'Phew, that was close' (Now with exciting Edit News!)

[Roy*Mallard]

That'd be a bugger. I only remember the series 2 repeats (from '89?), so it was a shock to see the shagging bears in 'Nasty' when i bought the video. Depends how much of the sneezing stuff they cut ......

Otherwise, this looks like it could be ok, but they still could have added so much more, especially seeing as they were directed to so much stuff by people on here, as well as many others, i'm assuming. Why bother putting out a call for extras and then not doing anything with them? Seems odd to me.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

To stop any confusions circulating, let it be known that this new set is indeed totally uncut - every frame is exactly as broadcast in 1982/84. All music cuts have been put back in - yes, including Good Day Sunshine. Quite incredible.

The downside is that we no longer get the shagging teddy bears in Nasty. Uncertainty still surrounds whether that segment ever went out at the time (it was certainly cut from the '85 repeat onwards), although it's always been present on the videos. Not sure about Neil sneezing in Sick - I've driven myself mad trying to do a shot-by-shot comparison with that scene in the past. It seems to have the close-up of Neil, though, so I think it's the long edit.

The transfers are also extremely good - not artefact-ridden and NTSC-ish like the 2002 sets.

So was this a happy accident, or was it painstakingly reconstructed by somebody who knew what they were doing? I'd go with the accident theory, myself, otherwise 'teddy bears' would surely have gone back in. I guess, as with Python, there's a Proper Set and a Wrong Set and they happily plucked the right one from the shelf. How did all that music get past though?

As for the extras...well, I don't know what happened to all the stuff we sent them, because none of it's there. No trailers, no rushes tape, no alternate Sick, no Wogan appearances, no Peter Brewis music cues. What we get is three cheaply-made documentaries, which have their moments but are still somewhat of a missed opportunity. Planer and Sayle are the only main-cast members interviewed; we get a lot from Lise Mayer, who is generally great and remembers various bits; production-wise we get the full set: Paul Jackson, Geoff Posner and Ed Bye. Lots of nice production photos I'd never seen before though, including a shot from the cut finale of Demolition (with the four of them eating Neil's casserole following the aeroplane crash).

Two interesting things covered in the doc:

Remember the planned flashframe in Summer Holiday, which Roger Wilmut refers to in Didn't You Kill My Mother-in-Law? It was supposed to be a piece of paper saying 'It wasn't my idea to put these fucking frames in' (or something) signed by the VT editor. Jackson mentions that this was blocked at the eleventh hour by Bill Cotton, who was worried about it because John Lloyd had got a bollocking for dropping similar flashframes into a Spitting Image sketch about Norris McWhirtur. Curious...but then Jackson says 'It was never broadcast, but it was included on the videos'. Which isn't true.

They also talk about the slow-motion cooker-explosion in Oil, with quite a few contributors remembering that it was a real explosion which nearly burnt Mayall and that it was slowed down because 'there was only a few seconds of footage'. But that doesn't tie in with the truth of the matter illustated by the 1982 Xmas tape - ie, it was in slow-motion because they mistimed the explosion sound-effect. 

We only get two commentaries, sadly - on Demolition and Summer Holiday. Both with Jackson and Posner. I'm about to check them out now.

Usual infuriating menus with fag-ends and beans. Real pain in the arse to navigate.

Oh, and they still use the subtitles from the old DVDs, even though myself and others offered to correct all the errors. So 'Euripedes trousers? Eumenides trousers, Medea!' is still transcribed wrongly.

So two cheers, really. It's wonderful that the episodes themselves are uncut and looking pin-sharp, but it's not the dog's-bollocks set it could have been.

[Roy*Mallard]

Cheers Lalla, much appreciated. Sounds good, tho could have been so much better. Just got to wait now for my folks to send it over to me.

How long do the doc's last for?

[trotsky assortment]

However he goes on to say that shagging bears and Neil's sneezes in Sick are cut - now weren't these missing from early repeats? Was there not some controversy over the sneeze segment at the time?

Yeah. As discussed much earlier in this thread, both the shagging bears and one of Neil's sneezes (and as a result, a snippet of dialogue) were cut from the '85 repeats.  You can see a screengrab of the 'offending' sneeze earlier in this thread too.

[Jemble Fred]

Yes, thanks indeed. That was the closest I'd come to giving in and buying a new DVD for about 14 months, after swearing off wasting cash on media products. Very glad I didn't – the promise of extensive cast commentaries was the number one pull.

[trotsky assortment]

Having just read Lalla's post, I'm delighted that all the music seems to be present, but a bit gutted at lack of shagging bears.  I'll have to hold on to my current DVD as an alternative.

As for mistakes on the old subtitle track, the one which still grates with me is the fantastic 'Lip nip nip nip bip' gag from 'Oil' being wrongly transcribed as '...bibble'.  Why?

