British Film Institute DVD discussion thread

[OceanBlue]

Surprised there wasn't already a non-Blu-ray discussion thread for the British Film Institute (BFI).

I think I was thinking of a Sherlock Holmes title which label Flicker Alley released in the States a few years ago (which I've got). The BFI a few years ago released a DVD boxset of the majority of the first series of Sherlock Holmes from the sixties (two or three episodes were reconstructed).

There was a second series of Sherlock Holmes, starring Peter Cushing alongside Nigel Stock (the latter, returning from the first series (as Watson). The surviving episodes were released on DVD by a different UK label.

[BarnDoor]

I'm hoping that the BFI continue to release some BBC productions on DVD. Perhaps we might see Mind Beyond and the surviving episodes of Leap in the Dark some day? I'd also love West Country Tales though that could feasibly be released on Blu-ray (as could The Witches of Pendle, but again, both seem real long shots).

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

I'm hoping that the BFI continue to release some BBC productions on DVD. Perhaps we might see Mind Beyond and the surviving episodes of Leap in the Dark some day? I'd also love West Country Tales though that could feasibly be released on Blu-ray (as could The Witches of Pendle, but again, both seem real long shots).

That has been something on my mind, but I'm not sure if I've ever asked it: are some episodes of Leap in the Dark lost (due to the usual wiping of tapes)? But you've answered my question. To me, it seems like the ideal anthology series for the BFI to release, along with Shades of Darkness, which would be ideal for October and Hallowe'en (Shades of Darkness had a DVD release in a European country, but were two stories/adaptations not included because of clearance issues?). If it's a BBC series, the BFI should be able to license them shouldn't they? Obviously, if it's say a Granada series, then it would be with ITV, and Network would be the likely label to release them.

I'll check out Mind Beyond and West Country Tales.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

I'm hoping that the BFI continue to release some BBC productions on DVD. Perhaps we might see Mind Beyond and the surviving episodes of Leap in the Dark some day? I'd also love West Country Tales though that could feasibly be released on Blu-ray (as could The Witches of Pendle, but again, both seem real long shots).

Before I read today's BFI announcements newsletter email, I saw it was about their Q2 slate and had hoped one of the titles was going to be a DVD set of the surviving episodes of any of the following:

In Suspicious Circumstances
Leap in the Dark
Shades of Darkness
West Country Tales.

After looking at the details of each announced title in the UK & Ireland thread earlier, was glad there is one possible title I may get at some point, even though none of the above or another similar television series was announced as well.

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by OceanBlue

Before I read today's BFI announcements newsletter email, I saw it was about their Q2 slate and had hoped one of the titles was going to be a DVD set of the surviving episodes of any of the following:

In Suspicious Circumstances
Leap in the Dark
Shades of Darkness
West Country Tales.

After looking at the details of each announced title in the UK & Ireland thread earlier, was glad there is one possible title I may get at some point, even though none of the above or another similar television series was announced as well.

Original masters for West Country Tales are definitely gone unfortunately. I'm not sure that the BFI would put out the existing materials, which seems to be mostly from Timecodes and in bad multi-genration copy quality.

[OceanBlue]

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Original masters for West Country Tales are definitely gone unfortunately. I'm not sure that the BFI would put out the existing materials, which seems to be mostly from Timecodes and in bad multi-genration copy quality.

That's a shame about West Country Tales. But thanks for the explanation.

When Talking Pictures showed the surviving episodes of In Suspicious Circumstances (apparently those weren't all of the episodes that had been made), to my eyes I could tell they had been shot on film (if it was video, it looked very good) and they had the black bars down the left and right sides of the screen. However, when it came to the last half a dozen episodes, there were black bars at the top and bottom as well, until the end credits when it was just black bars down the left and right sides.

I like the BFI announcements of films, but it's the Short Sharp Shocks-style releases and older television series that interest me more.

[Eidolon]

It seems that Red Shift is out of print. Saw one somewhat overpriced in a charity shop the other day, and checking it up online, found that the scalpers were at on eBay.

Maybe this will be picked up by Second Sight now, for one of their upscaled BDs.

[OceanBlue]

Thought I'd check the DVD section of the database here to see if the BFI's two-disc DVD release of Roll Out the Barrel was still available after being released some time ago:



Looks to be still available.

[OceanBlue]

Hopefully we'll see the next month's worth of BFI physical media titles announced soon (bearing in mind the problems with the BFI Shop). I would assume it's a bit early for announcements for this autumn's slate (especially for October (hoping for some horror titles, including surviving episodes of an anthology television series).