From spectral dreamscapes to The Year of the Sex Olympics, a lovingly researched history of British TV recalls the brilliant, the bizarre and the unworldly
Discotek Media thankfully rescued all of the
Project A-Ko films a few years back but the original is still by the far the best of the bunch – the kind of film that you can revisit over the years and discover more about the more anime you watch. Originally released in 1986, the first film has only seen DVD releases which has been unfortunate since it comes from a time where there should be some good film masters but Japan is awful in storing or even thinking to keep such things. Discotek Media revealed back in September their plans to create a Blu-ray edition of the film (with the sequels getting upscale as well) but the original is getting some extra special treatment.
London’s legendary West End theatres are closed and shrouded in darkness, as are cinemas across the capital.
But there was drama aplenty amid the gloom in exclusive Notting Hill this week, when the London Fire Brigade responded to a 999 call coming from the £10 million townhouse of acclaimed fashion designer Stella McCartney.
‘Two fire engines came out,’ a Notting Hill local tells me. ‘There must have been at least seven firefighters who went into the house.’
Neighbours gathered, watching anxiously, but there was no sign of 49-year-old Stella, nor of her husband, Alasdhair Willis, nor their four children, Miller, Beckett, Bailey and Reiley.