[trotsky assortment]

Ooh.  Did anyone notice if the flash-flame of the gurning face has been put back where it belongs in 'Time'?  Since it's not been seen since the first broadcast (and the subsequent broadcast on the BFBS channel), I suspect it's still missing.  It certainly wasn't included in the '85 terrestrial repeat.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

The commentaries are OK - Jackson and Posner's memories are as ropey as you'd expect (the opening lines are 'We made this in...1982 was it?'/ 'Ha ha, you remember it better than me!', which made my heart sink), but they bring up the odd interesting thing.

They both confirm that Gerard Kelly, Herbert Norville and Chris Ellis all auditioned unsuccessfully for Mike, which is why they appear as the vox pops in Demolition.

They also say that the snow in Demolition was sprayed on, which I never realised - I remember the winter of 1981/82 being snowy, so I never questioned that it was real. They don't mention why the snow was needed though.

They also say that, although the exteriors for the series were shot in Bristol, the exteriors in Demolition were shot in Islington. Cor. Can anyone work out where the house is?

The documentaries feature tiny snippets of things like Boom Out Go the Lights and The Entertainers, but they're not included in full. Anyone know the copyright/money situation there? Do brief clips come under 'fair use'? I know they do for tx, but for DVD I always assumed they had to be paid for.

[jutl]

Anyone know the copyright/money situation there? Do brief clips come under 'fair use'? I know they do for tx, but for DVD I always assumed they had to be paid for.

We don't have fair use in the UK. We have the fair dealing exceptions, but they're more limited and wouldn't cover that kind of inclusion I think.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

The Demolition house is #10 according to the dustbin.

I'm almost tempted to methodically walk every Islington street until I find it.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Some chaps at Roobab's DVD Forum are sceptical about the 'spayed on snow' story. Looking at the footage again, I'm inclined to agree. Maybe they just sprayed some on for certain close-ups? All that sludge is definitely real.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Can anyone remember the situation with the flashframe (well, short clip) of the man blowing a raspberry in Time? Wilmut notes it in one of his transcripts - it's just after Dawn French's Easter bunny leaves. I'm sure I've seen it, but I don't think it's ever been on the videos/DVDs and it's still not on this new set.

[R. Sparts]

The Demolition house is #10 according to the dustbin.

I'm almost tempted to methodically walk every Islington street until I find it.

Isn't it on the corner of Codrington Road and Broadway Rd. in St Andrews, Bristol or am i getting confused with the house used in the rest of the series?

[Piers Fletcher Dervish]

@ ELW10:
I've just checked with the "Complete Series" videos. The raspberry blowing punk-flash frame IS in there, right after the Easter Bunny. So this is NOT on the new DVD-set? (I'll still have to wait for it to be delivered.)

[trotsky assortment]

Isn't it on the corner of Codrington Road and Broadway Rd. in St Andrews, Bristol or am i getting confused with the house used in the rest of the series?

No.  That's the house from 'Oil' onwards.  Clearly seen as Codrington Road when Neil runs past at the beginning of 'Bambi'.

[R. Sparts]

No.  That's the house from 'Oil' onwards.  Clearly seen as Codrington Road when Neil runs past at the beginning of 'Bambi'.

Ah... ok... I remember doing a tour of YO locations when I lived in Bristol a few years back and that was definitely on it :-)  ISTR it was the only one that could still pass for the original location.

Actually, that's reminded me, I've got a load of photos of the locations as of about 6 years ago somewhere. Hmmm...

[Famous Mortimer]

So did anyone get a reply after you sent them a copy of all the rarities you had?

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

I've just checked with the "Complete Series" videos. The raspberry blowing punk-flash frame IS in there, right after the Easter Bunny.

Indeed it is, and it's missing from the new DVD. Sigh. So not quite uncut then. Christ knows why (or indeed when) the flashframe was removed.

It's not a punk blowing a raspberry, incidentally - it's noted on the PasB sheet as 'Gurning from Newcastle'.

[trotsky assortment]

I'd love to know why that was removed too.  The only time I've ever seen it was on the tape my uncle gave me containing the BFBS broadcasts of 'Nasty' (cut for shagging bears), 'Time', 'Sick' (cut for one of Neil's sneezes) and 'Summer Holiday'.  That'd mean I've not seen that flash-frame for over twenty years; some days I began to feel I'd imagined it.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

In the show, we see the Easter bunny depart, and then we cut to a four-shot; the flashframe then appears just before they all exclaim 'Eh?!'.

When I get a sec, I'll check at what point the cut occurs on the DVD. If it's after the flashframe then it's been removed; if it's a clean version without the flashframe then it'll be a 'two edits on the shelf assumed to be identical' situation.

