MJ Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hello, mixnmojo-ers. Sometimes, I'm really jealous of you citizens of the UK! For anyone who, like me, grew up watching David Attenborough documentaries, BBCOnline have put up all six episodes of 'Zoo Quest for a Dragon', one of David Attenborough's first television series. It's the only way to watch this brilliant piece of history, and it's only available to people in the UK. I have a first edition of the book, signed, and the audiobook version as well. I thought the television series had been long lost! It must have been recovered recently. I feel like flying to the UK and sitting in an internet cafe to watch these things... hopefully they'll come out on dvd one day! http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/attenborough/index.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s-island Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 I believe the series survived because it was made on 16mm film. For some reason BBC was better at not throwing out stuff that originated on film than on videotape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 6, 2009 Share Posted February 6, 2009 Perhaps video tape was easily recorded over whereas film can only be used once? I don't know, but it sounds plausible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 I wonder if it's the complete episodes then, with the wildlife footage and studio footage, or just the first? Someone watch it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 It's the whole episodes with all the studio bits intact. It's strange watching Attenborough at that age, he's always been a sort of grandfather type figure to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Huh. I thought I read in his autobiography that the studio shots went out live. Wonder how they saved that. Come on BBC, surely that's worth a dvd release... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 The old Dr Who's went out live too but they managed to record them I don't pretend to understand but it's a good job however it was done. I would be shocked if this wasn't released on dvd, it would sell bucket loads. I imagine they'll wait until around Christmas though if they do release it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 No way! Doctor Who never went out live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 The following is from the foreword to The Tomb Of The Cybermen Script Book As some of you may know, consecutive episodes of any Doctor Who story have always featured an overlap, in the form of a reprise of the previous episode's last moments, leading up to the traditional 'cliff-hanger' ending. In the earliest days of the progamme, when episodes were recorded live, this meant that the actors physically repeated the reprise at the start of the episode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s-island Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 That bit is misleading. The episodes were recorded as if they went out live during the first years of the series, as in they limited the cuts and did as much as they could in single takes. They weren't broadcast live. The first episode of An Unearthly Child has only one cut for example. The whole episode was done in two takes. The other three episodes of the story have either two or three cuts each. Try to spot them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Dude, that's my childhood you're pissing on there. Couldn't you have just let me carry on believing that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s-island Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Hey, I didn't say where the cuts were so you can still go on pretending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neon_git Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Haha, much obliged Whilst I am genuinely a little disappointed, it is still cool that they did as much as they could in a single take. It's not as bad as when I found out Santa isn't real. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted February 12, 2009 Author Share Posted February 12, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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