Network Goes into Liquidation (1 Viewer)

[jayembee]

Network also released the best version of Laurel & Hardy's THE FLYING DEUCES (1939) back in June, 2015. Those were the days when the VAT was waived for us North Americans. Guess I better take extra good care of that Region ABC Blu-ray disc!

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What a shame!

You forgot to mention that this release also includes the German-language version, Dick und Doof in der Fremdenlegion.

 

[Tom St Jones]

Here in N. America, Shout Factory licensed most of the GerryAnderson "supermarionation" shows for Blu-ray & DVD. They've issued nearly all the principal ones but for whatever reason have yet to get around to "Captain Scarlet" (the original, ofc).. I had been considering Network's Blu-ray set, but decided to hold off on the chance a new, improved edition --- as in one w/ English subtitles (I'm hearing-impaired) & non--limited-edition extras --- might be in the offing.. Guess not now.

I bought the A&E Blu-ray copy of The Prisoner for $39 back in 2010. I see that copy now retails in the $250 range. It's too bad such classics end up at scalper's prices.

Really wish someone on this side of the pond would license "The Prisoner".. The A&E Blu-ray set has been out of print for probably a decade or so now

 

[Tony Bensley]

You forgot to mention that this release also includes the German-language version, Dick und Doof in der Fremdenlegion.

Indeed, it does!

Besides "Dick und Doof in der Fremdenlegion" (The 1951 German dubbed version; not the much later 1970's dub over!), the included image gallery and especially the Promotional material in PDF format are really cool!

CHEERS!

 

[ScottRE]

Sad to hear about this. I purchased the Prisoner BR set, Space 1999 BR set, and the MPFC BR set, all Network. All are fantastic sets. I had also purchased the Time Tunnel BR set, but that was from Revelation. Any possibility they might take on Network's properties?

Well, Network had releases from so many different entities - relationships built up over the years - that it would probably be impossible for one company to step in and take them all on. We all have different interests, so someone of us will be left out in the cold even if a number of them land elsewhere. I was primarily interested in the ITC shows, both home video and music, but they had a huge catalog of other production companies and genres.

They also invested in restoration of a lot of properties. Nobody's gonna take all that on. Maybe if someone buys the company and resumes business, but if Network is gone, then the only thing left is for someone to sell off remaining stock. Hopefully that money would go back to the people who pre-ordered things which never got a release before the closure. I really feel for those collectors.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

In remembrance of Network and their great work, here's a listing of all their releases I currently own (or have recently ordered). This is by no means a comprehensive list of their overall output, just stuff I was interested in and could get my hands on. I'm sure that, for instance, Jeff Flugel's collection of Network titles easily dwarfs mine, especially regarding comedies.

There are also other British series I own, which got a Network release, but I already have via decent domestic collections (i.e. Timeless/Shout's The Saint, A&E's Danger Man/Secret Agent, Acorn Media's color Callan episodes and Dark Sky's H.G. Wells' The Invisible Man).

Since Network's website is no more, perhaps this will be helpful for those wondering about their catalogue and/or are searching online vendors for Network discs.

TV Series:

Callan: The Monochrome Years (DVD)
Champions, The (DVD)
Cheaters, The (Blu-ray)
Corridor People, The (DVD)
Department S (Blu-ray)
Dial 999 (DVD)
Espionage (DVD)
Four Just Men, The (DVD)
Frighteners, The (DVD)
Goodies, The: Complete BBC Collection (DVD)
Goodies, The: Complete LWT Series (DVD)
Human Jungle, The (DVD)
Interpol Calling (DVD)
Kinvig (DVD)
Man in a Suitcase (Blu-ray)
Man of the World (DVD)
Monty Python's Flying Circus (Norwegian Blu-ray Edition)
Mystery and Imagination (DVD)
New (Incomplete) Complete & Utter History of Britain, The (Blu-ray/DVD combo)
Orson Welles Great Mysteries Vol. 1 (DVD)
Orson Welles Great Mysteries Vol. 2 (DVD)
Persuaders, The (Blu-ray)
Prisoner, The (Blu-ray)
Professionals, The (Blu-ray)
Protectors, The (1964 b&w series) (DVD)
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (Blu-ray)
Sandbaggers, The (DVD)
Sentimental Agent, The (DVD)
Shadows of Fear (DVD)
Space Patrol (UK puppet series) (Blu-ray)
Strange Report, The (DVD)
Strange World of Gurney Slade, The (Blu-ray)
Tales of Unease (DVD)
Tyrant King, The (DVD)
UFO (Blu-ray)
Undermind (DVD)
Vise, The: Vol. 1 (Blu-ray)

