The Official Network Thread - Page 251 - Blu-ray Forum

Modman · 06-03-2023, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Those are just a massive series of 47 B-Movies not a TV series.

Its titled The Edgar Wallace mysteries because they were all based on Wallace short crime stories, granted it was never intended to be a TV show but by time it got to the states the movies where cut to fit a one hour TV slot and the series was born.

If its not your cup of tea fine.

rapta · 06-03-2023, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Oh & the Film 4 title was a musical.

Dammit, really sad to hear there were exciting things in the works. Ozploitation and Film4 are two very neglected areas of UK home video and I would've been very interested to see what these were. Let's hope a label picks up some of these projects, or if they can afford to, inherit whatever's left of Network that can be continued on.

Immediate thoughts jump to Powerhouse, Eureka and BFI, but no idea if any of those have the funding to be able to do something like that. Arrow too, I suppose, but they're obviously at the behest of The Hut Group. Realistically, and unfortunately, it'd probably all go to a medium-sized company who can churn stuff out without a second thought (e.g. Fabulous Films/MediumRare, Dazzler Media, Screenbound, 101 Films etc).

Faustus · 06-03-2023, 10:38 PM

If anyone discovers what the musical was, please let us know. I thought maybe a new scan of Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, which they did a DVD of, but afaik it wasn't a Film 4 title, so probably not it.

EDIT: Oops. Wiki just informed me that it came out many years before F4 was even formed.

fatboyslim142 · 06-03-2023, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Modman

Its titled The Edgar Wallace mysteries because they were all based on Wallace short crime stories, granted it was never intended to be a TV show but by time it got to the states the movies where cut to fit a one hour TV slot and the series was born.

If its not your cup of tea fine.

I did know it was a series of adaptations of Edgar Wallace hence why I didn't mention that part but I'm still going to get it & I do know the series has been released on BD in Germany but not all of the BDs are English friendly which is odd.

CelestialAgent · 06-04-2023, 12:08 AM

Just watched Follow Me, fun to watch in light of Chaim Topol’s passing, and there’s some great uses of London locations, with glimpses of the National Gallery, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens, Westminster Bridge, Oxford Street, the Strand, Hampton Court, Regent Street Cinema (then the Cameo-Poly, with glimpses of Christopher Lee in Brides of Dracula and prominent advertising for Romeo and Juliet, the blue screen and the curtain hiding far too much of the screen, a meta bus advert for Blind Terror), some hungry street names as Topol mimes along, aerial shots of boats on the Thames and the city’s panorama.

Some of the scenes have the same intensity as Marriage Story, stuck between amusing guests with abhorrent views, a hippieish generation gap with differing vernaculars, wanting to have freedom to explore as a young woman, and her husband’s desire for time with her and fidelity. Having seen Jayston as the Valeyard, he’s really commanding here too.

This might be Network’s only license from a major Hollywood studio as a Universal title - I wonder if any US labels might take it on in future and add a commentary - sourced from a 35mm interpositive, which looks solid, but can feel more like a DVD era master and definitely not a 4K scan. I could be wrong though, as the film does close with a contemporary Universal logo, suggesting it’s a more recent remaster. There’s room for improvement for sure.

Though the extras are light, the gallery is fun for the US posters/lobby cards under the play’s title The Public Eye, and having an hour of John Barry’s hard to find score (as explained in the booklet) and the theme song is quite the treat. The US trailer is sourced from SD, but is also fun for its editing choices and narration.

Rayjg · 06-04-2023, 05:21 AM

Of course I recently went through their entire Blu-ray catalog and made a list of titles I intended to pick-up. I have some of their DVDs but haven’t tried to go through that catalog and probably won’t bother now since it will be too expensive on top of the Blu-ray purchases.

