Getting Sam Home getting an Xmas Eve BBC4 showing

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PKDurham

Active Member
Looks like BBC4 are showing Getting Sam Home on Xmas eve at 7pm.

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Four - Schedules, Sunday 24 December 2023

This is the daily broadcast schedule for BBC Four
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

There’s a post on twitter suggesting that it might also have been restored and being shown in HD, but I haven’t seen confirmation (One foot in the Algarve has definitely been restored, and the post mentioned that one of the other shows has also been remastered, but didn’t name it…but it’s more likely to be LotSW than Yes Minister)

 
I can confirm that – all being well – this will be the version that Richard Latto and I remastered from the original camera elements. It will look better than it has ever done before. We'd love to do the other two feature films and more, but can only make a case for that if as many people as possible watch on BBC4 or iPlayer over the holidays.

LOTSW Vignette ProRes 422HQ.mov.00_00_28_12.Still001.jpg
On the left is the broadcast master that has been used since 1983, on the right is the new transfer.
 
DrewTheWino said:
I can confirm that – all being well – this will be the version that Richard Latto and I remastered from the original camera elements. It will look better than it has ever done before. We'd love to do the other two feature films and more, but can only make a case for that if as many people as possible watch on BBC4 or iPlayer over the holidays.

View attachment 6773
On the left is the broadcast master that has been used since 1983, on the right is the new transfer.
Click to expand...
Thanks Drew, a few of us on this site contributed towards the episode you were converting to HD, I know they've been delayed but do you have any more up to date timescales?
 
I don't understand why One Foot in the Algarve would need restoring.

Admittedly it's 30 years old now, but this was made at a time when vintage programmes were treasured, and lost programmes were much sought after - so surely this programme should have been preserved and kept in pristine condition.

Obviously there is the original master copy, it's not as though there will be only one copy, and it was soon released onto VHS and DVD.

What was actually wrong with it?
 
When Algarve was produced it was shot entirely on 16mm and Super16mm film. This was then edited and transferred to video tape for broadcast. The result is a standard definition video tape master with the inherent issues of its era – zoomed in shots, colour variations, occasional tape dropouts etc. The big thing however, is that film is inherently an HD medium whereas videotape is not. The intention with a modern remaster is to make it look as good as the film that passed through the camera looked before it was transferred to tape. The difference isn't as pronounced as with Summer Wine, but I've seen it and it looks wonderful.

The same is true of Getting Sam Home, but being a bit older it benefits a little more as the process of transferring film to tape within the BBC was not as technically good as it was by the time Algarve was made.
 
DrewTheWino said:
Not great picture quality, but this BBC News report does a decent job of explaining.

Click to expand...
It's a pity your screening of Getting Sam Home at the Civic this year didn't quite come off in HD as you'd have perhaps got more traction, but still you raised a fair bit for Children In Need which was great
 
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