OK, so you thought the Brittas Empire ticket and programme leaflet were obscure? Back in 1993, my girlfriend attended a recording of BBC sitcom Every Silver Lining. On a British Legion trip. A rude comment about the blue rinse brigade would be demeaning but accurate.
Luckily, being the type of person she is, she kept the programme leaflet given out at the recording, a scan of which follows below. Click to enlarge. Anyone care to guess how many of these still exist?
Let’s face it – the Brittas leaflet is interesting for its historic value, but isn’t really that appealing. This one, however, is rather well put together. For a start, it’s actually well-written – and with titling the actor bios “The Company”, it really is like sitting down and watching a play at your local village hall. Only with Andrew Sachs and Frances de la Tour. Although is it not slightly odd that Rising Damp isn’t specifically mentioned in la Tour’s bio, when other non-BBC series are mentioned for the others?
Best of all, gone is the ridiculous episode synopsis, to be replaced with a marvellous look behind the scenes. It might be stuff we already know, but putting the production in context – “The cast began rehearsing this episode six days ago at the BBC’s rehearsal rooms” – is a great idea. The whole thing reads like a BBC which is happy and proud of itself. Although note that even back in 1993, they felt the need to add a slightly defensive note on canned laughter…
As for the gratuitious mention of “stereo digital video tape”… did I write this? (No, and despite the name, I wasn’t Camera Supervisor either – although when I watched Going Live! as a kid and saw my name pop up, I always wished I was.)
So – one fairly lame effort from The Brittas Empire, and a nice example from Every Silver Lining. Anyone got any other examples they can scan in?
(As for Every Silver Lining itself, here’s a one word review from the aforementioned donator of this leaflet: “Fine.”)