(My regular Sunday photo will return when I’ve got organised enough to get this computer talking to the camera…)
I love The Goodies. Along with many Australian Gen-Xers it was one of my favourite TV shows of the 70s (and repeats in the 80s). I’ve got loads of favourite episodes, some great memories. So when the first DVD release came out a couple of years ago, I ordered it from Amazon UK to get it a few months before its Australian release.
For the second DVD, it turned out the Australian release would only be a couple of weeks after the UK one. So I decided to just buy it locally.
Bad idea.
You’d think DVD distributors would have worked this out by now: Most people have multi-region DVD players. And an awful lot of people know full well they can buy over the Net from other regions if the local release isn’t up to scratch. So they should damn well make sure the local release is up to scratch.
Of course, I should have checked. But I didn’t, partly because so soon after the release, information is a little thin on the ground. So now I have the inferior Australian release. But what I can do is put the word out: if you love The Goodies, don’t buy the Australian release. Spend an extra $5 or so and order it from the UK.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great pleasure to see these episodes fully restored, and with all the censored lines put back in. But it’s not as good as the UK release. Here’s a summary of the differences, using information gleaned from the Goodies-L email list, comparing to my copy:
| UK version | AU version | |
| Title | The Goodies – At Last a Second Helping | The Goodies – A Tasty Second Helping |
| Coded for | Region 2 | Region 4 |
| Episodes | 7 episodes uncut and remastered:
One episode found in a vault somewhere in black and white, remastered and restored in colour:
|
7 well-known (often shown in AU) episodes in remastered glorious colour, with various lines censored by the ABC put back in.
1 obscure episode, found in a vault and remastered but still in black and white.
|
| Special features | The Goodies Travelling Instant 5 minute Christmas
Crackerjack performance: A Man’s Best Friend is his Duck The Gymnasium – short clip Restoration featurette |
The Goodies Travelling Instant 5 minute Christmas
Crackerjack performance: A Man’s Best Friend is his Duck The Gymnasium – short clip Spot what’s missing! |
| And also | Booklet about The Goodies, and PDFs on the discs containing scripts | No booklet, no PDFs! |
| Available | Amazon UK, SendIt (BlackStar), the usual suspects – about A$45 | Most DVD retailers, about A$40 |
Having said all that, if anybody out there in Australia doesn’t really mind about the differences, and wants to pick up the AU release (only watched once) on the cheap for say $25 including postage, drop me a line. [I’ve had an offer. Thanks.]
5 replies on “Don’t buy The Goodies new DVD in Australia”
“with various lines censored by the ABC restored.”
I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you mean.
A color restoration of an episode I never saw and some booklet I suppose I can live without… but are you saying the UK DVD has the uncensored episodes, while the AUS one still has the censorship?
I’ve been checking out the comments & reviews, and I haven’t seen anyone mention this. The booklet & Come Dancing, yes… but no outrage at receiving censored episodes.
Are the AUS ones censored, or am I reading your post wrong?
Both DVD versions appear to be uncut. As far as I know, they were never censored for UK transmission, so I didn’t bother mentioning it in that column. But from an AU point of view, there is censored material, never seen on TV, that has been put back in (eg in Radio Goodies, Tim talks about being a DJ getting groupies). I’ll make a slight edit to clarify this.
That there is the main reason why I buy overseas for DVDs like that.
I noticed the clip they played from “Come Dancing” in their show tonight was in colour. I will have to have a look at buying it from the UK.
Thanks.
The Australian edition of the DVD was rushed out to coincide with the tour. The color version of ‘Come Dancing’ was a late edition. Some suggestive words were routinely edited out by the ABC.