1976: JOHN NOAKES rides a BBC TV CITROËN DS SAFARI | Blue Peter | Retro Tech

1976: JOHN NOAKES rides a BBC TV CITROËN DS SAFARI | Blue Peter | Retro Tech | BBC Archive

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Жыл бұрын

Blue Peter's John Noakes takes a look at the Citroën DS Safari, the BBC's mobile television camera car.
Used by the BBC to film events like the Grand National, the specially adapted Safari vehicle has an electronic television camera positioned on the roof, as well as its own recording and transmission equipment, all powered by a generator which is carried in the trailer.
Presented by John Noakes, with contributions from BBC Safari operators Johnny Johnson, Norman Higgs and Jim Trett.
Originally broadcast 29 April, 1976.
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Пікірлер: 124

@fidelcatsro6948 Жыл бұрын

Looking on almost 50 yrs later, we all can concede that the *Citroen DS* was the real star of the show!! ⭐⭐⭐

@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. And those cars are eye warteringly expensive these days.

@fidelcatsro6948 Жыл бұрын

@Robert Honeybourne 🐱👍🏿

@buxycat Жыл бұрын

To British people of a certain age, John Noakes is much loved.

@macronencer Жыл бұрын

Favourite Uncle to millions!

@b.p4958 5 ай бұрын

And to people at a certain age and class, magpie on Thames television is far better than the snooty middle class BBC television centre blue Peter

@jasonwilliams7171 18 күн бұрын

Yes he is, fond memories.

@PeteWylieRC Жыл бұрын

'a piece of grass that Shep quite likes' 🤣 What a TV legend John Noakes was.

@emstonestreet Жыл бұрын

the smoothness of the citroen ds suspension

@MrClingclong Жыл бұрын

At 58 I might be biased, but, I feel my generation were served by true professionals in TV when we were youngsters. When I see Nelson's Column I always remember John climbing a ladder to the top! No scaffolding, no safety net, what a pro!

@wolfeflambe Жыл бұрын

Yeah I think we had the golden age of British children’s television.

@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou Жыл бұрын

John, Pete and Val were my television parents.

@SteveM-ly7oy 8 ай бұрын

I love looking at how people dressed then. Flares. And the cars we drove then, I think us Brits were happy to drive cars from many different countries. Nice weather at the end of April 1976, I guess the hot summer was about to begin. Little did they know that we'd have a drought. I was seven years' old.

@apacherider7110 Жыл бұрын

Now being 61 and I can clearly remember him on tv. John was a legend at the time, and still is.

@robinvanags912 Жыл бұрын

Lovely to see. EMI 2001 - forever my idea of a television camera!

@robinvanags912 Жыл бұрын

@@dogbreaththe3rd851 Depends on the application (the 2001 is out of it's usual studio environment here).

@stuartmann589 Жыл бұрын

And let's not forget the cameraman, Johnny Johnson!

@ozzie-sk9dh Жыл бұрын

Rest in Peace John. You legend.

@stuff31 Жыл бұрын

this has to be one of the greatest "movie cars" ever built. it is very cool.

@willdatsun Жыл бұрын

imagine telling people back then in 30 years you will have that whole setup and more with 10 times the quality, able to record, broadcast across the world, and could be bought second hand for less than a basket of groceries.

@Maximustard Жыл бұрын

And millions of people everyday take them into the toilets with them

@stepheng8779 Жыл бұрын

10 times the quality for sound & vision but that's where it stops.

@petergivenbless900 Жыл бұрын

I love the look of these old analog video recordings; the pastel colours and blooming highlights have quite an impressionistic feel!

@terrancedactielle5460 6 ай бұрын

You could live stream the picture all around the world via a 4" tall mobile phone today. Amazing advances in technology

@markgatland977 Жыл бұрын

Nice to see the old Tube train rattling by in that clip as well 😊

@JamieMurphy25 Жыл бұрын

That (at the time) was the Metropolitan line towards Shepherd's Bush and Hammersmith, that was later separated and became the Hammersmith & City line in 1990, while the Circle line wasn't used to pass Television Centre until late 2009.

@williamsion3000 13 күн бұрын

John was the best!!!!!!

