On location behind-the-scenes Survivors footage donated to archive trust

THE FILM IS Fabulous charitable trust has confirmed that it has taken possession of behind-the-scenes filmed footage shot on location in 1976 during the making of the second series of Survivors.

The trust was recently thrust into the genre news headlines following its acquisition by donation of two previously missing episodes of Doctor Who (‘The Nightmare Begins’ and ‘Devil’s Planet’) featuring William Hartnell’s Doctor and first screened in November 1965.

Since it was launched, the trust’s small team has taken delivery of a huge and growing array of donations, principally from private collectors.

---

Amongst the material it has received is an (unknown quantity) of ‘non-broadcast’ footage from Survivors‘ second series, donated as part of the personal archive of Michael Wilson, the late stills-photographer and cameraman. Michael was married to June Hudson—the costume designer and wardrobe manager on Survivors whose designs did so much to define the visual appearance of Abby Grant, Greg Preston, Jenny Richards, Charles Vaughan and others.

“Photography was Michael’s passion, and he had a natural eye for it from a young age,” Film is Fabulous confirmed. “As a freelancer, he was regularly engaged by the BBC as a stills and film photographer. These engagements included several Shakespeare productions alongside his wife, costume designer June Hudson, which were directed by theatre grandee, Trevor Nunn.”

“A feature of Michael’s work was the location filming. He was prolific. During such engagements he often acted as the film cameraman. The recordings of the Survivors‘ television series (1976) provide a fascinating insight into the production. Michael also filmed behind the scenes, and the collection contains unique films of the cast and crew.”

Few more details are yet known as to the nature of the Survivors footage, but from limited information provided so far, it appears that the material most likely is:

• Behind-the-scenes footage shot on location in 1976
• 16mm film footage, taken on a hand-held film camera
• Mute (rather than recorded with sound – this is the case with the first reels Film is Fabulous has examined)
• More than a single reel of film (how many reels is unknown, but multiple reels do not guarantee that the footage is extensive in duration)
• A mixture of personal off-camera moments of cast and crew and observations of rehearsals or recording

---

While fans of classic TV shows are naturally impatient to see all new discoveries as soon as possible, it is inevitable that material will take time to review and assess — to ensure its preservation (and repair the material when necessary), and to decide on the most appropriate method for both its retention and for making the content safely and securely accessible to fans and researchers.

For the two newly-recovered Doctor Who episodes, that meant a combination of screening events and making the material freely available to screen on the BBC’s iPlayer.

But that level of ‘open access’ is likely to be the exception rather than the norm. So much material has already been recovered, that different options will need to be chosen, depending on the nature of the material in question and the level of likely interest.

Film is Fabulous has already returned a significant number of progamme episodes and other footage to the BBC Archive, and a large number of titles to the BFI National Archive for the purposes of preservation.

Of the Survivors footage, Film is Fabulous say: “Once the films have been catalogued, they’ll be deposited with a suitable repository. The missing material will be screened at future Film is Fabulous events, together with other recovered items.”

On Facebook, one of the Film is Fabulous team added: “It’s our hope that the BBC Archive will accept the [whole of the Michael Wilson] collection, and they’ll be able to review the unique material for possible screening.”