Springhill (partially lost second series of British soap opera; 1997): Difference between revisions

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''Springhill'' is a British TV series broadcast on Sky One and Channel Four between 1996 and 1997, co-created by Paul Abbott and Frank Cottrell Boyce.
''Springhill'' is a British TV series broadcast on Sky One and Channel Four between 1996 and 1997, co-created by Paul Abbott and Frank Cottrell Boyce.


The show had two series. The first series was released on DVD in 2013 by Acorn Entertainment.<ref>https://www.amazon.co.uk/Springhill-DVD-Region-US-NTSC/dp/B004117SFE Retrieved 22 May '20</ref> '''The second series has never been released in any medium''' and is now considered lost.
The show had two series. The first series was released on DVD in 2013 by Acorn Media <ref>https://www.acornonline.com/XA6482.html Retrieved 22 May '20</ref>. '''The second series has never seen a physical release and, outside of a brief inclusion on a relatively obscure streaming service, has not been made publicly available for viewing'''. As such, it is now considered lost.


==Premise==
==Premise==
''Springhill'' was a soap opera with supernatural elements, combining story lines about family feuds, homosexuality and infidelity with ones featuring angels, time travel, witch craft and the second coming of Christ. In it, a woman called Eva Morrigan arrives at a Liverpool council estate and disrupts the life of the Freeman family by revealing she's the actual mother of three of the Freeman's children. This develops into a battle between Good and Evil over a baby who's the second coming of Christ which is fought between Eva, Liz Freeman (the mother of the Freeman family) and Marian (the Freeman's new housekeeper who's secretly an angel).<ref>Aldridge, M. and Murray, A. 2008. ''T is for Television: The Small Screen Adventures of Russell T. Davies. UK: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd''. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Television-Screen-Adventures-Russell-Davies/dp/1905287844 Retrieved 22 May '20</ref>
''Springhill'' was a soap opera with supernatural elements, combining story lines about family feuds, homosexuality and infidelity with ones featuring angels, time travel, witch craft and more. In it, a woman called Eva Morrigan arrives at a Liverpool council estate and disrupts the life of the Freeman family by revealing she's the actual mother of three of the Freeman's children. This develops into a battle between Good and Evil over a baby who's the second coming of Christ which is fought between Eva, Liz Freeman (the mother of the Freeman family) and Marian (the Freeman's new housekeeper who's secretly an angel).<ref>Aldridge, M. and Murray, A. 2008. ''T is for Television: The Small Screen Adventures of Russell T. Davies. UK: Reynolds & Hearn Ltd''. Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Television-Screen-Adventures-Russell-Davies/dp/1905287844 Retrieved 22 May '20</ref>


==Historical Significance / Connection to Doctor Who==
==Historical Significance / Connection to Doctor Who==
The series is of particular note as four of the show's writers would go on to work on the 2005 reboot of ''Doctor Who'', these being Russell T. Davies, Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Given that Russell T. Davies was the first head writer of the ''Doctor Who'' reboot (in which he famously merged the show's sci-fi imagery with soap opera plotting), it has been theorised that ''Springhill'' is in many ways a rough prototype for many of the ideas and techniques that his era of ''Doctor Who'' would go on to use.<ref>http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/pop-between-realities-home-in-time-for-tea-47-touching-evil-the-grand-springhill/ Retrieved 22 May '20</ref>
The show is notable for being one of the first televised works of many writers who would go to be incredibly successful and well known. These include Paul Abbott (writer of ''Shameless'', ''State of Play'' and ''Touching Evil'') <ref>http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/970032/index.html Retrieved 8 Nov '20</ref>, Russell T. Davies (the first headwriter of the reboot of ''Doctor Who'') <ref>http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1256045/index.html Retrieved 8 Nov '20</ref> and Frank Cotrell-Boyce (now a highly renowned screenwriter and children's author) <ref>https://www.northernsoul.me.uk/frank-cottrell-boyce/ Retrieved 8 Nov '20</ref>.
 
The series is of particular interest to ''Doctor Who'' fans as four of the show's writers would go on to work on its 2005 reboot, these being Russell T. Davies, Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Given that Russell T. Davies was the first head writer of the ''Doctor Who'' reboot (in which he famously merged the show's sci-fi imagery with soap opera plotting), it has been theorised that ''Springhill'' is in many ways a rough prototype for many of the ideas and techniques that his era of ''Doctor Who'' would go on to use.<ref>http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/pop-between-realities-home-in-time-for-tea-47-touching-evil-the-grand-springhill/ Retrieved 22 May '20</ref>


==Release / Availability==
==Release / Availability==
The first series was released on DVD in 2013 by Acorn Entertainment.<ref>https://www.amazon.co.uk/Springhill-DVD-Region-US-NTSC/dp/B004117SFE Retrieved 22 May '20</ref> The second series has not received a release in any medium and is now considered lost.  
The first series was released on DVD to the US market in 2013 by Acorn Media.<ref>https://www.acornonline.com/XA6482.html Retrieved 22 May '20</ref> Though now out of print, second hand copies can still occasionally be found on the internet.
 
