The Official Network Thread

[Willms]

Thank you hariseldon and SeaSponge. With the slightly expensive shipping it is just over the limit for VAT charges here in Norway. Hopefully it will come down further at a later date.

[Fnord Prefect]

Not had chance to properly brows them but the following cheap DVDs are well worth picking up.

Any fan of offbeat creepy 70's children's TV who hasn't already got it should pick up the surviving three episodes of The Georgian House on DVD for £2.64 ppd:

http://networkonair.com/drama/1141-georgian-house-the

Same goes for the first, and by far the best, series of shadows at £3.96 ppd:

http://networkonair.com/drama/1270-s...plete-series-1

The Strange World of Gurney Slade is a must have at £3.96 ppd, especially if it still includes the booklet:

http://networkonair.com/comedy/1392-...omplete-series

[Shillingbury Tales]

Looked through every single one of the 1700+ titles on sale and while I cannot find a single one I want I'm pleased that there are dozens of interest that I already have. There are quite a few of fringe interest but I've stopped buying things just because they are cheap as it doesn't help the storage problems I already have.
Network remain my favourite of all labels even with the authoring problems their dvd's have suffered (and still suffer) from.

All 4 seasons of The Professionals on Bluray for £38 stood out. Must be the most amazing restoration of all time.

[Dickieduvet]

Went for

To Die For
Made

DVD

Catweazle
The Ghosts Of Motley Hall
Shadows - Series 1

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

Went for

To Die For
Made

DVD

Catweazle
The Ghosts Of Motley Hall
Shadows - Series 1

There is a poignant little documentary on the Catweazle dvd. It's well out of date as it was done for either the VHS release or the first dvd release. Its almost 20 years old and features Geoffrey Bayldon (who only died a few weeks ago) but also reunites him with Robin Davies who played Carrot and who sadly died in 2010 aged just 56.
It also makes the commentaries quite sad too.

"Will you come back one day?"

[Dickieduvet]

I've never seen Catweazle or Motley Hall as I was born a few yrs after they were shown, heard all about them from my older brother though.

It was the sad news of Bayldon's passing that made me look into this set. A great price in the sale, just £11.88. Looking forward to watching them both.

[Jack.A.Napes]

I went for:

MADE
ROME EXPRESS
80,000 SUSPECTS
THE CLUB
BLUE MONEY
ALL NIGHT LONG
PERCY'S PROGRESS
LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR*

All blind buys, but not much risk at a fiver a pop.

*Purely for the representation of jaw dropping political incorrectness in the 70's. Sociological reasons, honest guv.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

I've never seen Catweazle or Motley Hall as I was born a few yrs after they were shown, heard all about them from my older brother though.

It was the sad news of Bayldon's passing that made me look into this set. A great price in the sale, just £11.88. Looking forward to watching them both.

The first season is the best of the two: they made changes to the second season to try to get a US sale - basically dropping Carrot and going for a more upmarket modern family in the belief that Americans had a more stately home vision of rural Britain than working farm - but Bayldon keeps it afloat. Looking at this show in particular you can understand why the BBC were so desperate to get him to play Doctor Who.

I went for a few:

All Night Long - like dig that crazy jazz Othello and Dickie Attenborough and all his hep cat friends

Every Home Should Have One - really not very good at all, but there's so little British Marty Feldman on the market and, y'know, Julie Ege in that nude Swedish arthouse movie sendup... (which apparently caused the film to go a day over schedule because Marty was unable to hide his, er, excitement in several shots)

Revenge - more out of curiosity than high hopes

Timeslip - the TV series

Randall and Hopkirk [Deceased] - the DVD because I foolishly sold my old copy before I found out that the BDs wouldn't carry over any of the extras

There Was a Crooked Man

[drb124]

I'm in the US and I had a full card but after the Shout sale and the Barnes and noble sale in which I went a bit overboard, I just ended up with Blue Money and The Quill Memorandum.

[CouncilSpectre]

Added a few more to my order:

Danger Man - 30 min episodes
Danger Man - 50 min episodes
Callan - Monochrome episodes
Callan - Colour episodes
Callan - Wet Job
Timeslip - Complete series

[John_Drake]

All of the Look at Life volumes--absolutely loved these.
Will go back for assorted British Musicals of the 1930s as well.

[Ozu Teapot]

Originally Posted by Jack.A.Napes

*Purely for the representation of jaw dropping political incorrectness in the 70's. Sociological reasons, honest guv.

Similarly whenever there's a Network sale I'm always tempted to buy the Mind Your Language complete series simply because I'm a big Ingmar Bergman fan and his daughter Anna is in series 4 - she plays the Swedish one . I have to reason with myself that it's a very oblique reason to be buying anything and that I'd be better off spending the money on a nice blu-ray!

