First viewed : 6 May 1981
I didn't normally watch this documentary series about business ventures but this episode was trailed with footage from the video for Adam and the Ants' Stand And Deliver ( the UK number one at the time ) and promised an insight into the new video disc. In the event Adam's part in the programme was small, merely an illustration of one potential market for the technology but it was a fascinating glimpse into the future.
At the time there were three separate , completely incompatible VD players being developed by Philips , Thorn and RCA, each hoping to corner a market that may not even exist as asserted by a smug idiot from Sony placing all his eggs in the VCR basket. As it turned out, none of them took off whether due to the prohibitive cost or perhaps this programme highlighting the risk of picking the wrong one and buying into instant obsolescence. History will record that the Philips model came closest to the DVD as we know it today and that independent producer Andrew Maxwell-Hyslop was the most far-sighted contributor to the programme.
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