Rosemary Sutcliff‘s historical novel The Eagle of the Ninth, which by 2011 had sold more than a million copies since its appearance in 1954 (according to publisher OUP), was made into a BBC TV series shot in Aberdeenshire in the 1970s.
Rosemary Sutcliff adored the portrayal of Marcus, the hero. As I have posted before, I thought ” I probably had” old old video tapes of hers in the attic. I do not, I find now on moving house.
Some readers here and ‘likers’ of the Facebook page have lobbied for a re-release or at least DVD. I have tried. Meanwhile John has been doing sterling work respondng to requests for DvDs (see below). And now there is some action about downloading with torrents (and I have managed to dowlaod the whole series and am loving it – I last watched it I think with Rosemary).
The TV series was broadcast in six episodes.
- Frontier Fort (4 September 1977)
- Esca (11 September 1977)
- Across the Frontier (18 September 1977)
- The Lost Legion (25 September 1977)
- The Wild Hunt (2 October 1977)
- Valedictory (9 October 1977)
Very tiny excerpts here.
(Revised 3/2/14)
I don’t do Mac but there apparently is a Mac version of uTorrent:
http://lifehacker.com/5854903/the-best-bittorrent-client-for-mac
If you use uTorrent, make sure you turn off all the stupid ‘devices’ and other crap, and don’t install any piggybacked ad software. uTorrent is not the completely clean app it was in days of yore. (Which is why I use an ancient version.)
I see Transmission in the client list sometimes, and it looks decent enough, tho I haven’t tried it myself:
http://www.transmissionbt.com/
Vuze is also popular but I know nothing about it.
http://www.vuze.com/
There is only one seed right now, with a very slow connection (at least to me), so it’s going to take a long, long time to get 2GB worth. Would help if folks could seed for a few weeks after getting it all.
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Hi Reziac,
I can see you in my peer list. At this time you are at 68% @ about 35-48kbs. It should not take long now. I have been seeding this for about 2 months now and have uploaded about 36 gigs worth.
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Ah, so that’s you 🙂
Yep, that sounds about right… am now at 79% now and coming at a good clip.
Did everyone else finish up? Right now I only see 1 seed, 1 seed not connected, and one peer (myself).
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You must have finished downloading as you have disappeared and I have no other peers connected at this point till someone lese downloads the torrent. You should enjoy it in AVI format. The quality is quite reasonable.
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Forum ate the first attempt, let’s try this again!
Yep, all arrived about an hour ago… thanks so much!
I just peeked at the first one, and right, it’s pretty decent quality for having started life as VHS. Better than some DVDs I have of old shows. Looking forward to viewing it!
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I am still edging along. Machine went to sleep or rather was put to sleep by an unpopular member of the household!
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Heavens, I just seem to go along at about 5 − 10 Kbs?
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Depends not only on the vagaries of your connection, but also on the seeder’s connection. When I’m using the net I throttle it down some (cuz I don’t have a lot of bandwidth), but if I’m not, I’ll let it run faster. I see two of you right now, both going along at a good clip (one almost done, one barely started!) 3 seeds and 3 peers now. Is that all us, just these six folks??
Incidentally the ‘reply’ link in the last two forum reply messages goes to the 404 page. It worked yesterday…??
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Great I have it all. And now streaming to my TV. Wonderful, thank you. I will leave it seeding if I can get the hang of that! And check out the error.
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I’ve found it’s not a good idea to stream while downloading. If the player and the torrent client both try to access the same sector at the same time, one or both is likely to crash.
BTW there’s no reply link on your latest post… it seems to do this occasionally, ???
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The actual URL for the torrent file is:
http://torcache.net/torrent/4DE44D5BF8E4A49F56EDD2A27241EA9EBB8C9983/%5Bkickass.to%5Dbbc.the.eagle.of.the.ninth.1977.torrent
or if that gets mangled by your browser, try
http://tinyurl.com/l8m3wca
It should be an 18k file. Then open it in your torrent client in the usual way.
[Torcache seems to be really slow today, you might have to try several times.]
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Thanks, and more help needed: I have not to date used a Torrent client. Which is a good one for Mac OS X (10.7.5)? And how use?!
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In fact, have found Transmission (free) and set it going. Says it will take two days! I assume because there are only four peers showing?
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There’s just one seed (one person who has the complete copy and is offering it) and I see 5 peers right now. Once a couple other people get a complete copy and start seeding, it should go faster.
uTorrent is threatening me with a whole week or longer before it all arrives here!