See, you don't get this on Screenwipe do you?

[Piers Fletcher Dervish]

Let me just add the other flash-frames from the good old "Complete Series"-videos:

#2.1 BAMBI: Carry On Cowboy's "THE END" (well, longer than a frame really)
#2.2 CASH: Yellow Skier
#2.3 NASTY: Hands on potter's wheel / Dripping water tap
#2.4 TIME: Man blowing raspberry
#2.5 SICK: White Eagle / Leaping frog

I so much hope the other ones were left intact..??

[trotsky assortment]

I seem to recall that the version without the raspberry blower doesn't look edited, so there may well be a version without it anyway, but I could be wrong.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

See, you don't get this on Screenwipe do you?

That's because Screenwipe is a programme about both that week's television and general trends in television. An in-depth examination of mysteriously edited comedy DVD's would seem a bit out of place.

Or maybe that was your point.   

[Toxteth OGrady]

I so much hope the other ones were left intact..??

I watched Cash on the new DVD last night and the skier is still there.

[trotsky assortment]

There's no reason why all those others should have vanished.  I'd be really surprised if they had.  I think, as Lalla suggests, maybe there were two slightly different edits of 'Time', giving a reason as to why the gurner is missing from most issued/broadcast versions of that episode.

[Ambient Sheep]

A well-meaning relative has just bought-on-my-behalf (so not actually a gift) the two old DVDs (i.e. this and this) for £7 each from Asda.  They're still shrink-wrapped at this stage and can be taken back.

My question is, is it worth hanging onto them (and thus paying my rellie £14) to get anything that isn't on the new box-set?  From reading the discussion, it seems I'd just get the shagging teddy-bears, and maybe the odd flash-frame.  Is there anything else?

Obviously I intend to get the box set at some point anyway, in order to get the proper 35m cuts with all the music intact; but what I'm asking is, is it worth hanging onto these DVDs too because they have the odd scene or something that isn't on the box-set?  I'm normally quite the completist and would say "to hell with it, keep them", but money's pretty tight at the moment, in which context £14 seems quite a lot just for some shagging teddy-bears and a flash-frame.  :-)

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

You'd get the shagging teddy-bears, the re-dubbed intro to Oil, the Beatles-free intro to Boring, and the mysterious Brewis-esque sting as Neil is thrown out of the army recruitment shop (which covers up the removal of Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve).

If you want the Time flashframe and the 'clean' version of the lion-taming scene (sans Tight Fit), you have to seek out the old VHS tapes.

So as a hardcore Young Ones fan, I'm holding onto them...but I wouldn't necessarily argue they're worth £14.

[samadriel]

Why was one of Neil's sneezes cut in Sick?  An excessively graphic snot-blast or something? (I wouldn't think so, considering the Beeb's tolerance of revoltingness through the rest of the episode...)

[trotsky assortment]

I've never understtod why it was cut either.  The cut sneeze is the enly time we see a close up sneeze though, so maybe that was why.  Rather more annoyingly, the cut version omits a line of dialogue.

[Ambient Sheep]

You'd get the shagging teddy-bears, the re-dubbed intro to Oil, the Beatles-free intro to Boring, and the mysterious Brewis-esque sting as Neil is thrown out of the army recruitment shop (which covers up the removal of Ken Bishop's Nice Twelve).

If you want the Time flashframe and the 'clean' version of the lion-taming scene (sans Tight Fit), you have to seek out the old VHS tapes.

Thanks very much for all that detailed information.  It actually makes my choice rather more difficult, but at least it'll be informed!  Given what you've said, I'll probably cave and hang onto them, in fact.  It's annoying that they're evenly spread across the two series, so I can't even take one back, although, heh, I doubt my completist nature would let me keep just one.

I hadn't realised that the older DVDs were mostly uncut, I'd assumed they were ALL the 30m edits rather than only one of them ("Cash", presumably).  As for the VHS tapes, I have a faint bell ringing in the back of my head that I once read that there were two (or even more?) versions of those, i.e. there's a difference between the individual ones and the Complete Series boxset.  Or is that just my memory being stupid?  I'd like to know in case I ever run across them at a boot sale.

I know I got confused enough about all the different versions that I made a decision many years ago not to buy any Young Ones product until a definitive box set came out, and likewise with Monty Python's Flying Circus.  Also, like Joeyzaza - I refused to splash out on the Comic Strip boxset after I heard about the cuts (so I'll be interested to see what comes of this new 2007 copyright date mystery).  Mind you, if the CT boxset is now going as cheap as £17.97 in some places, that's probably going to be too tempting to resist.

Why did they leave Tight Fit off the VHS copy of Flood?  Contractual (seems unlikely, unless they couldn't track down the lion-tamer) or taste (seems quite likely)?