The Official Network Thread

[DaniRyder23]

Originally Posted by Martyghost

As far as I know, the only HD master of an episode of The Saint is on the Retro Action set. All other copies are the same SD masters that everyone uses and I believe were just put straight onto DVD by Network. If Network were to restore something to HD, they wouldn't just bung it out on DVD. Without them around, who else is actually going to make new HD restorations of these TV shows? Even the people that own them don't want to spend the money doing that.

Yeah, that sucks...though knowing what we know now, I don't see how they could have afforded to restore 200+ episodes of The Saint and Danger Man, I'm sure that The Professionals cost a pretty penny as it was - and at least all the Gerry Anderson shows only lasted 1 or 2 seasons (same with Persuaders, Randall and Hopkirk, Department S etc.). I can see why these longer running shows would have been much larger (and more expensive) tasks to undertake...even with their 4/5 episode at a time multi-volume releases

I suppose it depends on the release though. The Prisoner DVDs I have are the older 40th anniversary ones (in the black box) which were released on BD as well as DVD, so I would assume that my old DVDs still have an HD source? Whereas something like Randall and Hopkirk or Department S, which were originally released on DVD before coming to BD later, would have older SD transfers on the DVD versions?

That makes the lack of bonus features on the newer BDs a bit more perplexing tbh, certainly frustrating...Randall and Hopkirk costs about the same to get on DVD as it does to get it on BD right now - so to have to choose between the bonus features or the remastered episodes is kind of a tough call - though I suppose it all depends on the person, and what they prioritise more in home media

Still, in the case of The Saint...better to have something than nothing, I guess I'm just spoiled with getting 4K remasters on BD, I think...I'm sure someone will pick up where Network left off one day, as long as the demand is there (maybe not for physical media, but for streaming or digital perhaps)...but I wouldn't hold my breath for it happening any time soon...

[DaniRyder23]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Lady Vanishes, Sabotage and Young And Innocent. (ITV did The 39 Steps themselves.)

Most of these were in stock at Deff yesterday - all seem to be gone today (there is still a DVD of Man Who Knew Too Much)

Judging by how quickly these are selling out at RRP, I would imagine that the more popular titles will sell in an instant if there is some kind of fire sale in the future...so perhaps it is best to grab the ones you really want now, as I can't imagine they'd last long if and when they do show up at a discount

UFO is currently the third best-selling DVD/BD in the UK Amazon Television and Fantasy charts right now...

[Martyghost]

Originally Posted by DaniRyder23

I suppose it depends on the release though. The Prisoner DVDs I have are the older 40th anniversary ones (in the black box) which were released on BD as well as DVD, so I would assume that my old DVDs still have an HD source? Whereas something like Randall and Hopkirk or Department S, which were originally released on DVD before coming to BD later, would have older SD transfers on the DVD versions?

There were certainly times when they released BD and DVD versions almost simultaneously to cover both bases. But the 40th Prisoner set was what, 16 years ago now? As you say, the gap between the DVDs and HD restorations of Randall etc, being much more recent, they didn't bother updating the DVD pressings.

[dr727]

Originally Posted by Aunt Peg

Is the quality of The Importance of Being Ernest as bad as reviews on Amazon say?

That is what has held me off buying the film.

The image & colors are lovely! There's some occasional specks, but nothing overly distracting.

The disc does have an audio issue: it's extremely quiet & thin. That said, depending on your playback device, you can boost it to acceptable quality either with volume alone or by also tweaking the EQ. (It's unclear why Network didn't boost it when authoring the disc.) Once "boosted", the quality of the audio track is acceptable.

Also worth noting that an English SDH subtitle track is present, which is always helpful when a disc is aurally-challenged.

[trobrianders]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

The Lodger, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Lady Vanishes, Sabotage and Young And Innocent. (ITV did The 39 Steps themselves.)

Thanks. That's really handy. So Young And Innocent is the only title not covered by Criterion. That simplifies things. I suppose I should also check the usual sites to see if Network transfers of any of the other 4 improve on the Criterion transfers I have.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by DaniRyder23

Most of these were in stock at Deff yesterday - all seem to be gone today (there is still a DVD of Man Who Knew Too Much)

Judging by how quickly these are selling out at RRP, I would imagine that the more popular titles will sell in an instant if there is some kind of fire sale in the future...so perhaps it is best to grab the ones you really want now, as I can't imagine they'd last long if and when they do show up at a discount

UFO is currently the third best-selling DVD/BD in the UK Amazon Television and Fantasy charts right now...