@thrilhous Жыл бұрын

Smart choice to use that Citroën to mount that camera on top of, couldn't ask for a smoother ride.

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

They don’t mention just why they used a Citroen. Well, at the time they had 4 wheel gas suspension which gave a ride smoothness that was 2nd to none.

@benkasminbullock Жыл бұрын

My father used to drive one of these. The car would sink down when the engine was off, and you had to wait for it to rise up when starting.

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

@@benkasminbullock yup. The suspension only operated when the engine was running but to be fair it did lift within 10 seconds or so. My family had Citroens most of my childhood, it was wild how it lifted up (usually nose first as I recall) when the engine was started, mind you, you had a lever between the driver and passenger seat that could raise or lower it. The ride was superb even on crazy rough roads / gravel dirt tracks (my grandma lived on a farm and we’d hardly feel the bad road). Incredible machines for their time.

@a1white Жыл бұрын

Probably didn’t want to be seen to promote Citroen, being a non-commercial channel. BBC were funny about things like that back then! Remember them not saying sellotape 😅

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

@@a1white yeah. Sticky backed plastic! Legend!

@AQUAHOLIC Жыл бұрын

@@richardmattocks No, sticky backed plastic was something else. It was just 'sticky tape'

@stephenwilliams926 Жыл бұрын

I remember seeing this at the horse races.

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

Wow. All that to send a tv signal, and now we can livestream from our phones. Isn’t technology awesome!

@jameshurst3279 Жыл бұрын

No, it’s the devil’s work

@lemdixon01 Жыл бұрын

But we have more transistors, they did it with fewer transistors

@jameshodgkins559 Жыл бұрын

👽

@OhFishyFish Жыл бұрын

@@lemdixon01 Each transistor size of my phone. :)

@Stephen-OldBadGamer Жыл бұрын

No.

@ThrottleAddiction Жыл бұрын

That's surprisingly good 'made for television' footage from 1976.

@wolfman6941 Жыл бұрын

They gave us great Grand National coverage.

@davidlancaster1974 3 ай бұрын

Can’t we please all go back to this era?

@jerryjones8513 Жыл бұрын

Now we use an i phone to do the same job!😆

@stewartellinson8846 5 ай бұрын

So much to like here - a brilliant presenter and lots of interesting information. Amazing technology of the time, but now so outdated. Time, where is they sting?

@jourwalis-8875 18 күн бұрын

But not a word about why the BBC chose the Citroen DS as their camera car! It´s pretty obvious. The Citroen DS is superior to all other cars thanks to the hydropneumatic suspension! First and foremost it gives constant ride height, irrespective of the load. It means that it doesn´t sink a millimeter, despite all this heavy equipment and a big camera and a cameraman on top. And it also gives superb ride comfort. It is the most comfortable suspension in the world, and it flattens out all irregularities on the road. It gives a sort of "magic carpet" ride, so important for a camera car, for more stable pictures! Vive la Deesse!

@Maximustard Жыл бұрын

A very sturdy looking plastic chair complete with seatbelt 😂 Better days for sure

@jourwalis-8875 17 күн бұрын

Ohh, these tube cameras!

@S.H.221b Жыл бұрын

I love his trousers

@GreatGizmo74 Жыл бұрын

This is amazing, just all the technology there big bulcky cameras and equipment and the Aswome Reel To Reel. And now we can all do it from a device that anyone can see across the world. But I would love a camera car from the 70s. Just too cool.

@jmalmsten Жыл бұрын

Wow. That thing looks so top heavy. If it topples over... I would not dare to think what it would be like to be the cameraman. :/

@nakamichiguy 6 ай бұрын

But at least he put the seat belt on. Safety first! 😆

@michaelturner4457 5 ай бұрын

Yeh, it just looks top heavy. But with the weight of the 2in tape quad VTR and camera control unit, makes the chances of toppling over very unlikely.

@Jeffybonbon Жыл бұрын

how far have we come remarkable

@AstonishingGlasgow Жыл бұрын

And the whole lot can now be done on a phone in your pocket. Astonishingly, as he talked about the box buiried under the tree to be opened in the year 2000 they were almost closer to the year 2000 then than we are now.🙄

@robnewman6101 Жыл бұрын

Wow.

