[Neil Jones]

Might be budget (or time). ITV would have probably charged Network for new dubs, and it may have been quicker to use the Plus edits to get the resource out on time.

Whereas for ITV3, presumably ITV is not going to charge itself for new files it probably already has (I presume most of the archive is digital by now and not just floating on 2"/1"/whatever physical media?) on a server somewhere, can just add those to playout, presumably.

[Humphrey Hacker]

This was what made Network special. Any other outlet, be it home media, linear channels, streaming... you can't have any confidence that any effort will have gone in to presenting things in the best quality they can.

Network is probably the only label who I know would be seeking the absolute best quality source material and then doing their best to present it as well as they possibly could, both in terms the media itself but also the extras and packaging. There just never was a doubt that I might end up being frustrated by the product with them.

Perhaps there is another niche player I'm not aware of, but for me Network was the one. I just regret not buying a few other titles I was interested in, presumably there's a warehouse of stock somewhere which will need to be emptied?

That is very true as regards their presentational efforts:
www.youtube.com 

[bkman1990]

Some good news today regarding the future of Network.

I read some unverified rumours online which are saying today that Network is going to be bought up under a new deal agreed by Spirit Entertainment & Technicolor very soon.

A post on Blu-ray.com has said this details of this sale were leaked from some HMV staff members at a store in Bristol.

There are no concrete details about how this is going to work yet. More details should be announced soon.

Spirit Entertainment own Dazzler Media which have DVD & Blu-ray rights for drama series and other shows produced by the likes of the BBC, Sky, C5 and Apple TV+.

Technicolor have history with Network while they distributed some of their titles on Network's behalf.

[WillPS]

Some good news today regarding the future of Network.

I read some unverified rumours online which are saying today that Network is going to be bought up under a new deal agreed by Spirit Entertainment & Technicolor very soon.

A post on Blu-ray.com has said this details of this sale were leaked from some HMV staff members at a store in Bristol.

There are no concrete details about how this is going to work yet. More details should be announced soon.

Spirit Entertainment own Dazzler Media which have DVD & Blu-ray rights for drama series and other shows produced by the likes of the BBC, Sky, C5 and Apple TV+.

Technicolor have history with Network while they distributed some of their titles on Network's behalf.

Why would HMV Bristol staff know of it? I want to believe but a better source is needed.

[Neil Jones]

BKMan1990 might have liked to mention the post of which he speaks was posted on the forum. Not the website.
In particular this one: forum.blu-ray.com 

Blu-ray Forum - View Single Post - The Official Network Thread
Everything about Blu-ray Disc. Join the Blu-ray Forum to discuss topics such as …
  Source: forum.blu-ray.com

I don't know how reliable the forums are at blu-ray.com (though they seem to be a fan of megathreads, read into that what you like).

[James2001]

The most unusual DVD of theirs I've got is The Animals of Farthing Wood, because it's literally the most basic commercial DVD I've ever seen- to the extent it doesn't even have a copyright notice or Network ident when you first put the discs in, it just goes straight to the menu (which is itself just a plain, static affair with the episode names, no chapter selection or anything). All the other Network releases I own have them, so it's strange that one doesn't.

The 90s BBC VHS releases of the show were bizarre enough, with each series split into 3 volumes, each volume of which combined several episodes into one omnibus edition, with around 20-25 minutes worth of content removed across each series (not to mention the volumes ending and starting in what was the middle of an episode). Why they didn't release them as the original episodes (even if it would mean a differing number of episodes per tape), or just made each volume the extra 7 or 8 minutes longer needed to keep all the content is beyond me. Admittedly it was bizarre watching the DVDs and seeing the cut content since probably the first time since the original broadcasts in 1993/94, as I'd got so used to the VHS releases (and off-airs of the second half of series 2, which has the beginnings or ends of some episodes missing, the wonders of using VideoPlus without giving a few extra minutes either side).

[WillPS]

The most unusual DVD of theirs I've got is The Animals of Farthing Wood, because it's literally the most basic commercial DVD I've ever seen- to the extent it doesn't even have a copyright notice or Network ident when you first put the discs in, it just goes straight to the menu (which is itself just a plain, static affair with the episode names, no chapter selection or anything). All the other Network releases I own have them, so it's strange that one doesn't.

The 90s BBC VHS releases of the show were bizarre enough, with each series split into 3 volumes, each volume of which combined several episodes into one omnibus edition, with around 20-25 minutes worth of content removed across each series (not to mention the volumes ending and starting in what was the middle of an episode). Why they didn't release them as the original episodes (even if it would mean a differing number of episodes per tape), or just made each volume the extra 7 or 8 minutes longer needed to keep all the content is beyond me. Admittedly it was bizarre watching the DVDs and seeing the cut content since probably the first time since the original broadcasts in 1993/94, as I'd got so used to the VHS releases (and off-airs of the second half of series 2, which has the beginnings or ends of some episodes missing, the wonders of using VideoPlus without giving a few extra minutes either side).

