[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.