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Original Out of Town - this is what we need

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• published: 11 Dec 2011
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Jack Hargreaves appeared on Southern Television's 'Out of Town' programme for half-an-hour on Friday evening between 1959 and 1981. This brief extract is a mock-up to show what an original might look like. Archivists of UK TV oldies please note. Many thanks to all who share this search. In 2010 I recovered a large number of OOT tapes and films from South West Film and TV Archive (SWFTA) as they could no longer afford the shelf space for them. Since then I have been working on ways to restore this collection, which once sat on shelves in my stepfather's dhed next to his home in Dorset. At the end of 2011, Delta Home Entertainment plc bought a licence from Endemol International to redistribute the DVD versions of 'Out of Town' Jack made for home viewing in 1986. Not the Southern Television originals, they were made in Jack's home at Belchalwell in Dorset. where - watching a small selection of Stan Bréhaut's silent 16mm film - Jack added a new commentary with new introductions. But Delta went into administration in September 2015, although by then I had bought their licence from Endemol - promptly terminating it on grounds of their insolvency. Since 2015 I have had several offers to re-issue 'Out of Town'. Following nearly two years of meetings with their CEO, Tim Beddows, I signed an Acquisition Agreement with Network Distribution Ltd in May 2017. Network's team, under Tim's direction, plan several box sets - Vols 1, 2 and 3 for a start - of Out of Town, to which they are adding extras by, and about, Jack Hargreaves, to which they have better access than I. Network's OOT Vol 1 became available on 31 July 2017 - via their website and other outlets http://networkonair.com/all-products/2682-out-of-town-volume-1 Vol 2 of Out of Town, also with extras, is planned for Sept 2017 and Vol 3 in 2018 will include restored Out of Town programmes not seen since broadcast in the 1960s and 70s - films and tapes recovered from the SWFTA. This entails synchronising old 16mm reverse negative location film by Stan Brehaut with sound recordings made in the studio as that particular episode of OOT was broadcast. The problem is what to do when Jack is in his 'studio' shed talking to camera. Film of that was never recorded, only the sound of him speaking. I have been asked to help make links on camera which will slide easily into my stepfather's commentaries. Apart from Jack's broadcasting these books, mostly still in print, and often available second hand, may be of interest: Jack Hargreaves, illustrated by Bernard Venables, 'Fishing for a year' MacGibbon & Kee 1951, republished Medlar Press 1998 Jack Hargreaves, 'Out of Town: A Life Relived on Television', Dovecote Press 1987 Jack Hargreaves, 'The Old Country', Dovecote Press 1988 Jack Hargreaves with Terry Heathcote, 'The New Forest: A Portrait in Colour', Dovecote Press 1992 Paul Peacock, 'Jack Hargreaves - A Portrait', Farming Books & Videos 2006