Several years ago we saw the back of Cilla Battersby Brown when she ran off to Las Vegas. Earlier this fall, in Canadian Corrie timeline, we saw Fiz, Chesney and Kirk go to South Africa where Cilla was living. We didn't know how Cilla got from Vegas to Sun City and we didn't find out what happened to everyone during their sojourn there. That's because ITV released a spinoff dvd all about their adventures in South Africa as a sort of stand alone episode. It's called Coronation Street Out of Africa. The storyline was unrelated to the day to day goings on in Weatherfield. The dvd was released in the UK last October but only in the UK. You couldn't play it in a dvd player in North America unless you have a machine that will play Region 2 disks because the format for North America is different (Region 1). Now, however, E1 Entertainment has converted the Out of Africa adventure and released it in North America format and it's available now at Amazon, and all the usual dvd retailers where it may be a bit cheaper. Walmart, Costco and Future Shop generally are and you don't have to pay the shipping there. It's already in my library because i have the UK version but the NA version is the same, with the "Making of" documentary and interviews with the cast. I love those behind-the-scenes things!
I know Cilla isn't to everyone's taste but i really liked the character, that is... liked to hate her. She was horrible, wasn't she? She hasn't changed, I'll tell you that much. The story is fun and typically Cilla. The scenery is fab and some of the secondary characters are real scene stealers. I already wrote up a storyline summary because I didn't think most people here would ever get to see the adventure, but if you want to get the dvd, that will spoil it for you so don't look!
The dvd is out just in time for Christmas and i know i sound like i'm trying to push it but i'm just pleased there's a company that is putting great Coronation Street in the hands of Canadian and American fans finally! In the UK, this fall, there's another spinoff called Romanian Holiday and it features Roy, Hayley and Becky. Let's hope E1 will pick that up next year! You can't go wrong with the Croppers!
2 comments:
I'm glad there are Corrie DVDs coming out, but I won't be buying this one, because I thought it was pretty bad.
Do you know whether the classic episodes DVDs have more or different material from the classic years VHS tapes that came out several years ago?
I think there may be one or two the same (i.e. Emily's jilting Swindley) but they don't seem to be the same as on the VHS tapes. If you have the UK boxed sets, though, they are the same.
Post a Comment