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Old 22nd Feb 2019, 11:41 pm   #1
Malcolm T
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Default The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Not sure where this question belongs on the forum but as it is TV related i thought best here.
I have been pondering this question for many years and searching but found nothing.
Remember "Tomorrows worlds" James burke . Well he presented the Apollo coverage moon missions on TV with Patrick Moore.
What happened to all the video tapes of all those Apollo missions the BBC covered.
Does anyone know please.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 1:18 am   #2
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

The coverage of the Apollo 13 re-entry (which I saw the first time round) is on YouTube, so some of it at least has been kept.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 2:18 am   #3
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

The BBC did a quite a famous (obviously not for you LOL) special on Apollo 11 on BBC4 in 2006, which basically pieced together everything they still had of that week in July 1969 in chronological order.
You can still see it here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/moonlandings/7620.shtml



.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 9:36 am   #4
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Thank you for the replies info and link.
But what of the hours and hours of all those TV transmissions from 69 to 1972 Apollo 17.
I watched just about every live TV broadcast they put out.

I have just found this.

https://wipednews.wordpress.com/feat...bc-broadcasts/
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 10:44 am   #5
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Dad was so excited about the moon landing he stayed up all night to watch it and “suggested” that I did the same as it was such an important event. I was only 13 and fell asleep on the sofa but he woke me up to see the live first moon walk.

Am I dreaming it but I’m sure that modern recordings of Armstrong’s famous speech don’t have the NASA bleep in the middle but I remember hearing it at the time.

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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 10:56 am   #6
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

It's not answering your question, but there are loads of fascinating Apollo-related videos on YouTube, search on 'Apollo' and then follow the links to other related videos.

Andy
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 11:25 am   #7
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malcolm T View Post
Thank you for the replies info and link.
But what of the hours and hours of all those TV transmissions from 69 to 1972 Apollo 17.
I watched just about every live TV broadcast they put out.

I have just found this.

https://wipednews.wordpress.com/feat...bc-broadcasts/
I think in the case of Apollo 12- The original intention was to find an old NASA spacecraft that had landed on the Moon... but the live TV cameras had failed anyway..so any BBC studio interaction would have been presenters waffling on, which presumably the BBC didn't think worth keeping? Although there is obviously extensive audio recorded by enthusiasts at the time.

With Apollo 13 IIRC only the launch and splashdown were covered for obvious reasons.

From then on the Apollo missions took up less and less air time as they were now not rating winners in TV terms...the BBC were loosing out to Coronation St. LOL
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 1:09 pm   #8
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

I watched the Apollo 11 moon walk live from the comfort of my bed having set the alarm to wake me up when they were about to step on to the moon. I had a remote power switch by my bed so I didn't have to get out to switch it on. I recall they replayed the whole moon walk once Armstrong and Aldrin had returned to the LEM. That was when I fell asleep.

When the Apollo 12 landing took place I rushed home from school but on the way a TV rental shop had a set in the window showing the moon walk but it was just showing a light and dark band as I think the astronauts had pointed the camera at the sun while setting it up.

Apollo 13 could be considered as one of NASAs failures but also one of their greatest triumphs bringing the astronauts home safely using a lot of improvisation and quick thinking.

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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 1:11 pm   #9
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Thanks for your replies
We,ll at least I was part of that time and witnessed history in the making, they may have been BBC broadcasts but I felt like I was part of it and I still have my tape recorder and the 1/4 inch reel to reel tapes I made from the TV, not everything but quite a bit although in my stupidity some years ago I think I recorded over some !!!.
As for modern recordings they could have doctored the tapes I dont know, the beep was the best bit LOL , Interest defiantly waned though as the world moved on.
Yes thanks I will give you tube a look as well.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 2:49 pm   #10
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

I've mentioned this before on here, but when I stayed up to watch the Apollo 11 landing, I just couldn't abide the inane wittering of Burke et al on the BBC.
So I watched the picture on the TV, but listened to Voice of America on shortwave (on my PCR3 receiver), which simply transmitted the communication between Mission Control and the spacecraft, completely free from the ramblings of some reporter who felt obliged to fill in any moment of silence whether he had anything useful to say or not.
Did anybody else here listen on VoA?

