' animated TV show from 1965 to 1969 and went on to play Old Fred in 1968's Yellow Submarine.
Percival had a top 40 hit in the UK singles charts with his cover of 'Shame and Scandal in the Family'.
Watch a...
- 1/9/2015
- Digital Spy
Alex pays a fond return revisit to 1960s classic TV series, The Avengers...
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
Stylish crime fighting, despicable evil masterminds, a bowler-hatted old Etonian gentleman spy and a series of beautiful leather cat-suited, kinky-booted, no-nonsense heroines. The Avengers had all this and more. What began as a monochrome tape series in January 1961 ran the whole of the Sixties, becoming a colourful slice of period hokum, full of flair, wit and sophistication, yet with its tongue firmly in its cheek.
Always the perfect gentleman, John Steed was played by Patrick Macnee. Originally billed second to the late Ian Hendry, Macnee was still playing Steed over 15 years later when he was teamed with the youthful duo of Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt for The New Avengers in 1976. In the 1998 film, the role of Steed was given to Ralph Fiennes and Uma Thurman played Emma Peel. I will say no more about the film.
- 10/13/2014
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
Comedian and actor best known for the satirical television show Bremner, Bird and Fortune
John Fortune, who has died aged 74 after a long illness, was a distinguished member of the Oxbridge generation of brainy comedians who turned British entertainment inside out in the early 1960s, along with his friend, college contemporary and writing partner, John Bird, as well as Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, David Frost, Eleanor Bron and John Wells.
From his earliest days on Ned Sherrin's Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, the successor in 1964-65 to the satirical television magazine That Was the Week That Was, through to the comedy shows with Rory Bremner in the 1990s and beyond, he was a fixture of barely surprised indifference, with a wonderful line in deflationary, logical understatement. Tall and gangly, with a warm and ready smile but a performance default mode of aghast,...
John Fortune, who has died aged 74 after a long illness, was a distinguished member of the Oxbridge generation of brainy comedians who turned British entertainment inside out in the early 1960s, along with his friend, college contemporary and writing partner, John Bird, as well as Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, David Frost, Eleanor Bron and John Wells.
From his earliest days on Ned Sherrin's Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life, the successor in 1964-65 to the satirical television magazine That Was the Week That Was, through to the comedy shows with Rory Bremner in the 1990s and beyond, he was a fixture of barely surprised indifference, with a wonderful line in deflationary, logical understatement. Tall and gangly, with a warm and ready smile but a performance default mode of aghast,...
- 1/2/2014
- by Michael Coveney
- The Guardian - Film News
Sir David Frost's final BBC project is to be made, it has been announced.
The broadcaster - who died aged 74 earlier this month - was said to be "extremely excited" to be working on a new programme entitled That Was the Year That Was before he passed away.
Lord Michael Grade will step in to present the show in his memory, the BBC has confirmed.
Guests including Ronnie Corbett, Barry Norman and Dame Joan Bakewell will join Grade for the three-part project.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 2, the programme will focus on 1963, the year Frost presented That Was the Week That Was.
It will look back at news stories that took place during his early career, including the Profumo affair, the Great Train Robbery, James Bond's launch and the assassination of JFK.
The programme will begin recording this week, and will be broadcast later in 2013.
BBC Radio 2's Bob Shennan...
The broadcaster - who died aged 74 earlier this month - was said to be "extremely excited" to be working on a new programme entitled That Was the Year That Was before he passed away.
Lord Michael Grade will step in to present the show in his memory, the BBC has confirmed.
Guests including Ronnie Corbett, Barry Norman and Dame Joan Bakewell will join Grade for the three-part project.
Broadcast on BBC Radio 2, the programme will focus on 1963, the year Frost presented That Was the Week That Was.
It will look back at news stories that took place during his early career, including the Profumo affair, the Great Train Robbery, James Bond's launch and the assassination of JFK.
The programme will begin recording this week, and will be broadcast later in 2013.
BBC Radio 2's Bob Shennan...
- 9/18/2013
- Digital Spy
The broadcasting world lost one of its longest-serving and most respected journalists yesterday when Sir David Frost passed away at the age of 74.
