tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post9006130417200745128..comments2024-03-27T02:17:17.071-05:00Comments on From the Archive: A British Television Blog: The Tape Traders: Those Were The Days!Greghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13946848534077648713noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-42092557601799613322012-12-31T18:42:32.654-06:002012-12-31T18:42:32.654-06:00Hi Captain18,
That tape from Visions really was ...Hi Captain18, <br /><br />That tape from Visions really was a sort of landmark tape. So much on it and although a bootleg well worth the price. <br /><br />In terms of getting episodes, my desire was to have all episodic versions of stories on VHS and all the movie versions on Beta. I had just acquired a Beta machine cheap and I wanted to make use of it. Only the movie versions were shown in our market at the time while I needed to find the episodics somewhere else. I eventually bought off a collection of movie version off-air recordings from someone who needed the money. I still have those and am converting those to DVD for nostalgia sake.<br /><br />I did the same sort of thing you did with <i>The Mind of Evil</i> which was to drop in the colour bits into the B&W Episode 6. I also did the same with <i>Evil of the Daleks</i> Episode 2 because part of the opening credits were missing and I replaced them. I don't know how my younger self would have coped with the knowledge of how easy all that is now with computer video editing.<br /><br />Take care, <br />Greg Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13946848534077648713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-21169036277364105452012-12-30T08:34:49.179-06:002012-12-30T08:34:49.179-06:00My God, I have that same VHS tape from Visions. T...My God, I have that same VHS tape from Visions. The "Variations on a Theme" videos made a huge impact on me, and I remember watching <i>Evil</i>:2 for the first time and instantly, immediately understanding why so many British fans were calling that serial the "best ever".<br /><br />I had a copy of the whole PBS run in movie format, sans <i>Planet</i>:3 and <i>Dinosaurs</i>:1. I would make copies for people and do things like frame-accurate dropping the color footage in when copying <i>Mind of Evil</i>.<br /><br />It's funny. I look back on those nth-generation copies now that I have the Lost in Time set and think "How did I manage to watch this?" But the answer is always the same. There was something about staring through the sparkles and flicker. Somehow it only emphasized the feeling that I was watching something <b>special</b>.<br /><br />Those were the days!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-54437535463471257232012-11-30T20:00:15.455-06:002012-11-30T20:00:15.455-06:00Just to chime in along with everyone else. Well d...Just to chime in along with everyone else. Well done! What a great trip down memory lane. It brought back lots of great memories, and the YouTube clips of the camera copies was fantastic. I too, remember being the loud obnoxious fan in 1987 standing up and asking if anyone had Who tapes to trade. That particular stunt landed me in Pete D's hands that night. ;)<br /><br />It's hard to believe we ever got connected back in "the day" what with the Internet making it all orders of magnitude easier today.<br /><br />Thanks, Greg!Mike R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-53517058421803237852012-11-27T18:55:43.021-06:002012-11-27T18:55:43.021-06:00Dave G: I remember vividly when you and I met at L...Dave G: I remember vividly when you and I met at Lowry library in 1988. Remembrance of the Daleks. Fun, fun, fun times!<br /><br />Robert Saint John: The NTSC/PAL switchable converter sounds familiar. I remember my first camera copy of <i>The Ice Warriors</i> in 1990. It had the burnt-in time code and other information. The person doing the camera copy zoomed in to get rid of that information which made everything super zoomed in. I think I got my first converted copy of the story from New Mexico in November of 1990.<br /><br />GloriaFan: Thank you for the kind words. Episode circulation is a favourite topic of mine too. There are some crazy stories out there. Thank you for reading my blog!<br /><br />Take care, <br />GregGreghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13946848534077648713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-39828412049105056412012-11-27T00:38:01.955-06:002012-11-27T00:38:01.955-06:00Lovely article! I find the topic of fandom during ...Lovely article! I find the topic of fandom during the original run very interesting, and episode circulation doubly so. Can't wait for the next part.GloriaFanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01851251147594250607noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-37422519883170027622012-11-26T18:01:11.132-06:002012-11-26T18:01:11.132-06:00What a great post! Just FYI, you said:
"Ther...What a great post! Just FYI, you said:<br /><br />"There were two ways of getting episodes over here in the US at that time..."<br /><br />Actually, there was a third way, and it was probably the origin of many of these tapes. Back in 1983, our local Doctor Who group actually sent a NTSC VCR to some electronics company in Florida, and they installed a switchable NTSC/PAL converter. IIRC, it was nearly $800, as much as the VCR itself in 1983! But it was worth it. We'd get 1st or 2nd generation tapes straight from the UK, shortly after airing. And it provided a mechanism to make new NTSC tapes for friends outside our local group. I don't think that was quite the end of camera copies for us (I seem to recall seeing "The Ice Warriors" for the first time as a CC as late as '89), but it certainly changed our world for those last few years of annual DW viewings.Robert Saint Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16063044279947754807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482477005027998350.post-31621817346742965902012-11-26T15:36:01.754-06:002012-11-26T15:36:01.754-06:00Memories of the good old days of the Whoniversity....Memories of the good old days of the Whoniversity. TimeFest, Lowry Ave library, Southdale library - good times, great people, even the occasional whacko wondering if we ever looked into mind control. As far as your "friend", I have a funny feeling I know exactly who you are talking about.<br /><br />I look forward to part 2!Dave Gnoreply@blogger.com