The Official Network Thread

[DavidRoylance]

Mentioning Twilight Time it is also important to mention that Sandpiper came along and rescued reissued a lot of TT's (sadly not Fox) titles.

[darrellmaclaine]

It went under because it was over £3 million in debt, including a massive tax burden, after a consistent long term pattern of reckless spending. With or without Beddows it was going to catch up to reality eventually.

[oddbox83]

The debt itself isn’t, or wasn’t, the issue, as some of that had been invested in assets for future return like ongoing restorations. The ability to meet repayments due is the issue. It was a cashflow issue that led to the risk of insolvency hence voluntary liquidation.

[MasterCollector07]

Originally Posted by StLouisRibs

It's really not strange for a company to go out of business when one of the principals dies - a death will usually result in debts being passed on to someone else and whoever that may have been simply may have just wanted to pull the eject lever and cashed out what assets were left. Doesn't mean Network did anything wrong, that the model was bad, or it was run poorly, just that it's time came and went with the principal person whose passion and devotion led the whole thing. Unfortunate but most things don't last forever!

I'll take a rain check on that. But thanks for replying.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

The debt itself isn’t, or wasn’t, the issue, as some of that had been invested in assets for future return like ongoing restorations. The ability to meet repayments due is the issue. It was a cashflow issue that led to the risk of insolvency hence voluntary liquidation.

Well I think the sizeable portion of it that was owed to HMRC might have been a bit of a liability.

[albabe]

Originally Posted by The Hornets

You do know Fireball XL5 is black and white as well.
Here’s the originals.
A number of episodes were colourised in recent years but only a selection.
This has one episode colourised
Has 3 colourised including the one from the above release
Anderson didn’t move to colour until his next show Stingray.

Thanx for the info, sir!

I've seen so many stills from these shows that were in color... and the Gold Key American comics were in color... and when these were originally aired my family's TV was B&W... so... my memories are obviously useless.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Well I think the sizeable portion of it that was owed to HMRC might have been a bit of a liability.

Well yeah, not being able to pay that when it was due I believe was the issue.

What I’m saying is don’t just look at debt alone as a reason. Many, many companies have debt but it’s not an issue if cashflow covers overheads and repayments. Look at Netflix.

Do you have a mortgage? Are you getting it foreclosed if your annual wage is only a fraction of that debt? No. The important part is meeting your repayments.

I believe it was a combination of the market changing, the amount invested in future projects (like Danger Man, Hammer, etc. which I presume cost an awful lot up front without any quick return until they were ready to go) and the loss of Tim.

[cutback73]

Some general comments regarding HMRC and Beddows passing.

1. During Covid, companies were permitted to defer one quarters VAT liability. "Must be seen to support our "customers"". Yes, they really do call everyone their customers! That quarter then became payable in 2022 which screwed up a lot of cashflows where businesses hadn't improved sufficiently. HMŔC have become MUCH more aggressive in chasing debt in the last 12 months.
My personal opinion is that they too often become a political "football". They are certainly consistently inconsistent from one year to the next in my experience.
2. And this *might* be more relevant. Inheritance Tax. And probate. The STANDARD response time for the Probate Office to respond on a death is SIXTEEN WEEKS. During that time, all assets of Mr Beddows will have been frozen. After those 16 weeks, it can then takes a month for the bank to release the funds.we had this issue with a family member last year - it took 7 months to get a VERY simple will dealt with for which there were TWO beneficiaries!). If Mr Beddows was providing any support to Network, that support was locked and frozen from January to May.
3. Probate isn't granted until Inheritance Tax is paid at 40%. So not only would Network receive no funding from Beddows beneficiaries for SIXTEEN WEEKS, they would possibly have been trying to raise funds to pay their tax bill.

The time to deal with probate is frankly a scandal but will never get serious press coverage because it only affects "the rich" (in practice that means anyone who owns a house worth more than £325k).
The timing of Network going under falls almost exactly in the length of the probate window based on what I've read.

[MasterCollector07]

Originally Posted by cutback73

Some general comments regarding HMRC and Beddows passing.

