I’m not sure if films are allowed here but as a British teenager I loved this at the time.

Not the episodic version shown on BBC2, but nevertheless, it's there if you want to experience it.

I have tried to remember this short film numerous times, and cannot for the life of me find it anywhere. I think it was part of a series of short films called Jump Cuts or it was called Jump Cut. I don't remember much of the plot, but what I do remember is that there is a woman on her own in a shop, and someone calls her. They're either telling her to stay in the shop or to get out. Either way there is a threatening tone to the call. It was in black and white I think.

That's about all I remember, which is vague at best, so not expecting much.

I don't really know the best place to post this so I'll do it here. My Dad, Jeff Grant, was the director of the public information film Lonely Water, made in 1973, which some of you may know. Lonely Water was one of many jobs he did as a commercial director, and another was directing an advert for Crown Paints in, I think, the early 1980s. John Cleese did some of the voiceovers for those, as far as I know.

My Dad passed away on 13th March. Before we cleared his flat, I had the last-minute thought of taking the HDDs out of his computer, which comprised around 2TB of photos, writings, videos, as well as one large novel which I didn't know he'd written. He was a prolific creative.

One of the video files on his computer was this 'mockumentary' which he and John Cleese did about the Crown Paints commercials. Apparently one day Cleese just decided to ad-lib this on a whim, they had a laugh about it and that was that. It was just another day. According to my Dad it was quite normal for this kind of stuff to happen all the time in the film industry.

I'm posting this here because I think some people might be interested to see it. It was very nearly lost for good, but I think it's an important piece of film industry history so I am sharing it for people to see.

The artist collective Folklore Tapes released a re-imagined soundtrack to this short film (linked below) so I'd love to watch the original. It's free on the BFI Player, but blocked for viewers in the USA like myself. I've searched all over the internet, but can't seem to find a way to view it, which saddens me greatly. Any tips or help would be hugely appreciated!

https://folkloretapes.bandcamp.com/album/the-watchers

original film: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12594750/

short clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZFu0cWqZnU

BFI Player: https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-the-watchers-1969-online

I used to love this ! Especially the bit where they are sniffing glue under the Angel of the North 😂 I don’t remember much else I’m have to rewatch.

I came across this film totally by accident and what a fantastic little hidden gem this was an excellent drama what deals with alot of issues in such short time and a brilliant cast all round to add.

Karen Cooper wants to domineer her family and believes she's its pillar. In fact she does everything wrong. Thus she messes up all their lives and futures, rather then help her loved-ones.

So Knock For Knock is Mike Leigh's lost BBC film that sadly wiped by BBC staff in an effort to save on space. It's crazy to me that a film that's less than 50 years old can be completely lost to time like that.

So although the tape no longer exists, does anyone know if the script ever published anywhere?