BiggusDickus · 06-04-2023, 06:35 AM

Like so many, gutted to hear whats happened. Been ordering on and off from Network since 2013. It was great when the did a series you were after, always seemed to do the best jobs, and no unnecessary tweaking, like releasing Space 1999 in the original 4:3 ratio as opposed to people like Carlton releasing Thunderbirds cropped to 16:9 format. Such a great source for those ITV shows ...

Just did a quick tally of my Network stuff, more than I thought!

[Show spoiler]

rapta · 06-04-2023, 08:15 AM

My Network collection:

[Show spoiler]

I was planning to get more titles and actually forgot to place an order in the last sale (loads I still want, e.g. Sky West and Crooked, Life for Ruth, The House Across the Lake, The Man Who Finally Died, Defence of the Realm, The Strange World of Gurney Slade, Suspect, State Secret, The Man Upstairs, The Siege of Pinchgut, Danger Within, Ring of Spies, The Man in Grey, Bitter Springs, The Overlanders, The Card, The Intruder, Man on the Run, Passport to Shame, Cottage to Let, 7-63 Up...), and also intended to replace my copy of The Prisoner I sold years ago when I needed a bit of money (as well as finally get Flying Circus, Stingray, Captain Scarlet etc). A shame this happened but guessing the stock will still be sold off at some point by the administrators/liquidators. Feel sad for the company and their employees, and hope something good can come out of it eventually (whether it's a new label or they find employment at an existing company).

DavidRoylance · 06-04-2023, 08:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

Those are just a massive series of 47 B-Movies not a TV series.

Although you are right that these were second features in the cinema in the UK, they did originally air in the States as a TV series.

Douglas R · 06-04-2023, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatboyslim142

I did know it was a series of adaptations of Edgar Wallace hence why I didn't mention that part but I'm still going to get it & I do know the series has been released on BD in Germany but not all of the BDs are English friendly which is odd.

I don’t believe the Edgar Wallace British films have been released in Blu-ray in Germany. There was a long running German Edgar Wallace film series and that seems to be the one released on Blu-ray in Germany.

BarnDoor · 06-04-2023, 08:47 AM

The Ozploitation may have been The Man from Hong Kong, since there was a BBFC submission credited to Network last year.

DaniRyder23 · 06-04-2023, 09:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Hornets

Only time I have seen new Network masters on TV is when Amazon Prime had The Professionals in HD although it seems to come and go from there.

I started watching The Professionals when it was on Amazon Prime a few years back - only a couple of episodes, but I had intended to finish the series before it was removed at some point. I remember being quite glad to see they were on BritBox, and then ITVX, when I subbed to that about a year ago...

So imagine my surprise when I went to put on a couple episodes yesterday and it was these awful old SD masters, zoomed in to fill the screen (ew). I guess I had assumed that the show had been removed from Amazon because the streaming rights had been acquired by BritBox, I had no idea they wouldn't be the same versions that had been on Amazon!

Needless to say, having seen how good they looked in HD before, I ended up buying the I-IV box sets yesterday, as I wasn't going to subject myself to any more of those 20 year old masters on ITVX, nor did I want to miss the opportunity to get the HD versions while they're still available new...

I went for the individual seasons because it ended up saving me about £15, I would think that it's the same 17 discs in separate cases that's the only difference with the complete set?

Anyway, it just goes to show...even when something is available to stream, it's not always the best version of that thing. I guess I'd kinda assumed that it was, in most cases (those weird recoloured versions of Detour and Fear & Desire on Amazon Prime being an obvious exception)

So the question I have is...why aren't the ITVX episodes the Network HD versions? Do ITV, despite having the rights to the show, not have the rights to those masters? Will they end up with them now that Network is no more? Why were they removed from Amazon if not to be picked up by another streaming service?

I will say that Amazon are generally pretty good about having the most up-to-date versions of their content - hence the SecondSight Dawn of the Dead restorations - and Disney+ are great for this since they own all their content anyway, but I guess ITVX is just a bit more hit-and-miss than the others

DaniRyder23 · 06-04-2023, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rapta

Immediate thoughts jump to Powerhouse, Eureka and BFI, but no idea if any of those have the funding to be able to do something like that.

