[TV] BBC Archive

[Neil Adams]

Want to see the full tv coverage of those fantastic btcc races from the ninties again?

In the not to distant future you may be able to. The bbc are making plans to put their extensive archive of programs on the internet, to download via broadband.

Thought this is a great idea. Wanted to see what other people thought. I'm well aware of the highlights videos that are available but they cut down the races even more.

I was at a alloy wheel garage the other day, and they had an old btcc race from 94 recorded from tv playing on a screen, it was brilliant! 30 minutes or more of action start to finish.

I was amazed at the amount of great coverage i hadn't seen!

[SPARK Msport]

really? whens all this planning to happen?

[supertouring]

In the early days, not all rounds were covered and intial coverage was only 15-20 mins. I recorded most BBC coverage from 1988 onwards, they are great to watch again, and again and again!

Anyway, lets hope broadband comes to my area soon!

[Neil Adams]

I don't know when its going to happen, but i didn't make it up.

The ideas was to make available (to the people who in effect payed for them) the large amount of programs that are just siting in storage.

i have some races from the tv but only from 97 onwards, would have recorded the earlier ones if i could.

heres the link to the news item on the bbc's site

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...io/3177479.stm

[SPARK Msport]

cheers, just read it.
I'll be keeping my eyes and ears open

[ADnet]

i herd on BBC news, they are making there archive available to the public for free to download via broadband but dont know when.....Watch that space thing a majig...

[JEMMO]

Originally posted by supertouring
In the early days, not all rounds were covered and intial coverage was only 15-20 mins. I recorded most BBC coverage from 1988 onwards, they are great to watch again, and again and again!

Did the BBC cover the 87 season (or any season prior to 1988)? I know theres an 87 review video about but ive never managed to find a copy.
Be good if the BBC could show some of the old Group A racing again!

[supertouring]

No, the BBC did not start showing it till 1988, and then it did not show all the rounds in full as I believe their contract at the time was on a per race basis. I think they did not want to commit till they new it would be a good tv.

The 1987 video is a Hay Fisher produced affair (I am lucky enough to have a copy of it!) but it is not as good as the BHP stuff. No in-car cameras if I recall, and no Murry Walker!

[Jamie P-E]

how do i get a copy of the 87 season

jamie

[touringlegend]

Re-mortgage your house first mate..


I think the 1987 video was commisioned by the series sponsors - Dunlop - for that year.

[supertouring]

I have seen one on Ebay - won by a certain Mr Antill I believe. It went for over 50 quid if I remember correctly!

Not seen an other anywhere else. The BHP tapes (88 onwards) are always available on ebay, which I think indicates the rareness(?!?) of the 87 season video.

[touringlegend]

Very rare - so that makes 3 of the 1987 tapes known to us, I have one, you have one and Craig has one, but I reckon I had a far fairer deal than that on mine.

Question about this BBC thing, is it all the programmes they've ever shown, or only the programmes that the BBC actually has made ?

[sceptic]

Presumably it is only the programmes that the BBC made (and therefore owns the rights to).

...and not wanting to spoil your fun, but they don't own the rights to most (if any) of the BTCC races they showed.

[touringlegend]

That's what I was thinking too..

Slightly off topic, but in Murray Walker's autobiography he states that the Touring Cars were the first ever programme to be aired on the BBC produced by an outside company.

[paulzinho]

Take it the old F1 races won't be on there then cause of old Bernie.

[McKay]

does anyone know how to contact BHP?

[JEMMO]

Originally posted by touringlegend
Re-mortgage your house first mate..

I probably would but I cant see my parents going for that one!

I think there's some coverage of the 87 season on a Duke video called the story of the Sierra Cosworth. Its pretty limited but shows Graham Goode's silver Listerine Sierra. Is that 87?

[ghinzani]

Originally posted by JEMMO
I probably would but I cant see my parents going for that one!

I think there's some coverage of the 87 season on a Duke video called the story of the Sierra Cosworth. Its pretty limited but shows Graham Goode's silver Listerine Sierra. Is that 87?

Very silver, very bent against the sleepers at Silverstone!!
I worked for them during the build up of that car and it was immaculate.

[Williamp]

Slightly OT, but pathe also do a similar thing, with their old Black and Whiote footrage- you cna downbload highlights of the TT races from Dundrod, for example. Quiote good!

[supertouring]

While digging out the 87 tape I also found one from 84, when Andy Rouse drove a self prepared Rover against the works TWR team. But I think this was the year that Rover pulled out part way after loosing the 83 title over technical issues.

[JEMMO]

Didn't Rouse win the championship in a Rover?

[touringlegend]

Yep
1985 Andy Rouse Ford Sierra
1984 Andy Rouse Rover Vitesse
1983 Andy Rouse Alfa GTV6


Pretty impressive three titles in a row, considering each year he won in a different car.

[racer69]

The '84 Rouse Rover wound up in Australia in the hands of Tim Slako, who (in one of it's liveries) painted it bright pink

I'd love to see some of the Group A stuff from the BTCC, we got limited footage of it over here (through Hay-Fisher), but once it went to the BBC/BHP, we got nothing

[TimD]

It's not strictly true that the Beeb didn't show the BTCC before 1987. They did show occasional rounds when outside broadcast cameras were spare and scheduling allowed it. I can recall a particular one where a blue Sanyo Rover "yumped" the old Silverstone chicane and narrowly missed taking out an MG Metro Turbo which was negotiating the corner the sensible way round. That would have been the '83 or '84 season. Before that, I can recall broadcasts of late seventies BSCC with Dolomite Sprints and Capris to the fore, but these were rare compared to the predominantly single-seater race coverage that the BBC used to offer us.

Sadly, there is another issue. The BBC's archive is not what it might be. Hundreds of thousands of hours of material is wiped and lost to history, and not just motor sport. The edition of "Juke Box Jury" where all four Beatles voted on the pop releases of the week? Wiped. Jimi Hendrix' first ever British TV performance? Wiped. There are hours of Doctor Who missing from the library and a friend of mine who worked for the BBC recalls the day that staff were ordered to put the entire "Nationwide" current affairs show in the corporation dumpster.

There is motorsport footage still lurking in the vaults - I know for a fact that they've got the 1957 Oulton Park Gold Cup because Murray Walker inadvertently showed a bit of it on a BTCC show in 1993, so some exists. Just don't expect there to be very much, that's all.

Best of luck, guys.

[paulzinho]

I've got a video somewhere of what I think were Touring Cars from the early to mid eighties at Donington. I'll have to dig it out and find out just when it was!