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PENNIES FROM HEAVEN by
Dennis Potter
More than 25 years ago in 1978 BBC Television
showed a series of 6 episodes of "Pennies From Heaven" by Dennis Potter. It was
the very first production by Dennis Potter to use the now common technique of
actors miming to old gramophone records and won a BAFTA Award for Outstanding
Drama. The BBC repeated Pennies from Heaven just once and from then until now it
has never been shown on TV again. When the series
was shown at a special screening in a Los Angeles cinema three years ago (Hugh
Hefner paid a HUGE sum for permission) the crowds queued round the block, yet
the BBC still refuse to show it again or release it on DVD or video!
Please note we are talking here of the
original 6 part BBC Television production, we are NOT talking of the dreadful US
cinema film of the same name!
So why this page? Simple. We own perhaps the
only complete video copy of Pennies From Heaven in
existence which we taped at home all those years ago (on a "demo" VHS recorder).
We can prove that it is an original recording and the BBC could if they wished,
confirm this. If you do an internet search you may find people who claim to be
selling this video and others who claim that it has been released by the BBC. It
hasn't, and the links to the "shops" that say they have it just peter out to
nothing. The soundtrack HAS been released on CD and 12" record but that's the
lot!
We would like to auction our video of this
series on EBay yet when we tried before we were threatened in a most un-BBC
manner and they made us pull the auction (which had already hit £250!). We have
since been offered more than $2000 for these tapes - there is a HUGE demand out
there.
If the BBC are not prepared (or able) to show
the series on TV then why should we not be able to sell our copy? There are
Potter fans out there who are desperate for a copy. Who are we hurting? All the
music is out of copyright now and the performers (including Bob Hoskins and
Gemma Craven) would not say no to a repeat fee!
A VERY
important point worth stressing again is that the BBC production has
NEVER been released on
ANY television format, not DVD, not VHS tape. We are
NOT trying to sell pirate video copies and
do not condone this in any way, we just want to sell our first copy video tape
of Pennies from Heaven that we recorded off air. The BBC won't let us.
WE THINK THIS IS VERY
UNFAIR, DO YOU AGREE? |
