An elderly librarian at the BBC has stunned cultural officials with an alarming and unauthorised attempt to restore a prized cartoon of a cat and dog.
Roobarb and Custard by Grange Calvaley has been aired on the BBC just before the 6pm news for more than 30 years.
The woman took her brush to the cartoon after years of seeing the pesky Custard getting the upper hand over the dim-witted Roobarb.
Cultural officials said the librarian had the best intentions and hoped the cartoon could be properly restored.
The woman, in her 80s, was reportedly upset at the way the cartoon ‘wobbled’ when she watched it and took it on herself to "restore" the image.
BBC Europe correspondent Christian Fraser says the child-like brush strokes of Grange Calvaley have been buried under an accomplished and expert splattering of paint.
The hastily scrawled crayon sketch now resembles a life-like portrait of a cat and dog, he says.
The Royal Academy trained librarian appears to have realised she was completely out of her depth and contacted the officer in charge of BBC archives.
Art historians are expected to meet at the BBC soon to discuss how to proceed.
A spokesman for the BBC said: "I think she had good intentions. Next week she will meet with a five-year-old and explain what kind of materials she used.
"If we can't fix it, we will probably cover the wall with a photo of the cartoon."
The cartoon is not thought to be very valuable, but has a high sentimental value for any adult who was a child growing up in the 1970’s.
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Restoration expert ruins cartoon
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Gerontius
offlineMemberPosted 9 months ago # -
You went with the same approach as me then Gerry - copying the structure and a lot of the words from the BBC article, and then changing a few of them.
I like yours, turns the story on its head nicely. I just went with a cheap shot at George Osborne.
Posted 9 months ago # -
charlies_hat
offlineMemberI think I'll have a go at improving this one day....stars
Posted 9 months ago #
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