The Official Network Thread

[the blob]

I'd add Revenge. Great Brit thriller/horror.

[whedon]

Do Network send all of an order in one box or individual? Thinking of making use of parcelmotel and making a nice sized order.

[Pikylechu]

Originally Posted by whedon

Do Network send all of an order in one box or individual? Thinking of making use of parcelmotel and making a nice sized order.

They've got a really weird postage system. Things tend to be delivered together. Thing is, it's free delivery until you go over a certain weight. As soon as you go over that weight (which is about 8 - 10 blu-rays depending on whether they are series/box sets etc) then delivery gets pretty extortionate fairly quickly.

You're as well sticking to the free delivery unless it's really necessary to be honest.

[whedon]

Originally Posted by Pikylechu

They've got a really weird postage system. Things tend to be delivered together. Thing is, it's free delivery until you go over a certain weight. As soon as you go over that weight (which is about 8 - 10 blu-rays depending on whether they are series/box sets etc) then delivery gets pretty extortionate fairly quickly.

You're as well sticking to the free delivery unless it's really necessary to be honest.

Saw the £40 postage so figured I'd use parcel motel and realised that the £40 is withing the UK. Have 30 items in the basket so going to have to do some moving of things about.

[Pikylechu]

If you're within the UK postage isn't that bad unless you've got a lot of boxsets - you pay about £5 if your order contains more than 8 standard edition blu-rays.

If you're outside of UK, postage is extortionate. It's £8 usually or £40 for anything over a certain weight. Unfortunately, some boxsets (like UFO) hit that weight limit on their own, so UFO costs about £80 posted if you're outside the UK. Since you're suggesting Parcel Motel, I'm guessing you're in Ireland and I presume that's getting the international charges?

[CrockettandTubbs]

Campbell's Kingdom (Dirk Bogarde) any good?

Got to weigh up whether to buy anything in Network's sale now, or wait in case Arrow have a Summer sale soon...

[Aclea]

Talk about an unfortunate tagline:



Campbell's Kingdom is the kind of healthily budgeted outdoor drama that the Rank Organisation increasingly turned to in the 50s to compete with the Hollywood studios. Dirk Bogarde is the now unfortunately named Bruce Campbell, a terminally ill Englishman with six months to live and some land in Canada he's just inherited from his disgraced grandfather, who the locals blame for ruining the town when their investment in his dreams of an oil strike ended with his partner running off with their money. Eager to prove the old man right before his own time is up, Bogarde's already tight deadline is further threatened by Stanley Baker's plan to flood the valley when he completes the dam he's building with dodgy cement and using to virtually run the territory himself. On Bogarde's side are surveyor Michael Craig, hotel manager Barbara Murray and James Robertson Justice's drilling engineer, but Baker controls the cable car that's the only way up to the `Kingdom' and will pull any dirty trick he can think of to stop them...

Based on a Hammond Innes bestseller and from the producer and director of Bogarde's hugely successful Doctor films, Betty Box and Ralph Thomas, it's the kind of well-made but unchallenging studio picture that seems rather cosy these days, and probably did back in 1957 too, but that's part of its charm. It's pretty clichéd stuff, but enjoyable enough for all that as a star vehicle even if a fiercely competitive Baker is clearly going all out to steal the picture from its more reserved star and his large collection of lumberjack shirts. The Eastmancolor location photography of the striking Canadian locations (actually the Dolomites in Italy) is pretty impressive and there's a supporting cast filled with familiar faces from British films of the era like Sid James, John Laurie, Finlay Currie, George Murcell and Robert Brown. It's the kind of film that won't do much for younger viewers but still has more than enough nostalgic appeal for older ones to carry it over as a satisfyingly undemanding Saturday matinee.

Network's UK Blu-ray doesn't have any of the US VCi disc's excessive DNR issues or motion blur, but some of the night scenes are weak, though the daylight scenes and colour are certainly impressive enough and a definite step up from their original DVD release. Along with various stills galleries (including an offset shot of Dirk Bogarde sharing a joke with Rock Hudson, who was shooting A Farewell to the Arms in the same area at the time, which just cries out for a caption competition) it also includes the UK trailer and textless main title sequence as extras.

[whedon]

Originally Posted by Pikylechu

If you're within the UK postage isn't that bad unless you've got a lot of boxsets - you pay about £5 if your order contains more than 8 standard edition blu-rays.

If you're outside of UK, postage is extortionate. It's £8 usually or £40 for anything over a certain weight. Unfortunately, some boxsets (like UFO) hit that weight limit on their own, so UFO costs about £80 posted if you're outside the UK. Since you're suggesting Parcel Motel, I'm guessing you're in Ireland and I presume that's getting the international charges?

Ireland it is, going to put in two orders of ten I think and see how that goes. Be nice to pay as little postage as possible as the money would be going to other items in the sale.

[Fnord Prefect]

Anyone here bought the Timeslip DVD boxed set?

http://networkonair.com/all-products...omplete-series

My understanding is that all but one episode are black & white telecine recordings, so anyone an opinion re the picture and sound quality?

I still have all four the old ITC VHS double packs and while they are quite possibly the most hideous archive TV transfers I've seen outside the public domain I'm only interested in an upgrade if the new transfers are a significant improvement.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Anyone here bought the Timeslip DVD boxed set?

http://networkonair.com/all-products...omplete-series

My understanding is that all but one episode are black & white telecine recordings, so anyone an opinion re the picture and sound quality?

