arty-dave

The BBC could air a complete channel dedicated to their archives - now that would be worth watching

sanndevil

They do. UKTV Gold and its siblings UKTV Drama, G2, Style, Garden, Food et al.

arty-dave

No - I mean a proper dedicated BBC channel showing all those lovely programmes from the 50's, 60's and 70's that never seem to get shown, eg. Dr Finlay, Whacko!, Juke Box Jury, Sunday Night at the London Palladium, etc...

Ascoyne D'Ascoyne

Well they wouldn't show SN at the Palladium because it went out on the other side. But that raises an interesting question - just how mucx archive material remains in the commercial channels vaults? Did they go on a destructive rampage through the archives like the BBC?

arty-dave

Oops, well you know what I mean. I must confess to not hearing about any rampages through the commercial channels archives [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif[/img]

samkydd

I read that HH's widow got £750 per episode back in the early 90s, which would add up to around £10K per series.

I know actors and extras love repeats because a friend of mine gets 50% of his fee per repeat, so with omnibus editions of soaps, repeats on Freeview, plus UK Gold etc it all adds up to a nice little earner!

Even with all this cost though, repeats are a lot cheaper than making programmes. When I wrote a sitcom back in the 80s I was quoted £30K production cost per episode, and you were limited to minimal scene changes, two I think, and only one outside sequence per episode. Unfortunately it never made it to the screens, but even back then it was an expensive business so you can understand why I seem so astonished when some shows that make it to the box are so bloody awful! [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

djdave

There was a programme about The Goodies on a while ago.

Bill Oddie - if I remember correctly - was saying that somebody within the Beeb would go through the script and tell them what effects they could or couldn't have because of the costs (it was quite an expensive programme to make).

That's a good example of how the Beeb has changed, by the way. Years ago, the Corporation had its own craftsmen who could create something for a programme like The Goodies - all it took was a query/phonecall from a production office and the process could get started. Now, they have to outsource a lot of stuff like this and it adds to the expense.... [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/angry.gif[/img]

Incidentally, I believe the reason why the Beeb and - presumably ITV - wiped a lot of their stuff was partly due to the technological constraints of early videotape technology i.e. they needed the tape because it wasn't readily available.

samkydd

Just like every other industry they've become reliant on third party companies and programme makers, some of whom specialise in certain types of programme like comedy sit-coms, panel games etc and the same on the radio. Outsourcing should reduce company overheads and offer some pre-determined consistency in quality, but as with sub-contract cleaners, canteens, maintenance companies etc in any industry this is not always the case. The huge amount of money supposedly saved through not having top-heavy in-house departments for everything is rarely seen.

I would imagine that most of it goes to pay bonuses for directors who implemented such cost saving schemes in the first place, therefore it's a complete waste of time and the quality suffers because sub-contract companies cut corners in order to meet the contract quotes that won them the contract in the first place a la the NHS!

In TV terms you'll probably see the same old faces on the same old comedy quiz shows because they're contracted to Avalon, or whoever the programme maker is, and so we have to put up with them for what seems a lifetime because Avalon have to keep them in work. You'll also see bargain basement shows like the many cheapo "100 Greatest Clips ..." featuring the same presenters and "experts" waffling on about comedy, films, actors, dirty bits from films etc and again it's usually the same old faces.

When they showed the series Comedy Greats I was convinced that the contributors didn't know who the programme featured when they were doing their particular bit because all this "He was the greatest comedy actor of all time...." bollocks seemed to be used time and time again whether the programme was about Frankie Howard, Benny Hill or Sid James! They must have put them in a room and given them a load of lines to read off a card and then edited them into the relevant shows.

Outsourcing work isn't always the answer, and you lose independence and a huge skill base by doing so. Which tastes better, tea from your own tea lady or out of a vending machine? [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif[/img]

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"