Lost Ziggy Stardust Footage Found After Nearly 50 Years
A new David Bowie documentary will be premiering on the BBC next month, and it now might include some historic footage that was presumed lost.
Per The Telegraph, the footage is from a 1972 performance from the ITV show Lift Off with Ayshea. This was Bowie’s very first television performance as Ziggy Stardust. The show’s archival tapes were accidentally wiped years ago, but a fan recently came forward with the footage recorded on computer tape.
The tape is currently being treated and restored in an attempt to make it playable again for inclusion on David Bowie: Finding Fame. This documentary is the last of a three-part BBC documentary series chronicling Bowie’s career.
Director of the docuseries Francis Whately says of the footage, “For fans, it is something of a Holy Grail.”
Whately’s previous two documentaries have aired over the course of six years. The first was 2013’s David Bowie: Five Years, which highlighted Bowie’s most influential career moments. The second was 2017’s David Bowie: The Last Five Years, which chronicled the final years of his life.
David Bowie: Finding Fame will air on BBC Two in February. An exact date has yet to be announced.
Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.