Funnily enough, Sabotage was the only Network disc I actually needed, so I ordered it a couple of hours after the news broke. Amazon had 11 in stock, and by midnight they were down to 3. It's now only available from secondary sellers. Nothing is impossible to get yet, but stuff is definitely getting less convenient to pick up.

The kids DVD label Abbey Home Entertainment (that had been around since the 80s as Tempo Video) went under in 2020 after its owner died of Covid, and IIRC all their stock just disappeared within a few weeks. My daughter had just turned 4 at the time so I was watching quite closely for stuff to be restocked after a presumed warehouse clearance... but it never did. There are titles that were only out for a few months and can't have outsold their pressings. So I wouldn't assume Network's warehouse stock is necessarily going to find its way back into retail - a lot of that is dead TV DVD stock they've been unable to sell out for over 10 years, even after dozens of Bonkers-type sales, and I bet the percentage of it that's valuable Blurays and box sets is quite small. Worst case scenario - it might be that the liquidators deem it impractical to monetise and it gets sent to incineration/landfill.

[trobrianders]

I'm suffering a little not-buyers' remorse. I thought I'd picked off the must-haves from Network but you don't know what you've got til it's gone. I'm suffering a little rremorse for not buying certain things. But I don't want to start scurrying around either. I'm just going to have to swallow hard and say the chance for certain items has probably gone.

[The Hornets]

I would have thought the Gerry Anderson business and shop (both run by his son Jamie) would put in an offer for any unsold stock they have of his father’s titles.

They already sell many of those via their own online shop and were IIRC the only other U.K. outlet for the big Anderson luxury boxsets. Also they seem to have jointly produced (as both sites sold them) some of the recent Anderson titles like the documentary, concert video and those colourised Supermarionation episodes.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by Martyghost

As far as I know, the only HD master of an episode of The Saint is on the Retro Action set.

There’s another in Network’s The Persuaders box set. It looks terrific. Doubt we’ll get any more now though.

[CelestialAgent]

Researching into some Network titles and being reminded of why they’re important.

Of course sometimes with a title like The Lodger or Night of the Living Dead, a Criterion release comes out several years later that’s superior. The Thief of Bagdad has differing extras between the Criterion DVD and German Blu-rays, whereas the Network release was pretty barebones (similar with This Sporting Life). The Four Feathers doesn’t have the Criterion commentary and feels a little redundant if you already have Things to Come as the Ralph Richardson interview is the same. But then you get Black Narcissus being pretty much an equal to the Criterion release for half the price, The Happy Breed including three hours of The South Bank Show, Victim is one of the only Blu-rays of the film worldwide, still stuck on Eclipse DVD in the US - as is also the case with The League of Gentlemen and All Night Long.

Tales Out of School is the only release of the whole series, with different extras to the DVD of Made in Britain. The Ipcress File is definitely easier than tracking down Imprint’s Harry Palmer boxset.

Though many Network releases have limited extras (which is totally fair!), some of the DVDs like Cottage to Let and The Card include additional hard to find teleplays (The Prodigal Daughter and Edwin). Cottage to Let seems to have turned up on Talking Pictures TV, but if you want to watch the HD master, it doesn’t seem to have been made available digitally anywhere.

Other Network releases have quite good extras, like Kidnapped, Hell Drivers, Robbery, A Town Like Alice, Seance on a Wet Afternoon, Deadlier than the Male, Carve Her Name with Pride.

Sweeney! is missing the commentary from the DVD boxset (Kino’s US double feature Blu-ray features. different commentary). Regan retains the commentary and isolated score from the DVD, but drops the Ian Kennedy Martin interview.

Fly into Danger has already tripled in price!

[CyberController]

I was hoping we'd see a Thunderbirds re-master to match the superb Stingray set

[DaniRyder23]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Funnily enough, Sabotage was the only Network disc I actually needed, so I ordered it a couple of hours after the news broke. Amazon had 11 in stock, and by midnight they were down to 3. It's now only available from secondary sellers. Nothing is impossible to get yet, but stuff is definitely getting less convenient to pick up.