Known for his unique interviewing style and hosting TV shows such as That Was the Week That Was and Breakfast with Frost, his death has prompted tributes from a whole host of public figures - from Prime Minister David Cameron to actor Russell Crowe.
Click through the gallery below to view some of the highlights of Frost's career, which spanned over five decades:...
Known for his unique interviewing style and hosting TV shows such as That Was the Week That Was and Breakfast with Frost, his death has prompted tributes from a whole host of public figures - from Prime Minister David Cameron to actor Russell Crowe.
Click through the gallery below to view some of the highlights of Frost's career, which spanned over five decades:...
- 9/1/2013
- Digital Spy
Tributes have been paid to Sir David Frost, who has died suddenly at the age of 74.
During his lengthy career, Frost was at the forefront of major changes in broadcasting and used his skill, creativity and persistence to provide viewers with some of the most memorable moments in television - and in some cases, world history.
Digital Spy looks back at six ways in which Sir David Frost made his mark on broadcast media below.
1. That Was the Week That Was (TW3)
That Was the Week That Was - or TW3, as it was often known - made politicians and the establishment fair satirical game in the early 1960s at a time when the Profumo affair was dominating headlines. Commissioned by the BBC, Frost was chosen to anchor the programme by its creator Ned Sherrin.
TW3 lampooned the class system, Britain's waning influence on the world stage (as in the clip below) and foreign affairs,...
During his lengthy career, Frost was at the forefront of major changes in broadcasting and used his skill, creativity and persistence to provide viewers with some of the most memorable moments in television - and in some cases, world history.
Digital Spy looks back at six ways in which Sir David Frost made his mark on broadcast media below.
1. That Was the Week That Was (TW3)
That Was the Week That Was - or TW3, as it was often known - made politicians and the establishment fair satirical game in the early 1960s at a time when the Profumo affair was dominating headlines. Commissioned by the BBC, Frost was chosen to anchor the programme by its creator Ned Sherrin.
TW3 lampooned the class system, Britain's waning influence on the world stage (as in the clip below) and foreign affairs,...
- 9/1/2013
- Digital Spy
Sir David Frost died yesterday (August 31) after suffering a suspected heart attack on board the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship.
Frost was born in Kent in 1939, the son of a minister. A keen footballer, he was offered a contract with Nottingham Forest Fc while at school, but chose to study English at Cambridge University instead.
It was here that he started out in journalism, editing the student newspaper Varsity and literary magazine Granta. He also became secretary of the Footlights club, where he met future comedy stars such as Peter Cook, Graham Chapman and John Bird.
Upon graduating, Frost became a trainee at ITV and was soon asked to host satirical show That Was The Week That Was in 1962. He went on to front a Us version of the programme for NBC, before presenting The Frost Report from 1966 to 1967, helping to launch the careers of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
Frost was born in Kent in 1939, the son of a minister. A keen footballer, he was offered a contract with Nottingham Forest Fc while at school, but chose to study English at Cambridge University instead.
It was here that he started out in journalism, editing the student newspaper Varsity and literary magazine Granta. He also became secretary of the Footlights club, where he met future comedy stars such as Peter Cook, Graham Chapman and John Bird.
Upon graduating, Frost became a trainee at ITV and was soon asked to host satirical show That Was The Week That Was in 1962. He went on to front a Us version of the programme for NBC, before presenting The Frost Report from 1966 to 1967, helping to launch the careers of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
- 9/1/2013
- Digital Spy
Sir David Frost, the veteran broadcaster and writer, has died of a suspected heart attack while traveling aboard the Queen Elizabeth where he was delivering a speech on Saturday night, according to the BBC. He was 74. Frost’s long career spanned journalism, heavy-hitting TV interviews, game show hosting and comedy writing. He notably conducted a series of televised sit-downs with former president Richard Nixon in 1977. They were the basis of a 2006 play by Peter Morgan, which was then adapted as Ron Howard’s 2008 film, Frost/Nixon. Michael Sheen played Frost and the film was nominated for five Oscars. In the early 1960s, Frost hosted the satirical program That Was The Week That Was on the BBC and also featured on an American version for NBC from 1964-1965. In 1968, he helped launch London Weekend Television, which is now part of ITV. His other on-air TV credits included The Frost Report, The David Frost Show,...