Films:

Card, The (1952) (Blu-ray)
Casting the Runes (1979) (DVD)
Cat Girl, The (1957) (DVD)
Deadlier Than the Male (1967) (Blu-ray)
Dulcima (1971) (Blu-ray)
Edgar Wallace Mysteries, Vol. 4 (also includes House of Mystery (1961)) (DVD)
Edgar Wallace Mysteries, Vol. 5 (also includes The Man in the Back Seat (1961)) (DVD)
80,000 Suspects (1963) DVD
Flying Deuces (1939) (Blu-ray)
Ghost Goes West, The (1935) (DVD)
Gonks Go Beat (1964) (Blu-ray)
Halas & Batchelor: Short Film Collection (DVD)
Happy Ever After (1954) (Blu-ray)
Hard Way, The (1980) (DVD)
Hell Drivers (1957) (Blu-ray)
Home at Seven (1952) (Blu-ray)
Honeymoon (1959) (Blu-ray)
Invasion (1966) (Blu-ray)
Man Who Could Work Miracles, The (1937) (DVD)
Man Who Finally Died, The (1963) (Blu-ray)
Maroc 7 (1967) (Blu-ray)
Mister Jerico (1970) (DVD)
Monster Club, The (1981) (Blu-ray)
Oh... Rosalinda!! (1955) (Blu-ray)
Our Man in Marrakesh (1966)
Phantom Light, The (1935) (DVD)
Q Planes (1939) (DVD)
Some Girls Do (1969) (Blu-ray)
Some People (1962) (Blu-ray)
Station Six-Sahara (1963) (Blu-ray)
Suspect (1960) (Blu-ray)
Tower of Terror (1941) (Blu-ray)
Unearthly Stranger (1963) (Blu-ray)
Woman in Black, The (1989, TV-Movie) (Blu-ray)

 

[ScottRE]

TV Series:


Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (Blu-ray)
Strange Report, The (DVD)

These were the last 2 of the 60's ITC catalog I really wanted to grab and was gonna pull the trigger on them this summer. Dammmmmmmit. Randall & Hopkirk's DVD release was sooo cheap too.

I'll find em elsewhere, but they had great sales and even shipping to the US wasn't bad.

 

[mark27b]

Not only The Champions on blu-ray in time for the nee movie but also the others programmes such as Minder on blu-ray it was hoped the late Dec 2015 deal they signed with Freemantle would result in but didn't

 

[brynmill]

Sadly two recent DVD releases didnt help their company...... the awful "Give us a Clue" panel game, and the equally awfull "Eurotrash". Especially when fans like myself were crying out for other releases to be completed. Will miss them terribly.

 

[Flashgear]

These are most, if not all of my Network collection (I have my disc collection in three areas of my house, and I also have R1 complete series sets for The Saint, Danger Man, The Baron, Robin Hood and The Protectors and many British movies from other labels), but I thought I'd take some photos of my Network DVD and Blu collections...as part of my lamentations for the bad news...

Network DVDs...

Network Blu-rays...

