Catweazle Bluray?

The negs do exist, as I understand it. I think a Blu-ray / HD restoration is actually vitally important for the series to continue to reach new audiences. With TV moving to HD (and beyond), those knackered old video prints are of minimal interest to broadcasters. A swish HD restoration would work wonders on a technical level and open up fresh markets - for a series that in itself is timeless.

This is very exciting news. Day 1 purchase. Maybe my post 1 wish will come true and Catweazle will finally be available in the same quality as the restored Professionals. That would be incredible.

Although as it seems that generally ITV have little interest in getting their movies let alone their tv content onto Bluray you have to wonder what kick started a Catweazle restoration? Seems doubtful that ITV are interested in a Bluray release when they don't even give the UK Blurays of their primetime drama hits. From what I've heard from Network their ITC Bluray releases are largely restored by themselves with little input from ITV so who's footing the bill for this and why?

Having said that I can't wait for this. It would be nice for the set to include a bit more bonus content than before. As nice as the short reunion is I'd love to see a decent interview along the lines of the club dvd.

And Alan - you really need to wake up that Minigiles person on Roobarb who reckons a Catweazle Bluray is "another Network mistake". Not as much of a mistake as his constantly complaining about boycotting Network because he imagined they promised the Goodies Q&A on the Bag of Goodies Limited Edition. Just as they never said any of the content was limited to the Bag they never said the Q&A would be included. They just mentioned the "Audience" as an inclusion. The listing is still there so  he only has to look to see he's wrong.

When you consider just how successful Catweazle has been to Network, it makes sense for them to bring it out on Blu Ray. They know how popular it is and that it would also be a successful venture.

I've not seen anything new to confirm a Catweazle Bluray is on the way. If it is I'll be interested to see if Network try and exploit the obvious Christmas market or whether they'll wait until the actual 50th Anniversary and release it in February

Sadly there's no guarantee of Catweazle on Blu-ray, so if you fancied a rewatch, I'd strike while the iron was hot.

Couldn't find mention elsewhere on the site so posting here - now that Catweazle is complete on Britbox its worth noting that they are new HD copies but it seems they#ve taken a set of old copies and simply done an HD transfer. Close inspection reveals HD detail but it's all spoilt by the usual problems of dirt, dust, scratches and generally poor quality associated with all LWT film series of the 70's.
Oh for a Professionals style restoration.
Still, they are better than the dvd's and thanks to a newly released program that allows full quality downloads from the likes of Prime, Netflix, Disney+ etc I've asked the developers to add Britbox as it seems the only way we'll get HD Catweazle without an internet signal.
Already got loads of titles in HD that are not on Bluray but are on Disney and Prime so it makes streaming a bit more of interest than I've had before. Network seem to have given up with Bluray for vintage tv so this is the next best option.
I won't mention the program name as I suspect it doesn't have the blessing of Hollywood

Although the program I was using for downloading material doesn't seem to think Britbox is worth offering I recently spotted that Britbox is now available via Prime Video and can be downloaded that way so I downloaded the entire series.
After doing so I did a side by side comparison with the dvd's and was surprised that the dvd's were worse than I remember. The dirt, dust etc shows up very visibly on the HD versions and the reason it doesn't look as bad on the dvd's is because they are so fuzzy. It's like the sharpness has been turned right down.
Initially unconvinced that the trade off was worthwhile I can now say that the HD versions are so much better than the dvd's but with plenty of caveats.
The important thing is that the detail is there which makes for a much easier viewing experience once you've got over all the muck on the screen that also becomes more visible. Downside is that the fluctuating brightness and contrast could have done with some work too. But as things currently stand its still a step up.

Once downloaded the whole series fits easily on a USB stick in MP4 format for playback on any compatible devices and you even get optional subtitles if you want them and if your device is compatible. My 100mbps broadband  downloaded the entire series in around 3 hours.

I've bitten the bullet and created a set of 6 Bluray recordables and even went to the trouble of ripping the series intro, the Brothers in magic and the Anglia clips to add to the Bluray as bonuses. I only have a basic Bluray Creator program but its done the job and I'd recommend long term fans to take the same option in view of there being no official release in sight.

As an aside, it looks like the new 4:3 versions of Thunderbirds on Britbox are brand new restorations that look as good as any of the ITC releases from Network and appear even better than the US Bluray set.
Never been a fan of streaming due to the restrictions of how and when you can view but these new programs that allow you to download have opened things up brilliantly. As you can only download material you have a legit subscription to I see them being of much use.

As I've probably said before, if Network can make money out of niche series like Space Patrol on Blu-ray, then there's always the chance that Catweazle is on their roster for the format. It deserves to be presented in a far better condition/quality than it has been to date...