Ask The Family, BBC1, 31 Jan 1973 

and sir bobby charltons

These days I'm an avid Eye reader, but back then I couldn't afford it ...

@@PastPresented There's also this hilarious take off of Smuggins by Fry and Laurie. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-npvQ3M3WaPA.html

It's not surprising though, if you replace the word "destroyed" with "wiped" and bear in mind that as a broadcaster funded largely by compulsory payments from TV viewers the BBC has always had to be seen to avoid waste.* Re-using magnetic tape, particularly in the days before home video gave old programmes a second life, was an obvious cost-saving measure. * "Being seen to avoid waste" can, unfortunately, lead to sunk cost fallacy issues, such as the disaster of the new EastEnders set.

@@PastPresented Many thanks for the kind reply. I agree with all of your points and I apologise for slipping into the vernacular using "destroyed" instead of "wiped". I recently rewatched Bruce Forsyth's Generation Game 1972-77 which the BBC retain intact on the original video tapes including the compilation shows that were made at the end of each year including an extra compilation show for 1978. Why did the BBC retain these compilation shows at the expense of wiping the entire first 1971 series ? It does seem illogical. If I could wish to see one show again it would be It's A Knockout broadcast on BBC1 on 15/6/73 Ashington vs Blyth. My parents took me to see event but I only have a faint memory trace. Halcyon days !

@@sirsamfay99 _"Why did the BBC retain these compilation shows at the expense of wiping the entire first 1971 series ?"_ Again, I'm not sure that "at the expense of" is the best phrasing. _Generation Game_ was a cost-saving exercise, an off-the-peg format for a glitzy, fun but forgettable show using a single block-booked studio. The BBC would not have envisaged any longevity for it until they saw that the Brucie mojo had spun gold from straw.

@@PastPresented I still cannot see the reasoning why shows of compilations of Generation Game clips are retained by the BBC on their original video spools and not the 1971 series. I can only guess the BBC decided to wipe tapes that reach a certain age rather than deciding a tapes value of its contents. This is confirmed that the BBC retain the entire run of It's A Knockout from 1975 onwards bar one from 1980. All pre 1975 episodes were wiped except for one from 1973 and one from 1971.

@@PastPresented The compilation Bruce Forsyth Generation Game Show which was broadcast in late 1975 contains a portion of the pilot 1971 show in colour. Bruce says before the clip starts "We will now show you the first game of the Generation Game from 1971". As the show was extremely popular by late 1975 leaving ITV far behind in the ratings why did the BBC wipe this and the other episodes from 1971?

Yup, failure to say a right thing can often be as bad as saying a wrong thing.

Ultimately, none of us did!

Spoilers ...

It was broadcast in colour, but recorded in monochrome (this being years before the invention of cheap colour video recorders)!

@@PastPresented Even if the Beeb had kept a copy in the first place, it probably would've been archived in black & white anyway!

🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓

Associating knowledge with "middle class" and "repressed" is a sign of an unhealthy society. Knowledge is power.

@@PastPresented I am talking about the general mindset of a half century ago. It would not be until the 80s, when 'ordinary' people like Fred Housego and Chris Hughes would win Mastermind.

@@stephenguppy7882 That's not quite comparing like with like. A quiz team of two parents and two low-teenage children is much harder to find than a single contestant. Unfortunately I have only the vaguest memories of earlier single-contestant shows like _Criss Cross Quiz._

Robinson was known as 'Smuggins' in Private Eye.

The youngest member of the team has kept much of the paperwork, which I'll use to create a background web page (for example, it turns out that this episode was recorded at Lime Grove rather than Television Centre). I'll add another reply to you here when I've put it online.

See www.pastpresented.ukart.com/ask-the-family.htm !