I still feel like crying (or puking) at the bad news. I'll continue pursuing my Network 'wants' from my favorite third-party dealers Rarewaves and Chalky's...One could hope for a corporate re-organization under Bankruptcy protection, if that's even possible under British law, and considering the economic outlook, and financing from a new investor partner (hopefully from the same sector, and thus knowing the business), but it feels like a pie-in-the-sky...liquidation of existing stock or not, things will never be the same on the Brit home video front.

 

[titch]

Nobody has mentioned the absolutely fabulous Network blu-ray release of 7-63 Up, widely considered to be the greatest documentary series ever made. Inspired Richard Linklater's Boyhood. If you don't purchase this now, it will be gone.

See on Amazon

 

[David Weicker]

Nobody has mentioned the absolutely fabulous Network blu-ray release of 7-63 Up, widely considered to be the greatest documentary series ever made. Inspired Richard Linklater's Boyhood. If you don't purchase this now, it will be gone.

See on Amazon

Well, I wouldn’t say nobody mentioned it

I’m eternally grateful for Monty Python and the Up series

 

[jayembee]

Well, I wouldn’t say nobody mentioned it

We all assumed that you were referring to that obscure series Monty Python and the Up.

 

[Blu_rayfan66]

The Network bluray release of the classic WWII documentary The World At War narrated by Lawrence Olivier is fantastic...and the only release anywhere in the original aspect ratio.

(Not sure if region B UK locked or region free- can check if anyone interested)

 

[delmothesaint]

They've gotten plenty of my money since I came across them at least a decade ago, probably longer. I do wonder why they released Randall & Hopkirk(Deceased) on blu-ray before more obvious choices like RETURN OF THE SAINT or THE BARON, unless R&H(D) is more popular in the UK than I thought. In any event, they certainly will be missed!

 

[cineescape]

I always viewed Network like the Warner Archive.

Not necessarily the current iteration giving us fantastic Blu-Ray restorations, but the the original - the company that opened wide the vaults of WB, RKO, and MGM.

Network gave us the (almost) forgotten British Film library. As well as the riches of British TV.

I’m eternally grateful for Monty Python and the Up series

Best of all for me, Network gave me my CD boxed set of Edwin Astley's Danger Man/Secret Agent TV series soundtrack.
It has nearly every piece of music from the series-AND superb sound quality (not overloaded and distorted like we hear in the dialogue/music mixes in episodes on DVD). Indeed, the set was pressed by Sony DADC, which recently closed its US pressing plant and most of its European distribution arms. All so tragic, but once the public embraced the convenience of streaming and music downloading (and typically in crappy mp3 sound quality) that gave media giants the justification for its slow but steady extermination of music and especially video optical format. And in another decade it could be hard if not impossible to find new or even used BD players or BD drives. Unless users spend months backing up their countless CDs, DVDs and BDs to SSDs, millions of personal libraries could become unusable.

 

[Dan McW]

Let me be the latest to mention Jeff Flugel--his posts encouraged me to purchase a number of Network series. I've enjoyed several of them but have a ton of catching-up to do.

 

[Museum Pieces]

That's too bad for a number of reasons, prime of which for me is I was hoping they would release Danger Man in HD. Seeing The Colony in HD on The Prisoner set made me believe DM was coming. At least I can put myself out of my misery now and accept what I have as what I will have.

And the five-disc original soundtrack set of Danger Man from Network is fab. Grateful to have what I have.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

They've gotten plenty of my money since I came across them at least a decade ago, probably longer. I do wonder why they released Randall & Hopkirk(Deceased) on blu-ray before more obvious choices like RETURN OF THE SAINT or THE BARON, unless R&H(D) is more popular in the UK than I thought. In any event, they certainly will be missed!

I'm not from the U.K. Delmo (maybe some British HTF members can chime in?), but from all that I've read/heard on various UK archive TV forums and Facebook groups over the last several years, the original ITC Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is extremely popular there...certainly far more so than The Baron.

