In message
"Ronnie Clark" wrote:


"M. J. Powell" wrote in message
...

Was that the one where an actor died on the set and the others ad libbed
around his part? The sets were in the studio, but as a number of
parallel tunnels. It went out live.

It is an urban myth that Doctor Who ever went out live. It was simply
recorded "as live" for the first few years due to the difficulties in
videotape editing.



It certainly went out live in the very early years, most BBC programmes did.
Z-Cars was transmitted live well into the 1970s. By then it had become a
fetish for that programme and there were long and loud lamentations when they
went recorded. The reason being to do with studio scheduling rather than
editing.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Graeme Wall wrote:

In message
"Ronnie Clark" wrote:

It is an urban myth that Doctor Who ever went out live.

It certainly went out live in the very early years

Oh no it didn't (and I've read more than enough books on the topic to
prove it). 'Quatermass' and various plays went out live but 'Doctor
Who' never did.

In message
(Old Joe) wrote:

Graeme Wall wrote:

In message
"Ronnie Clark" wrote:

It is an urban myth that Doctor Who ever went out live.

It certainly went out live in the very early years

Oh no it didn't (and I've read more than enough books on the topic to
prove it). 'Quatermass' and various plays went out live but 'Doctor
Who' never did.

I must check with a cooleague who worked on the early episodes. Can't
contact him at the moment as he is somewhere in Brazil!

I wouldn't believe everything you read in books about Dr Who...

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Graeme Wall wrote:

I must check with a cooleague

cooleague: n. 1. a fellow worker whose company one enjoys.

OED please note.
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9632889.html
(33 112 at Reading, 1 Jun 1985)

In message
Chris Tolley wrote:

Graeme Wall wrote:

I must check with a cooleague

cooleague: n. 1. a fellow worker whose company one enjoys.

OED please note.

fx pokes tongue out

Nice one.

--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html

Graeme Wall wrote:

It is an urban myth that Doctor Who ever went out live.

It certainly went out live in the very early years

Oh no it didn't (and I've read more than enough books on the topic to
prove it). 'Quatermass' and various plays went out live but 'Doctor
Who' never did.

I must check with a cooleague who worked on the early episodes. Can't
contact him at the moment as he is somewhere in Brazil!

I wouldn't believe everything you read in books about Dr Who...

Given that many are written by researchers who have accessed the BBC's
files, checking and cross checking the studio dates, internal memos and so
forth. The recording schedules are in existance, the tape usages are, a few
of the early episodes transmitted from film recordings still exist in the
Film Library. The evidence is overwhelming.

"Tim Roll-Pickering" wrote in message
...
Graeme Wall wrote:

It is an urban myth that Doctor Who ever went out live.

It certainly went out live in the very early years

Oh no it didn't (and I've read more than enough books on the topic to
prove it). 'Quatermass' and various plays went out live but 'Doctor
Who' never did.

I must check with a cooleague who worked on the early episodes. Can't
contact him at the moment as he is somewhere in Brazil!

I wouldn't believe everything you read in books about Dr Who...

Given that many are written by researchers who have accessed the BBC's
files, checking and cross checking the studio dates, internal memos and so
forth. The recording schedules are in existance, the tape usages are, a
few of the early episodes transmitted from film recordings still exist in
the Film Library. The evidence is overwhelming.

I think the confusion is down to way it's been described. Dr Who never went
out live, but due to the way it was recorded it was very much like a live
show. Scenes were recorded in order, there was little opportunity for
retakes, etc. So although it was all committed to tape before transmission,
the process for the actors, stage hands, etc. probably didn't differ much
from a show that did go out live.

Stephen Wilson wrote:

I think the confusion is down to way it's been described. Dr Who never went
out live, but due to the way it was recorded it was very much like a live
show. Scenes were recorded in order, there was little opportunity for
retakes, etc. So although it was all committed to tape before transmission,
the process for the actors, stage hands, etc. probably didn't differ much
from a show that did go out live.

Plus, I guess at the time that VT equipment and consumables were pretty
expensive, so wastage of tape had to be kept to a minimum for cost
reasons.

David Belcher

"Stephen Wilson" wrote in message
...
I think the confusion is down to way it's been described. Dr Who never
went out live, but due to the way it was recorded it was very much like a
live show. Scenes were recorded in order, there was little opportunity for
retakes, etc. So although it was all committed to tape before
transmission, the process for the actors, stage hands, etc. probably
didn't differ much from a show that did go out live.

That's called (at least in some countries) "live to tape", and is still
common in news and current affairs.


Daniel
--
Daniel Bowen, Melbourne, Australia
danielbowen at gmail dot com
http://www.danielbowen.com/

Daniel Bowen wrote:

That's called (at least in some countries) "live to tape", and is still
common in news and current affairs.


I love this aspect of Doctor Who - I think it contributes to the
aesthetics. Live TV drama is pretty much nonexistent these days, but I
find the 'almost live' quality in classic Who very exciting and
spontaneous. I get kind of a thrill when things go wrong - I've been
watching 'The Aztecs,' and it cracks me up no end when Hartnell and
William Russell keep stepping on each other's lines in Episode Two. I
understand why they wouldn't do 'live to tape' in this day and age, but
I miss it!

Michelle