Andy
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 3:54 pm   #11
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

I still feel the BBC's wiping of the studio coverage of the Apollo 11 mission to have been one of the worse judged archive clearances.

Supposedly the tape that contained the crucial moments still exists, but has racing from Doncaster on it.

The coverage had one of the first uses of an electronic caption generator Anchor.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 5:47 pm   #12
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Well I suppose a BBC technician under orders from the boss had no idea of what he was doing and followed orders I wonder if they regret what they did now ?.
Ha! horse racing just as bad as football.
I used to listen to VOA late at night and the American forces on MW, none of the kids in my school had any idea of what was out there.

That's the problem with some presenters they don't know when to keep quiet, but at least they had suits and ties in those days and the NASA staff all had those short sleeve shirts and ties and those haircuts, they weren't just going to the moon, they were going looking cool! Yeah .
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 6:41 pm   #13
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

My Dad used to listen to American Forces Radio, back in the days of limited needle time on the Home Service, & Radio Luxembourg being selective about what it played, not to mention the face.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 7:30 pm   #14
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Quote:
Originally Posted by M0FYA Andy View Post
I've mentioned this before on here, but when I stayed up to watch the Apollo 11 landing, I just couldn't abide the inane wittering of Burke et al on the BBC.
So I watched the picture on the TV, but listened to Voice of America on shortwave (on my PCR3 receiver), which simply transmitted the communication between Mission Control and the spacecraft, completely free from the ramblings of some reporter who felt obliged to fill in any moment of silence whether he had anything useful to say or not.
Did anybody else here listen on VoA?
Yes, and I knew what you were going to say before I read it!
Not only that, VOA sent me a free "Apollo 11 Mission Analyser", like this.
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Old 23rd Feb 2019, 7:37 pm   #15
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post
My Dad used to listen to American Forces Radio, back in the days of limited needle time on the Home Service, & Radio Luxembourg being selective about what it played, not to mention the face.

There's a scene in the 1963 Ealing comedy "Mouse in the Moon" when they tune in to VOA to try and get news of their moonshot and instead get the latest news of "swing".
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 9:51 pm   #16
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post
I still feel the BBC's wiping of the studio coverage of the Apollo 11 mission to have been one of the worse judged archive clearances.

Supposedly the tape that contained the crucial moments still exists, but has racing from Doncaster on it.

The coverage had one of the first uses of an electronic caption generator Anchor.
The thinking at the time was that in the future, people would want to see Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, not Sir Patrick Moore reporting that Neil Armstrong had just landed on the moon.
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 9:58 pm   #17
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Quote:
Originally Posted by Malcolm T View Post
Well i suppose a BBC technician under orders from the boss had no idea of what he was doing and followed orders i wonder if they regret what they did now ?.
It didn't work that like. The relevant programme department (News and Current Affairs in this case) would clear the tapes of programmes they were responsible for for wiping. Then when it actually came to wiping the tape, the VT engineer would check the tape's serial number and programme name on the recording card to make sure some other programme wasn't being wiped by mistake. So they knew perfectly well what they were doing.

ITV's coverage (provided by London Weekend Television and ITN and recorded entirely by LWT) has suffered the same fate.

The only hope either coverage has is that the tapes were somehow "liberated" from the BBC or LWT by a VT engineer who understood the historical significance of the recordings when their management didn't. Several series have survived wiping through actions like this -ATV's 1970s "Thriller" drama anthology series, for instance.
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 10:33 pm   #18
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

Just recently, NASA has found a lot of 70mm film taken during the Apollo 11 mission. This 70mm stuff was never seen by the public before it got lost.

It will provide the subject material for a new documentary film on Apollo 11 due out probably in the the spring of this year, see https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood...ar-anniversary.

Looking forward to that .

B
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Old 24th Feb 2019, 11:35 pm   #19
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

That's a very interesting article, many thanks.

Andy
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Old 25th Feb 2019, 12:58 am   #20
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Default Re: The BBC Apollo coverage tapes

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Originally Posted by Bazz4CQJ View Post
Just recently, NASA as found a lot of 70mm film taken during the Apollo 11 mission. This 70mm stuff was never seen by the public before it got lost.
The guy in the foreground of the third image is holding a Raytheon Mission Analyser!
All of this rediscovered footage was shot on earth, but fascinating nonetheless.
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