Help restore a missing episode of b&w television

The Film is Fabulous! team is composed of film collectors, cinema lovers and vintage television enthusiasts. We work closely with the Cinema and Television History research centre at De Montfort University in Leicester, to preserve vulnerable film treasures held in private collections.

Within the private collection of the late David Moore is an episode of b&w television in urgent need of restoration. The film print is the sole surviving copy of a programme that is not held by the copyright holder, and is missing from the official archives. The missing episode is entitled:

Saber of London: Four Against Three (Broadcast: 11th November 1959)

The programme, Saber of London, was one of several British-made shows produced by American-born brothers, Edward J. and Harry Lee Danziger. It starred Donald Gray, a South African actor who had lost his left arm during World War II. Indeed, Saber Of London was one of the first mainstream British television shows to feature a disabled character in a positive leading role. A total of 91 episodes of the popular detective drama series were made at the Danzigers’ Elstree Studios between 1957 and 1959.

The 30 minute episode is composed of three 35mm negatives (for the visuals), and three matching 35mm optical soundtracks (for the audio). Each of these is suffering from severe vinegar syndrome, and requires urgent professional restoration. The restoration work will be undertaken by R3Store Studios in London. It will entail the following actions:

* Film preparation

* Cleaning (inc. ultrasound liquid bath)

* 4K scan 35mm negatives

* Audio scan 35mm optical soundtracks

* Transcode to 4K Pro Res

* Data transfer to hard-drive

The estimated cost for the above is £2,000 plus VAT.

Please support our project via GoFundMe

While the Film is Fabulous! team appreciate it's a challenging time, for many people, financially, please consider donating via GoFundMe. If you can’t donate money, please interact with our posts on Facebook and Twitter, and share the details of this project as widely as possible.

As a conclusion to the project we intend to screen the restored episode of Saber of London, together with three other recovered episodes of vintage television, at a special film festival. This will be held in Leicester, in 2025 (the full details of the event will be announced shortly).

Please note, if funds are raised beyond the £3,000 GoFundMe target, these will be used in an identical manner, to restore other films. Indeed, there are a number of 35mm prints with severe vinegar syndrome that would benefit from the professional restoration offered by R3Store Studios .

The Film is Fabulous! team are very grateful for any support you can give, to help preserve this missing, and culturally important, episode of television.

No giveaways or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to this campaign, in accordance with the GoFundMe terms and conditions.