"Raiders of the Lost Archive" (2007) TV series 2007-

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

16 January 2007 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary | Reality-TV

Plot:

After searching for a year through the industry archives and an appeal to the public for clips from old TV shows...

Plot Keywords:

Archive | Early Work | Search

Cast

Paddy McGuinness

...

Himself - Presenter (3 episodes, 2007-2009)

Series Directed by
John Piper		(2 episodes, 2009)

Series Produced by
John Piper	....	producer (2 episodes, 2009)
Mark Robinson	....	executive producer (2 episodes, 2009)
Kerry Allison	....	assistant producer (unknown episodes)
Camilla Charlton	....	assistant producer (unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Doug Faircloth		(unknown episodes)
Dave Hindmarsh		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Gareth Price	....	graphic designer (unknown episodes, 2007)

Series Sound Department
Brian Greene	....	sound (unknown episodes)
Samantha Handy	....	dubbing mixer (unknown episodes)
James Kenning	....	sound (unknown episodes)
Dion Stuart	....	dubbing mixer (unknown episodes)
Martin Wilson	....	sound (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Jeremy Bishop	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)
Roger Laxon	....	camera operator (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
David Till	....	on-line editor (unknown episodes)

Series Other crew
Simon Coward	....	consultant (1 episode, 2009)
Dick Fiddy	....	consultant (1 episode, 2009)
Chris Perry	....	consultant (1 episode, 2009)
Andrew Pixley	....	consultant (1 episode, 2009)
Chris Chapman	....	researcher (unknown episodes)
Rachel Jones	....	production coordinator (unknown episodes)
Samantha Parkin	....	production coordinator (unknown episodes)
Samantha Stamp	....	production executive (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• ITV Productions

Distributors

• Independent Television (ITV) (2007) (UK) (TV)

Other Companies

• British Film Institute (BFI)  thanks
• Kaleidoscope (I)  thanks

Runtime:

UK:30 min (4 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

ITV Productions

Archive agony

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I contribute occasionally to a forum devoted to archive radio, television and film. About the only thing everyone agrees on is that television is not what it once was. Some of my fellow members are themselves producers and directors and this beggars the question - if they do not think new shows are any good, why should the public? 'Raiders Of The Lost Archive' was billed as a four-part I.T.V. series ( in fact only three were made ) but reaction to the first was so negative the rest went out in a graveyard slot two years later ( though not in my part of the world ). Hosted by the annoying Patrick McGuinness, it reunited stars of the calibre of Michael Parkinson and Chris Tarrant with recently discovered clips of old shows. Little attention was paid to the content of the clips themselves. We were instead invited to chortle at hairstyles and shirts. The commentary sniffed at the '90's sitcom 'Surgical Spirit'. I'm not a fan of it myself, but bearing in mind that I.T.V. has been sitcom-free for years now they should exercise some humility when assessing the past. Had B.B.C.-4 made this I'm sure it would have been better. The attitude to archive shows displayed here is broadly in line with Clive James' on foreign programmes, namely that they are curiosities whose only real value now is to be mocked. Even Philip Schofield's 'Television's Greatest Hits' avoided this trap. There is a good series waiting to be made about the search for missing programmes but this certainly was not it.