The kids DVD label Abbey Home Entertainment (that had been around since the 80s as Tempo Video) went under in 2020 after its owner died of Covid, and IIRC all their stock just disappeared within a few weeks. My daughter had just turned 4 at the time so I was watching quite closely for stuff to be restocked after a presumed warehouse clearance... but it never did. There are titles that were only out for a few months and can't have outsold their pressings. So I wouldn't assume Network's warehouse stock is necessarily going to find its way back into retail - a lot of that is dead TV DVD stock they've been unable to sell out for over 10 years, even after dozens of Bonkers-type sales, and I bet the percentage of it that's valuable Blurays and box sets is quite small. Worst case scenario - it might be that the liquidators deem it impractical to monetise and it gets sent to incineration/landfill.

Honestly, I think you're right - and it's a real shame. Now 10-20 years ago I don't think it would have been as big an issue for us consumers, as back in the day (before the internet marketplaces unified the used "market value" on OOP items) you could walk into a little secondhand store, or a charity shop, and peruse all their used items and find plenty of OOP films, albums etc at reasonable prices. I used to go to a local (but large) used CD/DVD store that had plenty of OOP titles mixed in with the stuff that wasn't OOP, and it all cost about the same...

Back then, something like this might mean that the sealed copies would go up in value, and you would no longer have the option of buying new, but you always had the option to pick up a secondhand copy at least...

Now though, as soon as something becomes unavailable at retail, all the used prices go up. Just because something is no longer available at a reasonable price, people (especially selling online) will inflate the prices of the used copies, just because they can. There might be thousands upon thousands of these DVDs out there after the last 10-15 years, but as soon as there's no longer the option to buy a brand new copy at RRP...the used prices get silly. I mean it is what it is; it's a lot easier to find OOP titles nowadays, with the trade-off of a higher cost...

[dublinbluray108]

Will any of the big broadcasters do regarding the TV rights for some of the Network shows that are out on TV schedules for the BBC, ITV, Sky Arts and Yesterday?

I would presume that they will continue to have them on air on air via linear TV for the foreseeable future?

Have BAFTA expressed any disappointment or disquiet behind the scenes over the recent liquidation of Network. I would imagine a lot of these shows that were offered to enthusiasts on DVD and Blu-ray from Network had won a lot of BAFTA TV Awards back in the day.

[Martyghost]

Originally Posted by RossyG

There’s another in Network’s The Persuaders box set. It looks terrific. Doubt we’ll get any more now though.

Sorry, you're right! The Ex-King of Diamonds, completely forgot about that.

[mar3o]

Just heard the news and I'm devastated. Who's going to take over the Gerry Anderson catalog now? Even if somebody did, it's unlikely they would have the passion Network did for these shows.

[wabrit]

So sad to see this label go - quickly picked up Victim, The Mind Benders and Hell Drivers; all great films that had been on my wishlist for a long time, and for which the future on physical media seems very uncertain now.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by trobrianders

I'm suffering a little not-buyers' remorse. I thought I'd picked off the must-haves from Network but you don't know what you've got til it's gone. I'm suffering a little rremorse for not buying certain things. But I don't want to start scurrying around either. I'm just going to have to swallow hard and say the chance for certain items has probably gone.

Similar.

Must admit, when the news first broke I thought I'd got pretty much everything I wanted already. Ran through their list of titles and identified at least 20 I was interested in. Unfortunately it comes at just about the worst possible time for me so knowing I couldn't pick them all up straight away and being aware that by the time I could most of them would be gone, I just prioritized the ones I wanted most and left it at that.

Luckily, they're all films and the prices were still moderately ok. I feel sorry for anyone now scrambling around after the boxsets.

Paid the price for complacency here. Of all the labels I'd never have pegged Network to be the one that disappeared overnight.

[harry o]

Would love to know the facts behind networks sudden demise I'm sure the story will come out in time will be hoping to see if any one picks up the produced stock of "the baron" if there are any that is ?

[CouncilSpectre]

Also interesting to see if anything happens with any in-flight work that was already going on.

With all the Sweeney teasers you wonder how far through they were in restoring it. Given that they're teasing at all I'd guess at quite some way through. Would anyone else take those new masters on? A shame if not.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by dublinbluray108

Will any of the big broadcasters do regarding the TV rights for some of the Network shows that are out on TV schedules for the BBC, ITV, Sky Arts and Yesterday?

Network don't/didn't own the shows themselves or hold any broadcast rights. The vast majority of it will be controlled by ITV Studios as before. You won't see a change to any broadcast arrangements.