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Hi all, I have 100% of the torrent and I am seeding it at the moment at max for me which is outbound at up to 80kbs. Its the best I can do with my connection. Just be patient and it will arrive soon enough. At present there are only two connections taking from me. Enjoy.
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Coming at a better speed now, off and on. Looks like I’ll have it all within my lifetime! 🙂 I’ll let it seed as long as I can, tho I don’t have a very good connection, being piggybacked on my landlord’s wireless.
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I have three peer connections now. They should also be seeding so hopefully it wont take too long.
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Well, better late than never to learn about Torrents, peer to peer downlaoding etc. I ow understand it is seeds that give and peers that take? I am ridiculously pleased to see this morning that nearly 50% is downloaded now, and that the text document is fully downloaded. It says :
“Created from VHS recordings.
Video and Audio quality is not bad considering.
Please share.
Enjoy!”
Thank you all…..
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With torrents, everyone both gives and takes. It’s considered bad form (“leeching”) to just take, tho you don’t really get to decide which you do — it’s more supply and demand. If there are tons of seeds (people with the whole thing) you may not have anyone taking from you at all.
When there are plenty of seeds, or if you have a poor connection, you may want to limit your upload speed (and sometimes your download speed as well) so it doesn’t hog your whole connection.
Also, if things are too slow you can do a search for the ‘hash’ (should be on the info tab of your client) and see if it’s listed by other trackers, then copy those into the individual torrent’s tracker list. Sometimes this helps, sometimes not.
Beats hell out of schlepping DVDs overseas, tho 🙂
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Hi Not sure if anyone is interested but I found this link to download The Eagle Of The Ninth BBC 1977 Series as AVI files.
http://kickass.to/bbc-the-eagle-of-the-ninth-1977-t8051038.html
I was able to download them and the quality is quite good considering. Enjoy.
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I am sure people will be interested. Thank you.
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But using Safari on a Macbook I get an error message saying site blocked. SOmething to do with my settings?
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Kickass.to is blocked by my internet provider for copyright reasons. It’s the whole site that’s blocked following a court order, rather than anything to do with Eot9 in particular.
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Me too please! rez at doomgold dot com
thanks!
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Only just saw this message from John in Melbourne, but I would love a copy of the series. I saw it when it was first broadcast and have been looking for a copy ever since. Happy to pay for postage etc to Uk.
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Hi John,
I just found this site while looking for some other info on Rosemary Sutcliff. Is it possible to get a DVD copy of Eagle of the Ninth from you. I watched it when I was a teenager and read the book many times. I did not think it would ever be possible to see it again. I wish the BBC would re release it.
Thank you,
Johnm
[email protected]
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Hi Johnm
If you give me a postal address I will be happy to send you a copy.
cheers
John
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Thanks John, I really appreciate it. My postal address is….
Kind Regards, John McGuire.
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Hi John
I mailed the DVD today. I hope you enjoy it.
all the best
John
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Hi John,
Thank you ever so much for that. Do I owe you anything for it? By the way can you delete my post with my address on?
Thanks again
Johnm
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Hi Johnm
No you don’t owe anything. I’m afraid I have no idea how to delete posts on this site.
regards
John
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John, thank you for keeping doing this! Anthony
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Hello John, I am writing from Australia. I have been searching for the BBC’s 1977 Eagle of the Ninth TV series for years! We watched it in year 8 history and I would be over the moon to see it again. If you are still taking the trouble to share them, I would dearly, dearly, dearly love a copy. I could transfer you any cost, which I think is quite easy to do internationally via Paypal. Hope to hear from you. My email address is aniqa.bano “at” gmail.com. Best wishes
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Hi everyone.
For many years the BBC production of “Eagle is something I’ve so wanted to own. If any of the above good people would be prepared to let me have a dvd copy I would be one happy man. All fees and postal costs will be paid by p/pal if possible. Again many thanks if anyone can help with this.
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I recall watching eagle of the ninth when I was a school kid but all I remember now is the credits as i remember the eagle was shown as the writing came up
I would live to watch it again as im a fan of Roman films anyway over the decade as I am also fan of historical epics and
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I cannot believe that there is a chance a copy exists of the 1977 series! I fell in love with Marcus and Roman Britain aged seven when this was shown in UK. I forced my little brother to play “Marcus and Esca” in our grandparents’ garden, using a clothes horse and dust sheet for a pretend tent. I was obsessed with reading Sutcliff from that year. Her stories still haunt – particularly Sun Horse, Moon Horse. I have seen the tiny Youtube clip of the series but am so hopeful of having a copy of the whole having found this blog. If anyone can help my email is [email protected].
