Lost Marty Feldman Sketch Resurfaces After Six Decades

When you hear the name Marty Feldman, the first thing that jumps to mind is often his unforgettable hunch‑backed Igor in Mel Brooks’s 1974 classic Young Frankenstein. Few realize that, decades earlier, Feldman was also the star of a bizarrely funny BBC sketch that vanished from the record books until just last week.

Back in 1968, the BBC aired the first series of a self‑titled show, ‘Marty’. Episode four featured a short bit called “Egyptian Carvings”, in which Feldman and fellow writer‑actor John Junkin appeared as stone reliefs stuck in an ancient tomb. The premise was delightfully absurd: two carved figures complain about having to stare at each other for millennia, bicker about their outfits, and wonder what odd creature lurks behind them.

“It’s a bit effeminate, isn’t it, for a priest?” Feldman quips to Junkin’s carving, to which Junkin deadpans, “Well, I can’t help it – I was carved like that.” The dialogue then drifts into the classic punchline about a half‑duck, half‑human Anubis‑like figure that has haunted the pair for 4,000 years.

For years, only the audio survived – bootleg recordings that fans traded on tape decks. The visual component, the actual filmed footage, was presumed lost when the BBC, like many broadcasters of the era, routinely wiped and reused tapes to save costs.

Enter the volunteers of “Film is Fabulous!”, a UK‑based archive‑rescue group. While cataloguing an old 16 mm reel that a former BBC editor had cobbled together in the 1970s, they stumbled on a tin‑sized canister labeled “Egyptian Carvings”. Inside, the long‑missing sketch lay in pristine condition, its black‑and‑white frames still intact.

“Among the items on one of the reels is a missing sketch listed on the accompanying typed notes as ‘Egyptian Carvings,’” the group posted on Facebook. “The sketch is from series 1, episode 4 of the BBC television show ‘Marty,’ starring Marty Feldman, with John Junkin also appearing.”

Fans of Feldman’s off‑beat humor are now able to watch the clip for the first time in almost six decades. Film is Fabulous! will initially share the footage with its Patreon supporters, with a public release slated for October.

The discovery is a reminder that, despite the BBC’s historic tape‑wiping policy, bits of television lore still linger in attics, basements and forgotten corners of private collections. Each recovered fragment helps piece together a richer picture of comedy’s golden age.

Tragically, Marty Feldman passed away in 1982 at just 48, his heart giving out unexpectedly. Yet, moments like this newly recovered sketch let his playful spirit continue to amuse new generations.