Quatermass and the Pit, Take Two.

TV When watching dvd releases of programmes which were originally broadcast live, can we be sure that what we're enjoying is the programme as it was originally seen by the initial viewership?

Perhaps not according to this essay from Olive Wake at British Television Drama about the practice at the BBC in the 50s and 60s of rerecording material to replace fluffs and problems which may have crept in during the live broadcast to be edited into the mastertape for repeat broadcast and international sales.

So the dvd release of Quatermass contains a mishmash of live broadcast and rerecorded scenes:

"A document I uncovered in BBC files while undertaking unrelated research confirmed that Cartier practised re-recording on at least one episode of the next Quatermass serial, Quatermass and the Pit. A short letter confirms details of an extra payment due to actor André Morell for his participation in “retakes for the telerecording” of the fifth episode of the serial.3 In this case, there was no scheduled repeat of the production but in view of its prestigious status, following the success of the two previous Quatermass serials, there was a much greater chance of later repeats or of foreign sales than for most programmes, which would likely have been reason enough for re-recording to be practised. A repeat was eventually screened by the BBC a year later."

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