The Diamond Brothers: South by South East (found CITV adaptation of children's detective book; 1991): Difference between revisions

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(Up there among lost media I really want to find!)
 
(Major update! Ludicrously Niche, the blogger whose write-ups of their investigation of the series made it come to my attention, announced in March this year (thus not an April Fools joke) that he has received digitised copies of every episode of the show! We shall see whether they will eventually be released to the public, but he has confirmed that the book is actually based on the television rather than the other way around. Very interesting stuff.)
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|title=<center>The Diamond Brothers: South by South East</center>
|title=<center>The Diamond Brothers: South by South East</center>
|image=Diamondbrothers1.png
|image=Diamondbrothers1.png
|imagecaption=''Radio Times'' promotion of ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East''
|imagecaption=''Radio Times'' promotion of ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East''.
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
|status=<span style="color:red;">'''Lost'''</span>
}}
}}
'''''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East''''' (also known simply as '''''South by South East''''') is a six-part television series broadcast by ITV in 1991 as part of its ''CITV'' bloc. Based on the third book from Anthony Horowitz's children's detective series ''Diamond Brothers'' called ''South by South East'', it stars Dursley McLinden as the hapless detective Tim Diamond, and Colin Dale as Tim's younger, street smart brother Nick Diamond.
'''''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East''''' (also known simply as '''''South by South East''''') is a six-part television series broadcast by ITV in 1991 as part of its ''CITV'' block. Based on the third book from Anthony Horowitz's children's detective series ''Diamond Brothers'' called ''South by South East'', it stars Dursley McLinden as the hapless detective Tim Diamond, and Colin Dale as Tim's younger, street smart brother Nick Diamond.


==Background==
==Background==
The series was relatively obscure, even for fans of the ''Diamond Brothers'' book series. The lack of available media for the show even led to its existence being questioned. Confirmation was achieved thanks to the television show being featured in several of Horowitz's "about the author" book pages, as well as a listing by the ''British Film Institute''.<ref>[https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4f4baac56add8 ''British Film Institute'' listing of ''The Diamond Brothers''.] Retrieved 20 June '21</ref> The show was a spiritual successor of the 1988 film ''Just Ask for Diamond'', a film based on the first book of the series ''The Falcon's Malteaser'', which starred McLinden and Dale in their respective roles.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090131084343/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/418778?view=synopsis ''British Film Institute'' listing for ''Just Ask for Diamond''.] Retrieved 20 June '21</ref>  
The series was relatively obscure, even for fans of the ''Diamond Brothers'' book series. The lack of available media for the show even led to its existence being questioned. Confirmation was achieved thanks to the television show being featured in several of Horowitz's "about the author" book pages, as well as a listing by the ''British Film Institute''.<ref>[https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4f4baac56add8 British Film Institute listing of ''The Diamond Brothers''.] Retrieved 20 Jun '21</ref> The show was a spiritual successor of the 1988 film ''Just Ask for Diamond'', a film based on the first book of the series ''The Falcon's Malteaser'', which starred McLinden and Dale in their respective roles.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090131084343/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/418778?view=synopsis British Film Institute listing for ''Just Ask for Diamond''.] Retrieved 20 Jun '21</ref>  


According to one viewer, ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' was written and directed by Horowitz, and was co-produced by ''Red Rooster'' and a Dutch film company. The co-production with the latter enabled filming to take place in Amsterdam, a central location in the book. Broadcast on CITV, transmission of episode 3 was impacted due to technical issues midway through, resulting in episode 4 being extended with the affected episode 3 portion included at the start. The finale was also changed, with the main antagonist, Charon (Monique van de Ven), attempting to kill the protagonists with a gun at their office, rather than trying to electrocute them, the latter possibly being unsuitable for the young audience watching.<ref>[https://www.ganymede.tv/forums/topic/diamond-brothers-1991/ An account of the show on the ''Ganymede & Titan'' forum.] Retrieved 20 June '21</ref>
According to one viewer, ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' was written and directed by Horowitz, and was co-produced by ''Red Rooster'' and a Dutch film company. The co-production with the latter enabled filming to take place in Amsterdam, a central location in the book. Broadcast on CITV, transmission of episode 3 was impacted due to technical issues midway through, resulting in episode 4 being extended with the affected episode 3 portion included at the start. The finale was also changed, with the main antagonist, Charon (Monique van de Ven), attempting to kill the protagonists with a gun at their office, rather than trying to electrocute them, the latter possibly being unsuitable for the young audience watching.<ref>[https://www.ganymede.tv/forums/topic/diamond-brothers-1991/ An account of the show on the Ganymede & Titan forum.] Retrieved 20 Jun '21</ref>  


