In Search of Chock-A-Block.

TV Noticing this tweet from Clayton "All Things Doctor Who" Hickman reminded me to check on the status of the wiped episodes of Choc-A-Block, the children's television series from the 1980s. 

Kaleidoscope's Lost Shows's search engine provides the following information:

Missing or incomplete episodes for programme:

CHOCK-A-BLOCK.

11.06.81 (missing)
18.06.81 (missing)
25.06.81 (missing)
02.07.81 (missing)
09.07.81 (missing)
16.07.81 (missing)

23.07.81 Shoe
One or more sequences exist from a recording on a domestic video format (e.g. VHS, Beta, Philips 1500), but the complete programme is lost.

30.07.81 Shoe
The only known complete copy was recorded on a domestic video format (e.g. VHS, Beta, Philips 1500).

Out of an original total of 13 episodes, 6 episodes are missing. In addition, one episode is incomplete and 2 exist on formats inferior to the original.

Which is what it is, a bunch of TX dates. Fortunately the Wikipedia has a complete episode guide (because of course it does) and the BBC Genome exists so it's possible to create match that information up with the episode details.

As it stands, according to that list, these episodes are still in the archive in broadcast quality:

(1) "Clock" tx 21/05/1981
(Fred Harris and the song "The Clock That Lost Its Tock)

(2) "Crow" tx 28/05/1981
(Carol Leader and the song "Ballad of Joe Crow")

(3) "The Sheep" tx 04/06/1981
(Fred Harris)

(12) "Bee At The Sea" tx 06/08/1981
(Carol Leader and the poem "If All the Seas Were One Sea")

(13) "Unknown" tx 30/08/1981
(Fred Harris and the song "Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where Have You Been?")

Inferior non-broadcast quality copies exist in the archive of:

(10) "Shoe" tx 23/07/1981
(Carol Leader)

(11) "Snake" tx 30/07/1981
(Fred Harris and the song "Drake on the Lake")

Not in the BBC archive are:

(4) "The Train" tx 11/06/1981
(Carol Leader)

(5) "The Sun and The Moon" tx 18/06/1981
(Fred Harris and the song "Out Shone a Ray")

(6) "Magpie" tx 25/06/1981
(Carol Leader)

(7) "Unknown" tx 02/07/1981
(Fred Harris and the song "King Cole's Mole)

(8) "Cat" tx 09/07/1981
(Carol Leader)

(9) "Pig" tx 16/07/1981
 (Fred Harris and the song "The Dancing Pig")

Sad face.

Except - they're not lost!

Here's "The Sun and The Moon" on YouTube:



Here's "Unknown":



Here's "Cat":



Here's "Pig":



Plus there's this which I can't identify but I think is "Magpie":



Which just leaves "The Train" as the single missing episode.

Chock-a-boy, checking out.  So that's that.  Good-bye.