That brings back happy memories… I imprinted on the December 1988 ITV broadcast of TESB (the first film my family ever recorded on our new VCR) and only realised many years later that it had been slightly cut so the ads would fit (grrr).
We also received a new VCR that Xmas and similarly, I didn’t discover till the early 90s that ITV had truncated the film. Ironically, it was during the USA Network’s 1994 airing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPO7DZUIlXk
One scene which surprised me when I eventually watched the official VHS tape was the end of a conversation on Hoth between C3PO and Leia, followed by a line from C3PO to R2D2, regarding whether Luke was alright.
Same here. 😃
Bluto said:
I think some witty remarks Han made about C3PO on the Falcon had also been cut in the TV broadcast.
Yes along with his witty remarks to Leia that he hasn’t “got time for anything else.”
I’d imagine that the 1994 and 1995 broadcasts were almost certainly full length because ITV had long discontinued the practice by then.