@martinday2815 Жыл бұрын

Think his flares caused as much wind resistance as the camera! Wonderful times though.

@martynlewis9020 Жыл бұрын

The capability of that elaborate set up can now be recreated today with a mobile phone and a skateboard 😂

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

Mounting a gigantic 70’s studio style camera on a car. Insanity level genius.

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

@@dogbreaththe3rd851 true. I think it’s an EM1 2001 isn’t it? Either that or a Link, but think the body is the wrong shape for that.

@michaelturner4457 5 ай бұрын

@@richardmattocks Yeh, it's an EMI 2001 camera. The required camera control unit would be in the rear of the car.

@richardmattocks 5 ай бұрын

@@michaelturner4457 😁👍

@jimdevilbiss9125 Жыл бұрын

They used to use Studebaker lark station wagons for the sliding rear roof here in the United States for the same thing

@jeshkam Ай бұрын

Couple of months prior to the heatwave.

@kumachan9311 Жыл бұрын

Please post Joey Deacon on Blue Peter [1981]

@christopherjohns968 Жыл бұрын

When presenter's had substance, and when the BBC was a worthwhile broadcaster.

@AtheistOrphan Жыл бұрын

And when people knew the correct use of apostrophes.

@SBAYLISS Жыл бұрын

@@AtheistOrphan what’s it like to be so small minded.

@richardmattocks Жыл бұрын

… and all done with no autocue or talkback, just a presenter winging it live.

@AtheistOrphan Жыл бұрын

@@SBAYLISS - I don’t know, but it’s great to have an education and be able to communicate properly in English. (Have reported your insult to KZfaq).

@davewright8206 Жыл бұрын

@@AtheistOrphan your comment was pedantic ,to say the least If you are offended by the small minded comment ,you shouldnt put irrelevant petty comments up ,also you must be quite the crybaby

@Maximustard Жыл бұрын

All those lovely cars

@Pedro8k Жыл бұрын

I wonder what happened to that camera probably scapped a long time ago with all the old tv tech should be in a museum had to be brave back then as a cameraman the BBC at it best

@yellowbelly06 Жыл бұрын

There were several hundred EMI 2001s built between 1967 and 1977/78, being the choice of camera at not just the BBC but several ITV stations including Thames, LWT, ATV, Anglia and Yorkshire. Sadly many were scrapped or sold abroad at the end of their operational lives, the BBC keeping the last ones operational until 1990 at Elstree, showing their advanced technology by lasting way beyond their projected lifespan. Some survive though at the National Television Museum in Bradford, several are owned by Golden Age TV who hire out old broadcast equipment as props in historical dramas and films (eg The Damned United) and many still survive in private collections.

@lezbriddon Жыл бұрын

either this is a re-upload from around a week ago, or some weird dejavu

@keiththompson5173 Жыл бұрын

What happened to the car?

@MichaelBosley Жыл бұрын

Now a DJI drone weighing less than 250 grams can do this and more.

@markssmith77 Жыл бұрын

a 3 kW generator? How much gear was in the back of the car? Anyone got any website links about it?

@whatdoyouwantfromlif Жыл бұрын

I think 3kW would be barely enough what with the camera, microwave uplink, at least a couple of crt monitors, sync pulse generator with special fast Natlock (no frame store synchronisers at base in those days), maybe some sound gear, comms. equipment, etc. etc. all based on analogue technology with discrete transistors.

@markssmith77 Жыл бұрын

@@whatdoyouwantfromlif Thanks Malcolm, seems that they packed more into the Citroen than most local scanners!

@darkalligator Жыл бұрын

Where is that car now?

@northyorkshirechris5735 4 ай бұрын

According to the DVLA database the date of first registration was July 1974 and the last logbook entry was 26 June 1991. So it’s either in a museum, privately owned or destroyed.

@Liofa73 Жыл бұрын

And now your phone can broadcast a video anywhere around the world via the internet...