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I’ve been a reader of Miss Sutcliff’s books for over 40 years, since my high school librarian suggested them to me. I was even fortunate enough to correspond with her briefly in the late 1970s. Just now re-listening to the Roman Britain trilogy downloaded from Audible.com.
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She would have been delighted to know of your 40 years following. Did you know that Sword at Sunset is republished this year?
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Is this true? There still exist copies of the BBC series? I surched for it on the internet to give one to my daughter, who is a sutcliff-addict just like her mom, for her 18th birthday. After all, I was happy to dig out the audio-version. Is there any possibility to get a copy send to Germany? Of course not for free. Travelling across water took a fee even in ancient roman times. 😉
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Drop me a line at the sistermine email address above. I’m currently struggling to copy the disc but happy to send something to Germany. We can talk details over email.
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Please add me to the list sof those looking for a copy.
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Colleen, and others looking for a copy – if you are in the USA pleas get in touch with me. John sent me a copy so I can work out a way to get it to others. I am currently breaking up the copy I have into episodes; please get in touch with me and I will let you know what I can offer. My address is [email protected]
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Hi – thank you for that – I live in Australia, own an independent music and movie store and I am trying to source a copy for a customer. If you can assist that would be great. Thanks! Col.
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Colleen, my copy came from Australia where it was taped from tv. I have agreed to distribute copies in the US but not elsewhere. It is possible that someone will get something available online, but It won’t be me. It also seems that you might be doing this for money – I don’t want to take part in that. I don’t think there is a commercial copy available.
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Hi again – I get lots of weird and wonderful requests and yes, this is on behalf of a customer. They always ask me to do things for them they can’t do themselves – and I find it hard to say no.
I’m happy to not be involved – if she is up to it, can I provide your information to the lady concerned and leave it up to her to follow it up?
Just one less job for me!
Thanks,
Col.
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Happy to send a copy to those in UK, courtesy of John’s largesse. Send an email to sistermine6 at gmail dot com. It’ll be slow as I’m struggling to copy the disc at present, but when I work it out…
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I too would be agog to have a copy if one exists!
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I have written to Lost Shows.com and offered them a copy. Also, I am happy to make a DVD copy for anyone who would like one,
regards
John
Melbourne
Australia
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To John in Melbourne, I am very interested in obtaining a DVD copy. I am in Perth, please email me regarding this ([email protected]).
regards,
Randhir
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Sorry I have been slow in ‘approving’ your comment. I hope John Can indeed help. And thank you John…
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Hi Randhir. Give me your delivery details and I will be happy to send you a copy.
cheers
John
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Many thanks, John! Please email me at [email protected], or alternatively let me know your email address, and I will send my address details and we can discuss other matters as well.
For this board, I feel is perhaps more appropriate to focus discussion on availability of copies of the tv series, and to work on convincing the BBC, ITV and BFI to release the series on DVD.
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Dear John,
Yet another request for a copy of a DVD! I do hope you are still able to do this and if so it is very much appreciated. I would like a copy not only for myself – I loved the series as a child – but also for friends who are Classics students and doing a course on representations of the ancient world in TV and film. Please contact me on [email protected]
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Hi John,
I can’t believe that you have The Eagle of the Ninth on tape. You must have recorded it way back when it was originally aired on TV. GASP!!!
The BBC must want it back, although they are notorious for treating their television history with contempt. I would love to buy a copy on DVD from you.
Please email me the price. I’d be over the moon to get my hands on this old show.
Many Thanks
Martin
Sydney, Australia
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Yay! I’m really glad you took the time to write to Lost Shows.
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I would be most grateful for a DVD. Please could you e-mail me ([email protected]) and then I’ll send you my address
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I’m extremely interested in a chance to see this, and would be more than willing to pay international postage for a DVD copy. If you could email me at seascribe at gmail dot com to discuss details, I would be appreciative!
-Kay
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Drat, I posted a reply just then but my connection had a hiccup and I don’t think it went through…
John, if you have not already been deluged with requests, I would absolutely love a copy – could you drop me a line on [email protected] and I’ll send you my postal address & we can sort out how to pay for postage?
