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Pete Atkin >> Words >> Clive James on DVD--At Last!
(Message started by: Revelator on Today at 21:38)

Title: Clive James on DVD--At Last!
Post by Revelator on Today at 21:38
Being a fan of Clive's documentaries and travelogues, I snap them up whenever I get the chance. Since almost none have been released on video or DVD, I've had to make do with what I can find online. (And Clive apparently has given his blessing for some  programs to be made available for download, provided no money is charged.)

At this point I've seen most of the postcards and travelogues, but one that has remained out of reach is Clive James and the Heroes of San Francisco. I have personal interest in that program because I happen to live in San Francisco and would love to see Clive's adventures in my city. I had resigned myself to the possibility of never seeing the show, which was probably doomed to languish forever in some dusty archive.

Then, in a triumph of hope over experience, I re-googled the title and found this:
http://www.madman.com.au/series/home/16308/clive-james-at-itv

It's practically an answered prayer: a 3-disc DVD box-set titled Clive James at ITV, due for release on November 30, 2011.

The contents are:
Clive James Live In Las Vegas
Clive James Meets Roman Polanski
Clive James Meets Katherine Hepburn
Clive James In Dallas
Clive James On Safari
Clive James at the Playboy Mansion
Clive James and the Heroes of San Francisco
Clive James In Japan Part 1
Clive James In Japan Part 2
Clive James - Racing Driver

The company releasing this, Madman Entertainment, is Australia-based, and no one other retailer seems to be offering it. However, I was easily able to pre-order the set and arranged for it to ship overseas at a reasonable price.
I went ahead and sent a message to Clive's site to alert them to link. My hope is that ITV will send a large part of the proceeds his way. In the meantime, I thought I there was no better place to break the news than this part of the forum.

Title: Re: Clive James on DVD--At Last!
Post by BogusTrumper on 05.10.11 at 00:07
I am very glad I bought a DVD player that will play any country's DVDs  :D

Title: Re: Clive James on DVD--At Last!
Post by Revelator on 01.12.11 at 01:11
My copy of the DVD recently arrived in the mail. I haven't watched the discs yet, but I do want to note that the set comes with a booklet of viewing notes freshly written by Clive himself and dated October 2011.

Now, in my first post I mentioned that in early October I'd emailed Clive's site to alert him and his organization to the DVD's release.
A couple days later I received a very nice reply from Clive's personal assistant. Due to health issues Clive was unable to personally reply to every message he received, but his assistant wrote that "Clive has asked me to thank you for your kind words and also for taking the time to make us aware of the DVD release. Clive [...] has noted your e-mail and will give further thought to the possibilities it offers. (He doesn't own the rights, so the money doesn't go to him, however he does get a lot of requests for his material on DVD so can use it to help people find what they are looking for.)"

In all likelihood, Madman, the company that released the set, had already contacted Clive and asked him to write notes, but I'd still like to pretend that my message might have greased the wheels by providing "further thought." In any case, it's a handsome looking set, and hopefully the first of several DVDs containing Clive's TV work. Madman's overseas shipping is fast and the price is good. Though the DVDs are region coded, it's relatively easy to obtain an all-region player (or hack one). If anyone's thinking of giving someone a Jamesian Christmas present, this might do the trick...



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