[James2001]

Video from the opening day of Astra 1B here, including a screen for the launch of The Movie Channel on Astra later that day, and a Sports Channel menu- still with the BSB version's branding (though there's a Sky Sports slide later in the video)

[WillPS]

Video from the opening day of Astra 1B here, including a screen for the launch of The Movie Channel on Astra later that day, and a Sports Channel menu- still with the BSB version's branding (though there's a Sky Sports slide later in the video)

Was Sport definitely on 1B from the start? It doesn't seem to be on that listing (in the vid) but Movie Channel is. Interesting to see that branding was carried over - you can tell it's from Sky's playout rather than BSB's as the format/font of the menu is all different from what it had been at Marcopolo.

[Larry the Loafer]

I think the scarcity of Heil Honey has let this myth of it being the most tasteless show ever grow and fester, probably not helped by the likes of Channel 5 and their Most Outrageous TV Moments etc etc.

The only real thing I can charge it with is that it just wasn't really all that funny. It was a sketch's worth of material dragged out for longer than it had any right to be - pretty much your average SNL sketch, dare I say it.

[Neil Jones]

According to the forum for Missing-Episodes.com (This Post --> missingepisodes.proboards.com  and scroll down to the post by Mark Tinkler ) the pilot for Heil Honey did get an airing on Channel 4 (the original BSB Pilot), then they remade it for some reason.  It didn't go well.

As of 2013 the episodes are available and almost certainly weren't wiped, but I dare say good luck clearing it for repeat/DVD (I wonder if Network ever looked at it?):
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk 

[WillPS]

According to the forum for Missing-Episodes.com (This Post --> missingepisodes.proboards.com  and scroll down to the post by Mark Tinkler ) the pilot for Heil Honey did get an airing on Channel 4 (the original BSB Pilot), then they remade it for some reason.  It didn't go well.

As of 2013 the episodes are available and almost certainly weren't wiped, but I dare say good luck clearing it for repeat/DVD (I wonder if Network ever looked at it?):
www.curiousbritishtelly.co.uk 

Again, why would Network or anyone look at it? Network specialised in niche content but how many DVDs of Heil Honey I'm Home would they possibly sell? It's certainly not a DVD you'd see on the FSDU of random DVDs they sent to Sainsburys at Christmas!!

[James2001]

It's probably the only BSB show anyone ever talks about or even knows existed, apart from maybe the Doctor Who weekend, where footage from that has ended up on official DVDs.

[James2001]

Oh yes, also Jupiter Moon, which I think has the "honour" of being the only BSB show released on DVD. Obviously never actually shown in full by BSB themselves (but was abroad, and on the Sci Fi channel years later).

Though how much of the BSB archive actually still exists is up in the air anyway (not helped by various "missing episode" groups who are far too eager to confidently declare things as "wiped" based on hearsay, the company's hard to track down or because the first intern they asked couldn't find it listed, even in several cases where the episodes in question are in circulation on TV or the publicly searchable BFI database shows they at least hold a broadcast quality copy even if the broadcasters themselves don't- going a bit off topic there though).

[bilky asko]

It's probably the only BSB show anyone ever talks about or even knows existed, apart from maybe the Doctor Who weekend, where footage from that has ended up on official DVDs.

Though Doctor Who anything is bound to attract interest. Sitcom Hitler isn't a massive international BBC franchise.

[WillPS]

Though Doctor Who anything is bound to attract interest. Sitcom Hitler isn't a massive international BBC franchise.

And even then, an extra, not a release of it's own.

[Humphrey Hacker]

Here's some more footage:
www.youtube.com