Should a representative of the copyright holder happen to see this, please be assured that as soon as you get a DVD to somewhere I can buy it, I will definitely be buying a copy and promoting it everywhere I can!
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John, I would very much like a DVD copy. I’m in the US – my email is [email protected] Please email me to work out details
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John, I would very much like a DVD copy. I’m in the USA; please email me to work out details. Sutcilff readers will love you for this. I did not believe a copy existed.
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I’m writing a few months after the last post I could find. I’d love to have a copy of the Eagle of the Ninth DVD but know that you’ve probably been deluged with requests. I’d be glad to reimburse you for any copying costs for the DVD and of course will pay the postage to the U.S. I’d very much appreciate your emailing me at [email protected] to discuss details. Hope I’m not too late to get a copy and thank you for your willingness to share! Anna Wade
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Dear John.
I have been trying to obtain a copy of this series for years. My mother really wanted it as we are English and interested in Roman Britain. Unfortunately, she died some years ago, but now my young grandson is obsessed with Ancient Greece, Romans, Vikings and early history and myths & legends. I bought the new film The Eagle, which we enjoyed, but it is very different from the original Sutcliff novel, so I have renewed my efforts to find the original BBC version. If you could possibly send a copy, we would be really grateful. Are you still willing to do this, or have you been so inundated with requests that you are regretting your offer? Please let me know the cost if you can supply one.
Thank you, best wishes, Janet
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Hi Janet
Happy to. Please give me delivery details. There is no cost.
Cheers
John
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Dear John,
I have not used a website like this before, so am not quite sure how it works.
I do not subscribe to Twitter or Facebook. If I send you my address will it be posted on this comments page, or can I send my details to your email address? It is lovely of you to say “no cost” but I could send you a cheque to cover disc, post & packing. We really look forward to seeing this series again.Thank you, Janet
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Hi Janet
I don’t know how private this page is either, so I suggest you send your details to my email address. Thanks but please I really don’t want any payment. I’m not doing this for money. The cost involved is minimal and I’m happy to do it.
all the best
John
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Sorry, I don’t have your email address, only this “reply’ box. My email is [email protected]
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Dear John, Trying again…original email disappeared in to the ether. I have already thanked you at your email address, but I am now thanking you on the website for so very kindly sending me the DVD of The Eagle of the Ninth. It was wonderful to see it again, & my nearly 6-year old grandson also loves it. He is fascinated by history & learns a lot through fiction. He understands the successive invasions of Britain, & has added the Ancient British, the Picts, the Romans & the Saxons to his original interest in the Vikings — all developed from the typical (unfortunately!) boy interest in weapons & fighting. Better the Romans than cops & robbers violence. Thanks again, Janet
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John, Sorry, pushed the wrong button with my comment.
Hope it went through.
Janet
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Hi John, I have been telling my kids about this book and tv series for years, I originally saw it on the ABC as part of their childrens afternoon television. Would it be possible to obtain a copy from you? More than happy to reimburse costs etc. I can be contacted at [email protected]
Many thanks
Kate
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Dear John,
I have seen you offer of sending interested people DVD copies of “The Eagle of the Ninth”. I would absolutely love to have one, and am of course ready to reimburse you for the cost of postage to Austria (Europe).
Please let me know at which email address I can send you my details.
Many thanks and best wishes,
Patricia
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Hi John, do you still make dvd copies of the show? I’m interested.. Please email me at [email protected]. Thanks!
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I would love one please John in Melbourne. How much would it cost? Postage at least…. I am in the UK. Please let me know – I have been searching for this for years. John in Oxford UK.
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Hi John in UK.
John in Melbourne sent me a copy which I’ve copied a couple of times and now passed on to someone else who’d seen this site; they have also agreed to make it available to others in the UK.
If you can give me an email address John, I’ll pass it on to the previous person and that way we can save our wonderful Australian friend more international postage. At the very least we can make a copy for ourselves and pass the original copy along.
Jane
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Hi Jane. Fantastic. Thanks so much. My email is [email protected]. If you write me there I will send you my address and we can work out postage etc. so excited! John
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Oh my. I didn’t know there was any such thing, but me too, me too, I’d love to see it! I’ve just lately reread the book, and the actor in the clip is almost exactly who I pictured as Marcus.
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Hi John in Melbourne,
We used to love watching this show with our kids, and now the grand kids are the right age to enjoy it. I’d love a copy, (if you aren’t sick of doing this by now!) email address below so I can email you my address.