In terms of movies, I can see Powerhouse taking over some of the licenses...I don't know if it's a creative choice or a lack of options for them, but their recent output has been so obscure (with a few exceptions) that I wonder if they're struggling to find more well-known content to license? I could see them licensing some of the former-Network stuff if it became available...

It's the TV shows that I'm not holding out too much hope for. I can't imagine any of those 3 labels (apart from maybe BFI) investing in the TV box sets, and that was kinda the biggest draw to Network for me...how many other boutique labels actually release TV shows? How many consumers (outside of us) are still buying TV box sets?

Modman · 06-04-2023, 10:25 AM

Well here's my collection:

[Show spoiler]

This represents the titles I can find and barely scratches the surface of the titles that Network have released over the years, we won't see another label like them. I wish those who have lost their jobs the best of luck and thanks to all those who have worked for Network over the last 25 years.

The Hornets · 06-04-2023, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniRyder23

So the question I have is...why aren't the ITVX episodes the Network HD versions? Do ITV, despite having the rights to the show, not have the rights to those masters? Will they end up with them now that Network is no more? Why were they removed from Amazon if not to be picked up by another streaming service?

You answer your own question in that the rights of the show are owned by ITV but the HD restoration and master is owned by Network so ITV would have to pay a licence fee to use it.

ITV are happy with the crappy SD versions they have.

Another complication is on ITV broadcast (ITVX may be uncut) they were edited years back for TV screening. So as well as chopping bits out to fit a one hour slot (remember in the old days you had only 5 to 10 minutes of adverts an hour now it’s much more), you would also need to remove any bits not allowable for daytime TV like bloody violence, extreme swearing or nudity so they can use the same master whenever they screen it. Therefore, ITV would need to do the editing all over again and that would cost them even more, so why bother. This is a big problem with old TV shows on TV these days hence why better to go for the BD or DVD. The people watching these shows on TV in the vast majority of cases don’t care.

The only genuine old shows in HD on ITV3/ITV4 are those where ITV have done the HD restoration themselves so own the master. Shows like Poirot, Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, Wycliffe. Of these only Sharpe made it to BD in the U.K. although others like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes are widely available on BD overseas. BTW at least on iTunes in the U.K. they’re still the crappy old SD masters.

The Hornets · 06-04-2023, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniRyder23

In terms of movies, I can see Powerhouse taking over some of the licenses...I don't know if it's a creative choice or a lack of options for them, but their recent output has been so obscure (with a few exceptions) that I wonder if they're struggling to find more well-known content to license? I could see them licensing some of the former-Network stuff if it became available...

It's the TV shows that I'm not holding out too much hope for. I can't imagine any of those 3 labels (apart from maybe BFI) investing in the TV box sets, and that was kinda the biggest draw to Network for me...how many other boutique labels actually release TV shows? How many consumers (outside of us) are still buying TV box sets?

You would hope Powerhouse given they have done some already could get at least some of the Studio Canal films they don’t want to put out themselves.

Don’t hold much hope for the ITV film catalogue as reportedly they are a nightmare to deal with and only wanted the massive bulk deal with Network and aren’t interested in just handfuls of their titles.

I agree with you virtually all the TV catalogue has no attraction to any other label perhaps for a few of the Crown Jewels like the ITC or Gerry Anderson shows which seem to be steady sellers. However, can’t see someone else funding new HD restorations, whilst the existing Network ones may well be in limbo for sometime / forever whilst the company’s assets are wound up and sold off.

Reddington · 06-04-2023, 10:44 AM

I thought I was up to date with the Network releases I wanted, but realized yesterday I still hadn't picked up One Summer. Fortunately, Amazon UK had stock, and I was able to order a copy.

