Forthcoming DVDs

Simply Media BBC DVD releases for April 2016. The Ginger Tree, Charters & Caldicott, Next of Kin and Nature Boy

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Simply Media continues to be one of the few companies to mine the BBC archives and they’ll be adding another four releases to their increasing range of BBC DVDs next month.

The Ginger Tree, Charters and Caldicott, Next of Kin and Nature Boy are four very different series which should offer something for most tastes.  I have to confess that I’m most looking forward to Charters and Caldicott, thanks to the wonderful combination of Robin Bailey and Michael Aldridge (although the supporting cast, including Tessa Peake-Jones and Caroline Blakiston, is very decent as well).

All four DVDs are due to be released on the 25th of April 2016 and below are some more details on each of them.

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The Ginger Tree, broadcast in 1989, is a historical drama set in 1903.  It stars Samantha Bond as a young Scottish woman, Mary MacKenzie, who travels to Manchuria to marry a British army officer.  But she grows disenchanted and begins an affair with a married Japanese nobleman, Count Kentaro Kurihama (Daisuke Ryu).  After bearing his child, she finds herself ostracised by Japanese society.  DVD Review.

Title: The Ginger Tree. Certificate: 12
Release Date: 25 April 2016. Cat No: 166312
Running Time: 240 mins approx. RRP: £19.99

 

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Robin Bailey and Michael Aldridge star as Charters and Caldicott.  The characters first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of The Lady Vanishes, although this serial finds them living in the modern (1985) world.  After a young girl is found murdered in Caldicott’s flat, the pair turn detective to solve what turns out to be a complex mystery.  DVD Review.

Title: Charters and Caldicott. Certificate: 12
Release Date: 25 April 2016. Cat No: 166313
Running Time: 300 mins approx. RRP: £24.99

 

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Sitcom stalwarts Penelope Keith and William Gaunt take the lead roles in Next of Kin which ran for three series during 1995 and 1997 (all the episodes are included on this DVD).  Maggie and Andrew Prentice are forced to put their plans for an early retirement on hold when they reluctantly find themselves – following the death of their son – the guardians of their grandchildren.  Gaunt was no stranger to the family sitcom (having starred in No Place Like Home) but the unusual theme of this series makes it worth a look.  Although it managed three series (not unusual for even middling sitcoms back then) it seems to have disappeared without trace since, so it’ll be interesting to see how it stands up today.  DVD Review.

Title: Next of Kin: The Complete Collection Series 1-3). Certificate: 12
Release Date: 25 April 2016. Cat No: 166314
Running Time: 660 mins approx. RRP: £39.99

 

nature

David (Lee Ingleby) only has vague memories of his father (played by Paul McGann) who left home when he was a young child.  Now seventeen, David (endowed with a love of nature thanks to his father’s influence) vows to track him down.  Along the way he finds love, pain and a new life as an environmental campaigner.  Nature Boy, broadcast in 2000, won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama in 2001.  DVD Review.

Title: Nature Boy. Certificate: 15
Release Date: 25 April 2016. Cat No: 166412
Running Time: 240 mins approx. RRP: £24.99

Doomwatch to be released on DVD by Simply Media – April 2016

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My article about Doomwatch and its current lack of availability on DVD is one of the most read posts on this blog.  That does seem to confirm that many people are still very interested in this classic early 1970’s series.

So it’s extremely welcome news that a six disc Doomwatch set will be released by Simply in April 2016.  It will contain all the existing episodes (including the untransmitted episode Sex and Violence as well as a documentary – The Cult of Doomwatch).

In all, twenty four episodes remain in the archives.  They are as follows –

Series One

The Plastic Eaters
Tomorrow, the Rat
Project Sahara
Re-Entry Forbidden
The Devil’s Sweets
The Red Sky
Train And De-Train
The Battery People

Series Two

You Killed Toby Wren
Invasion
The Islanders
No Room for Error
By the Pricking of My Thumbs…
The Iron Doctor
Flight into Yesterday
The Web of Fear
In the Dark
The Human Time Bomb
The Inquest
The Logicians
Public Enemy

Series Three

Waiting for a Knighthood
Hair Trigger
Sex and Violence

As can be seen from the above list, the archive status for series one is pretty good (eight out of the thirteen episodes exist), series two is complete whilst series three is by far the patchiest (only three of the twelve episodes remain, although it’s slightly curious that one of the survivors – Sex and Violence – was never transmitted.  You’d have assumed It would have been one of the first to be wiped).

