More than 600 'treasured' BBC interviews saved

Dave Latham interviewed Terry Wogan at Swindon's Crest Hotel in 1981

An archivist has saved hundreds of cassette tapes containing "treasured" BBC recordings including interviews with Doctor Who stars, politicians and comedians.

Former broadcaster Julian Watson devoted the past six months digitising the vast collection, which has not been heard in 40 years.

More than 400 decaying tapes, owned by his former BBC colleague Dave Latham, have now been transferred to a hard drive through Mr Watson's painstaking work.

"My memories have been restored along with the audio," Mr Latham said.

"I'm delighted Julian has done this - I haven't touched them in years."

Mr Watson, from Swindon, said it felt like a "scene out of Narnia" when he first saw the collection in wardrobes in Mr Latham's home.

"Dave opened up several wardrobes full of cassettes tapes, digital tapes, reel-to-reel tapes and VHS," he said.

"My jaw dropped immediately."

Mr Latham interviewed Ken Dodd at Wyvern Theatre in 1986

In the 1970s, Mr Latham started working with Hospital Radio Swindon, recording interviews with patients on the casualty wards at the old Princess Margaret Hospital.

He then worked on various radio programmes for the BBC until 1996, interviewing top comedians including Ken Dodd and presenters like Terry Wogan.

"You put a microphone in front of Ken and you get 20 minutes of gags," said Mr Latham.

Dave Latham (R) pictured with former Doctor Who star Colin Baker (C) at the Wyvern Theatre in 1986

He admitted some of the recordings "were only funny for the time".

"I was a little cruel to John Major and Tony Blair," said Mr Latham.

Working from morning until night on the tapes was "worth it", said Mr Watson, adding he "loved hearing all of the voices".

He estimates more than 1,000 hours of work went into archiving 400 audio cassettes and more than 600 interviews.

Julian Watson said it took more than 1,000 hours to repair restore the tapes

The former broadcaster said the tapes were fascinating but they "needed a lot of special treatment".

Interviews with Doctor Who's Colin Baker - as well as Dodd and Wogan - were among Mr Watson's favourites.

"It was wonderful to hear Wogan talking away in Wiltshire," he said.

The archivist said he hoped to set up his own digitisation service so others could preserve special moments.