Interestingly, the book was published the same year as the show was being broadcast. According to the IMDB page, the show began airing on 26th March 1991, just twelve days after the book it was based on was published.<ref>[http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2017/12/just-ask-for-south-by-south-east.html ''Ludicrously Niche'' blog discussing the television adaptation of ''South by South East''.] Retrieved 20 June '21</ref>
Although the book ''South by South East'' - as well as other subsequent Horowitz ''Diamond Brothers'' books stated that the TV series was adapted from it, this was not the case. In fact, Horowitz confirmed that he originally wrote the TV screenplay, and then adapted and wrote the book from the TV series.<ref>http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2021/08/just-ask-for-south-by-south-east-book.html</ref>


==Availability==
==Availability==
''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' is coveted media for fans of the book series. It never received any repeats beyond its original transmission, nor any home media release in the guise of VHS or DVDs. It may be explained by how ''CITV'' media from the 1990s was poorly represented in the home media market.<ref>[http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2017/12/just-ask-for-south-by-south-east-again.html ''Ludicrously Niche'' blog discussing why ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' never received a home media release.] Retrieved 20 June '21</ref> None of the episodes have since resurfaced. However, the title sequence was uploaded by Jay Dragonarc Productions on 29th May 2021. Aside from this, as well as mentions in ''Radio Times'' issues, little about the show is currently accessible as of the present day.
''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' is coveted media for fans of the book series. It never received any repeats beyond its original transmission, nor any home media release in the guise of VHS or DVDs. It may be explained by how ''CITV'' media from the 1990s was poorly represented in the home media market.<ref>[http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2017/12/just-ask-for-south-by-south-east-again.html Ludicrously Niche blog discussing why ''The Diamond Brothers: South by South East'' never received a home media release.] Retrieved 20 Jun '21</ref> Anthony Horowitz stated that he was "relieved" that the series never got a home release: as the creator of the series, his lack of interest in a home video release is another potential factor for the lack of a home video version.<ref>https://twitter.com/RossKFoad/status/1249814845144231936</ref>
 
Not a single image or video clip from the series or other form of media could be found on the internet until 2017, when a ''Radio Times'' article including a still photo from the series was unearthed. Subsequently, a promotional poster and the cover art for a potential Spanish dubbed edition VHS of the series were discovered.<ref>http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2021/08/just-ask-for-south-by-south-east-book.html</ref>
 
The first video footage emerged in 2021, when the title sequence was uploaded by Jay Dragonarc Productions on May 29th, 2021. In the comments beneath the video, the uploader confirmed that he had a copy of the entire series, but would not be uploading it due to this being a copyright breach.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_0wtqIw-u8</ref> Although none of the episodes have yet resurfaced publicly, this appeared to be confirmation that at least one full recording set of episodes is in existence.
 
This prove true in December 2021, when ''Ludicrously Niche'' blogger Christopher Wickham made contact with an individual who had VHS copies of the sole CITV broadcasts from April 1991. They ended up being digitised, with copies of all episodes been transferred to Wickham. With his analysis of the show, he was able to fully confirm in a March 2022 post that the book is actually an adaptation of the television series, rather than vice-versa.<ref>[http://cwickham.blogspot.com/2022/03/i-shall-just-ask-for-south-by-south.html ''Ludicrously Niche'' announcing he had received digitised copies of every episode of the show.] Retrieved 1 Apr '22</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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   |service1    =youtube
   |service1    =youtube
   |id1          =M_0wtqIw-u8
   |id1          =M_0wtqIw-u8
   |description1 =The show's title sequence
   |description1 =The show's title sequence.
}}
}}
===Images===
===Images===
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</gallery>
</gallery>


