My DVD arrived today
It's been a long time!
I remember the exact date, where I was and what I was doing when this first aired (just like an earlier generation claim with a certain album).
In another week it would have been 31 years exactly but my DVD arrived today and I had to have a sneak preview.
While wife and children slept in warm rooms, I braved the unheated room with the multiregion player (though I'm not sure yet that the disc is strictly R1). I watched Barbara Kellerman and later Tom Conti switch on the gas in their rooms while I grew colder on the lounge. Probably watched 65 minutes before putting it away to watch later in comfort (from the very beginning of coures!). Then sat down to type this.
The sound is rather better than on some previous BBC US releases (eg 1980's Dicken's). Filmed inserts aren't so crisp but I'm not disappointed with the quality. I also watched part of the Frederick Raphael recollections film, which appears to have been made in the 70's.
I first saw the first episode (28/8/77) in a guest house at a snow resort, which by a curious coincidence I'm going to tomorrow (though the guest house has closed and the other hotel burned down in a bushfire Dec 07). It would be too personal (in the sense of trivial) to explain here but I think it hints at one subtle way in which the series has had an effect on my life.
Hope you've all ordered or bought yours. Enjoy!