 GRANGE
HILL - THE OFFICIAL DVDs
Following the surprise announcement that
the first four series of Grange Hill will be released on DVD this
autumn, you've all had plenty to say.
But some people are concerned we won't get the full product, like
Malcolm Neale: "It's great news about
the DVD release of GH, but I do have the same reservations as you
about there being edits. As I already have quite good copies of
all series I am more interested in any extras there may be. I would
love to have commentaries and interviews with former cast members,
and maybe deleted scenes and bloopers, but to be honest I don't
have great hopes of any extras at all. We shall just have to wait
and see." Hi Malcolm - and yes, I personally don't
hold out there being much hope of extras, especially if the DVDs
are anything like the Casualty DVDs the BBC brought out last year.
And just to clarify what you mean about edits, several fans are
concerned the Grange Hill DVDs will contain that most dreaded of
small print - "For contractual reasons, certain edits have
been made". This was the case with the Casualty DVDs and some
episodes ended well before their original length of 48 minutes.
Unfortunately, Grange Hill contains many instances where this may
be necessary - ie. a particular performer hasn't given permission
for his bit to be included or a certain pop song playing in the
background may have to be "covered up" because clearance
could not be obtained. We very much hope that the Grange Hill DVDs
will contain the episodes AS BROADCAST and that such edits will
not be necessary - but if we find out cuts have been made, we will
forewarn you all!!!
Dave Matthews, who broke the news of the DVD release, writes: "It's
a bit strange that the BBC have kept quiet about this - GH must, after
all, be (one of) the longest-running children's shows in the world.
In some respects I'm a little surprised that they don't put the release
date back until 2008 to tie in with the show's 30th Anniversary. Anyway,
as somebody who watched the very first episode when it was first broadcast
all those years ago, I'm delighted to finally have the chance to see
it again. In some respects it's amazing that we'll be able to do this
when you consider how - even up until the mid-1980s - the BBC regularly
disposed of much of its "archive" material. That said, the later years
will almost certainly not be considered for release. I must confess
I stopped watching it in the early 1990s when, it seemed to me, it
went into decline (curiously coinciding with a similar drop in quality
for Redmond's other big show, Brookside). How far the DVDs go chronologically
will almost certainly be dependent on how well the early sets sell.
So, again, let's hope the Beeb really "shout" about them. It is, however,
interesting that the Beeb are confident to release four seasons' worth
in one go, so they must have a fair degree of confidence about sales."
Indeed Dave, sales of Series 1-4 will determine whether any later
series are released. But we're fairly certain the DVDs are part
of Grange Hill's 30th anniversary celebrations - yes the anniversary
proper isn't until February but filming of Series 1 was taking place
months before the first episode was shown in 1978. No Grange Hill
episodes have ever been wiped - they all exist on digital broadcast
formats but we can't guarantee the original tape sources survived.
 I
never said that!
"Hey this is Sally Morton here, I
played Tracey Long on Grange Hill. Just wondering where you got
the information from on my Star File....I don't remember saying
it, especially not the sci-fi bit lol just a question that's all.
Cheers." Hi Sally - and so sorry we've misquoted
you! The sci-fi info was sent to us in good faith from a fan who
claims this is what you told him, but we're sorry this obviously
turns out not to be the case. What are you up to these days - please
tell us!
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