Magical rebirth of Bowie’s Jean Genie

Footage of David Bowie on Top Of The Pops thought to have been lost forever has been screened for the first time in almost 40 years.

The archive film of the singer performing The Jean Genie recently, which reached No 2, came to light after it was feared to have been wiped along with appearances by hundreds of other artists on the show.

Fans were able to see the rock idol’s performance, dating back to January 1973 in a BBC2 TOTP special last night.

The film emerged earlier this month when it was shown at the Missing Believed Wiped event at the British Film Institute in London which celebrates the discovery of long-lost TV shows.

Retired cameraman John Henshall from Oxfordshire worked on the show and kept a copy of Bowie’s appearance. The slot featured the use of a fish-eye camera lens he designed himself.

The performance has not been screened on TV since it originally aired on 4 January, 1973, the day after it was recorded.

Hundreds of shows were simply wiped to allow video tape to be reused because of its high cost. Mr Henshall was unaware the BBC had not kept a copy.

“I just couldn’t believe that I was the only one with it. I just thought you wouldn’t be mad enough to wipe a tape like that,” he said earlier this month. Mark Cooper, executive producer of TOTP2, said: “I can’t imagine what other piece of TOTP from the 1970s would be as extraordinary a find.”