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Introduction

Media Gems is devoted to a selection of what used to be or still are rare or less well-known items from various areas: film, television, music, and literature. It is my intention to arouse your curiosity and interest by presenting a wealth of information on content, style, and relevance of these items. Contributions - from bits of information to fully fledged articles - are most welcome. Those who notice a copyright problem are encouraged to e-mail me.

Please support official CD and DVD releases! Do not support pirates and do not waste your time and money on pirate copies of VCDs, DVD-Rs, CD-Rs and related rubbish which is offered on eBay, downloading sites and elsewhere.
Honestly, I often feel like putting it this way: Why watch mainstream crap? Why read or listen to it?
In the old days I intended to pursue a career as a diplomat (well, VERY briefly). It didn't happen but some of the language is still at my disposal. So here we go ...
Media Gems offers a more or less personal view of examples of classic television, literature, rock and metal albums, which has proved to be enlightening to at least some people - cheers guys!
The world of Media Gems, however, has changed considerably over the last few years. My enormous video and LP collections are not nearly as valuable as they used to be since so much stuff is being released on DVD and CD respectively. Formerly rare data are being sampled by other parties, groups of people or individual enthusiasts, and published on the internet.
Anyway, there still remains a lot to say, especially in a world of would-be postmodern writers. Be hilarious, be ironic, and your sales will go up. Well I hope they don't.
Actors, writers and directors who used to populate our favourite television drama are dying out (a few years back, for instance, both Barry Foster and John Thaw passed away within weeks), so it's a matter of importance and urgency to pay tribute to their formidable work as long as they are still with us.
Moreover, there are still lost episodes and even lost series.
Broadcasters were (or felt) forced to recycle videotapes in order to keep costs down. In many cases the quality of programmes was not recognized - television, in some quarters, was regarded as one-way junk, not worth preserving. Repeat slots or even special nostalgia channels were unheard of, and a home video/DVD market whose existence we take for granted these days was beyond any imagination.
Some items are much-missed and will be lost forever. Some may be retrieved in the future (and may appear in full glory on DVD, as the example of Mario Bava's lost film Wild Dogs shows), and it is our duty to keep an eye on those.

I may take this opportunity and say hello to some "partners in crime", those who share my goals and interests.
Kaleidoscope (http://www.kaleidoscope.org.uk) are, in their own words, "an organization that exists to promote the appreciation of British television in general and particularly those 'classic' television programmes that many of us remember from years gone by". Members include Christopher Perry, Simon Coward, Adrian Petford, and Rob Moss. Richard Down, co-author of various invaluable Kaleidoscope publications, sadly passed away a couple of years ago. Dave Rogers, author of books on The Avengers, The Professionals and various others, has emigrated to Turkey.

Kaleidoscope organize screenings of rare television programmes, often introduced by people involved with the production (past panelists included Ted Childs and James Cellan Jones). Publications (which are generally of a very high standard) include general listings books of truly enormous size and in-depth coverage volumes on specific programmes.
Action TV magazine, edited by Michael Richardson, designed by Jaz Wiseman, web maintenance by Andrew Screen (http://www.actiontv.org.co.uk), is the only worthy successor to the legendary Time Screen and Prime Time.
Jonathan Sothcott (http://www.davidwickesproductions.com, http://www.forbiddenterritoryfilms.com) is one of the UK's leading authorities on cult movies and the author of a book on british horror film icon Christopher Lee. He has contributed to dozens of magazines and produced extras to various DVD releases of classic movies.
Martin Compart, born in 1954, has published numerous articles on books, films and TV shows. For some years he held editorial posts with Ullstein and Bastei-Lübbe publishers respectively, being responsible for a series of detective novels and thrillers. In recent years he assembled the massive encyclopedia Crime TV (an impressive pre-internet achievement). He is the editor of both Noir 2000 and its famous successor Dark Zone, an anthology which includes two texts by Yours Truly. His own publishing company has produced a special hardback edition of Ted Lewis' Get Carter in 2002. (Martin's musical taste vastly differs from mine and we usually avoid the subject!)
The Mausoleum Club (http://www.the-mausoleum-club.org.uk) is a British archive TV site hosted by Steve Rogers, Ian Greaves, and Alan Hayes. It has, in Steve's words, "a number of articles and reference works, as well as a lively discussion forum" (a bit too lively for me but see for yourself). This is the best address if you want to find out about upcoming DVD releases (or why they are delayed forever in some cases).
Programme Preservation Society (PPS - http://www.mhearn.freeserve.co.uk/pps/) is a safe haven for those with an interest in classic British TV, led by Richard Berry, Martin Hearn, David May, and John Hutchinson. I have very fond memories of working with these excellent people, who publish a club magazine and who have produced a number of extensive interviews with well-known character actors.
A great deal of praise has to go to Tim Beddows' Network DVD company (http://www.networkdvd.co.uk), which keeps releasing all those brilliant and uncut series on DVD. I often wish they'd do it with less breakneck pace because my credit card is reeling in agony all the time. (I also wish they'd go for a different type of box.)
Peter Culley went from collector with a truly exquisite taste to fully fledged businessman with his aptly named company Britvidz (http://www.britvidz.co.uk).
Liverpudlian Dave Rice, a freelance writer, hosts a very comprehensive site devoted to the work of British screenwriter Michael J. Bird, who passed away in 2001 (http://www.MJBird.org.uk). Dave is also preparing a book on the subject, and judging from what I've seen so far it's going to be very, very good.
The Z Cars newsgroup was brought to life by David Brunt. The group even managed to find, buy and return lost episodes to the BBC.
Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf Verlag in Berlin (http://www.schwarzkopf-schwarzkopf.de) publish the best film and TV books in all of Germany.
I am only human. Although information is always assembled with the greatest possible care errors may occur. Drop me a line if you spot one - hello and thanks to Nick Cooper (http://www.625.org.uk). I know about my gaps and omissions so don't remind me of those.

This is an unofficial and non-commercial website. The sole purpose of this page is to promote the respective product(s) - no copyright infringement is intended, and all rights remain with the original copyright holders. Sole responsibility for external links remains with the authors and hosts of the respective sites.
All texts © 2001-6 Werner Schmitz (except where indicated). PARTS OF THIS MATERIAL MAY BE USED FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES PROVIDED, I REPEAT, PROVIDED THAT YOU CREDIT THE SOURCE. STEALING MATERIAL WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S CONSENT OR WITHOUT CREDITING THE SOURCE IS PLAGIARISM! <DIV> <H5><A HREF="index.html">Main</A></H5> <H5><A HREF="introtext.html">German Intro</A></H5> <H5><A HREF="updates.html">Recent Updates</A></H5> <H5><A HREF="contact.html">Contact</A></H5> <H5><A HREF="thanks.html">Thanks</A></H5> <H5><A HREF="wanted.html">Wanted</A></H5> </DIV>