Anyway, I just wanted to remind any Alan Clarke fans (the director, not, y'know...) or people who like some of those obscure BFI Flipside releases that that Tales Out of School blu set which features his Made in Britain is in the sale for £9.54, and is really worth picking up!

[stepeanut]

Originally Posted by Ozu Teapot

Anyway, I just wanted to remind any Alan Clarke fans (the director, not, y'know...) or people who like some of those obscure BFI Flipside releases that that Tales Out of School blu set which features his Made in Britain is in the sale for £9.54, and is really worth picking up!

Clarke completists should also consider picking up the following DVDs:

The Gold Robbers, £9.90. Terrific series, featuring the late Peter Vaughan. Clarke directed the episode The Arrangement.

Plays for Britain, £6.60. Clarke directed Fast Hands.

Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire, £3.96. The oddest entry in Clarke's entire oeuvre. Worth £4 of anyone's money.

[Fnord Prefect]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

Went for

To Die For
Made

DVD

Catweazle
The Ghosts Of Motley Hall
Shadows - Series 1

Catweazle series 1 is absolutely wonderful, series 2 is on the whole great though IMO suffers from the absence of

[Show spoiler]Robin Davies' Carrot

and a more episodic story arc. Geoffrey Bayldon was made for this role, though part of me is sad that he turned down a chance to be the Third Doctor to take it (tempted to talk about the other two potentially great Doctors that almost were, Michael Bentine as 4th and Ken Campbell as 7th but I'll spare you that)

Shadows series 1 is very good, though there is one episode that sticks out stylistically like a proverbial sore thumb apparently made as the failed pilot for an Ace of Wands spin off series that never happened and was dumped into the run as money saving device.

[gouryella]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

Not had chance to properly brows them but the following cheap DVDs are well worth picking up.

Any fan of offbeat creepy 70's children's TV who hasn't already got it should pick up the surviving three episodes of The Georgian House on DVD for £2.64 ppd:

http://networkonair.com/drama/1141-georgian-house-the

Same goes for the first, and by far the best, series of shadows at £3.96 ppd:

http://networkonair.com/drama/1270-s...plete-series-1

The Strange World of Gurney Slade is a must have at £3.96 ppd, especially if it still includes the booklet:

http://networkonair.com/comedy/1392-...omplete-series

I was thinking of getting The Georgian House and all 3 Shadows series when they had the 60% off and although I was placing a very large order I couldn't get everything I wanted. I think the fact that GH is incomplete put me off and also read mixed reviews especially of s2+3 of Shadows.

This time as well as the above I'm looking at Siege of Golden Hill, Ace of Wands, Marmalade, Dramarama + Spooky. Only one I clearly remember is Marmalade though.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Jack.A.Napes

LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR*

*Purely for the representation of jaw dropping political incorrectness in the 70's. Sociological reasons, honest guv.

For some of us who used to live in Twickenham, the most jaw-droppingly incorrect thing about it is its depiction of Twickenham as a working class Labour voting area with local factories.

[Sifox211]

I can't get anything to go in my cart. Is it just me, or are titles sold out, or is it a really bad website

[chip75]

Shame that like HMV's serach filters Network's website is a bit difficult to find similar things. I'm sure there's loads there (that I'd be interested in), but I can't find it.

[Shillingbury Tales]

Originally Posted by Dickieduvet

I've never seen Catweazle or Motley Hall as I was born a few yrs after they were shown, heard all about them from my older brother though.

It was the sad news of Bayldon's passing that made me look into this set. A great price in the sale, just £11.88. Looking forward to watching them both.

I really hope you enjoy Catweazle. Having watched it when it was shown in 1970 and 1971 I have the added bonus of the nostalgia factor although it was always one of my most fondly remembered series.
Having been stuck in the Anglia region I missed at least 3 repeats of the show on LWT so didn't get another chance to see it until Granada+ aired it (at 7am).
One of the early Network VHS releases it was near the top of most archive tv fans wishlist.
It can be a bit silly but it is a kids show and I hope you find enough elements enjoyable enough to make up for it. I have found myself over the years that several series I was greatly looking forward too after seeing them in the 70's just wouldn't stand up to modern scrutiny which was very disappointing.

After the great man died the other week I watched the final episode of series 1 as my own tribute but it wouldn't really mean much to a modern viewer yet to see the rest of the series.

[Gerby]

Originally Posted by Sifox211

I can't get anything to go in my cart. Is it just me, or are titles sold out, or is it a really bad website

I just had this issue too but if you click on a particular movie, it sends you to the page of that movie then click add to cart & it should work.
I went for The Man With The Golden Arm, This Sporting Life, Love Thy Neighbour & Weekend At Bernie's.