As I discussed here, when it comes to picture quality, what we have left is something of a mixed bag.  Ten episodes exist on their original format – 625 PAL videotape and so should look pretty good (although the film inserts will no doubt have deteriorated over the past four decades).  The remaining fourteen episodes were returned to the BBC from Canada and it’ll be interesting to see what they look like.

The Canada episodes would have been converted from 625 PAL to 525 NTSC before they were sold, then converted back to 625 PAL when they were returned to the UK.  It was these converted copies that were broadcast on UK Gold in the mid 1990’s (and a couple of episodes were also released on VHS a few years prior to that).

The conversions from PAL to NTSC and back again to PAL would have degraded the picture somewhat, although a process developed several years ago called RSC (Reverse Standards Conversion) has been applied (this should restore something of the original PAL look).  Examples of RSC can be seen on various Doctor Who DVDs, although I have to confess that the results haven’t always pleasing to my eyes (especially the three episodes on The Sea Devils release).

As it’s doubtful that Simply will have a particularly large budget for restoration it’s probable that the RSC episodes will look a little rough around the edges, but if it’s a choice between having them in a less than ideal state or not at all then it’s a no-brainer.

Update 25/3/16 – My DVD review can be found here.

1960’s BBC sitcom Hugh and I (Hugh Lloyd and Terry Scott) to be released by Simply HE in September 2015

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Simply HE have announced that they will release a DVD of Hugh and I on the 7th of September 2015.

Hugh and I was a popular, if not first division, sitcom that ran on the BBC for six series, between 1962 and 1967, and starred Hugh Lloyd (a familiar face from Hancock’s Half Hour) and Terry Scott (later to enjoy sitcom fame, or infamy depending on your point of view, in Terry and June).

According to Lost Shows twenty four episodes exist, although the running time of the DVD suggests that it will contain eighteen.  Either the Lost Shows listing is incorrect or the running time is, as it doesn’t seem likely that Simply would only leave a handful of episodes for a second release.

Time will tell and if more information comes to light I’ll update this post.

Selected episodes from series one of Maigret (Rupert Davies) to be released in Germany in July 2015

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German company Pidax have announced they will be releasing Kommissar Maigret – Vol. 1 which contains nine of the first ten episodes from series one (originally broadcast in 1960/1961). Thirty-six episodes have been cleared via FSK (the German equivalent of the BBFC).

This would suggest that Pidax plan to release four volumes, each containing nine episodes.  Since all fifty-two episodes starring Rupert Davies exist, this would leave sixteen episodes unreleased.  As per one of the comments below, this may be because the episodes are being sourced from the available material contained within the German archives rather than new masters being obtained from the BBC (who hold a complete run).

Initial reports indicated the DVD would have both English and German language tracks, but now it seems that they may have German only.  So for now, it’s probably best to wait unril the DVD is in circulation before buying.

EDIT – Sadly it’s now confirmed that this DVD only has a German language track. That’s disappointing, but maybe a UK company (Simply or Acorn maybe?) might consider an English language release sometime in the future.

EDIT 8/9/15 – Volume two has been announced. Like volume one it only has a German language track – the included episodes are listed below.

1. Maigret und die Gangster (The Experts)
2. Maigret als möblierter Herr (The Cactus)
3. Maigret unter den Anarchisten (The Children’s Party)
4. Maigret und der Schatten am Fenster (Shadow Play)
5. Maigret und der Kopflose (The Simple Case)
6. Maigret trifft einen Schulfreund (Death of a Butcher)
7. Maigret und sein Toter (The Winning Ticket)
8. Maigret und Inspektor Lognons Trumph (Inspector Lognon’s Triumph)
9. Maigret und der geheimnisvolle Kapitän (The Lost Sailor)

The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson – Forthcoming from Network

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Due for release at the end of March is The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson, a grab-bag containing several pilots which never went to a full series, plus Space Police (an early incarnation of Space Precinct).  Also included are some interesting-sounding special features, details in the blurb below.

