I don’t usually link to current BBC stuff in these newsletters; I prefer to use the limited audience I have to point people towards things which they won’t see elsewhere. But this piece on “lost” IRA documentary “The Secret Army” demands to be read.1 It’s a quite extraordinary tale, told exceptionally well. It is, of course, a story bleak to its core… and yet the thrill of research is very much in evidence here.
Of all the remarkable moments in the story - bloody hell, the number plate - one section in particular I recognised very well. Although it’s absolutely nothing to do with sectarian violence.
“In the last week of June the most popular news show in America, Walter Cronkite’s CBS Evening News, ran some clips of the film - the bomb-making class and the Derry car bomb sequence.”
And I think back to the absolute nightmare load of research I had to do regarding flash frames in The Young Ones and Spitting Image. Material which was broadcast to the nation, and reported on at the time, but was incredibly difficult to know what exactly happened.
Sometimes, nothing is more obscure than... a nationally broadcast television programme. Things slip into the ether so easily.
This Month on Dirty Feed
Only one piece this month, and the start of my long-threatened look at stock footage in Smashie and Nicey - the End of an Era. Find out exactly which episode of Blue Peter Nicey invaded… and why Paul McCartney looks so troubled in his interview.
More of this nonsense next month, when the show celebrates its 30th anniversary. Here’s a sneak preview:
Cor.
Not on Dirty Feed
Drawing for Nothing - An online, ever-evolving book “compiling the artwork of the world's canceled and troubled animated films”. The kind of thing the internet is for.
The Doctor Who radio pilot of 1966 - By Oliver Wake. “In many ways the radio pilot is the ultimate lost episode: fully completed but never broadcast.”
The Rik Mayall Scrapbook: Waiting for Godot - Do you wish you’d seen Rik and Ade in their 1991 run of Waiting for Godot? This is probably the closest you’ll ever get. (via Stuart Ian Burns)
The Digital Antiquarian: The Prisoner - With all the rumours of a completely pointless Prisoner reboot right now, here’s Jimmy Maher with an adaptation which actually worked.
Ludicrously Niche: No Cigar - Christopher Wickham, Desperate Dan, and comic cigar censorship. This is a good one.
Long-Lost Clara Bow Silent Film Found in Parking Lot - The clue’s in the headline.
Left and to the Back: The End - Dave Bryant ends his blog, in the perfect way. Dave does everything right here: he tells everyone why he’s stopping, what the future for the blog’s archives is, and where to find out what he’s doing next. I hate websites which just leave their readership hanging; this is how to treat your readers with respect.
Beechgrove Garden Doctor Who trailer - From 2005. Amazing. (via Walter Dunlop)
“Spoilers, Sweetie.” - James Cooray Smith being ZENZIBLE.
The game magazine that spent two years taunting a Final Fantasy VIII hater - Stay until the end. (via waxy.org)
That’s your lot for this month. But don’t forget, you can contact Dirty Feed at the following address:
And the accompanying documentary demands to be watched, although I haven’t had a chance yet.