Above is a screen capture from the first series of Dalziel And Pascoe which was found on the end of a VHS tape that had been used for something else.
The way that I used to record VHS left behind fragments of other programmes or continuity and there is something to be found on nearly every tape that I used from those days.
When I recorded a programme there would always be a couple of minutes extra at the start and, if timer recording, an added ten minutes at the end. In other cases a tape could have been re-used and the newer recording wasn't long enough to wipe out the previous recording; that is to say a two hour programme recorded over a three hour programme would leave an hour of the first recording. This is what happened in the Dalziel and Pascoe case.
Also, when I regularly used a VCR (up to the mid-2000s) I would have about fifteen to twenty blank VHS tapes that I would use in sequential order for record, watch and record-over. Potentially, I could have a programme on a tape for quite a long time after I have watched it; it may have been a while before I got around to using that tape again.
However, it occured to me that having moved away from this practice has virtually stopped this situation; capturing using a DVD Recorder, and the availability of frame specific editing, has put an end to finding any hidden gems for the future. When I capture a programme I edit out all the extra announcements, adverts or continuity and keep only the specific programme. Any extras that I might find, e.g. a specially made trailer, can only be kept at the editing stage: once my finished DVD-R is burned the DVD-RW (used to transfer from the DVD Recorder to PC) has to be wiped so that it can be re-used and all files on my PC relating to that programme will be deleted. Nothing to find ever again!
Regards the day to day recordings, I use the hard-drive on my DVD Recorder and this has replaced the twenty tapes I used on my VCR. When I have seen the programme it usually gets deleted straight away to save space; so not much chance of stumbling accross an older recording.
That isn't to say that it will never happen; the screen capture, below, was found on an old DVD-RW that I hadn't yet wiped. This is the specially made trailer for the excellent Life On Mars (2006-2007) where Sam Tyler is driving his own car and it turns into Gene Hunt's Ford Cortina. Furthermore, this is the BBC4 version that was slightly different to the BBC One version.
What are the differences? See here.
Eventually the DVD-RW was wiped to be re-used. So, if I had not kept this when I did it would now be gone forever and not sitting on a tape ready to be found in a few years time...
If I just carried on the practice of keeping every recording raw, as I have with my old off-air VHS tapes, it would be true that some of the old situation could happen again. However, using the DVD recorder's Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) has negated the need to add ten minutes to the end of every recording.
But even when I was recording to VHS I wanted to have the situation that I have now; programme specific tapes as if it were a commerical release and not have all the extra bits cluttering up my recordings. If recording a series, such as Doctor Who, I would place the tape right at the end of episode one so that when episode two was recorded the episodes would be as close together as possible.
Most things only become gems years later and this is specifically what I am referring to; the I-didn't-know-I-had-that type; finding an old episode of a programme that I had recorded to watch, which was never recorded over, or a trailer/continuity announcement in an old style that brings back a bit of nostalgia.
My Father was a keen collector of Westerns and nearly every western that was broadcast between 1991, when he got his first own VCR, and 1997, when he passed away, were captured off air. Because of storeage, I didn't keep any of these tapes and I am now sorry that I didn't because there were about fifty tapes and there were bound to be several things to find on them.
But back to the original point; a handfull of full episodes in my collection have been found as something that wasn't recorded over, the afore-mentioned Dalziel and Pascoe episode, a 1998 episode of The Bill, Coogan's Run "Dearth of a Salesman" and the BBC promo "Perfect Day", but having a trawl through my tapes, what extras, continuity and promos have I found?
Just for the fun of it, below are some interesting extras that I have discovered in any tapes that I still have (and I will add to this as and when I find bits).
I found a partial episode of Tomorrow's World where the first item to appear, featuring Harold Stableford, is about how Archive storeage at the BBC could be converted to a new video system. The old machines, that play old 2" and 1" tapes, could soon all be broken-down with no hope of repair; in effect, loosing the old BBC archives. Whether this new system came into effect or not I have yet to find out; but it is quite apparent that some twenty years later the (existing) BBC Archive hasn't been lost.
This also features short clips from Steptoe And Son and The Good Life.
A trailer for an episode from series 4 of Bugs. Bugs was one of my favourite series and I was pleased to find this. Sadly it doesn't seem to be very well put together with very few shots of the main cast. Ed, now played by Steven Houghton after Craig McGlouchlan left at the end of series 3, hardly appearing at all; blink and you'll miss him. Adding to its poor presentation; the picture above is from a few seconds showing Beckett (Jesse Birdsall) but the sequence is clearly being played in reverse.
This was the short film, featuring the voices of Richard Wilson and Angus Deaton, that advertised how much better digital television was going to be over the old analogue system. With hindsight, one of the facts on display didn't proove to be quite as true as this led us to believe; particularly that there would be no interferance on a digital picture. Odd that they used a small clip of 1970s Cliff Richard.
I don't remember this myself: a promotion for ways of paying for your Television Licence using short clips from Wallace And Gromit's "A Close Shave". Peter Sallis providing an original voiceover as Wallace explaining the methods.
This is one of the promos for the first episode of Holby City. This version introduces Anton Meyer, the original Consultant, and his acidic character. Quite pleased at this find as Holby is my TV guilty pleasure.
In BBC1's build up to Life On Mars, in 2006, there was a promotional trailer which featured Sam Tyler driving his 4x4 which transformed into Gene Hunt's Ford Cortina. When this promo was re-shown for a BBC4 repeat season there were a couple of differences. There didn't seem much point in making the changes but it keeps sad old collectors like me interested...
The first is a quick extra bit at the beginning: Sam Tyler looking in the rear-view mirror. This is not on the original version and was probably added to accomodate the BBC4 trailer's coloured box logo.
The second, and a pretty pointless change, is where the 4x4's gear box transforms into the Cortina's:
In the BBC4 version the 4x4's gearbox vanishes...
...where in the original BBC1 version the new gear box morphs into the old one.
This is something that still happens today; at the end of a programme there will be a few seconds devoted to the current commercial (VHS/DVD) release. This particular one takes me back; the early releases of Doctor Who on VHS. As vintage television tapes were still in their infancy at this time, Doctor Who VHS releases was something I was very eager look out for. There was a long wait between releases back then.
I am bound to come accross a couple bits that are a little odd and here they will end up.
Due to the strange font being used, is this a 1985 version of BBCi?
I found this BBC Video advert from 1990. Having been someone who has checked out the video shelves of many a charity shop, it was quite amusing to see Sports videos advertised at peak time. These tapes never really had any great shelf life; but a long shelf life on a charity shop shelf. Hindsight is a wonderful thing...