1. During Covid, companies were permitted to defer one quarters VAT liability. "Must be seen to support our "customers"". Yes, they really do call everyone their customers! That quarter then became payable in 2022 which screwed up a lot of cashflows where businesses hadn't improved sufficiently. HMŔC have become MUCH more aggressive in chasing debt in the last 12 months.
My personal opinion is that they too often become a political "football". They are certainly consistently inconsistent from one year to the next in my experience.
2. And this *might* be more relevant. Inheritance Tax. And probate. The STANDARD response time for the Probate Office to respond on a death is SIXTEEN WEEKS. During that time, all assets of Mr Beddows will have been frozen. After those 16 weeks, it can then takes a month for the bank to release the funds.we had this issue with a family member last year - it took 7 months to get a VERY simple will dealt with for which there were TWO beneficiaries!). If Mr Beddows was providing any support to Network, that support was locked and frozen from January to May.
3. Probate isn't granted until Inheritance Tax is paid at 40%. So not only would Network receive no funding from Beddows beneficiaries for SIXTEEN WEEKS, they would possibly have been trying to raise funds to pay their tax bill.

The time to deal with probate is frankly a scandal but will never get serious press coverage because it only affects "the rich" (in practice that means anyone who owns a house worth more than £325k).
The timing of Network going under falls almost exactly in the length of the probate window based on what I've read.

Well, that's all well and good, but nothing's really been said about why the company collapsed. Much of it has been speculation on behalf of individuals on here. Obviously, no one has come forward to claim otherwise. Until someone from the ex- company spills the beans about Network, it looks like the speculation will continue.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by MasterCollector07

Well, that's all well and good, but nothing's really been said about why the company collapsed. Much of it has been speculation on behalf of individuals on here. Obviously, no one has come forward to claim otherwise. Until someone from the ex- company spills the beans about Network, it looks like the speculation will continue.

Well the £3,100,000 owed to HMRC and creditors isn't speculation, it's on the record.

[MasterCollector07]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Well the £3,100,000 owed to HMRC and creditors isn't speculation, it's on the record.

Certainly is a lot, considering Network's standing in the industry. Owing that much certainly smells fishy to me. Just wish someone would spill the beans about the companies operational underbelly, but that probably will not happen for many years, if ever.

[DavidRoylance]

Though not active here I am involved with a forum where at least 2 integral people from Network post.

They both have asked that people not speculate and that the truth will unfold as soon as they are legally able to share it.

At least one of those people is in direct contact with the liquidators about assets.

[MasterCollector07]

Originally Posted by DavidRoylance

Though not active here I am involved with a forum where at least 2 integral people from Network post.

They both have asked that people not speculate and that the truth will unfold as soon as they are legally able to share it.

At least one of those people is in direct contact with the liquidators about assets.

Sounds interesting. Thanks for that.

[openviews]

Gerry Anderson shop now selling the Network blu-ray release of Stingray Super Space Theater.

https://shop.gerryanderson.com/produ...ray-region-abc

https://youtu.be/O8D1GgpUtvo

[wabrit]

Watched Sweeny! - nice banter, but poor old Barry Foster doesn't have his finest hour with that American accent. I prefer my Sweeny grubby and kitchen sinky.

French Dressing - our Ken has swallowed a plateful of nouvelle vague and coughs it up on Herne Bay; it's fair to say he would go on to make better films.

[Doomhunter]

Just watched the Rome Express blu, excellent film. Though I think the booklet may be mistaken in saying

[Show spoiler]“the death of Zurla”. In reality, I don’t think it’s made clear in the film one way or the other if Zurla survived the jump from the train.

[wabrit]

Sweeny 2 seemed like a big improvement, so we can file it alongside Godfather 2 in the "sequels that improved on the original" bucket. Although the bomb subplot was agregious padding.

[Martyghost]

Originally Posted by wabrit

Sweeny 2 seemed like a big improvement, so we can file it alongside Godfather 2 in the "sequels that improved on the original" bucket. Although the bomb subplot was agregious padding.

I must admit I prefer the first film to the second. To me the first had much more the usual feel I was expecting except with a more inflated plot to fit the feature side. Whereas although the 2nd one had it's moments, as well as the padding bomb bit, the whole trip to Spain felt like padding as well and more an excuse for some cast and crew to have a foreign jolly. Also the first one has the superb scene of Regan losing it talking to the Chief Super.

[koberulz]

Just caught Green for Danger on the Criterion Channel...and there are no Blu-ray copies to be found. Bollocks.

[The Hornets]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Just caught Green for Danger on the Criterion Channel...and there are no Blu-ray copies to be found. Bollocks.

There's a Marketplace seller on Amazon who's not too bad priced at £21.99 new plus shipping (would have been £12.99 direct from Network back when I bought it).
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Green-for-D.../dp/B07XP47VZM

If they don't ship internationally would need to use a re-shipper.

You can also get secondhand from CEx for £8 but I do know they only ship in UK so again a re-shipper would be needed.