==See Also==
===Milkshake! (Channel 5)===
*[[Jelly Jamm (partially found pitch pilot of British Spanish children's animated TV series; 2009)]]
*[[Peppa Pig (partially found American dub of British children's animated series; 2005)]]
*[[Peppa Pig (found pitch pilot of British children's animated TV series; 2002)]]
*[[Pip Ahoy! (partially found unaired pilot of animated series; 2013)]]
*[[Roary the Racing Car (lost pitch pilot of British children's stop-motion animated TV series; 2005)]]
*[[Roary the Racing Car (partially found American English dub of British children's stop-motion animated TV series; 2008-2012)]]
===CITV (ITV)===
*[[Astro Farm (partially found CiTV claymation series; 1990s)]]
*[[Billy (partially found UK children's animated series; 1998-1999)]]
*[[Dream Street (partially lost British children's TV series; 1999-2002)]]
*[[Pocoyo (partially lost pilots of Spanish-British children's animated comedy TV series; 2003/2004)]]
*[[Ripley and Scuff (partially found British children's television series; 2002-2003)]]
*[[Sooty's Amazing Adventures (partially lost animated spin-off of Sooty; 1996-1997)]]
*[[StarStreet (partially lost British children's television series; 2001-2002)]]
*[[The Fugitives (partially found British children's sci-fi TV series; 2005)]]
*[[The Spooks of Bottle Bay (partially found British children's TV series; 1993-1995)]]
*[[The Twins (partially found animated series; 2000)]]
==External Link==
==External Link==
*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426673/ IMDB page for the series]
*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426673/ IMDB page for the series.]


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 21:31, 1 April 2022

Diamondbrothers1.png

Radio Times promotion of The Diamond Brothers: South by South East.

Status: Lost

The Diamond Brothers: South by South East (also known simply as South by South East) is a six-part television series broadcast by ITV in 1991 as part of its CITV block. Based on the third book from Anthony Horowitz's children's detective series Diamond Brothers called South by South East, it stars Dursley McLinden as the hapless detective Tim Diamond, and Colin Dale as Tim's younger, street smart brother Nick Diamond.

Background

The series was relatively obscure, even for fans of the Diamond Brothers book series. The lack of available media for the show even led to its existence being questioned. Confirmation was achieved thanks to the television show being featured in several of Horowitz's "about the author" book pages, as well as a listing by the British Film Institute.[1] The show was a spiritual successor of the 1988 film Just Ask for Diamond, a film based on the first book of the series The Falcon's Malteaser, which starred McLinden and Dale in their respective roles.[2]

According to one viewer, The Diamond Brothers: South by South East was written and directed by Horowitz, and was co-produced by Red Rooster and a Dutch film company. The co-production with the latter enabled filming to take place in Amsterdam, a central location in the book. Broadcast on CITV, transmission of episode 3 was impacted due to technical issues midway through, resulting in episode 4 being extended with the affected episode 3 portion included at the start. The finale was also changed, with the main antagonist, Charon (Monique van de Ven), attempting to kill the protagonists with a gun at their office, rather than trying to electrocute them, the latter possibly being unsuitable for the young audience watching.[3]

Although the book South by South East - as well as other subsequent Horowitz Diamond Brothers books stated that the TV series was adapted from it, this was not the case. In fact, Horowitz confirmed that he originally wrote the TV screenplay, and then adapted and wrote the book from the TV series.[4]

Availability

The Diamond Brothers: South by South East is coveted media for fans of the book series. It never received any repeats beyond its original transmission, nor any home media release in the guise of VHS or DVDs. It may be explained by how CITV media from the 1990s was poorly represented in the home media market.[5] Anthony Horowitz stated that he was "relieved" that the series never got a home release: as the creator of the series, his lack of interest in a home video release is another potential factor for the lack of a home video version.[6]

Not a single image or video clip from the series or other form of media could be found on the internet until 2017, when a Radio Times article including a still photo from the series was unearthed. Subsequently, a promotional poster and the cover art for a potential Spanish dubbed edition VHS of the series were discovered.[7]

The first video footage emerged in 2021, when the title sequence was uploaded by Jay Dragonarc Productions on May 29th, 2021. In the comments beneath the video, the uploader confirmed that he had a copy of the entire series, but would not be uploading it due to this being a copyright breach.[8] Although none of the episodes have yet resurfaced publicly, this appeared to be confirmation that at least one full recording set of episodes is in existence.

This prove true in December 2021, when Ludicrously Niche blogger Christopher Wickham made contact with an individual who had VHS copies of the sole CITV broadcasts from April 1991. They ended up being digitised, with copies of all episodes been transferred to Wickham. With his analysis of the show, he was able to fully confirm in a March 2022 post that the book is actually an adaptation of the television series, rather than vice-versa.[9]

Gallery

Videos

The show's title sequence.

Images

See Also

Milkshake! (Channel 5)

CITV (ITV)

External Link

References