Frances in Brisbane.
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Hi Frances
I’m afraid I can’t see your email anywhere. My email is [email protected]
If you email me a delivery address I will be happy to send you a copy.
cheers
John
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Emailed my address to your gmail account. Check the spam!
Thanks, Frances
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Hi John,
I don’t know if you are still making copies of this amazing show. I would love to purchase a copy from you. Please accept a payment for what you are doing. I can be contacted at
[email protected]
Many thanks
Martin
Sydney
Australia
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What wonderful news from John, dated 19 August. Is there any chance of copies being made available, commercialy?
Please could Dusk Peterson e-mail me the address of the organisation which is working with the BBC, ITV and BFI to recover lost television programmes; and I’ll certainly weigh in my two penny worth
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I have a copy on VHS tape which I converted to DVD. Reasonable quality but still magnificent to watch.
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Wonderful to hear (sorry for late reply – I have been away). Are you by any chance able to make me a copy?
Anthony
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Happy to. Please give me delivery details.
Cheers
John
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I checked the website of this organization, which is apparently working in coordination with the BBC, ITV, and the BFI to recover lost television episodes. It looks as though the BBC may still have the master copies of this series, but the site cautions that the database may have errors, so I’d (really, really, really) suggest that you drop them a line and ask them whether they’re in need of a copy. Given the recent interest in this novel, I imagine that there would be many TV viewers interested in seeing the program. (*Waves hand enthusiastically.*)
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Could you send me the postal address/e-mail address of this organisation, and then I’ll get in touch with them to give them a push
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Here’s their contact form:
http://www.lostshows.com/ContactUs.aspx
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Would absolutely adore a copy of this. Can be contacted at [email protected].
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Hi john,
I grew up watching this series as a child and was crushed to find my mothers vhs tapes had vanished. If I could please get a copy that would be fantastic!
I can be contacted on [email protected] and live in sydney
Thank you in advance
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Hi John, can’t believe I’ve only just stumbled over this conversation. I have been longing for a copy of the original TV series – for some ‘lost-in-the-mist- of-pre-adolescence’ reason I only ever saw 1 episode and it is my very favourite Rosemary Sutcliff, perhaps because its the first I read. If you are still happy to do DVD copy I’d be very grateful. I’m also in Melbourne, my email is [email protected]. Please let me know, I’m happy to reimburse you for costs.
p.s finally more than just “The Eagle of the Ninth” out in ebook format – so exciting, I can stop destroying my lovingly collected opshop OUP hardbacks with my re-reading. cheers Kat
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Dear John,
I have been looking for a copy of this for years. It is just for myself. Is it still possible to obtain a copy from you? I am in the U.S. Could you please email me at [email protected] to work out the details? I would be most grateful. Sincerely, Judie Feldman
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in the unlikely event that anyone should have any sort of videotape of the series, or suspect they may, I’d urge them to find it and have it recorded to DVD urgently. I’ve hear the BBC had wiped the originals, so there may well be no copies in existence and that would be a crying shame. Please, please, if you have it, try to save it. It was a magnificent piece of theatre which must be preserved.
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I would love to see this production. Unfortunately, according to this article, “Some time in the early 1990s, a huge amount of videotaped children’s programmes were bulk-erased by the BBC archives.”
Obviously, I don’t know whether “The Eagle of the Ninth” was one of the victims (though this post claims it was, but if it was, and if you turn up a videotape of the show, the BBC might be interested in a copy of it. They’ve used viewers’ copies to issue DVDs of other shows, such as certain wiped episodes of Doctor Who.
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I’ve been told that at the time this series was made the BBC commonly binned the reels of film after a series was finished. People in the know would sometimes retrieve them from the skips, and in more recent times the Beeb have occasionally been able to “borrow” these reels back (no questions asked) copy them, and return them.
Maybe someone somewhere has the originals for the “Eagle of the Ninth” mini-series? I’d also love to see it if possible.
“The Eagle of the Ninth” BBC Radio dramatisation is still available though at Amazon and the BBC Shop.
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I would love to see this too
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Margaret – I saw it also and was delighted as I was very familiar with the book as a child (many years ago)! and would be thrilled to obtain a copy on dvd or video. What a fantastic tale and what a brilliant writer.
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Is that tv series available as a video/dvd at all? I saw it at the time and would like to see it again.
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