Quirke (Gabriel Byrne) -- Another UK series released in Germany and not the UK

[Buzz201]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

And the reason for that is the severe lack of UK TV releases in the first place. You can't expect big sales in a market (UK TV on Blu-ray in UK) that hardly exists. With Sony slashing licensing fees, and UK independents putting out more movies now than ever before on Blu-ray, you would think the nation's largest broadcaster would be willing to put its flagship releases out on the format. Clearly, the Germans want it in HD, so it doesn't make sense to think that the home audience deserves any less.

On the other hand, if I were the BBC, I would be embarrassed to see another country releasing my properties in superior editions abroad.

One could argue that poor sales on UK TV blu-rays are responsible for the lack of shelf space. It's really just a cycle...

As I understand it Sony Pictures UK won't licence anything to another home media business, so that point is moot.

Nation's largest broadcaster? Try world's largest broadcaster...

BBC Worldwide is a wholly owned editorially independent subsidiary, tasked with acting in the BBC's commercial best interests. The BBC has no say in it's releases, and BBCW certainly won't do anything for prestige if they don't think it's financially viable. (As they shouldn't, their job is to try and build on the TV licence, not squander money on unpopular blu-ray releases.)