I still have all four the old ITC VHS double packs and while they are quite possibly the most hideous archive TV transfers I've seen outside the public domain I'm only interested in an upgrade if the new transfers are a significant improvement.

I can't be sure without checking my (as yet unwatched) copy, but I think Carlton remastered them for their release and is likely what Network use. They are still limited to the quality of 16mm telerecordings either way. In the VHS days I think they just used whatever film was lying on the floor, some of the BBCs Doctor Who releases from the 1960s were diabolical until they started remastering in 1997.

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Anyone here bought the Timeslip DVD boxed set?

http://networkonair.com/all-products...omplete-series

My understanding is that all but one episode are black & white telecine recordings, so anyone an opinion re the picture and sound quality?

I still have all four the old ITC VHS double packs and while they are quite possibly the most hideous archive TV transfers I've seen outside the public domain I'm only interested in an upgrade if the new transfers are a significant improvement.

The dvd versions are a considerable improvement over the VHS copies which had no work done on them.
The picture quality on the Carlton dvd's is better than it is on the Network set although you'll likely only tell if you have the 2 side by side.
The documentary (which had a very limited availability on its own) and the book make the Network set the one to go for although the one episode in colour does show just how much the rest of the show loses by being not only in B&W but by being on 16mm film rather than tape.

The ATV jingle is present for the colour episode but the B&W telerecordings do not include the ITC ident played with the ATV jingle as presented on the original US dvd set.

[BigNickUK]

Moulin Rouge got sent early just received it from Zoom

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Shillingbury Tales

The dvd versions are a considerable improvement over the VHS copies which had no work done on them.
The picture quality on the Carlton dvd's is better than it is on the Network set although you'll likely only tell if you have the 2 side by side.
The documentary (which had a very limited availability on its own) and the book make the Network set the one to go for although the one episode in colour does show just how much the rest of the show loses by being not only in B&W but by being on 16mm film rather than tape.

The ATV jingle is present for the colour episode but the B&W telerecordings do not include the ITC ident played with the ATV jingle as presented on the original US dvd set.

IIRC, even if all existed on tape not all would be colour due to strike action at the time.

[Wes Blu-ray]

Ordered:

Revenge
Twins of Evil
Countess Dracula
The Monster Club
Hands of The Ripper

[Dickieduvet]

Originally Posted by Wes Blu-ray

Ordered:

Revenge
Twins of Evil
Countess Dracula
The Monster Club
Hands of The Ripper

Great selection 👍

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

IIRC, even if all existed on tape not all would be colour due to strike action at the time.

Wikipedia (usually trustworthy re such matters) states that all but the final two episodes where shot in colour.

Even if, like presumably most colour strike productions, they were shot on older mid to late 60's black & white video equipment they would still look noticeably different than the surviving telecine recordings, especially in motion.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Even if, like presumably most colour strike productions, they were shot on older mid to late 60's black & white video equipment they would still look noticeably different than the surviving telecine recordings, especially in motion.

Quite, they'd look like VT.

Interestingly, I wonder if the tapes did survive for the strike period episodes, would the film inserts be in colour or B&W? I'm sure I've got a Corrie episode from that period where it jumps between colour and B&W.

[John_Drake]

Originally Posted by hariseldon

Thanks -- as long as it's at least a week I'll be happy.

Fyi, just received my dispatch notices...no tracking numbers.

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

IIRC, even if all existed on tape not all would be colour due to strike action at the time.

You are correct.

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Wikipedia (usually trustworthy re such matters) states that all but the final two episodes where shot in colour.

Even if, like presumably most colour strike productions, they were shot on older mid to late 60's black & white video equipment they would still look noticeably different than the surviving telecine recordings, especially in motion.

Wikipedia is wrong.
Pretty sure the final episode was colour. Full details are given in the documentary but from memory:

Either 2 or 3 episodes were shot in B&W because of the colour strike and these do look different as they went back to the old 405 system and old cameras which don't seem to be as mobile if the opening moments of one B&W episode is anything to go by.

The show was mostly made in sequence but to accomodate the availability of one or two actors one episode (25 IIRC) was shot much earlier and in colour but with one scene left to be shot later.
By the time it came to shooting that scene the colour strike was on so the missing scene was shot in B&W and they made the decision to change the whole episode to B&W in post production.
IIRC 4 episodes do not include the ATV Colour Production caption at the end which lead to the assumption 4 were made in B&W but apparently this is not the case.
To confuse things further TV Times listings for the 73/74 repeat were inaccurate when it came to listing which ones were in B&W and I believe they got the number of episodes and even the wrong episodes on occasion.
And while the strike was on all the colour episodes broadcast during that period were aired in B&W.

As I said the Beyond the Barrier documentary gives a very detailed breakdown of this matter but its sometime since I watched it and it was nice to finally get a proper background to it that seems to have been worked out from official documentation.

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Quite, they'd look like VT.

Interestingly, I wonder if the tapes did survive for the strike period episodes, would the film inserts be in colour or B&W? I'm sure I've got a Corrie episode from that period where it jumps between colour and B&W.

All the B&W episodes were from Day of the Clone.
Are there any filmed location inserts within that story? The final scenes with Traynor (ep 26) were even shot on tape using outside broadcast cameras usually used for sport etc.
I do recall some filmed inserts but I don't recall which story.

Bearing in mind the decision to change episode 25 to B&W before broadcast I can't see them retaining isolated location footage - not in the long term anyway. The ATV archive is in a pretty poor state for the 70's with vast amounts of episodes from popular shows all wiped