Superb television drama about a couple of teenage lads that really resonated with me as 14-year old back in 1983. I also have fond memories of it because we went on family holiday during the season, and would have missed an episode if not for the fact that my Dad (who worked for Philips) had just brought home a V2000-format VCR, and was able to record it.

CouncilSpectre · 06-04-2023, 10:54 AM

Seeing as we're doing collections:

BDs:

[Show spoiler]

DVD:

[Show spoiler]

In hindsight, I should have raided the DVDs a lot more during the sales, they were going for peanuts

fatboyslim142 · 06-04-2023, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

Seeing as we're doing collections:

BDs:

[Show spoiler]

DVD:

[Show spoiler]

In hindsight, I should have raided the DVDs a lot more during the sales, they were going for peanuts

My list didn't include everything I have from Network.

DaniRyder23 · 06-04-2023, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rayjg

Of course I recently went through their entire Blu-ray catalog and made a list of titles I intended to pick-up. I have some of their DVDs but haven’t tried to go through that catalog and probably won’t bother now since it will be too expensive on top of the Blu-ray purchases.

Yeah I haven't spent this much on DVDs in YEARS - I only went for 4 box sets (Man About The House, the two Saint sets and Danger Man) but that's £185 for the lot of em. I think the DVDs are going to be harder to figure out the used prices in the future - clearly right now the prices have shot up, but once things settle down again? We're talking about (in some cases) discs that are already 15+ years old, where there are quite a few out there already, with fairly dated SD transfers. I may have jumped the gun on that one but I figured that since DVDs tend to be less durable than BDs, I actually feel better investing in the new copies while I can rather than chancing used copies in the future (especially when you're looking at 70 discs to worry about being scratched or unplayable). I went for a used copy of the UFO BD because (up till now) I've never had an issue with used Blu-Rays. Would be nice to be able to afford all new copies, and nicer still to have had the foresight to have grabbed them in a sale earlier, but it is what it is...if I must spread the cost with used copies, it just makes more sense to do that with the BDs

but it still feels weird buying brand new DVDs in 2023..

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Hornets

You answer your own question in that the rights of the show are owned by ITV but the HD restoration and master is owned by Network so ITV would have to pay a licence fee to use it.

ITV are happy with the crappy SD versions they have.

Another complication is on ITV broadcast (ITVX may be uncut) they were edited years back for TV screening. So as well as chopping bits out to fit a one hour slot (remember in the old days you had only 5 to 10 minutes of adverts an hour now it’s much more), you would also need to remove any bits not allowable for daytime TV like bloody violence, extreme swearing or nudity so they can use the same master whenever they screen it. Therefore, ITV would need to do the editing all over again and that would cost them even more, so why bother. This is a big problem with old TV shows on TV these days hence why better to go for the BD or DVD. The people watching these shows on TV in the vast majority of cases don’t care.

The only genuine old shows in HD on ITV3/ITV4 are those where ITV have done the HD restoration themselves so own the master. Shows like Poirot, Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, Wycliffe. Of these only Sharpe made it to BD in the U.K. although others like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes are widely available on BD overseas. BTW at least on iTunes in the U.K. they’re still the crappy old SD masters.

The runtimes are (if I remember right) about 40-45 mins or so, I would assume that they are already cut given the lack of care about the quality of the episodes. Just seems ironic to me that Amazon cared more about investing in the HD transfers than the company that owns the rights to the actual show do - 4 episodes in and I was interested enough in the stories to want to see more, but I couldn't handle watching any more of them in that quality (not even being a definition diva, my biggest gripe was the zoomed in 16:9 presentation - it looks all wrong). I had already gone over-budget grabbing the shows I knew I wanted, so this one was a tough call...but ultimately there was far too much work put into the restoration for me to not pay the extra to appreciate it fully. Just makes me value my BD collection that much more, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Hornets

You would hope Powerhouse given they have done some already could get at least some of the Studio Canal films they don’t want to put out themselves.