An alien being chooses two children to assist him in improving the Earth…

A spaceship on a scientific mission is flung into the far reaches of outer space…

A police lieutenant fights organised crime on a distant planet…

…these are The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson!

Creator of the legendary Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson scored incredible successes throughout the 1960s and ’70s with Captain Scarlet, UFO, Space: 1999 and other series which appealed to both children and adults alike. Not all his ideas, however, went to a full series and this set contains the 1970s pilots for both The Investigator and The Day After Tomorrow, as well as the 1986 pilot for Space Police, which was eventually reworked as Space Precinct nearly a decade later. Alongside these rare and much sought after programmes, this collector’s set also includes:

Here Comes Kandy and You’ve Never Seen This – Gerry’s earliest work, from 1955

Image galleries for all three pilots

New transfer of remaining film elements for Space Police, alongside the 1992 “Reloaded” edit and test footage

Dick Spanner, PI – an unscreened episode with accompanying image gallery

Blue Skies Ahead and an accompanying Blue Cars advert, made by Gerry in partnership with Nicholas Parsons

Dixon of Dock Green – Collection Three – to be released by Acorn in 2015

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I’m delighted to hear that Acorn will be releasing a third DVD of Dixon of Dock Green episodes.  More details can be found on their website here.

Collections one and two contained all the existing colour episodes broadcast between 1970 and 1975 (with the exception of Molenzicht which was omitted for unspecified rights reasons).

Collection three will have all eight episodes from the 22nd and final series (broadcast in 1976).  This is the only series of Dixon of Dock Green to exist in its entirety, which sadly indicates just how depleted the Dixon archive is.

The eight episodes are as follows –

1. Domino (13th March 1976)

2. The Job (20th March 1976)

3. Vagrant (27th March 1976)

4. Everybody’s Business (3rd April 1976)

5. Alice (10th April 1976)

6. Jackpot (17th April 1976)

7. Legacy (24th April 1976)

8. Reunion (1st May 1976)

This final series sees George Dixon (Jack Warner) working as a civilian collator at Dock Green police station, following his retirement from the force.  Given that Jack Warner was eighty years old at the time, this was a reasonable move (indeed, his obvious age and immobility had been a problem for a few years prior to this).

Missing from the final series was Andy Crawford (played by Peter Byrne).  As Byrne had been a regular since 1955, his decision not to take part in this series was puzzling – as it was pretty obvious that the series (due to Warner’s age) wouldn’t be continuing for much longer.

I’ve written here about my appreciation of the first collection of episodes, released in 2012, and hopefully these final eight will be of a similar standard.

This just leaves the black and white episodes which could (maybe if sales of this DVD are good) make up collection four some time in the future.

Sherlock Holmes starring Douglas Wilmer (BBC 1964-1965) to be released by the BFI on R2 DVD (March 2015)

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It’s very welcome news that the BFI will be releasing the Douglas Wilmer Sherlock Holmes series on DVD next March.  Their press release reads as follows –

SHERLOCK HOLMES (4-DVD SET)

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: The Classic BBC TV series.

Regarded by many to be the best incarnation of the Baker Street sleuth, Douglas Wilmer gives a career-defining performance in this celebrated BBC series. Intelligent, quick on his heels, and bearing a striking resemblance to the original Sidney Paget illustrations, Wilmer’s portrayal as possibly the closest to Conan Doyle’s original vision that there has ever been. In 2012, his status as legend within the Sherlock pantheon was cemented when he was asked to make a cameo appearance in Sherlock with Benedict Cumberbatch.

The first story in the series, The Speckled Band, was originally produced as part of the BBC drama strand Detectives. Appearing alongside Wilmer, as Holmes loyal companion Dr John Watson, was the great Nigel Stock. Such was the success of the adaptation that Wilmer and Stock were reunited a year later for a full 12-part series. With a supporting cast that included Clochemerle star Peter Madden as Inspector Lestrade, TV veteran Derek Francis as Mycroft Holmes, and guest starts such as Peter Wyngarde (Department S, The Innocents) and Patrick Troughton (Doctor Who), the popularity of the series gave rise to a second series, in which the role of Sherlock was played by Peter Cushing.

