BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services puts the Jewel in the Crown for ITV Studios Global Entertainment

BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services puts The Jewel in the Crown for ITV Studios Global Entertainment 25 Apr 2014

Thirty years after it was first broadcast on British television, BBC Studios and Post Production's award-winning Digital Media Services team has digitally restored and remastered over 30 hours of film to bring The Jewel in the Crown back to its former glory for ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Produced by Granada Television, and based on the Raj Quartet novels by Paul Scott, the stunning 13-part award-winning drama series stars Art Malik, Charles Dance and Peggy Ashcroft, and charts the final days of the British Raj in India during World War II.

With the original series shot on 16mm film, much of it on location in rural India, the challenging brief for the BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services team was to seamlessly integrate the 1980s source footage with an extremely wide variety of variable quality archive and historical footage so that the 13 restored episodes had a consistent look and feel throughout.

As Kevin Shaw, Lead Technologist at BBC Studios and Post Production Digital Media Services, explained: No two remastering projects are ever the same and they all pose their own particular challenges. But ultimately our job is to extract the finest possible images from whatever material we're working with. This is always tricky when combining many different sources of footage of vastly differing quality. It's a painstaking process to manually check and restore each image frame-by-frame but it means that we can ensure that every single detail is optimised for the viewer.

Rod Carter, Head of Operations at ITV Studios Global Entertainment, said: ITV Studios Global Entertainment is committed to preserving these historical documents to ensure the highest possible quality is available for future generations to enjoy. With The Jewel in the Crown celebrating its 30th anniversary, what better way to enjoy this enduring classic?

Notes for editors - The workflow

To achieve the best possible results, BBC Studios and Post Production's Digital Media Services team worked from the original A/B roll negatives held in ITV Studios Global Entertainment's archive. Their first task was to scan and conform all the source material to produce one complete timeline. After a visual check the team ran the negatives through an ultrasonic film cleaner before passing it through their SCANITY film scanner for output to 2K. Because of splice damage on the cut negatives, the team over-scanned the picture area so they could stabilise any jumps in the footage without picture loss.

Next they conformed and graded the 2K scans on Nucoda FilmMaster, before completing an automated dust pass to remove the worst dust, scratches, stains and chemical damage. To achieve a consistent look throughout, the team manually checked every frame of the 14 episodes and corrected any details that the automated process had either missed or over-fixed. A final grade in FilmMaster completed the restoration before output to HDSR masters for ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

About BBC Studios and Post Production

BBC Studios and Post Production is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC, providing world-class studios, post production and digital media services. It works with media companies and broadcasters, making content for a variety of broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and Sky, from Channel 4's Deal or No Deal and Big Fat Quiz to EastEnders and Strictly Come Dancing.

Its award-winning Digital Media Services team preserves, remasters and manages content through its digital archiving, restoration and distribution services, working with content owners like Imperial War Museums to conserve and maximise the value of their material. Credits include Dr Who, David Attenborough's Life on Earth and Trials of Life, The Sweeney, The Queen's Coronation and The Trumptonshire Trilogy.

While Television Centre is being redeveloped, BBC Studios and Post Production has relocated its London studio business to Elstree, where it offers fully equipped HD TV studios and post production services. Its award-winning Digital Media Services team operates from a permanent and purpose-built facility at Odyssey Business Park, South Ruislip.

For more information please visit www.bbcstudiosandpostproduction.com.

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