Don’t hold much hope for the ITV film catalogue as reportedly they are a nightmare to deal with and only wanted the massive bulk deal with Network and aren’t interested in just handfuls of their titles.

I agree with you virtually all the TV catalogue has no attraction to any other label perhaps for a few of the Crown Jewels like the ITC or Gerry Anderson shows which seem to be steady sellers. However, can’t see someone else funding new HD restorations, whilst the existing Network ones may well be in limbo for sometime / forever whilst the company’s assets are wound up and sold off.

Someone will pick up the Gerry Anderson stuff, I think...judging by the books, models, memorabilia, action figures etc the GA stuff still appeals to the collector mindset, and I'm sure that the GA estate will be looking to make a deal with another label to continue that...the issue is where those transfers are going to end up (not just the GA stuff, but all of them, must be worth a fair amount if nothing else). Really sucks to think that so much good work could be held for years, or lost entirely...I have to believe that someone sees the value in them (not just monetary, but cultural) and does something to save them.

Of course going back to what we were saying about ITVX's Professionals transfers...this might be the impetus for them to purchase the rights to all the HD transfers for their shows to at least update the streaming quality. Would make them less likely for future physical releases perhaps, but at least they'd be safe and accessible in some way...would be better than nothing

I saw someone mention a few pages back that Zoom started up after purchasing a bunch of stock in a fire sale - is it possible that we may see a new label pop up after purchasing a bunch of Network's transfers? I suppose nothing's impossible...I would like to see someone step in to pick up where Network left off, it just all comes down to who's buying the assets and why, I guess

06-03-2023, 10:38 PM	#5003
Faustus Senior Member Member since:Oct 2019 Location:UK 4K collection:9 Blu-ray collection:937	If anyone discovers what the musical was, please let us know. I thought maybe a new scan of Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, which they did a DVD of, but afaik it wasn't a Film 4 title, so probably not it. EDIT: Oops. Wiki just informed me that it came out many years before F4 was even formed. Last edited by Faustus; 06-03-2023 at 10:45 PM.

06-04-2023, 06:35 AM	#5007
BiggusDickus Senior Member Member since:Aug 2017 Location:Gorleston-on-Sea, UK 4K collection:5 Blu-ray collection:464	Like so many, gutted to hear whats happened. Been ordering on and off from Network since 2013. It was great when the did a series you were after, always seemed to do the best jobs, and no unnecessary tweaking, like releasing Space 1999 in the original 4:3 ratio as opposed to people like Carlton releasing Thunderbirds cropped to 16:9 format. Such a great source for those ITV shows ... Just did a quick tally of my Network stuff, more than I thought! [Show spoiler] Last edited by BiggusDickus; 06-07-2023 at 12:02 AM.

06-04-2023, 10:25 AM	#5014
Modman Blu-ray Guru Member since:Oct 2010 Location:Portsmouth, UK 4K collection:292 Blu-ray collection:6705 DVD collection:2134	Well here's my collection: [Show spoiler] This represents the titles I can find and barely scratches the surface of the titles that Network have released over the years, we won't see another label like them. I wish those who have lost their jobs the best of luck and thanks to all those who have worked for Network over the last 25 years. Last edited by Modman; 06-04-2023 at 12:08 PM.

