The Count of Monte Cristo

I couldn't agree more with Fudge-4's comments. I watched this BBC Sunday teatime serialisation of The Count of Monte Cristo back in my childhood and was completely enthralled. The casting was perfect and when I later read the book and listened to a BBC radio version I always pictured the actors from the TV version.

I can still recall the striking theme music which opened each eagerly awaited episode. Alan Badel as the count was a commanding presence, even when viewed on the small black and white TV screens of that era, and I also recall the presence of the late Sandor Eles (not mentioned in the cast list above), playing the wonderfully handsome son of the count's principal enemy, Mondego.

Let's hope that this superb dramatisation was not wiped when the BBC culled its videotape archive.

I have just started re-reading 'The Count of Monte Cristo for the first time for more than 30 years, and find, as I read, sharp reminders of the wonderful BBC Sunday Serial from 1964. In fact, Alan Badel's charismatic performance as the Count still remains my foremost image of the character. As I recall, even as a child, performance values were excellent, with fine period detail, dialogue which didn't sound like a novelette, a real ability to tell the story and wonderful performances from some great actors. I found the IMDb site by searching the Internet for a possible copy of the serial, and reiterate with other contributors, that if anyone can trace such a copy, it should be made available to a new audience. In passing, the BBC serialisation of 'The Three Musketeers', from roughly the same time, also had a similar blend of fine acting, period detail and story telling, with Jeremy Brett the ultimate D'Artagnan. Another classic that would be well worth re-issuing.

This is a very affectionate adaptation of the novel, extremely faithful to the spirit and the detail of the book. It was a high-spot in TV adaptation of the Classics, beautiful to look at, and splendidly acted. Alan Badel's performance as Edmond Dantes was really memorable.

It's without frills. It's black and white. It's on TV. Set mostly on a stage. You know the story by heart. You know what each character must say and do. And yet... I could not tear myself away. The extra time allows for so much more dialog, so much more verbal sparring. So much more innuendo. The acting is superb. I'm sure there are faults. But the series was so skillfully written and acted, that I could not focus on the faults, nor remember any, if there were.

I've trawled the internet looking for this, with no success. Elsewhere, it has been said that the BBC has all of the episodes in its archives. The problem of making these available to the public is, presumably, one of finance. In 2003, Greg Dykes, BBC Director General, said at the Edinburgh International TV Festival :

"For many years we have had an obligation to make our archive available to the public, it was even in the terms of the last charter. But what have we done about it?

Well,you all know the problem.

Up until now, this huge resource has remained locked up, inaccessible to the public because there hasn't been an effective mechanism for distribution.

But the digital revolution and broadband are changing all that. For the first time, there is an easy and affordable way of making this treasure trove of BBC content available to all.We intend to allow parts of our programmes, where we own the rights, to be available to anyone in the UK to download so long as they don't use them for commercial purposes.

Under a simple licensing system, we will allow users to adapt BBC content for their own use.

We are calling this the BBC Creative Archive.

When complete, the BBC will have taken a massive step forward in opening our content to all - be they young or old, rich or poor."

How far this has advanced, I don't know. Whether the Count of Monte Cristo would be high up the list of programmes to be digitised, who knows? We, here, all obviously agree on its merits!

November 2008 and nothing has changed; I wonder whether we will ever see this fantastic series ever again. I can still hear Alan Badel's voice in my head: this was what made it special for me. I had a small portable tape recorder at the time, 15 minutes per side, and I listened to the tapes over and over again. I still keep hoping.

March 2009 If Midnight_Voice is prepared to start a FaceBook campaign, I'm all for it!