A restored version of 1968 comedy classic Carry On Up the Khyber for the BritBox streaming service was the surprise winner of a prize for post-production excellence at last year’s RTS Yorkshire Awards.
“In conversation” with RTS Yorkshire Chair Fiona Thompson in February, ITV Content Delivery’s James Macmillan recalled: “We were totally blown away… It’s been a very tough year for everyone, but I can’t think of a better way of ending 2020 than by winning the award.”
The Leeds-based business development manager explained how the Carry On movie was restored to its original condition.
To show the BritBox editorial team what was possible, he said: “We took a [35mm] reel of a Carry On film out of the archive and transferred it. We picked a couple of scenes to restore… There was a real night and day difference between before and after.”
Discussing the thinking behind restoring classic movies, Macmillan said: “We don’t want a Carry On film to like it was made in the 21st century… We want it to look as good as it possibly could have looked the very first time it was presented.
“The Carry Ons have never been seen in high-definition before… There’s definitely an appetite for more films to be restored.”
ITV Content Delivery restores and digitises the broadcaster’s huge archive of film and tape. “We’re the custodians of ITV’s archive and we’ve got film dating back to the 1920s in the vaults in Leeds. We’ve got a duty of care for that content to make sure it is preserved and available for future generations to watch and enjoy,” said Macmillan.
