Lost Pete and Dud sound recordings recovered

Tuesday 2nd November 2010, 12:20pm by Ian Wolf

Not Only... But Also.... Image shows from L to R: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore. Copyright: BBC

Sound recordings of 13 'wiped' episodes of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's sketch show Not Only... But Also have been discovered.

A series of homemade audio tapes were recorded by Graham Webb, a freelance artist and writer living in Kent. Webb stopped listening to his tapes in the mid 1980s and put his sound recordings in a box in his attic, forgetting about them.

Recently he heard that the British Film Institute was looking for missing recordings of television programmes. Webb thought they would be of interest and has since handed over the tapes.

For many decades it was custom at the BBC to 'wipe' video and audio tapes so they could be re-used and thus save on material costs. As a result many episodes of classic TV and radio comedies, such as Dad's Army and Hancock's Half Hour have been missing for years and are presumed lost.

Out of the 24 episodes of Not Only... But Also that were made, 14 were wiped by the BBC. With the discovery of these sound recordings it means that only one episode is still completely missing. However, the visuals that accompany the audio of these 14 episodes are still lost.

It is hoped by fans of Pete and Dud that the BBC will release the recordings.

In July Jonathan Ross hosted Pete And Dud: The Lost Sketches in which a team of comedians, including Alistair McGowan and Angus Deayton, re-created some of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's scripts in front of a live studio audience.

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