Many of us have been searching for this for a long time. An enterprising chap called Rob MacGregor has found a copy of the part of the South Bank Show where Melvyn Bragg interviews Paddy for 15 entertaining minutes. It has been uploaded to You Tube. As we know these things can be swiftly removed due to copyright issues so if you wish to view Paddy in one of his best interviews I would advise taking time to view quickly.
Here is the direct link to You Tube.
As an alternative you might try to download the video. There are a number of programs available if you search on Google.
Patrick Leigh Fermor 
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You can contact ITV and request a copy- as I did a few years ago but they said it was I think about 100 pounds to get it, which is about 120 euro
Many thanks Tom for sharing this. Like many others, I would love to see the full program. I have downloaded it. The church that Paddy was so keen on was in very poor repair in those days but in recent years both the church and the wonderful paintings have been beautifully restored. It’s well worth a visit although, when I spoke to the restorers on site last year, they said it may be kept locked now.
There’s an Android app called TubeMate that works very well at recording YouTube videos onto your device.
Thanks for this brief but delicious recording. First time I’ve seen any film of the man.
We returned from another delightful month in the Mani, early this morning, which included an excellent guided tour of some of the ancient buildings and tower houses in Kardamyli, last Friday evening, so still very fresh in our minds.
Thank you for putting that up. Was PLF arduous to work with with rather than difficult? What was old Jock Murray’s answer? Will we ever know? I DO so hope we may see the full version.
Excellent but too short. Whilst some of the playback is a bit jumpy, would be grand to see the whole programme. Can this be done either via YouTube or a website? But many thanks for the brief taste found in this 15 minute clip.
It was so nice to see Paddy, but I could not understand a word of it. Is there a
transcript?
Oh my goodness, thank you for this!!I am a great fan of your blog… and of Paddy, of course!Cheers!Florence DempseyNew YorkSent from my Galaxy Tab® A
I told you a long time ago that I had got my video recording of the whole TV show (made at the time), and later got this put onto a DVD. It is of quite good quality. I talked to the late Charles Arnold of the PLF Society about getting permission from Melvyn Bragg, who personally owns the copyright, so it could be shown publicly – but despite saying that he knew M Bragg he never got round to doing it. I have shown it to friends but have hesitated to do more publicly. I would welcome any comments you have on this!
David Barker
Hi David – sorry I don’t recall that. Matters of copyright are complex and sensitive. I am just making people aware that the video is on You Tube at the moment. Thanks. Tom
Thanks for this brief but delicious recording. First time I’ve seen any film of the man.
We returned from another delightful month in the Mani, early this morning, which included an excellent guided tour of some of the ancient buildings and tower houses in Kardamyli, last Friday evening, so still very fresh in our minds.
Check out the video section of the blog. Some more there although some links may be broken due to people taking stuff down.
Can you upload it to You Tube? The part I posted is only part I realise
Mr Barker: if you were to upload it to youtube, the worst that might happen is that youtube might get a ‘takedown notice’ from the copyright owner, and they’d comply. I should note that I am not a lawyer, but I am quite sure this is what usually happens. I don’t think there would be any legal risk to you at all.
Just watched to the end and realized that a friend of mine was cinematographer on this show! Doubt he has a copy in his archives as he’s had a long career and this would have been one shoot among dozens that year alone. But I’ll ask him about it.
That would be great, Alan. This is a real nugget for the PLF fans.
My pal Geoff, who shot most of the show (probably some of the UK interviews were done by someone else) had fond memories of the shoot but not in any detail as it was so long ago. He doesn’t have a copy or any footage as it was ‘work for hire,’ among many shoots he did during that time. He is a busy cinematographer with music videos for Robert Palmer (‘Addicted to Love’) and Lisa Stansfield among his credits in that era.
He remembers the shoot as being 1984 or 85. (Not sure this is correct but not important.) He liked Paddy very much and of course loved the house. (Any photographer would!) He says they shot 13 rolls of 16mm film for the principal interview of Paddy on his veranda, which is twice what he was accustomed to doing with Bragg projects. That would have been about 2 hrs 20 mins! You’ll notice that the lighting changes quite a bit in the interview, from a nice dappled look to one with the sun shaded off and a light directly onto Paddy. This is because Geoff had minimal gear for controlling the sun, and the interview went well past the time he’d told Bragg would be best.
Bragg, Geoff, and the minimal crew stayed at Lela’s during the shoot, Geoff staying on after Bragg returned home in order to shoot B-roll (all the footage that plays while the interview audio goes on). Geoff liked it so much he returned a couple of times to Lela’s with his lady friend.
Technically Geoff was glad he shot on Agfa negative as its soft contrast helped with the harsh sunlight. The transfer to video was done from a print, meaning that the negative must have been ‘cut,’ which makes it doubtful all the original footage has survived. However there may be a complete print of this out there somewhere, and if so, a fresh film-video transfer would yield much better quality than what originally aired. Also Geoff says the prominent insect noise on the soundtrack was not on the original soundtracks, but added in during edit, much to the disgust of the location sound mixer.