The Official Network Thread

[harry o]

" featuring the baron" was looking forward to this plus "out" hope they surface somewhere sometime ?

[Modman]

Originally Posted by Quuhod

Dear Network fans out of interest what was the last disc you ordered direct from them?
Mine was The Ghoul on 22/5/23 for the massive sum of £6!
Gawd luv 'em for releasing titles like that for such a great price. Deeply sorry they're gone.

I picked up four volumes of Whicker's World plus Reilly Ace of Spies in what must have been their last sale.

[thebrid]

My last direct order was for the princely sum of £6:



More recently, I got a bigger batch from Rarewaves:




I've just finished watching their release of The Professionals (which is excellent BTW!) and I need a full box of the Sweeney next!

[Quuhod]

Originally Posted by Modman

I picked up four volumes of Whicker's World plus Reilly Ace of Spies in what must have been their last sale.

I wish I'd got Whicker's World, he was such a unique personality.

Originally Posted by thebrid

My last direct order was for the princely sum of £6:

[Show spoiler]

More recently, I got a bigger batch from Rarewaves:

[Show spoiler]


I've just finished watching their release of The Professionals (which is excellent BTW!) and I need a full box of the Sweeney next!

You have some awesome discs there, makes me realise how much I missed.

[Professor Echo]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

I was surprised to see that The Dark Eyes of London still came with the slip and the booklet. I was certain those would have been gone long ago, but perhaps it was old stock?

I'm so glad you were able to get that set as it's one of my favorite Network releases and the packaging is incredibly nice. I don't think they ever sold out on the LE and issued a standard rerelease so I imagine all the copies out there are still the gorgeous sets. It's a shame it didn't sell better, especially given Network's initial low price on it. It was a solid pre-order for me. I guess us Bela fans are fading away?

[harry o]

Glad to have the original individual releases of " the professionals " blu ray with the books they have to be one of networks greatest restoration jobs so superior to those shown on itv.

[Professor Echo]

As of this posting Network's two YouTube Channels are still up and running. There is a whole bunch of original trailers and newly produced trailers and clips of a lot of their releases on there and I've been watching as many as I can to try and gauge which ones look good enough for me to scoop up if they are still available and affordable somewhere.

(I should add that I also still collect DVDs and am interested in those as well as Blus so the YT channel has been proving invaluable to me).

Network Distributing

Network Releasing

[side__on]

Originally Posted by harry o

Glad to have the original individual releases of " the professionals " blu ray with the books they have to be one of networks greatest restoration jobs so superior to those shown on itv.

Its gutting that we can watch all of The Professionals in hd but only Series 1(and pilot) and the 2 films for The Sweeney.

[WaverBoy]

I wonder if there’s any chance another label will pick up The Sweeney and release the complete series on Blu. The Season 1 set is a gazillion bucks when it turns up on eBay. Tempted to pick up the complete series DVD box set. I didn’t discover this amazing show until a few months ago, been streaming it on Britbox, I’m ten episodes in so far.

[harry o]

Originally Posted by side__on

Its gutting that we can watch all of The Professionals in hd but only Series 1(and pilot) and the 2 films for The Sweeney.

I'd like to have know if it was likely the remaining seasons of "the Sweeney" would have been released by network on blu ray ??

[Martyghost]

Originally Posted by harry o

I'd like to have know if it was likely the remaining seasons of "the Sweeney" would have been released by network on blu ray ??

With all the hints they were dropping on social media, including their last ever post, it would seem it was imminent.

[CouncilSpectre]

Presumably any new masters would exist as assets and could be either sold to another party or revert back to the original copyright holder?

[The Hornets]

Originally Posted by WaverBoy

I wonder if there’s any chance another label will pick up The Sweeney and release the complete series on Blu. The Season 1 set is a gazillion bucks when it turns up on eBay. Tempted to pick up the complete series DVD box set. I didn’t discover this amazing show until a few months ago, been streaming it on Britbox, I’m ten episodes in so far.

