"At The Beeb"

[TJ]

There were quite a few of these compilations released a number of years back. I've got the Kenny Everett one, which has some fantastic clips and is very well thought out thematically, and the William Rushton one which is a bit less well structured but still enjoyable.

Does anyone own any of the others (Spike Milligan, for example) and what are they like? Ditto "Douglas Adams At The BBC"/"Doctor Who At The BBC".

[Jemble Fred]

Bought the DNA one a fortnight ago, and am currently re-listening as I drift off to sleep. It's very good, despite the input of a man I don't like on the research side. Others know more about it than me, I just know it's great.

Haven't been tempted by many of the others – the Ronnie Barker one I imagine is mainly clips of shows I already have, with too few rare bits to be worth the full whack. Has there been a Cleese one? There should have been. And a CM one. And what about Cook, for fuck's sake?

[TJ]

Has there been a Cleese one?

Yes there has - I don't know anything about the content, although sadly I imagine it's more likely to be obvious and well-worn stuff than it is to be Cleese appearing on "David Frost At The Phonograph" in 1966.

There should have been. And a CM one. And what about Cook, for fuck's sake?

Good points. I think that there should be John Peel, John Walters, Alan Freeman and maybe even Mark Radcliffe ones too.

Maybe we should compile our own?

[alan strang]

Has there been a Cleese one?

Yup. Begins with Cleese saying something like "Oh, you bought one! Thank you!" apparently. Not heard the actual release but it does feature Cleese' Muriel Volestrangler Radio 4 stuff (which I have heard and I'd say it's worth buying for that alone).

[Darrell]

I have Cleese, Milligan, Adams and Barker in some form or another.

The Barker one is quite nice. Ignoring all the pointless Porridge/Open All Hours clips it's just a succinct and well-chosen Ronnies compilation and a good excuse to release an 85-minute 'Best Of Lines From My Grandfather's Forehead'. It's on CD now, which points to good things about all of the range being made digital.

The Cleese one's well worth having too. Some nice Frost/1948 stuff (we'll overlook that the latter is an ITV property...), some lovely interview clips (including an amazingly rare one recorded between series 2 and 3 of Python), amusingly sarcastic links, those two rather excellent Muriel Volestrangler Book Club specials, and at least one refreshingly-chosen Flying Circus clip in Merchant Banker (or "Merchant Venice" as I just mistyped then). Should be on CD pretty soon I'm guessing.

The Adams one's just an excellent value-for-money four-hour documentary and clip repository. A little too much from Hitchhiker's Guide To The Future (can't they just give it a release on its own?), but it's pretty much unfaultable. Very well-produced on its own merits too.

The Milligan one's the least essential. Some brief very-ailing-Spike links aside, all it comprises is a heavy edit of the Goons documentary, a measly two or three Q clips (none of which haven't appeared on the video compilations), the utterly dead non-audience Goons 'The Starlings' episode, a handful of very dry interview clips, the same bloody audiobook extracts as bloody ever, and about half of the 'Spike's Poems' album. Nothing much lost if it doesn't make it to CD.

[TJ]

The Milligan one's the least essential. Some brief very-ailing-Spike links aside, all it comprises is a heavy edit of the Goons documentary, a measly two or three Q clips (none of which haven't appeared on the video compilations), the utterly dead non-audience Goons 'The Starlings' episode, a handful of very dry interview clips, the same bloody audiobook extracts as bloody ever, and about half of the 'Spike's Poems' album. Nothing much lost if it doesn't make it to CD.

I'm quite surprised to hear that, given how extensive and far-reaching the Everett one is. For those who are interested, it features clips from Where It's At, If It's Wednesday It Must Be..., Everett On Everett, his Radio 1 and 2 shows (quite a lot from the latter actually, which surprised me given that it generally gets overlooked in his career overviews), extracts from his "Desert Island Discs" appearance and an *ancient* interview with Paul Gambaccini. Barry Cryer's links are excellent too - he manages to throw in the historical context and his own memories into a handful of sentences at a time, and then lets the clips do the talking. Great stuff all round - just a pity that they couldn't license any Radio London or Capital stuff for it.

[alan strang]

Great stuff all round - just a pity that they couldn't license any Radio London or Capital stuff for it.

Ah, but they weren't 'At The Beeb'!

I'm still trying to work out how they managed to clear that little bit of Eleanor Rigby for release, when a load of excellent routines had to be cut from the tape because they couldn't clear the music (including the brilliant 'Musician's Strike' sketch).

Excellent release despite this though. Is it still not available on CD?

[TJ]

Great stuff all round - just a pity that they couldn't license any Radio London or Capital stuff for it.

Ah, but they weren't 'At The Beeb'!

Well, I know *that*! It's just that they get referred to so often over the course of the whole thing that it would have been nice to have a little bit of illustration.

I'm still trying to work out how they managed to clear that little bit of Eleanor Rigby for release, when a load of excellent routines had to be cut from the tape because they couldn't clear the music (including the brilliant 'Musician's Strike' sketch).

Baffles me too - it's not even a case of them being able to clear it on the grounds of being a cover version, as he appears to be using the original as backing. Unless he was using a clever soundalike plucked from a Sound Archive somewhere, although without a date and a PasB sheet we've no way of knowing that.

Maybe the Beatles camp were happy to clear it on the basis of appreciating seeing (hearing) all the other Everett/beatles material given an official release?

"Kennnnnnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyyyyyy Everetttttttttttttttttttttttt. MBE".

Excellent release despite this though. Is it still not available on CD?

Not yet, except for the CDs I made of it.