06-04-2023, 12:08 AM	#5005
CelestialAgent Blu-ray Baron Top contributor Member since:Aug 2015 Location:Norwich 4K collection:133 Blu-ray collection:2172 DVD collection:659 Blu-ray reviews:5 Trading Score:1	Just watched Follow Me, fun to watch in light of Chaim Topol’s passing, and there’s some great uses of London locations, with glimpses of the National Gallery, Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens, Westminster Bridge, Oxford Street, the Strand, Hampton Court, Regent Street Cinema (then the Cameo-Poly, with glimpses of Christopher Lee in Brides of Dracula and prominent advertising for Romeo and Juliet, the blue screen and the curtain hiding far too much of the screen, a meta bus advert for Blind Terror), some hungry street names as Topol mimes along, aerial shots of boats on the Thames and the city’s panorama. Some of the scenes have the same intensity as Marriage Story, stuck between amusing guests with abhorrent views, a hippieish generation gap with differing vernaculars, wanting to have freedom to explore as a young woman, and her husband’s desire for time with her and fidelity. Having seen Jayston as the Valeyard, he’s really commanding here too. This might be Network’s only license from a major Hollywood studio as a Universal title - I wonder if any US labels might take it on in future and add a commentary - sourced from a 35mm interpositive, which looks solid, but can feel more like a DVD era master and definitely not a 4K scan. I could be wrong though, as the film does close with a contemporary Universal logo, suggesting it’s a more recent remaster. There’s room for improvement for sure. Though the extras are light, the gallery is fun for the US posters/lobby cards under the play’s title The Public Eye, and having an hour of John Barry’s hard to find score (as explained in the booklet) and the theme song is quite the treat. The US trailer is sourced from SD, but is also fun for its editing choices and narration.

06-04-2023, 05:21 AM	#5006
Rayjg Blu-ray Champion Member since:Aug 2016	Of course I recently went through their entire Blu-ray catalog and made a list of titles I intended to pick-up. I have some of their DVDs but haven’t tried to go through that catalog and probably won’t bother now since it will be too expensive on top of the Blu-ray purchases.

06-04-2023, 08:15 AM	#5008
rapta Blu-ray Duke Top contributor Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Hants, UK 4K collection:70 Blu-ray collection:5441 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:7	My Network collection: [Show spoiler] I was planning to get more titles and actually forgot to place an order in the last sale (loads I still want, e.g. Sky West and Crooked, Life for Ruth, The House Across the Lake, The Man Who Finally Died, Defence of the Realm, The Strange World of Gurney Slade, Suspect, State Secret, The Man Upstairs, The Siege of Pinchgut, Danger Within, Ring of Spies, The Man in Grey, Bitter Springs, The Overlanders, The Card, The Intruder, Man on the Run, Passport to Shame, Cottage to Let, 7-63 Up...), and also intended to replace my copy of The Prisoner I sold years ago when I needed a bit of money (as well as finally get Flying Circus, Stingray, Captain Scarlet etc). A shame this happened but guessing the stock will still be sold off at some point by the administrators/liquidators. Feel sad for the company and their employees, and hope something good can come out of it eventually (whether it's a new label or they find employment at an existing company).

06-04-2023, 08:47 AM	#5011
BarnDoor Blu-ray Baron Top contributor Member since:Jan 2010 4K collection:343 Blu-ray collection:6018 Trading Score:3	The Ozploitation may have been The Man from Hong Kong, since there was a BBFC submission credited to Network last year.

06-04-2023, 10:44 AM	#5017
Reddington Blu-ray Guru Member since:May 2015 Trading Score:1	I thought I was up to date with the Network releases I wanted, but realized yesterday I still hadn't picked up One Summer. Fortunately, Amazon UK had stock, and I was able to order a copy. Superb television drama about a couple of teenage lads that really resonated with me as 14-year old back in 1983. I also have fond memories of it because we went on family holiday during the season, and would have missed an episode if not for the fact that my Dad (who worked for Philips) had just brought home a V2000-format VCR, and was able to record it.

06-04-2023, 10:54 AM	#5018
CouncilSpectre Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Apr 2013 Location:United Kingdom 4K collection:904 Blu-ray collection:7106 DVD collection:881 iTunes collection:13 Prime collection:107 Blu-ray reviews: 11 Trading Score:24	Seeing as we're doing collections: BDs: [Show spoiler] DVD: [Show spoiler] In hindsight, I should have raided the DVDs a lot more during the sales, they were going for peanuts

Best Blu-ray Movie Deals