Sunday, September 18, 2011

Day 7 - The show that really needs to be released on DVD

When I was bringing together the list of questions for this challenge on the British Invaders facebook page I thought I knew the answer for this one already. Nigel Kneale and Rudoph Cartier's adaptation of Orwell's 1984 was one of the gems we discovered doing the podcast. It is still available to watch on the internet but we thought it deserved a DVD release. Then Gordon Iain Aitken pointed out that one already exists.

So instead I turn to another show we covered recently. Doomwatch was a flagship programme for the BBC in the 1970s. It covered important issues in a serious way and is very well remembered. The title has even become a phrase to describe any environmental watchdog. 23 of the original 38 episodes still exist, plus another that was never broadcast. There's a Cult of Doomwatch documentary that would fit well on the DVD extras. I can only presume that some rights problems prevent its release. Maybe Doomwatch.org have the answer.
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2 comments:

  1. hypocaustSeptember 21, 2011 at 9:10 AM

    That 1984 DVD release is a bootleg. All the other currently available Kneale 1984 DVDs on Amazon are bootlegs as well.

    All you'll get is exactly the same quality as what's available free to download on the internet and it brings an official BBC release no closer.

    My own choice for most wanted on DVD would be Kneale's 1984 with the DVD containing both the 1954 adaptation and the 1965 adaptation recently re-discovered at the Llibrary of Congress.

    As the Orwell estate seems to be the barrier to seeing those released though I'll choose the survivng episodes of 'Out of the Unknown'.

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  2. Eamonn ClarkeSeptember 21, 2011 at 11:27 AM

    Thanks, that's interesting stuff. We have some "Out of the Unknown" but again it's of dubious origins.

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