1996: DUE SOUTH SIGNED VIDEO SLEEVES (CLEAR VISION)

From 1996: two signed VHS video sleeves for DUE SOUTH.

The stars of the show flew over to the UK in '96 to drum up publicity for the show (airing on the BBC) and the VHS releases from Clear Vision.

One of their bookings was an appearance at London's HMV flagship Oxford Street store. The signing took place upstairs in the video department and was well attended by the shop's fans. The autograph line snaked around the department and between the rows of shelves (no doubt a nightmare for casual shoppers and store detectives alike).

The event was also covered by Channel One, London's other cable station which was even less viewers and was less talked about than legendary rival Live TV. The sight of a camera crew led one nervous punter standing near me to panic because they'd bunked off work for the day to attend and feared their boss might spot them. Seeing which channel it was, they had little reason to worry.

Both stars seemed very polite and - if memory serves (I didn't take any pictures, this was long before the ubiquitous smart phone) - both wore their costumes from the show. A really nice touch. Someone had also gone to the effort to bring along a "prop" real husky (who was very well behaved) just to complete the illusion. A really nice bit of 'value added' which helped the event feel pretty special.

The two tapes purchased on the day were episodes (with - I think - the exception of Letting Go) which hadn't yet aired on British TV as they were from the start of the second season... which the BBC had purchased but not played at that point.

The cast (and - I think - the stand-in dog) also shot a promo (the roof of BBC TV Centre rings a bell) for the launch of year two on BBC ONE.