BBC1 CBBC1 Andy Crane film breakdown 8th September 1987

[@richardmattocks]

Love that Andy C not only jokes and stays calm, but also thinks to throw the broadcast into CinemaScope for a laugh. That’s quick!

[@YeahBoi420]

3:55 damm teletext rickrolled us 💀

[@MiiGameplaysHD]

no way bro how 😭

[@fruitcakedog1997]

Love how he had the letterbox bars overlay at the ready on his desk. Way to save it, Andy!

[@plan7a]

What a professional, while other presenters might have panicked I think he covered quite well!

[@KRPTV]

I've always found these breakdowns more entertaining than the actual shows! Although I don't remember this breakdown in particular as I was one year old back then!😁😁😁

[@ADCTVCollection]

I always love it when i find a breakdown on video, sometimes when I find one, the original owner cut the breakdown out.

[@SeaShantyProductions]

The cbbc presenter stayed both calm AND in character! HE IS A MADMAN!

[@mbvideoselection]

Well that's an odd fault and not the one I was expecting. I thought it was just going to be a plain old sprocket jump, but the TK seemed to be framing itself for wide-screen Presentation, and seemed to be doing it automatically. In fact you see the operator manually adjust it back to academy ratio, but it's as if as soon as the op leaves the controls alone the machine starts floating back to wide-screen mode.

[@richardjones5514]

Andy is now doing excellent work as always on Greatest Hits Radio on the Late Show & covers brilliantly Rossis Breakfast Show & Simon Mayos Drivetime during holiday periods - Top Man

[@francis1971]

I think the telecine projector was RickRolled!

[@wazzock999]

I can't believe they still used telecine as late as 1987

[@mbvideoselection]

Most film material on UK Television was transmitted direct from telecine until the early 90s. UK engineers didn't believe 1" VT gave good enough picture quality for filmed material, so waited until the likes of D2/D3 came along in around 1992 before "conforming" to VT for transmission, and it took a good couple of years for those formats to become commonplace.

[@mbvideoselection]

The UK networks would always do their best to persuade distributors to send film prints rather than pre-telecined VT, because they could always get better results. Admittedly for US material that was to avoid standards conversion, but it all came under "best technical quality". The other benefit that was considered was that it meant a VT machine and operator wasn't tied up. It was always preferred to keep VT machines free for production, editing and playout of video-originated material. Remember even when a VT programme wasn't been played out, there was always a high demand for machines to carry out edits.

[@Ninyfive]

3:55 Amazing Top 1! Congrats to the artist!

[@koiyune]

we're no strangers to love-

[@greeny_pictures]

3:59 I've been rickrolled... ...by BBC.

[@jeffrey44]

Amazing scenes. What a rollercoaster ride.

[@nickgamer2693]

2:04 Turning off the film projector to fix the technical issues.

[@ethanch3011]

3:59 a lowkey rick roll

[@WindowsGG]

olive oyl: and we'll all be show..... *breaks down before she finishes to talk* 3:55 bro did that just?!

[@andtheansweris..1753]

Love how they could talk to kids back then like they weren't stupid unlike nowadays

[@Tomsonic41]

When there's a breakdown on CBBC I like to watch the monitor as they mess about with the telecine or VT trying to get the show back. But Andy unkindly covered it up this time...

[@greeny_pictures]

Does anyone have more telecine breakdowns captured on live TV?

[@DVDandFilmBloke]

The only other example I can think of was the time an episode of Star Trek snapped (well I say snapped, it was more of a bad splice caused by an odd editing choice). I imagine telecines were a pain in the backside to use when broadcasting live, I bet a lot of the engineers wished the films were transferred to videotape prior to transmission but due to various reasons it was probably more viable to transmit the films live. That's not to say videotapes were perfect, far from it, because you could also face mishaps with them such as head clogs (in fact more videotape technical faults survive).

[@97channel]

Beautiful stuff, this kind of thing makes gripping television. There's a character which looks remarkably like Mr Blobby, on the wall behind Andy. Predating the real thing by some five years. Isn't the phrase "Life's A Beach" a bit dodgy for CBBC? I mean, when Andy explained what it meant he really had to swerve the real crux of its origin. Nice little Rick Roll, too. This clip is packed with goodies.

[@fruitcakedog1997]

To me it looks more like the clown from the test card.

[@AW336Lab]

A perfect way to entertain kids while a technical fault is being fixed

[@TheBadfighta]

Must be the same malfunctioning telecine machine that caused Rocky and Bullwinkle to jump in 1986...

[@idj20]

He's still active and going strong on X/Twitter if you would like to say hello to him. He's such a cool guy. I remember him on a computer games programme called "Bad Influence" in the early 1990s which was quality stuff for its time.

[@danielwilliamson6180]

1:59 It's like watching it at the cinema.

[@bregrif19]

2:05

[@5implesimon]

So profession that he Rick rolled us at the same time

[@mubd1234]

They said it was a 'gate' issue, but AFAIK that wouldn't affect the actual aspect ratio of the film...a gate problem would cause the film to be cut off on the top and bottom rather than squashed like here. It seems like an adjustable anamorphic lens on the telecine machine might have had a busted detent or faulty adjustment motor and kept falling out of adjustment as a result. The abrupt stop might have been the lens adjustment travelling so far out of alignment that it caught in the projector drive mechanism, perhaps? I love how he smoothly covers up the monitor with the letter sent in while they muck about with the replacement telecine machine...

[@Tomsonic41]

I think the BBC were using flying spot telecines at the time, and they use a CRT to scan the film. It has to be adjusted carefully to get the film frame to match the TV picture, so I'd say some of the CRT controls were drifting or badly adjusted. It also looks like someone hit the film stop button before Andy could cut back to the Broom Cupboard!

[@danielsrandomchannel1472]

The Popeye Cartoon is called Popeye of the Jungle.

[@bennewnham3502]

What did they use the record player in the back for, did they used to play music in between programmes?

[@arthurvasey]

I think the announcers used it for the National Anthem at closedown - my worst nightmare in a similar situation would be to have the engineers run an actual advertisement instead of a public information film and then tell me to play the wrong track on the National Anthem LP and end up playing the wrong one!

[@Rapscallion2009]

Funny how Never Gonna Give You Up was no 1 for this!

[@danielwilliamson6180]

2:05 Olive on drugs.

[@patrickstocks3576]

Happy 60th birthday 🎊🥳⭐️🍾🎉🎂 Andy Crane

[@thingstodoBeforeIm]

Such a professional!!😁😍xx

[@Sw4g4Th]

4:27 OMG NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP LESS GOO

[@NeonCoding]

Hey that middle school's in my home town. That's interesting.

[@TheEpicWeatherstar9000]

why is NGGYU up

[@jend80]

Ah Andy Crane was great, wasn't he.

[@WillScarlet1991]

Not really. Phil was better.

[@Rafaaa1111]

Woah!

[@christopherhowe5180]

My second birthday

[@SpongeDan]

Wrong spinach, Popeye.

[@HarenchiFairy]

Popeye the Sailor Man in CinemaScope?

[@markwrightrf]

So many times BBC pres was saved - so I'm told.. - by the enthusiastic well-known 'Cola' drinkers, compared to the VT bods who were - so I'm told... - pelted by stones. Cripes a Lawky.

[@sandybeveridge5692]

Great presenter, looked a bit like my first husband 🤷‍♀️