Blake's 7 (Series 1) Cut? (1 Viewer)

[alan halvorson]

I was looking at Amazon UK to see if Series 2 was available for order (it's listed for release on June 28, but you can't currently order it from Amazon UK; you can from Sendit (formerly Blackstar)).

I took a look at the Series 1 listing also, which has been price cut even futher. The first user reveiw claims that each episode has been cut about 10 minutes each. Each episode on disc runs from 50-52 minutes; my VHS copies also run 50-52 minutes each. Is this user review correct? Have all the Blake episodes been shortened? And, if so, why? Is there some controversy about this? I've watched all my tapes and now the first series on dvd and, to tell the truth, if they've been shortened, I didn't notice.

 

[David_Blackwell]

I think the reviewer may be confusing the present length of BBC dramas (57-59 minutes) with the old program length (45-52 minutes).

 

[Paul Tilburgs]

The scene the reviewer mentions as missing (recapture of Blake and Avon)is not missing at all. However, several problems have been reported with the layer change on the disks and it may be that the this resulted in the reviewers copy skipping over some parts. Anyway, the episodes are all there and are all complete.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Amazon is listing (I think) May 17 for Season 1. This is believe is when the repressed discs are available. I thought the faulty discs had been recalled, but it appears not. Blake's 7 is dirt cheap at CDwow right now, but these copies have to be the dodgy ones, unfortunately.

I hope when the new ones show up they are stickered to show that the are a second pressing.

 

[Deb Walsh]

Most of my tapes of the series are copies from the original BBC run, and they are generally 50-52 minutes in length. This is when US shows tended to run about 48-49 minutes in length - much longer than their current 42-45 minutes. BBC shows have gotten longer in the interim, eh? Cool. :>

 

[oscar_merkx]

thanks for the info about s1, I guess I will wait until the second pressing comes out.

 

[Bleddyn Williams]

Well, I'm heading to Blighty this afternoon. I aim to try and find a 2nd pressing of this, but if they didn't pull the first bad pressing, and left the them in stores, how on earth am I to tell which is which? If they're trying to foist the old ones off on people, I wonder what the chances are of the new wave being stickered.

We'll see.