Not a chance.

Freemantle who own it as part of their Thames library aren't interested in HD restoration of their TV shows. Their TV company licencees like ITV4 just aren't interesting in paying more for a new HD master over the existing SD masters they have been happily broadcasting for years.

If after all these years Network never brought it out (although strong hints it may finally have been on their radar) no other British label is going to pay for an HD restoration with very limited means of reclaiming the cost. Look at how poorly S1 sold all those years ago as people waited for sales rather than buying full price.

[The Hornets]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

Presumably any new masters would exist as assets and could be either sold to another party or revert back to the original copyright holder?

I don't believe the new HD masters revert to the rights owner, as they belong to Network although whoever wanted to exploit them would also need to pay a licenceeing fee from the rights owner.

For all Network's HD restorations of ITC and Gerry Anderson shows would make sense for ITV to buy from the liquidator as they own the underlying rights. Could probably get for pennies. Although whether they would is another thing as they seem to see little value in these in HD for TV unlike their films.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by The Hornets

Not a chance.

Freemantle who own it as part of their Thames library aren't interested in HD restoration of their TV shows. Their TV company licencees like ITV4 just aren't interesting in paying more for a new HD master over the existing SD masters they have been happily broadcasting for years.

If after all these years Network never brought it out (although strong hints it may finally have been on their radar) no other British label is going to pay for an HD restoration with very limited means of reclaiming the cost. Look at how poorly S1 sold all those years ago as people waited for sales rather than buying full price.

Originally Posted by The Hornets

I don't believe the new HD masters revert to the rights owner, as they belong to Network although whoever wanted to exploit them would also need to pay a licenceeing fee from the rights owner.

For all Network's HD restorations of ITC and Gerry Anderson shows would make sense for ITV to buy from the liquidator as they own the underlying rights. Could probably get for pennies. Although whether they would is another thing as they seem to see little value in these in HD for TV unlike their films.

This show really is cursed......

I don't see who brings this out either, even if the restorations were complete. There doesn't seem to be any domestic appetite for home media or streaming from either licensees or licensors. At the very least, like you say, it would be nice if ITV picked up the restorations. At least that would make it easier going forward for anyone who eventually might want to license them.

[Lord-Oakbeard]

Originally Posted by Quuhod

Dear Network fans out of interest what was the last disc you ordered direct from them?
Mine was The Ghoul on 22/5/23 for the massive sum of £6!
Gawd luv 'em for releasing titles like that for such a great price. Deeply sorry they're gone.

I got The Ghoul Blu-ray from Network during the first Covid lockdown in 2020. My last purchase direct from Network was Robbery 6 weeks ago.








Yes it is a big shame and it looks like it will indeed be my last purchase from Network.

[CouncilSpectre]

My last direct order was last September:

[Show spoiler]

All for £50.

[darrellmaclaine]

My last was 3 Hitchcock gaps in their final sale- The Lodger, Man Who Knew Too Much and Young And Innocent.

[Quuhod]

Originally Posted by Lord-Oakbeard

I got The Ghoul Blu-ray from Network during the first Covid lockdown in 2020. My last purchase direct from Network was Robbery 6 weeks ago.

Yes it is a big shame and it looks like it will indeed be my last purchase from Network.

Awesome, I love The Ghoul. Never seen Robbery but familiar with the case it was based on. The review on this site makes it sound excellent.

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

My last direct order was last September:

[Show spoiler]

All for £50.

Great selection. Whoever was in charge of curating the Network collection really knew their stuff.

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

My last was 3 Hitchcock gaps in their final sale- The Lodger, Man Who Knew Too Much and Young And Innocent.

I got The Man Who Knew Too Much recently and those others were on my wishlist.

[harry o]

Maybe someone like umbrella could take up the blu ray cause for "the Sweeney" they had many DVD sets of ITC stuff that put even network in the shade back in the day ( no disrespect to network).