As the company which brought us Space Patrol on video and DVD, Network Video (a division of Virgin's Sound and Media) is one of the obvious places to try and find out how the series was rediscovered, and the current status of rights and new releases. Tim Beddows, the General Manager of Network Videos, kindly responded to our questions recently. Tim Beddows SP-TW: The basic story of how the film prints of Space Patrol came to be found in Roberta Leigh's lock-up or garage have done the rounds of SF fandom but could you elaborate a little more on how exactly Network Video came to be involved in the video and DVD releases, especially as the series was presumed not to exist at that point ? Tim Beddows: The discovery of the prints came about through sheer persistence. Like countless others I'd been searching for the show for many years. Having finally traced Roberta Leigh `i met her a number of times before she kindly agreed to release the material not only for Space Patrol but for everything that remained from her days in production. At around the same time I was pro-actively engaged in obtaining a licensing deal on her behalf which lead to me not only securing a deal but setting up and running the Network label. How successful were the video releases of Space Patrol? Can't really discuss figures but video sales have been very successful - more than enough to justify releasing every episode over nine individual releases. We did actually acquire world rights on the series and TV sales have been disappointing, the main problem being that TV stations around the world, particularly in the UK, are reluctant to take black and white material. Very few people seem to remember Space Patrol - was it something of a gamble to consider releasing it, even considering the popularity of the Gerry Anderson puppet series like Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet? The competition from Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet was not a factor in deciding whether to release the series. I was convinced enough that Space Patrol had its own large following especially since the series was believed to have disappeared forever. As a commercial venture it has to work and if the first four volumes were not selling we would have withheld further releases simply because it costs a lot of money to bring these things to the market. The order the episodes were released (mainly the 26 episodes of the first series) has confused some fans, including myself. How was that order arrived at ? The order was ascertained from a combination of conflicting sources: Roberta's original script order. Episode numbers on the film cans. Old TV Times details (although vague) Reference from a TV Times Sci-Fi Encyclopedia Information from a Time Screen article published some years ago. If you want the definitive story of how the order was arrived at there's a superb in-depth article by Martin Cater in the 1997/98 TV Zone Yearbook. We did work with him on the project and simply followed his order. There is a rumour in the fan circles that further Space Patrol DVDs are in the pipeline. With the series 40th anniversary approaching (2002 is the anniversary for the series being made but 2003 for the broadcast), is this a real possibility? There will be a complete DVD box set appearing in September but it will be limited edition, probably to about 4000. It'll feature every episode plus all the material from the current DVD and some new material. What input did the producers Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis have on the videos and DVD releases ? Roberta agreed to be interviewed and supplied stills, scripts and information etc. Arthur Provis also supplied some stills and we're hoping to interview him shortly for the box set. I have an original brochure for the series which will also appear on the box set together with a few other bits and pieces. (Above: The promotional advert for the first two videos of Space Patrol) As a designer myself, I was wondering who designed and did the artwork for the video sleeves and promotional material? We have on our staff a very talented designer called Dave Narraway who kind of followed a brief and who had only a limited amount of material available - this was in the days before we were equipped for framegrans etc. He 'constructed' the Galasphere from scratch using various reference shots; he also designed the space backgrounds. There seemed to be a kind of 'snobbishness' in some SF and TV press about Space Patrol. Finding a lost series in its entirety should have been something to celebrate but only a couple of magazines (TV Zone and DreamWatch) seemed to do any features or reviews. Did you find this when promoting the releases? Space Patrol was not a huge series and the timing of any release is crucial. Sometimes you get squeezed out by X Files or Star Trek. The DVD did get more reviews than I had expected but the important aspect is the lack of coverage on a show like this is not detrimental to sales. If you're a fan you will get to know about it somehow and in that respect it is cheap marketing. The DVD release was something of a surprise. Where did those superb 35mm prints come from? And are there any more where that came from? The two 35mm prints turned up in Roberta's garage along with all the other prints but they were transfered in a different session hence why they didn't initially appear in the VHS release. We would always use 35mm whereever possible but at the moment these are the only ones in existence (with the exception of your recent discovery). It is sad and frustrating that he original 35mm and 16mm negs and tracks have vanished. What we have is all that is available. Are you anything of a Space Patrol, or telefantasy, fan yourself ? I enjoyed the series and have fond memories of projecting an 8mm copy of Robot Revolution 25 years ago. Beyond that I have little recollection of the show, hardly surprising since I was 5 years old when it last appeared on UK TV. Finally, besides Space Patrol, does Network Video have any exciting new releases we can look forward to ? Space Patrol was the very beginning of Network and we owe a lot to it and Roberta. When Network came into being in 1997 our 'catalogue' consisting of an obscure, if memorable, European adaptation of Robinson Crusoe and a long lost but well loved puppet series from the early sixties. Five years on and we regularly make the charts with both archive and contemporary shows and have turned an idea into a viable business. Watch this space. ••••Tim Beddows - thank you.