Mistakes in the Cathy episodes

cyberrich · Post by **cyberrich** » Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:36 pm

About a week ago I'd planned on re-watching all the Mrs Peel episodes, but after Diana's sad and unexpected death last week I feel it's too soon. I'll leave it a month or so. In the meantime I've been dipping into the two Cathy dvd box sets from Studio Canal. There are several mistakes I hadn't noticed before. Obviously being filmed 'live' all errors had to be left in. In Mr Teddy bear Cathy's professor friend calls to collect a package, and the actor playing him appears to fluff a line, and as this happens the camera wobbles a lot, as if it has been bumped into. Earlier in this episode there are several lines across the picture during one scene, such as those we used to see on old worn VHS tapes. Has anyone else noticed this before on this episode

A fly walks across the screen in The wringer, though this happened now and again on 1960's tv shows. I've just watched Mauritius penny. The only error I noticed here happened twice during part one. There is a very loud noise which sounds like someone blowing their noise loudly, or sitting on a whoopee cushion

I wonder what made such a noise. On the whole though, the remastering of the picture quality is superb, and helps bring seasons 2 and 3 closer to the superb quality of season 4. Have you noticed any errors in the Cathy episodes you'd forgotten about

Post by **dissolute** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:18 am

I list a lot of these on my website.

e.g.
https://www.dissolute.com.au/the-avenge ... other.html

The horizontal banding in the picture tends to happen with telecine inserts or grams FX; the extra inputs seem to cause distortion in the VT.

cyberrich · Post by **cyberrich** » Mon Sep 21, 2020 6:00 pm

That's great Piers. Thanks for that. I'll have a closer look at your site. I love the live episodes and the mistakes are all part of the fun that goes with 'live theatre'. Point #17 says camera breaks up completely. I thought someone must have collided with it, but clearly not the case. This happened immediately after Dr Howell fluffed a line. This must have been the 'dry' mentioned in point #18. Now, what I would love to know is what made that loud noise in part one of The Mauritius Penny. It happens twice and sounds like someone blowing their nose loudly

Maybe there's a more technical explanation.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:19 pm

The fly on the telecine screen has gained celluloid immortality!

Some of the videotape damage may have happened before the telecine print was made, it's hard to tell but seems more likely than subsequent conversion problems.

Post by **Allard** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 10:56 am

Brings back the memories of me discovering the Gale era. The production technology really is a bit of a shock, but I do love 'em. The live element gives them an energy that I almost start missing in other tv.

cyberrich · Post by **cyberrich** » Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:17 pm

I agree. I've been rewatching the Cathy episodes and I absolutely love the live atmosphere. You can almost feel the tension at times. The mistakes are mercifully few and only add to the live theatre experience. I'm still wondering about the offending noise that happens early into The Mauritius penny, towards the end of the second scene after Steed asks Cathy if she has any loose change, and just before they leave the apartment. It's about 3 or 4 minutes into the episode. The same noise is heard later, not long before the end of part one. I'd love to know what was responsible for such a noise