@davedogge2280 Жыл бұрын

2;33 John Noakes getting on to of that jeep, sitting down on that chair behind that massive camera ... He just wanted to play act Luke Skywalker in the Millennial Falcon gun turret.

@succulent951 Жыл бұрын

*Citroen ds safari 😉 deffo not a jeep!

@josephocallaghan3000 Жыл бұрын

he dented the roof, foot on the wrong place

@piratetype Жыл бұрын

What was in the box they burried?

@davewalker7126 Жыл бұрын

A soggy mess

@pauljackson5343 Жыл бұрын

A Jim’ll fix it medal and a Gary Glitter record...

@GreatGizmo74 11 ай бұрын

😂@@pauljackson5343

@northyorkshirechris5735 4 ай бұрын

The video is on KZfaq showing them burying it and then digging it up in 2000 with the old presenters present. Alas, it was a soggy mess as someone else says.

@TinLeadHammer Жыл бұрын

Portable 2-inch quad, what is it, the VR-3000? The BBC meant business, no crappy Umatic stuff, 1-inch VTRs haven't reached their maturity yet, and Betacam was six years away. With all this bulky tech the picture is still pretty bad, horrible purple flares. Now you can get better picture from a smartphone. Incredible progress in the last half a century!

@cdl0 Жыл бұрын

Purple flares were very fashionable in 1976. 🙂

@markeastwood74 Жыл бұрын

Good to see the BBC solved the EV range problem before it was even a thing. If I stick a diesel generator in a trailer, can I still drive into low emission zones..? 🤔

@michaelturner4457 5 ай бұрын

Running an EV with a generator, I've actually something like in China. With electric trikes, that have small gas generator stuck the back of them.

@damianharris2167 Жыл бұрын

Great footage of BBC TVC in its heyday before the Corporation sold it for oodles of cash to developers. A sad loss.

@stepheng8779 Жыл бұрын

Now we have 4K & digital sound from something that fits in the palm of your hand. A great shame that the talent, presenters & programmes have taken an equivalent massive step downhill.

@jeffk19 Жыл бұрын

Don’t roll it!

@FoxInClogs Жыл бұрын

Strange, these days, to hear a diesel generator being referred to as an 'electrical generator'. Yes, it generates electricity, but it isn't electrical. #PedantCalling

@TinLeadHammer Жыл бұрын

It is an electrical generator driven by a diesel engine.

@whatdoyouwantfromlif Жыл бұрын

Not sure that it generates diesel either... Actually I think it had the same petrol engine as a Morris Minor, but it certainly didn't generate petrol.🤔

@johnathandaviddunster38 Жыл бұрын

Are you collecting milk bottle tops ?....

@willdatsun Жыл бұрын

And now the people have a tv studio in their pocket, and the majority can't even hold it in landscape orientation.

@davewright8206 Жыл бұрын

halcyon days

@bartonseagrave9605 Жыл бұрын

When the internet started properly and they saved a fortune on large equipment they never bothered to drop the price of a license.

@Muninman Жыл бұрын

Amazing to think an iPhone would almost certainly produce a higher resolution film than this contraption...

@bonnetdedouche437 Жыл бұрын

2 months left on that tax disc! Cutting it a bit fine no?! Those Citroën DS cars are unbelievable and in demand as a classic today. There was another later DS with the suspension thingy that's worth about £64trillion at auction today. Citroën always seem to make decent, innovative cars. Even today. I'd still have an Allegro sleeper with a Cosworth engine tucked under the bonnet though!

@justinvaughan2091 Жыл бұрын

Hydrolastic suspension

@salipander6570 Жыл бұрын

Hydropneumatic as a matter of fact. Hydrolastic was used by British cars like Austin.

@drankfrebin Жыл бұрын

What a faff haha

@user-fed-yum Жыл бұрын

Can you imagine what today's safety police would have to say about sitting on a car, on a plastic chair, holding onto a few hundred kilograms of camera. With no seat belt 😂😂

@a1white Жыл бұрын

He does have a lap belt, at least.

@nkt1 Жыл бұрын

If the vehicle was involved in a collision, or overturned, the cameraman would very likely be seriously injured or killed. So, no, the HSE wouldn’t allow this today, and rightly so.