At Last The 1948 Show (DVD)

At Last the 1948 Show (3-disc DVD set)
Directed by Ian Fordyce

This ground-breaking, splendidly silly and surreal comedy sketch series, written and performed by John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Marty Feldman, also starring the lovely Aimi MacDonald, was a major milestone on the road to Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Goodies and everything that came after. This lovingly curated new deluxe three-disc set restores all the existing episodes from both series of the programme in the correct order, and is as complete as is currently possible. It includes all ten surviving episodes, two almost completely reconstructed episodes, and the complete audio of a further episode with fragments of film restored; all drawn from the vaults of the BFI National Archive, and proudly presented alongside an array of newly-filmed and archive extras.

Special features


* Something About the Year 1948 (2019, 32 mins): John Cleese on working with Humphrey Barclay, David Frost and Graham Chapman, At Last The 1948 Show and the path to Python
* We Just Wanted to Be Silly (2019, 38 mins): Tim Brooke-Taylor recalls his comedy influences and the making of At Last The 1948 Show
* John Cleese in Conversation (2006, 36 mins): John Cleese joins comedy historian Dick Fiddy at BFI Southbank to reflect on At Last The 1948 Show
* Reconstructing At Last The 1948 Show (2000, 44 mins, audio): the BFI's Steve Bryant in discussion with Aimi MacDonald, Tim Brooke-Taylor and audiophile Ray Frensham
* John Cleese Introduces At Last The 1948 Show (2003, 2 mins): an introduction recorded for the BFI's Missing Believed Wiped event
* At Last It's Dee Time (1967, 12 mins, audio): the At Last The 1948 Show team's unruly guest appearance on the BBC chat show
* Now and Then: Marty Feldman (1968, 26 mins): Feldman discusses the nature of comedy in this unedited interview, shot for a never-broadcast Bernard Braden documentary series
* The Humphrey Barclay Scrapbook: rare photos and drawings from the legendary TV producer's personal archive
* At Last Some Pictures: image gallery of promotional material
* Reproductions of two scripts for the incomplete episodes
* Illustrated booklet with Not Quite 500 Words by Tim Brooke-Taylor, Steve Bryant's account of recovering and restoring the programmes and a look at the show's place in comedy history by the BFI's Dick Fiddy, plus episode notes with transmission dates and credits