MovieChat Forums > Desperate Romantics (2009) Discussion > Beware the Amazon video versions

Beware the Amazon video versions


Sadly I was traveling a lot when this was first on BBC, so never saw the original episodes, which were 59 minutes (according to the BBC web site anyway).

Decided to take a look now, but the Amazon versions now available (U.S.) for 2.99 per ep are rated TV-PG and have been butchered to high heaven, presumably for some kind of content that is too R rated for the sensibilities of the Amazon subscribers (!).

The eps on Amazon are coming in at 52 minutes, 51 and some at 55.

Sorry. No sale.

That's some SERIOUS butchering.

I'm guessing that once it aired live, the version for sales internationally had to be seriously scrubbed to dumb them down and get a serious PG rating for the international mass DVD market.

Sad.

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Not nearly as nefarious as that.

The real culprit here is someone was cheap. They never negotiated for the distribution rights to show the unedited version, so they had to show the edited version that was broadcast on North American tv. The same thing has happened with a lot of PBS programs, including Spooks/MI-5. PBS had the eps cut down for length (to fit their time slots) and then never negotiated for the rights to distribute the un-cut versions on Amazon or on DVD.

It's only been a few short years since PBS finally woke up and started making sure the original cuts were the ones distributed on DVD, rather than their broadcast cuts. (beginning with Downton Abbey.)


Gavin & Stacey is cut to ribbons, too. The reason? The distributor was too cheap to pay royalties on the music appearing in the eps, some of which are integrated into the scenes with characters singing along. Solution: chop out the entire scene.

Both Gavin & Stacey and Desperate Romantics were broadcast in the US on BBC America, correct?

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I live in the US and was never aware of either show. Pity they are cut, I would have ordered them. Pity we never had the chance to see them. I ordered Being Human and was happy with the the 3 season DVDs

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I'm not certain that the DVDs of Desperate Romantics are cut; the OP was referring to the streaming version on amazon. I am certain, though, that the US DVDs of Gavin &Stacey are cut.

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