Not Only... But Also (partially found BBC sketch comedy show; 1965-1966; 1970)

Cover art of the compilation The Best of What's Left of Not Only...But Also.

Status: Partially Found

Not Only... But Also is a BBC sketch comedy show. Written and starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, it originally ran from 1965-1966, with a third series occurring in 1970. Many of the show's episodes were subject to the BBC's wiping policy, despite Cook's attempts to preserve them.

Background

Not Only... But Also was conceptualised initially as a show exclusively starring Dudley Moore, called Not Only Dudley Moore, But Also His Guests.^[1]^[2]^[3] However, a successful pilot featuring Peter Cook led to the creation of Not Only Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, But Also Their Guests, the full title of Not Only... But Also.^[1]^[2] The first series contained seven 45 minute episodes, all broadcast in 1965.^[4] A second series would be commissioned, with seven episodes lasting 30 minutes that broadcast in 1966.^[4] A 50-minute Christmas special was broadcast on 26th December 1966.^[5] After Cook and Moore initially departed to ITV in 1968,^[3] the show would eventually be revived in colour in 1970, with a third series containing seven 45 minute episodes.^[4] Finally, two 30 minute specials would also be recorded for Australian television in 1971, the BBC airing these as Peter Cook and Dudley Moore in Australia.^[4]^[3]

Attempts at preservation

Perhaps the most infamous aspect surrounding Not Only... But Also lost media is that the full show nearly survived intact.^[1] Prior to wiping that occurred from 1970 to 1974,^[6] the BBC informed Cook and Moore that the show's episodes were to be removed from its archives.^[1] Cook, who was desperate to preserve his works, offered to buy the existing prints from the BBC.^[1] This was not the only move that creators made to preserve BBC comedy content; when episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus were likewise slated to be wiped, troupe member Terry Jones managed to purchase and smuggle the master tapes out of the BBC just in time.^[7]^[8]

Not Only... But Also was not so lucky. According to comedy producer Harry Thompson, few within the BBC valued preserving comedy shows, with priority instead going towards the preservation of national and local news items.^[6] Ultimately, the BBC rejected Cook's offer, with a senior figure ordering the junking of the episodes.^[6]^[1]^[3]

Availability

Nevertheless, some episodes were unaffected, as a series producer had filmed five of the episodes from a TV screen.^[6] They among other surviving footage was included in a 100-minute compilation entitled The Best of What's Left of Not Only...But Also, released in six parts in late-1990, with the compilation also receiving home media releases.^[3]^[2] Finds also continue to arise. In November 2010, sound recordings of 13 wiped episodes were discovered.^[9] More missing sketches would also be rediscovered in December 2016 from the United Kingdom and Australia, with them airing as part of the Channel 4 show Peter Cook & Dudley Moore: The Missing Sketches.^[10]

The first series was least affected, with episode 5 being mostly missing, and episode 7 completely lost outside of an audio recording.^[9]^[3]^[11] Series 2 was more affected, with only episodes 1 and 7 remaining in full.^[11] Just audio recordings exist of episodes 2-5, with episode 6 missing some sketches.^[11]^[3] The Christmas special is partially lost, with junked segments of "The Fairy Cobbler" and the whole of "Golf Quickie" resulting in four minutes of the 50-minute episode being unaccounted for within BBC's archives.^[5] Series 3 was the worst affected, as all videotapes of the series were wiped, the only remains being of the 16mm film inserts and audio recordings.^[11]^[2]

Ultimately, this has led to only eight of the 22 episodes produced surviving in their completed forms.^[11]^[5]^[9]^[1]^[2]^[3] Further, a compilation titled The Best of Not Only... But Also was broadcast on 24th December 1974 in colour, but now only exists as a 16mm black-and-white film.^[11] Nevertheless, the Australian specials were obviously unaffected by the BBC's wiping procedures, and were recovered intact.^[3]