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VINTAGE TV PROGRAMMES AND FILMS Specialist Video Tape Suppliers Here are addresses of several video tape suppliers, which will be useful if you are looking for current or vintage films not released here. Some of the specialist dealers in the USA can provide PAL system copies, otherwise you will need a video recorder with NTSC playback. Because American copyright laws differ from ours, many old television programmes and cinema films are considered 'public domain' and are available at very modest prices. UK credit cards are accepted by all of these American dealers as far as we know.
Trade Test Films once shown on BBC2 One method is to buy copies on video from the film library that produced the film originally (Ride the Wild Horses is a BP film, for example, so in this case you would need to approach the BP film library). For a complete list of every trade test colour film and details of those available on video tape click here: www.vintage-radio.com/405alive/info/prog_tradefilms.html. There are also plenty of copies of (most of) these films scudding around collectors' circles and if you put a small ad in the right places you will probably get a reply from someone prepared to trade a copy with you. Obviously these copies cannot be sold for cash and most sensible people swap them without any money changing hands (or just charge the minimum for providing blank tape, postage, wear and tear on their tape machines, etc.). Both 405 Alive and the Test Card Circle's magazine cover the subject of trade test films and both magazines carry small ads.
British Television Programmes and Films on Video The Videolog database of all video tapes in print can be viewed on the Moviemail site at www.moviem.co.uk It's notable that around 20 per cent of all the titles in print in the UK are deleted each year, meaning that every month some 1,000 titles change status. Moviemail offers to obtain any British video tape in print; their phone number is 01432-262910, e-mail enquiries@moviem.co.uk Television Programmes and Films once issued on Video but now deleted A company called The Film Vault Search Service claims to be the largest and most successful video search company in the Uk, specialising in finding rare and difficult-to-find video tapes. It claims a 92 per cent success rate from around 161,000 titles. Phone 01865-361000 or 361888 or fax 01865-361500. Website is at www.filmvault.co.uk, e-mail mail@filmvault.co.uk . Postal enquiries to The Film Vault Search Service, Unit 7, The Boundary, Wheatley Road, Garsington, Oxford, OX44 9DY. [I have to say that my one and only personal encounter with the company did not bear out their claims; my requests obviously contributed to the 8 per cent failure rate!]. Boot sales and secondhand shops are another source. Part of the problem is that it is illegal to sell commercially tapes that don't carry a BBFC certification; older tapes never had this. You might also try-
Television Programmes sold only in the USA A number of British and European television programmes unavailable in the UK are on sale in the USA; titles include Sherlock Holmes, Colonel March of Scotland Yard as well as obscure episodes of Robin Hood, Sir Lancelot and The Avengers . These tapes are available in VHS format from a number of suppliers and although they will normally supply NTSC to match the television standard used there, most of them they can also supply our PAL system on request for a small supplement. In any case, many of the newer VHS machines can replay NTSC recordings on a PAL receiver. All the companies listed here accept credit cards and orders by telephone or mail. You need to buy their catalogues first of course. Prices are generally comparable with or lower than UK prices, although you need to take the cost of airmail postage into account, also possible UK duty and VAT charges. Orders of a single tape are not normally surcharged, however.
The old animated idents and the start-of-day films shown in some regions As for ITV idents and music, there is no official archive collection. We understand some enthusiasts have compiled their own tapes, so the only hope is wants ads in the two magazines mentioned above. Not many ITV companies made start-of-day films and the only one you can obtain officially is that shown by Westward Television, available on a compilation tape for around £25 from the TSW Film & TV Archive for the South West, Foot & Bowden Building, Derry’s Cross, Plymouth, PL1 2SP (01752-202650, fax 01752-205025). The addresses of all Television (and other) companies in the UK which hold archive film & Video libraries Call the British Universities Film & Video Council on 020-7393
1500 and ask about their Researcher’s Guide books. They also have
similar books on all newsreel archives in the UK. The books are
comprehensive and meticulously compiled; they are therefore not
cheap. Also knowing that material exists does mean you can buy a
viewing copy but for genuine researchers these books are a must.
The BUFVC publications list (free of charge) lists all the valuable
reference books they publish. |
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