Z Cars not on DVD

[shonokin]

As an American I never knew much about Z Cars outside of whatever comments were made in Doctor Who documentaries/special features. I finally got around to seeing an episode and thought it was pretty good.

It got me wondering about why such a popular (at the time) and famous show never came out on DVD. I asked around at various forums and no one knew. Finally I contacted the BBC itself.

I actually got a response from them and here is what they say:

Thank you for your recent communication regarding the availability of the above programme on DVD.

I am sorry to have to disappoint you but upon investigation I can confirm that we have no immediate plans to clear and release this title on DVD. I’m unsure as to the reason, I expect it’s due to the low expectations we have at it being a successful DVD in the current market. However your correspondence will be kept on file as each quarter we review public enquiries and often revisit titles which are frequently requested.

We appreciate all of the feedback that we receive from the viewing public, so thank you again for your correspondence.

So if this is something you want to see ever hitting the light of day, it may only come about from audience requests. If you want to see it happen spread the word and have your friends, and friends of friends contact the BBC and let them know!

Contact them at http://www.bbcworldwide.com/contact-us.aspx#dvd
The direct email addy is DVDenquiryline@bbc.com

[Captain Sci-Fi]

Here is a couple of things you may not be aware of:

The very early shows were transmitted live.

A lot of material was "purged" and tapes wiped clean to be recycled. This famously affected other shows like Dr.Who where whole stories were lost. Some episodes were later recovered when copies that were in private collections (guess how that happened) were recovered.

The transmission quality of early television was very low resolution compared to todays broadcasts, it this that will effect the total sales and make it uneconomic.

[delta tango]

I remember Z Cars very well. I found out something the other day which was quite interesting. The early episodes of Z Cars were made in Black& White. the Police cars used in the series were not white in colour, but pale yellow, so people would not confuse them with "REAL" Police cars! Later on the series was made in colour and then they did use White cars. I wonder if it confused anybody?

[marty_hopkirk]

You might want to check this out: http://www.mausoleumclubforum.org.uk...d=24125&page=1 There are some people in the know on this forum.

Whilst the BBC may not be considering a direct DVD release themselves, they do license material to third party companies who take on programmes that the BBC may consider have a reduced commercial worth. As regards quality they have released Adam Adamant and the exatant Quatermass material so 21st AV quality is obviously not a show stopper.

I'm not sure that Auntie had a purging/wiping policy, true they did wipe material to liberate expensive video tape but a significant amount of material was wiped in error - like famously their unique moon landing footage. Ironically there is more chance of the live episodes existing as they were telecined onto 16mm film for syndication purposes.

The material they consider to have interest but little commercial worth they host on their archive site like all the Chronicle series including the programme of the SS Great Britain returning to Bristol from the Falklands http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/chronicle/8628.shtml and the Great Egg Race http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/great_egg_race/

So it is not a forlorn hope that the extant Z Cars may see the light of day at some point.

Marty...

[shonokin]

About half the episodes exist (that means around 400), and from what I've seen so far they do not form any type of significant cohesive story arc. So I don't see why collecting them ala DW's LOST IN TIME or simply in order of appearance couldn't happen.

When talking to at least American DW fans, they are aware and curious about Z Cars because it tends to get mentioned often in DW extras. That may be a pre-installed demographic BBC hasn't thought about.

The sad thing is, I have mentioned this news and asking to email BBC about it to narrow band genre and broad interest TV forums and the results seem to be a cross-the-board contentment with complaining about the lack of BBC doing anything with the show but then not lifting a finger themselves to take 90 seconds to email them that there is an audience for it.

So even with an offer to be proactive, and extremely easy access to do so, the fan base chooses not to.

[marty_hopkirk]

Originally Posted by shonokin

About half the episodes exist (that means around 400), and from what I've seen so far they do not form any type of significant cohesive story arc. So I don't see why collecting them ala DW's LOST IN TIME or simply in order of appearance couldn't happen.

The vast majority of episodes were stand alone (might have been the odd two parters), therefore there were would be very little continuity lost due to the missing episodes.

Marty...

[rockwellcm]

Here you go,you can download some episodes of ZCars from this site

http://www.thebox.bz/main.php

there is a lot of Anderson stuff here too

hope it helps

[mirrorman]

Had the few episodes of Z cars on VHS. Unfortunately I no longer have that tape, but have to agree that it looked to be a pretty good show .. too bad they won't be releasing it on DVD any time soon.

Two things that I still well remember were that it took a few moments to understand the very strong accents, and that one of the Police women drove an MGA radio car.

[malwan]

Hello friends
My name is Malwan Kalan, I like to Watch TV Show and Movies
The trailer is very cool. I'm a huge fan of Mike Trim's design work.
It to be a good show .. too bad they won't be releasing it on DVD any time soon.

[shonokin]

As a follow up Acorn media on their facebook page has a poll going to see what they should release. Right now Z Cars is in third place, just below Doomwatch and Out of the Unknown. All worthy contenders! I voted Z Cars since I think it has the least likely chance of otherwise getting a release.
http://www.facebook.com/acornmediauk

[shonokin]

A tweet from ACORN media...
https://twitter.com/AcornmediaUK/sta...57738906050561

...a full announcement will be made in the new year but yes we will definitely be doing a Z Cars DVD release in 2013

I'd like to think that my online crusade to get the word out and have people email in to request the show helped stir the pot enough to be a part of the reason this is coming about.