ITV 60 [DVD]

Single episodes of 60 shows from the last 60 years of ITV. Some have been released many times (eg Inspector Morse: Driven to Distraction, though never before with ad-caps intact), others are from archives which have seen few releases and have never seen the light of day since first broadcast (e.g. Our Man at St Marks).One large drawback, every show has only 1 chapter - OK for a 20-odd minute Four Feather Falls, very irritating for a 104 minute Morse!Clearly acts as a 'sampler' for several of Network's complete series releases, but also features so-far unreleased episodes from series within their catalogue, episodes from so-far untouched series, a few one-off rarities, and even some shows currently released by other distributors. Understandably there's been no restoration done especially for this release, so The Sweeney is gloriously remastered as per Network's release, The Prisoner is completely unrestored (as ITV DVD have the remastered version), and the 'new' releases are as good as the 'best available materials' (i.e. pretty good if they've been specially-transferred from film, but otherwise only as good as the archive copy).The discs each feature a selection of programmes which are meant to correspond to an evening's viewing: well they had to arrange them somehow, so could have been alphabetical, chronological, so this seems as good as any!Overall, worth it for the rarities and some of the so-far unreleased episodes, but a pity a couple of extra hours weren't spent authoring in some extra chapter points.

A worthwhile set of 12 discs. Should have been a Blu Ray alternative. The packaging leaves a lot to be desired as the discs were off and one marked deeply. There are many shows of great memory to me and some episodes that have not been on any discs before. Some of the 70s studio color video leaves a lot to be desired but is the best there is. Pity so much(and that goes for the BBC archive too) is lost now back in the earlier days, an archive that would produce money with all the services to be filled with programming on cable and satellite services.They were too short-sighted or run by managers who were there as a way of getting a wage and no interest in the industry and its future. Recommended.

For me, the episode of 'Mystery Bag' makes this set worth the price by itself. What we have is the only other episode of 'Crime Sheet' to exist. Kaleidoscope have the other one, but it does not star Raymond Francis so, apart from the opening credits, is pretty worthless. Aussie TV showed both 'Murder Bag' and 'Crime Sheet' as 'Mystery Bag' in the 60's. What we seem to have is the (edited) opening credits of 'Murder Bag' (with Francis as 'Superintendent Lockhart') and the closing credits of 'Crime Sheet' (with Francis as 'Chief Superintendent Lockhart'). Priceless for sad nerds like me! Also, you get episodes of 'Crane', 'No Hiding Place' and 'Our Man At St. Marks' (also to be found on YouTube). Well done Network...yet again.

Like several other reviews here, disc 1 would not play in my PC's DVD player, it wouldn't even recognise there was a disc inserted. So tried disc 3 and managed to play the first programme, However, on The Avengers episode it froze sporadically before finally giving up the ghost and froze completely. Anyway, as a last resort I tried playing the disc 1 on the Xbox and success, well almost - the first programme still wouldn't play but the rest of the disc did. But that's as far as I've got so far so fingers crossed for the rest of the disc's. I also agree the packaging is rubbish, as when I first opened most of the disc's were loose as the disc 'holders' don't hold them in place. Overall really disappointed

For those of us who grew up in the 60's 70's 80's this is a serious walk down memory lane .

Wonderful selection of ITV shows but quite a few classic shows not included but then it would have to be about a 50 DVD set. All my DVDs played ok. Some shows were a lot better than I remembered them, some were really dated. Definitely recommended if you are interested in a vast sweep of ITV shows

Kind of a mixed bag but for the price well worth getting. Some good stuff and some not so good but great to be able to look back over the years. I had no problem with unplayable disks as some have reported

You can't quibble with the range of entertainment on offer here but the "classic" episodes that were picked were hardly the best on offer - episodes of Public Eye, The Avengers, Crossroads etc. etc. were definitely second rate, there are far far better episodes aired. Three stars for nostalgia nuts but needed much more consideration in selection.

"ITV 60" is entertainment, a trip down Memory Lane for lovers of classic British "telly", and a fine historical document all rolled into one collection. Many fine shows that a) I remember fondly from my childhood and teen years and b) were totally unknown to me are to be found here. Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's output is represented by "Thunderbirds", "Space: 1999", and "The Protectors" can be found here. You can take a laugh-filled ride "On The Buses." "Doctor In The House" is a hilarious cure for a case of the blues. Patrick McGoohan shows up both as "Danger Man" and "The Prisoner." There is a plethora of other material, including a groundbreaking documentary on Cambodia telecast in the late 1970s. NOTE TO NON-UK BUYERS: This is a Region 2 DVD collection, and to play these discs, you must have either a Region 2 DVD player or a Region-free DVD/Blu-Ray player, which you can purchase on Amazon in their Electronics section. Buy it and see what British Private TV had wrought for decades. Cheers!