ggm

I didn't get a colour TV at home until the late 1970s. Given how bad our BBC2 reception was, perhaps this was just as well. The thing is, that when I find myself watching programmes that I know were shot to film in colour, but I saw them in black and white, I find them quite .. odd. Almost unreal.

I may be wrong, but I think my memories of some of this stuff is that it looked 'better' in B&W. -I don't mean colourized stuff, for instance, I assumed 'The Ladykillers' was a black and white movie but it was shot in colour (unlike so many other ealing comedies) and I know I saw it monochrome.

Does anyone else think that some of these things were best left un-coloured?

"the singing ringing tree" for instance looks almost garish on YouTube when I look at clips.

-George

Moor Larkin

Some of the sets and sfx in The Prisoner might have been better left in the black and white that I first saw them in, back in tellyland, 1967. TV always struggles with rock especially, I find.

Danger Man's exotic locations would definitely have been appalling in colour. In black and white it's fine. (You can get an idea how appalling, when you watch it's successor, Man in a Suitcase)

batman

I agree up to a point Moor. I prefer the b/w epsiodes of The Saint for that reason. However, I think the 'exotic' sets in MIAS stand up quite well. IIRC it was the first UK TV series to be shot on 35mm film. Consequently they had to make a bit more of an effort when dressing the sets and it does show on screen, especially in the two-parter 'Variations on a Million Bucks'.

I wish I had claws.

Moor Larkin

Yes, allowing for some years to have gone by, they were better than the Danger Man ones likely would have been....

I forgot, of course that John Drake's Japan caper showed the limitations at that point! It may have been the Caves in that one that were more in my mind than anything particularly in Man in a Suitcase!

I must admit I 've still only watched one or two of the MIAS dvd set. I began to lose interest when I watched one or two and couldn't believe how bad some of the support acting was and how poorly scripted it was, at times. Those two supposed 'toughs' in one episode, who were plotting to take the money off some heiress or other. They were about as 'tough' as Quentin Crisp ......... And then Rodney Bewes, who was about as convincing as the studio version of the bridge he was climbing on.......

Thank heavens Richard Bradford could overcome the worst the producers threw at him!! He alone makes me glad I spent the money......

batman

I have the Koroshi dvd and the caves are pretty duff. There's a similar set used in The Baron which looks equally bad. The two heavies in MIAS are hilarious, especially the guy in the shades. That episode is called Sweet Sue. I am very biased towards MIAS as it is my fave TV series ever ... but I have to agree about some of the scripts. When it is good though it is a great series ... Man From The Dead, Why They Killed Nolan, Day of Execution, Burden of Proof and Dead Man's Shoes are all first class. Bradford is magnificent!

I wish I had claws.

Moor Larkin

Yes. The first episode was top quality and I loved Brainwash. That bit where he opens the door and leaps in surprise from his own reflection was pure genius. Maybe I'll watch one of your others next and rekindle my enthusiasm....

I would point out to that I'm still on topic because when I watched Man in a Suitcase for the first time it was in black and white on my telly and I loved it to pieces! I still think the theme is the best ever; colour or black and white!

batman

I think that goes for most of us ....... ...........

I wish I had claws.

CaptainWaggett

There's a Doctor Who story with Pertwee - The Mind of Evil - which only survives in b/w. The result is to make it look terribly gritty and adult (it's a Earth-bound story with no monsters and a prison riot)

batman

Sounds good to me.

I wish I had claws.

stevie boy

the caves in the Baron are bad, but all these little examples make me love these series more. Man In A Suitcase has taken over from Danger Man as number 1 and if you know how much I love Danger Man that is a hell of a tribute to McGill.

Moor Larkin

Always the same.......

They say they're in love and then something younger and prettier comes along...........

m35541

Ambassadors of Death is another Pertwee story where I think only 1 episode exists in colour.

CaptainWaggett

That used to be the case but at least 3 more have been colourised using the information on episode one (I'm fairly sure this was done before the video release so I'm not sure why the colour versions weren't used as they are very good). The problem with Mind of Evil is there's only a 3 minute colour bit to work from though there's a fancy new process which should make it easier. The Daemons was another that needed to be colourised and has clearly been restored again - the version on BBC4 recently looked much better than the video.