The final Countdown fot the night on rage is on right now from 1986. Anyone else noticing almost an old tape set of marks and scrathes on the screen, or is it just mine?!

Yeah i noticed that too. I enjoyed this ep tho as i hadn't seen it before. Would you believe i still have the Mentals "flexi-disc" that was given away with Countdown magazine for the video making competition.

LOL I still have the blank entry form cos I just wasnt imaginative enough to come up with any ideas !

I noticed the "scratch marks" as well and thought it didn't look like a transmission problem. I seem to remember seeing a Countdown a few years ago with a similar problem... do the ABC restore the tapes in any way I wonder, or are they just broadcast in their archival state? Some of the older episodes look to be in better condition at times than some of the later ones?! Or is it my immagination?

One of my friends worked at the ABC in melbourne and she told me that they keep Countdown and Rock Arena's in these huge freezer's to keep them preserved.

I agree, the 1986 Episode looked so old and in bad condition compared to the 1979 Episode the other week. Go figure???!!!

This is why I think it is SO important that ABC2 play Countdown and Rock Arena on a regular basis, as if the tapes damage anymore then history will be wiped and the public will not get to enjoy these gems again!

Yep, I noticed it too. For a second there, I thought maybe a transmission problem or the DVD as I timer-recorded it and watched it the next day, but then thought, nah, it's the tape. Rage do clean the tapes and give them a 'makeover' before airing them. One noticeable episode that had a big glitch in the tape was the Joan Jett episode from 12/12/82.

Didn't rage also say that there was a problem with the Human League episode from May '82? It looked OK to me when they aired it.

There was Z E R O problem with the 1982 Human League Countdown Episode.

I really do think that r a g e make up stories sometimes, just so they can get away with being lazy programmer's with Countdown ***

Actually - I have to say - all my eps that I recorded on Beta back in the 80s have held up way better than that. No graininess or chewed bits etc. basically as perfect as they were on the day I recorded them.

I have recorded from my vhs to my hard drive on my dvd recorder...you can edit out what you dont want then copy to disk..The last year or so I have recorded straight to the hard drive then done the editing and to disk...plus the picture and audio turn out better... great invention those lol

Yeah I have been doing that now for 3 years. About halfway through my 20 years of VHS tapes and then I can get started on my 300 Beta tapes.