{"id":23096,"date":"2022-10-04T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2022-10-04T07:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1713731"},"modified":"2022-10-04T09:27:26","modified_gmt":"2022-10-04T07:27:26","slug":"join-the-radio-times-treasure-hunt-to-find-lost-gems-of-tv-and-radio","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/join-the-radio-times-treasure-hunt-to-find-lost-gems-of-tv-and-radio\/","title":{"rendered":"Join the Radio Times Treasure Hunt to find lost gems of TV and radio"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Ralph Montagu\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 04 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Do you have fond memories of a particular drama series or comedy show, but can\u2019t find your favourite episodes? That may be because they are missing from the official archives. <\/span><\/p>\n

Certain episodes of Doctor Who<\/a> and Hancock\u2019s Half Hour rank amongst the most wanted recordings by TV and radio collectors but there is so much more, including entertainment, music, current affairs, and children\u2019s \u2013 even the continuity announcements and news bulletins are of interest. <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps you have some old recordings which could help fill the gaps in the archives? If so, you can join in the Radio Times Treasure Hunt<\/strong> to restore lost programmes to the broadcast archives.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Tony Hancock in Hancock\u2019s Half Hour: The Reunion Party, originally aired 25th March 1960<\/span><\/figcaption> Don Smith\/Radio Times<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Many of the stars of television started on radio and so the discovery of their early appearances on radio can be really significant. <\/span>Since most early home recordings are sound-only, we are partnering with The Radio Circle, run by expert radio historians, who have successfully restored many classic shows to the BBC, for broadcast on Radio 4 Extra.<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019re asking anyone who has\u202frecordings of television or radio\u202fprogrammes on old formats (cassettes, reel to reel tapes or even film) to let us know. In most cases, missing programmes date from the 1980s or before but there are some later examples.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you send us the details of what you have, we will run a check to see whether the programmes in question are missing from the archives. If they are, we would be pleased to pass them back to the broadcasters for digitisation so they can be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To contact us, please e-mail\u00a0treasurehunt@radiotimes.com\u00a0<\/strong>with your name and details of your find.<\/p>

Many programmes survive because off-air recordings were made using domestic equipment whilst others exist because copies were made for producers or overseas transmission and never returned. Because few people now have the machines to replay these, the tapes or films may well be gathering dust in an attic or garage. If you\u2019re not sure what you have, please see our guide to formats below as that will help you describe what you have.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tape and film formats<\/span><\/b><\/h2>\n
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RadioCircle<\/i> <\/span>\n<\/div>\n

Here is a quick guide to the formats on which missing programmes may be found:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Audio: <\/span><\/b>\u00bc\u201d reel to reel recorders became available in the early 1960s and were used by many people to make off-air sound recordings from the radio and television. This <\/span>was followed by the introduction of the audio cassette by Phillips in 1963. Both formats remained in common use until the 1990s when the Digital Audio Tape was introduced. Radio programmes were also put on gramophone discs for overseas distribution; a practice which continued until the 1980s.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reel to reel video:<\/span><\/b> the earliest domestic formats date back to the mid-1960s. Peto Scott introduced a reel-to-reel one inch tape machine in 1964 and Sony launched a rival format the following year. In 1968, Shibaden brought out a \u00bd\u201d format.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The broadcasters initially used the Ampex two inch tape format and later changed to one inch tape.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Video cassettes:<\/span><\/b> A series of formats were introduced in the 1970s. <\/span>Of these, the VHS was most popular format, followed by Betamax.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n