Coming up on our British Invaders schedule is the 1970s BBC show Doomwatch about a group of scientists who act as environmental watchdogs and have to deal with a variety of "science gone wrong" disasters. It's an interesting show and one of the Beeb's biggies from that era and I'm looking forward to our discussion. But I'm going to break one of our unwritten rules (sorry, Brian) and mention something in advance of our recording.
Of the original 38 original episodes 26 survive, thanks largely to the Canadian TV network who returned their copies after the BBC had wiped the master tapes. A couple of episodes were released on VHS tapes and a single DVD release which has since been deleted. It's an important show with a message that seems just as relevant today as when it was first broadcast. So why doesn't the BBC release all the surviving episodes on DVD? I'm sure it would sell and the absence of a complete box set mystifies me. Maybe there is a copyright issue or something like that.
For more on this subject subscribe to our iTunes feed and listen out for our Doomwatch episodes in a couple of months. And for more information on Doomwatch itself check out the excellent doomwatch.org.
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