- 9/1/2013
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Introducing our look at the year that defined the modern era, the veteran writer recalls the extraordinary collision of politics, culture and social upheaval that he witnessed as a student
Was it a prefigurative year? I think so. Not that one thought of it as such at the time or even a few years later, when it was totally forgotten in the turbulence that engulfed the world. I am trying to recall that year, to find deep down some memories, even a few impressions on the basis of which I could reconstruct a misted-up past without too many distortions.
When I arrived to study at Oxford in October 1963, the bohemian style was black plastic or leather jackets for women and black leather or navy donkey jackets for men. I stuck to cavalry twills and a duffle coat, at least for a few months. The Cuban missile crisis had temporarily boosted...
Was it a prefigurative year? I think so. Not that one thought of it as such at the time or even a few years later, when it was totally forgotten in the turbulence that engulfed the world. I am trying to recall that year, to find deep down some memories, even a few impressions on the basis of which I could reconstruct a misted-up past without too many distortions.
When I arrived to study at Oxford in October 1963, the bohemian style was black plastic or leather jackets for women and black leather or navy donkey jackets for men. I stuck to cavalry twills and a duffle coat, at least for a few months. The Cuban missile crisis had temporarily boosted...
- 5/7/2013
- by Tariq Ali
- The Guardian - Film News
Satire's limits will always be expanding to tackle new subjects – no matter how wicked or tragic
Like Louis XVI's decadent court at Versailles, we live in an age of ridicule. Fifty years ago, comedy of the public or professional kind was almost never fashioned out of real events or real people – past and present, the living and the dead. That other age is now amazing to recollect. Could Britain ever have lived so politely and solemnly, and with such regard for the social order and hurt to others? One night dad and I were listening to the Goons on a radio that needed time to warm up and carried the names Athlone, Home Service and Light Programme on the dial. The team of Sellers, Milligan and Secombe was at the height of its power as the cutting-edge of broadcast humour. Favourite catchphrases became sallies in the school playground. Weedy little voice (Bluebottle): "Oh,...
Like Louis XVI's decadent court at Versailles, we live in an age of ridicule. Fifty years ago, comedy of the public or professional kind was almost never fashioned out of real events or real people – past and present, the living and the dead. That other age is now amazing to recollect. Could Britain ever have lived so politely and solemnly, and with such regard for the social order and hurt to others? One night dad and I were listening to the Goons on a radio that needed time to warm up and carried the names Athlone, Home Service and Light Programme on the dial. The team of Sellers, Milligan and Secombe was at the height of its power as the cutting-edge of broadcast humour. Favourite catchphrases became sallies in the school playground. Weedy little voice (Bluebottle): "Oh,...
- 5/22/2010
- by Ian Jack
- The Guardian - Film News
New York -- Brazil took home the country's first-ever International Emmy Award on Monday night, while the U.K. once again won the most statuettes -- five out of 10.
Hosted by Graham Norton, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 37th annual black-tie gala at the New York Hilton honored Brazil's TV Globo in the telenovela category for its "India -- A Love Story."
Shows from Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany also received International Emmys. Japan's "Hishi Shinichi's Short Shorts" won in the competitive comedy category, which also included U.K. nominee "Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor ...," Brazil's "The Slum" and Germany's "Turkish for Beginners." And Dutch entry "The Phone" beat out such other nonscripted entertainment nominees as "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" from the U.K. and "The Amazing Race Asia" from Singapore.
The U.K. dominated the two actor categories, with...
Hosted by Graham Norton, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' 37th annual black-tie gala at the New York Hilton honored Brazil's TV Globo in the telenovela category for its "India -- A Love Story."
Shows from Japan, Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany also received International Emmys. Japan's "Hishi Shinichi's Short Shorts" won in the competitive comedy category, which also included U.K. nominee "Peter Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor ...," Brazil's "The Slum" and Germany's "Turkish for Beginners." And Dutch entry "The Phone" beat out such other nonscripted entertainment nominees as "I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here" from the U.K. and "The Amazing Race Asia" from Singapore.
The U.K. dominated the two actor categories, with...
- 11/23/2009
- by By Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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