The second series never received a DVD release and was instead uploaded to AcornTV, Acorn Media's online streaming service. <ref>https://uk.acorn.tv/ Retrieved 8 Nov '20</ref> It was only available on that service until November 30th 2014 though and, since being taken down, has never been released or reuploaded anywhere else, effectively making it lost. <ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131024112454mp_/http://acorn.tv/#franchise/springhill Retrieve 22 May '20</ref>


On September 24th 2020, scholar Elizabeth Sandifer confirmed that she'd been able to acquire a copy of the second series from a collector, confirming that copies of the show are in circulation (albeit not publicly).<ref>https://twitter.com/ElSandifer/status/1309184113518284801 Retrieved 30 September '20</ref> She also confirmed that she couldn't reveal the name of collector she got it from, nor could she share or upload the series herself. <ref>https://twitter.com/ElSandifer/status/1309198226000695300 Retrieve 30 September '20</ref>
On September 24th 2020, scholar Elizabeth Sandifer announced that she had been able to acquire the second series from a collector, confirming that copies of the show are in circulation (albeit not publicly).<ref>https://twitter.com/ElSandifer/status/1309184113518284801 Retrieved 30 September '20</ref> Unfortunately, she can't reveal the name of collector she got it from, nor can she share/upload the series herself. <ref>https://twitter.com/ElSandifer/status/1309198226000695300 Retrieve 30 September '20</ref>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
{{Video|perrow  =2
{{Video|perrow  =1
   |service1    =youtube
   |service1    =youtube
   |id1          =XraXvl5PjaQ
   |id1          =C637XePDNyE
   |description1 =Trailer for ''Springhill'' (series one).
   |description1 =Compilation of scenes from the show which were filmed at Bootle High School.
  |service2    =youtube
  |id2          =C637XePDNyE
  |description2 =Compilation of scenes from the show which were filmed at Bootle High School.
}}
}}
==External Links==
==External Links==

Revision as of 15:31, 8 November 2020

Springhill uk.jpg

Title card for Springhill.

Status: Partially Lost

Springhill is a British TV series broadcast on Sky One and Channel Four between 1996 and 1997, co-created by Paul Abbott and Frank Cottrell Boyce.

The show had two series. The first series was released on DVD in 2013 by Acorn Media [1]. The second series has never seen a physical release and, outside of a brief inclusion on a relatively obscure streaming service, has not been made publicly available for viewing. As such, it is now considered lost.

Premise

Springhill was a soap opera with supernatural elements, combining story lines about family feuds, homosexuality and infidelity with ones featuring angels, time travel, witch craft and more. In it, a woman called Eva Morrigan arrives at a Liverpool council estate and disrupts the life of the Freeman family by revealing she's the actual mother of three of the Freeman's children. This develops into a battle between Good and Evil over a baby who's the second coming of Christ which is fought between Eva, Liz Freeman (the mother of the Freeman family) and Marian (the Freeman's new housekeeper who's secretly an angel).[2]

Historical Significance / Connection to Doctor Who

The show is notable for being one of the first televised works of many writers who would go to be incredibly successful and well known. These include Paul Abbott (writer of Shameless, State of Play and Touching Evil) [3], Russell T. Davies (the first headwriter of the reboot of Doctor Who) [4] and Frank Cotrell-Boyce (now a highly renowned screenwriter and children's author) [5].

The series is of particular interest to Doctor Who fans as four of the show's writers would go on to work on its 2005 reboot, these being Russell T. Davies, Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts and Frank Cottrell Boyce. Given that Russell T. Davies was the first head writer of the Doctor Who reboot (in which he famously merged the show's sci-fi imagery with soap opera plotting), it has been theorised that Springhill is in many ways a rough prototype for many of the ideas and techniques that his era of Doctor Who would go on to use.[6]

Release / Availability

The first series was released on DVD to the US market in 2013 by Acorn Media.[7] Though now out of print, second hand copies can still occasionally be found on the internet.

The second series never received a DVD release and was instead uploaded to AcornTV, Acorn Media's online streaming service. [8] It was only available on that service until November 30th 2014 though and, since being taken down, has never been released or reuploaded anywhere else, effectively making it lost. [9]

On September 24th 2020, scholar Elizabeth Sandifer announced that she had been able to acquire the second series from a collector, confirming that copies of the show are in circulation (albeit not publicly).[10] Unfortunately, she can't reveal the name of collector she got it from, nor can she share/upload the series herself. [11]

Gallery

Compilation of scenes from the show which were filmed at Bootle High School.

External Links

References