About

Media Gems is devoted to a selection of what used to be or still are rare/less well-known items from various areas: film, television, and music. It is my intention to arouse your curiosity and interest by presenting information on content, style, and relevance of these items. Contributions - from bits of information to fully fledged articles - are most welcome. Those who notice a copyright problem are encouraged to e-mail me.

The world of Media Gems, however, has changed considerably over the last few years. My enormous video and LP collections are not nearly as valuable as they used to be, and even DVD and CD are turning out to be media of the past, which gives me the creeps ...

Anyway, some are still fighting for the good cause. I may take this opportunity and say hello to some "partners in crime", i.e. those who share my goals and interests.

Kaleidoscope (former website, now deleted, was http://www.kaleidoscope.org.uk) are, in their own words, "an organization that exists to promote the appreciation of British television in general and particularly those 'classic' television programmes that many of us remember from years gone by". Members include Christopher Perry, Simon Coward, Adrian Petford, and Rob Moss. Richard Down, co-author of various invaluable Kaleidoscope publications, sadly passed away a couple of years ago. Dave Rogers, author of books on The Avengers, The Professionals and various others, has emigrated to Turkey.
Kaleidoscope organize screenings of rare television programmes, often introduced by people involved with the production (past panelists included Ted Childs, James Cellan Jones, Michael Chapman and Rex Firkin). Publications (which are generally of a very high standard) include general listings books of truly enormous size and in-depth coverage volumes on specific programmes.

A great deal of praise has to go to Tim Beddows' Network DVD company (former website, not working anymore, was http://www.networkdvd.co.uk), which keeps releasing all those brilliant and (mostly) uncut series on DVD. I often wish they'd do it with less breakneck pace because my credit card is reeling in agony all the time.

This is an unofficial and non-commercial website. The sole purpose of this page is to promote the respective product(s) - no copyright infringement is intended, and all rights remain with the original copyright holders. Sole responsibility for external links remains with the authors and hosts of the respective sites.

All texts © 2001-14 Werner Schmitz (except where indicated). PARTS OF THIS MATERIAL MAY BE USED FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES PROVIDED, I REPEAT, PROVIDED THAT YOU CREDIT THE SOURCE. STEALING MATERIAL WITHOUT THE AUTHOR'S CONSENT OR WITHOUT CREDITING THE SOURCE IS PLAGIARISM! <div> <h5><a href="index.html">Main</a></h5> <h5><a href="introtext.html">German Intro</a></h5> <h5><a href="updates.html">Recent Updates</a></h5> <h5><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></h5> <h5><a href="thanks.html">Thanks</a></h5> <h5><a href="wanted.html">Wanted</a></h5> </div>