Nowhere Particular Widescreen

Barrychuckle

Barrychuckle

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I'm watching the whole series through on the DVD boxset and am currently on series 19. At some stage point previously the filming must have gone into widescreen, but strangely on my BBC Boxset the episode Nowhere Particular isn't and is the smaller square shaped picture (apologies I don't know the technical name for this!)

The next episode in the series is back in widescreen, has anyone else noticed this or is this just an error with the boxset?
 
Barrychuckle said:
I'm watching the whole series through on the DVD boxset and am currently on series 19. At some stage point previously the filming must have gone into widescreen, but strangely on my BBC Boxset the episode Nowhere Particular isn't and is the smaller square shaped picture (apologies I don't know the technical name for this!)

The next episode in the series is back in widescreen, has anyone else noticed this or is this just an error with the boxset
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Maybe they filmed it out of order
 
I remember this being discussed before. I think series 19 was widescreen on region 1 DVDs and 4:3 format on region 2, or it could be the other way around. I'm no expert on TVs or DVDs but all my DVDs in the BBC box set fill my TV's widescreen, regardless of whether they were originally filmed in 4:3 or widescreen. Are they cropped to fit automatically by the TV or does the DVD player do it? I don't know how it's done but on the episode you mentioned, Nowhere Particular, there is a noticeable thin black border at the top and bottom of the screen. Maybe, as you say, an error with the box set.
 
You are right, Barry. That episode is an anomaly in 4:3 Fullscreen. They switched to 16:9 Widescreen from 4:3 Fullscreen with series 16 in 1995. So three series before this. At least that is the case with my PAL R2 DVD box set.

Roger you may wish to check your settings in your DVD player or possibly TV. Look to see if it has an option for filling the screen or pan and scan checked or something.
 
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Somehow I am thinking there was a scheduling conflict of sorts and they did not have access to the cameras they normally used. Can't think of where I read or heard that.

Seems a bit odd that... "Sorry, we are using the nice 16:9 cameras. Here, use these old 4:3's instead."

Especially mid-season. Like that is not going to stand out in broadcast.
 
RickAns said:
Roger you may wish to check your settings in your DVD player or possibly TV. Look to see if it has an option for filling the screen or pan and scan checked or something.
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I think I'll leave it as it is, I usually make things worse when I go into settings, it doesn't appear to be stretched so I'm not sure how they do it.
 
Roger said:
I remember this being discussed before. I think series 19 was widescreen on region 1 DVDs and 4:3 format on region 2, or it could be the other way around. I'm no expert on TVs or DVDs but all my DVDs in the BBC box set fill my TV's widescreen, regardless of whether they were originally filmed in 4:3 or widescreen. Are they cropped to fit automatically by the TV or does the DVD player do it? I don't know how it's done but on the episode you mentioned, Nowhere Particular, there is a noticeable thin black border at the top and bottom of the screen. Maybe, as you say, an error with the box set.
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The episode itself is a bit of an anomaly, in that Truly & Clegg are written out of the episode for the most part and it heavily focuses on Howard & Compo but it's still a really good episode.
 
However... each episode is not necessarily filmed as a separate entity - while on a location shots from different episodes will be filmed, especially if it's not one of the usual / easily accessible locations. You can sometimes spot the same cars in the street in the background while in the same street, in different episodes. I have another hypothesis; "Nowhere Particular" might have been filmed for series 18. I'm currently researching a similar possibility with another episode that was likely made and held back for a later series, possibly due to Roy being asked for certain number of episodes but there were not enough broadcast slots in the final schedule.
 
One thing that shoots down my theory is that in "Nowhere Particular" and other series 19 episodes, Barry has the same blue 1996, Ford Escort, in series 18 he has a grey 1989, Ford Escort... Bother!
 
Also the cost of each episode would run into thousands so I can't imagine they'd go to all the expense and work and then not show them. The added risk being that there could well be cast changes which would make the 'inserted' episode look very odd.

I think you're right about location filming for different episodes thought, in S19 Huddersfield station appears in a couple of different episodes.
 
Barrychuckle said:
I think you're right about location filming for different episodes thought, in S19 Huddersfield station appears in a couple of different episodes.
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In series 24: “The Miraculous Curing of Old Goff Helliwell” Clegg, Truly and Billy meet Howard carrying a ladder, the same car is parked in the background as in the episode “The Secret Birthday of Norman Clegg”. The car does not seem to have moved at all, so presumably these scenes were filmed on the same day.
 
Things developed over the years from early comedy shows and films . I can recall films like Carry on Abroad and shows like Duty Free where they would cut in footage of a BEA jet when the travel element of the show was being transmitted .. There are countless shows which used stock footage to simply save on costs.
 
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