Return of the Saint is a solid show in its own right, and luckily looks quite good on DVD. But I'm crushed that Network's Featuring the Baron 2-disc Blu-Ray set (composed of the series' two 2-part episodes, both in 4:3 original episodic format and the 16:9 European movie editions), due to be released on June 12, was abruptly cancelled because of the company's sudden demise. Apparently, the remastering had been completed, and I wouldn't be surprised if the finished discs are just sitting in a warehouse somewhere at the replicating factory, ready to go but with perhaps no chance now of seeing the light of day. It's a sad state of affairs, as The Baron does not look great on any of its DVD editions, and it would have been sweet to have at least five of the 30 episodes in pristine HD quality ("Something for a Rainy Day" having already been released on Network's Retro-Action sampler set.)

Let me be the latest to mention Jeff Flugel--his posts encouraged me to purchase a number of Network series. I've enjoyed several of them but have a ton of catching-up to do.

That's kind of you to say, Dan, thanks! Glad to hear that my various witterings about Network's and other UK releases over the past several years have been of some use to you in discovering new British series to enjoy. Network released a ton of great stuff, ranging from the esoteric and largely forgotten to the justifiably famous.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Doesn't Network also run a streaming service with same/similar content as the physcl media releases? One would think the supplemental revenue from that, plus merchandise sales etc., would have been enough to keep them afloat.. :>|

on the other thread there was an update from a UK forum that had mentiioned
The British Comedy Shop / Guide have posted a series of Network FAQ's on Twitter

"What will happen to stock?
It'll likely be sold off fairly as normal through 3rd party retailers such as Amazon - although prices will increase as availability declines.


What will happen to the library?
Rights all revert back to the archive owners. In most cases that's @FremantleUK, @ITVStudios and @StudiocanalUK - plus some honourable @BBCStudios mentions.

What happens to all of those titles?
Other companies, established or new, will have the opportunity to licence them afresh, according to the archive owners' own strategies.

What happened?
We can't divulge all we know, but it is not directly related to declining sales of physical media.

But ... Network were brilliant!
We know.

Our hearts go out to all employees. Many spent years dedicated to wonderful archival film and television content through Network - and their brilliant contributions will not be forgotten. The company's importance in making our shared cultural heritage widely available cannot be overstated.

 

[Carl David]

I'm not from the U.K. Delmo (maybe some British HTF members can chime in?), but from all that I've read/heard on various UK archive TV forums and Facebook groups over the last several years, the original ITC Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is extremely popular there...certainly far more so than The Baron.

Return of the Saint is a solid show in its own right, and luckily looks quite good on DVD. But I'm crushed that Network's Featuring the Baron 2-disc Blu-Ray set (composed of the series' two 2-part episodes, both in 4:3 original episodic format and the 16:9 European movie editions), due to be released on June 12, was abruptly cancelled because of the company's sudden demise. Apparently, the remastering had been completed, and I wouldn't be surprised if the finished discs are just sitting in a warehouse somewhere at the replicating factory, ready to go but with perhaps no chance now of seeing the light of day. It's a sad state of affairs, as The Baron does not look great on any of its DVD editions, and it would have been sweet to have at least five of the 30 episodes in pristine HD quality ("Something for a Rainy Day" having already been released on Network's Retro-Action sampler set.)


That's kind of you to say, Dan, thanks! Glad to hear that my various witterings about Network's and other UK releases over the past several years have been of some use to you in discovering new British series to enjoy. Network released a ton of great stuff, ranging from the esoteric and largely forgotten to the justifiably famous.

Brit here.

Not sure about Randall and Hopkirk.

Never watched it myself.

Can't imagine it's top tier TV in relation to popularity in the UK.

The most popular British TV shows excluding trashy soap operas over the last 40 years in no particular order are:

Fawlty Towers
Blackadder
Dr Who
Only Fools and Horses
Vicar of Dibley
Dad's Army

To name a few.

21st century additions include:

Game of Thrones
Downton Abbey
Fleabag
Line of Duty
The Office (Gervais)