I think The Secret Service is another Network release with nothing in the bells and whistles department. I couldn't tell you off the top of my head if it had a Network logo or not.

Abridging often happened with Childrens programming, even in to the DVD era. I remember my brother's Thomas videos were similar. I think the rationale was that the placating effect (which was often what parents sought when they bought a video for their children) was sometimes broken by repeated credits and title sequences. I imagine in the case of The Animals of Farthing Wood the staggered starts and ends were to remove the reprieves from cliffhangers in episodes the audience may not be familiar with and the cliffhangers designed to lead in to episodes the audience may not see).

In the earlier days of home entertainment releases (way before Animals of Farthing Wood) there was a belief that video releases had to compete with theatrical films - which led to Doctor Who stories being released abridged and the only content ITC would permit for home release was the 'super space theatre' compilation films. Perhaps cost of tape was also a consideration in the very early days.

[Neil Jones]

The most unusual DVD of theirs I've got is The Animals of Farthing Wood, because it's literally the most basic commercial DVD I've ever seen- to the extent it doesn't even have a copyright notice or Network ident when you first put the discs in, it just goes straight to the menu (which is itself just a plain, static affair with the episode names, no chapter selection or anything). All the other Network releases I own have them, so it's strange that one doesn't.

The 90s BBC VHS releases of the show were bizarre enough, with each series split into 3 volumes, each volume of which combined several episodes into one omnibus edition, with around 20-25 minutes worth of content removed across each series (not to mention the volumes ending and starting in what was the middle of an episode). Why they didn't release them as the original episodes (even if it would mean a differing number of episodes per tape), or just made each volume the extra 7 or 8 minutes longer needed to keep all the content is beyond me. Admittedly it was bizarre watching the DVDs and seeing the cut content since probably the first time since the original broadcasts in 1993/94, as I'd got so used to the VHS releases (and off-airs of the second half of series 2, which has the beginnings or ends of some episodes missing, the wonders of using VideoPlus without giving a few extra minutes either side).

Yeah this probably isn't unique to that show, as its probably a cost revenue ratio thing. since you can buy blank DVDS for home use in bulk at relatively cheap prices which works out at somewhere around 20-25p a disc, imagine what they cost to buy wholesale and then to actually make - pennies.

Video on the other hand would have been a higher initial cost I would have thought, due to all the parts, the plastic, the tape itself, some method of threading it on the cogs and what not and then mass duplicating from the tape master you've put together (I remember reading the BBC learnt from a Dr Who home video release saga that duplication in real time was the only acceptable solution for mass duplicating of video tape and not whatever they were using before which was quicker, cheaper but poorer picture quality) ... If you can shave the cost off by cutting a show by an episodes worth, that's probably cheaper than coughing up for another master and another tape.

As mentioned above a lot of 80s and probably early 90s VHS releases would have had the episodes stitched together in one long run. We had the complete Fawlty Towers collection from I think 1986, which had three episodes together on each tape that all ran into each other, with the credits at the end in a cobbled together fashion. Its probably good fortune there are only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers as it slotted nicely into that ideology (13th episode rumours not withstanding).

[Humphrey Hacker]

Yeah this probably isn't unique to that show, as its probably a cost revenue ratio thing.  since you can buy blank DVDS for home use in bulk at relatively cheap prices which works out at somewhere around 20-25p a disc, imagine what they cost to buy wholesale and then to actually make - pennies.

Video on the other hand would have been a higher initial cost I would have thought, due to all the parts, the plastic, the tape itself, some method of threading it on the cogs and what not and then mass duplicating from the tape master you've put together (I remember reading the BBC learnt from a Dr Who home video release saga that duplication in real time was the only acceptable solution for mass duplicating of video tape and not whatever they were using before which was quicker, cheaper but poorer picture quality) ...  If you can shave the cost off by cutting a show by an episodes worth, that's probably cheaper than coughing up for another master and another tape.

As mentioned above a lot of 80s and probably early 90s VHS releases would have had the episodes stitched together in one long run.  We had the complete Fawlty Towers collection from I think 1986, which had three episodes together on each tape that all ran into each other, with the credits at the end in a cobbled together fashion.  Its probably good fortune there are only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers as it slotted nicely into that ideology (13th episode rumours not withstanding).

In a related fashion ABC Australia would stitch together a 2 part episode of "The Bill" into a 90 minute ad-free "telemovie" and use "credit squeeze" to have a modified set of credits at the end.

[James2001]

Abridging often happened with Childrens programming, even in to the DVD era. I remember my brother's Thomas videos were similar.

And I guess those Farthing Wood DVDs weren't aimed at kids anyway, but those of us who grew up with the show.

Plus I'm sure some of the content in there wouldn't be allowed on kids TV these days... suprised it was then really, and that the VHS releases still only got a U rating. Buy a U rated VHS for your kids and be greeted with baby mice impaled on bloody thorns, lovely.