Presented for the first time on UK DVD, this long-awaited release also includes an array of fascinating special features, including two reconstructions of partially-surviving episodes, an alternative presentation of the Detectives pilot, an alternative title sequence, an interview with Douglas Wilmer and a number of newly-recorded audio commentaries

Special features
Original 1964 Detectives pilot episode The Speckled Band
All surviving episodes from the 1965 series
Alternative Spanish audio presentation of The Speckled Band
Alternative title sequence for The Illustrious Client
The Abbey Grange episode reconstruction, featuring a newly-filmed sequence of Douglas Wilmer reading the first half of the story, followed by all surviving original footage
The Bruce-Partington Plans episode reconstruction, using all surviving original footage and original shooting scripts
Douglas Wilmer…on Television (2012, Simon Harries, 20 mins): the iconic actor discusses his career in British film and television
Five audio commentaries, including contributions from Douglas Wilmer and celebrated directors Peter Cregeen and Peter Sasdy, all moderated by actor-comedian Toby Hadoke
Fully illustrated booklet with new essays and full episode credits
UK | 1964-65 | black and white | English language, with optional hard-of-hearing subtitles | 650 minutes approx | Original broadcast ratio 1.33:1 | 4 x DVD9 | PAL | Dolby Digital mono audio | Cert: 12 | Region 2 DVD

Although the series has received a R1 release and a French R2 release, as the above indicates this will be the first UK release and the inclusion of the existing material from the two incomplete episodes as well as the Douglas Wilmer interview and commentaries are the icing on what looks like a very appealing cake.

A DVD review can be found here.

Vanity Fair (BBC 1987) forthcoming from Simply HE

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The 1987 BBC Classic tation of Vanity Fair will be released by Simply HE at the end of November 2014.  Promotional blurb –

Eve Matheson and Rebecca Saire lead the cast in this 16-part adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray s classic, filmed entirely at the Pebble Mill Studios. Set in the Napoleonic Wars, Vanity Fair is a rich and resplendent satire of English society in which according to Thackeray, there is great quantity of eating and drinking, making love and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating, fighting, dancing and fiddling. Becky (Eve Matheson), the penniless, orphaned daughter of an artist and a French opera dancer, and Amelia Sedley (Rebecca Saire), the sheltered child of a rich City Merchant are unlikely, but firm friends. From the drawing rooms of Regency London to the fields of Waterloo, Vanity Fair tells their story. Becky, an irrepressible schemer one of the most seductive social climbers of all time who will stop at nothing to get what she wants. While her friend, the meek and mild Amelia, pursues the opposite course. In the end both girls get what they want but not quite in the way they planned.

Whilst it’s pleasing to see Simply continue to release television programmes from the BBC archive, their quality control over the past year or so has been rather poor.  Various titles (Softly Softly: Taskforce, Spyship, Angels series 2, The Aphrodite Inheritence) have been afflicted by poor encoding which inadvertently “filmized” the VT sequences.

Thankfully, it appears that Vanity Fair doesn’t have these problems – so hopefully Simply have turned a corner with their QC procedures.

The Voyage of Charles Darwin. 1978 BBC serial due on DVD shortly from Simply Media

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Simply Media continue to raid the BBC archive with this severn part biopic due for release in September 2014.

It featured Malcolm Stoddard as Darwin and Andrew Burt as Captain Fitzroy with a supporting cast that included George Cole and Iain Cuthbertson.

Shot on location in the UK, the Galapagos Islands and South America, the series won two BAFTAs: Best Factual Series and Best Cinematography.

The Celts (1987 BBC Documentary) due shortly on DVD from Simply Media

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The Celts, a 1987 documentary series presented by Frank Delaney is showing as forthcoming on Amazon.

The series was comprised of six episodes –

“The Man with the Golden Shoes”
“The Birth of Nations”
“A Pagan Trinity”
“The Open-Ended Curve”
“The Final Conflict”
“The Legacy”

The Celts was notable for introducing the public at large to the music of Enya. Formally a member of Clannad, The Celts soundtrack was Enya’s first solo release.