In the fourth episode of Say Yes to VHS, Brian and Sam press pause to discuss how cinema owners and television broadcasters responded to the rapid rise of home video in the 1980s.

Before the arrival of the VCR, film choices were limited to the three television channels or the ever dwindling number of cinemas in Northern Ireland. Video shops offered people a wider range of choice and there were no longer any restrictions on when you could watch a film. The blank video cassette meant that people could also now record content directly from television and watch at their own leisure. A VCR timer meant you could even leave the house and not miss your favourite programme or movie.

Home video forced television broadcasters to expand and diversify their content. When Channel 4 arrived in 1982, it aimed to reach new audiences and its series of 'red triangle' films reached millions of viewers. Programmes such as BBC's Moviedrome became curators of cult cinema. Cinemas were forced to up their game by splitting into several screens and offering more choice, paving the way for the arrival of the multiplex to Northern Ireland in the 1990s.

Links

The Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, '80s Tech!' collection

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Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin
Music by Score Draw Music
https://thewondercinema.buzzsprout.com

In the third episode of Say Yes to VHS, Brian and Sam press eject and discuss how the popularity of uncensored horror films such asThe Driller Killer and I Spit on Your Grave led to the video nasty scare of the early 1980s.

As home video grew in popularity, the furore surrounding surrounding these films quickly spread to Northern Ireland, where the flames of moral panic were fanned by social conservatives. But it was difficult for the police to remove any videos from shelves, as Northern Ireland had different legislation to the rest of the United Kingdom. A questionable Belfast News-Letter survey claimed that over 80% of schoolchildren had watched a video nasty, the results of which were shared by Mary Whitehouse, founder of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association. Unlike previous legislation, the 1984 Video Recordings Act applied in Northern Ireland and required all videos to receive a BBFC certificate. Though the moral panic moved elsewhere from the mid-1980s, it led some video shops to make greater efforts to show off their family friendly credentials.

Links

The Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, '80s Tech!' collection

Counterpoint: Video Pirates (includes an interview with Mary Whitehouse)

Family Viewing Video Rental Shop

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Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin
Music by Score Draw Music
https://thewondercinema.buzzsprout.com

In the second episode of Say Yes to VHS, Brian and Sam discuss the rise of pirate and counterfeit video and how the police and other authority figures tried to stop the illegal VHS market.

As early as 1978, copies of Saturday Night Fever were shown in hotels, pubs and clubs across Northern Ireland. But once the authorities clamped down on these screenings, pirate videos were widely consumed at home. E.T. the Extra Terrestrial was the pirate hit of 1982, with pirate copies available to buy for £5 several months before the film was released in cinemas. In the following year, the Royal Ulster Constabulary seized up to 35,000 videos in the biggest raid of its type in the United Kingdom. Fines and prison sentences followed, but did not stop the problem as these videos were highly profitable and easy to copy on an industrial scale. Piracy was common everywhere, but it took on a different hue in Northern Ireland as paramilitaries got in on the act. VHS piracy continued well into the 1990s, when pirate copies of The Lion King were widely available to purchase from illegitimate dealers.

Links

The Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, '80s Tech!' collection

Counterpoint: Video Pirates

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Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin
Music by Score Draw Music
https://thewondercinema.buzzsprout.com