Is it on DVD or video?

Checking DVD and video availability in Britain

Any DVD or video currently available to buy in Britain can usually be ordered directly through a good retailer - on the high street, by mail order, or via the internet. Web-based retailers often boast comprehensive catalogues of available titles which are usually searchable by actor, director or genre, as well as by title. Try - Video/DVD Retail - for a selection of links to browsable retail sites, including those offering titles to rent. Most public reference libraries should also have the facility to check whether a particular DVD or video title is available to purchase.

For titles released on DVD by the bfi, please see our Filmstore.

Many titles, particularly older films and most television programmes, will never have been released on DVD or video in Britain. Other titles will have been released at one time, but will have since been deleted from distribution and will therefore not be available to purchase.

Unavailable titles

If a DVD or video cannot be ordered from a retailer, you will probably not be able to purchase a copy. Copies of titles that have recently been deleted by distributors may sometimes still be found for hire in rental outlets or via public libraries.

There are a number of searching companies in Britain who specialise in the supply of deleted or 'hard to find' DVDs and videos. These services are often internet-based - for relevant links, please see Deleted Videos/DVDs.

DVDs and videos which may be available in other countries will not necessarily be available in Britain, and those purchased from overseas retailers may not be compatible with British players. For example, DVDs purchased from North America (region 1) will only play on a British DVD player if it has multi-region playback; North American videos will only play on a British VCR if it has NTSC playback.

If you wish to view a particular film or television title for research purposes that you cannot otherwise obtain, the bfi National Archive holds viewing copies of a large range of material. Viewings are made by appointment with the archive, and are charged at an hourly rate. See Research Viewing Services for more information.

For British terrrestrial television programmes, the two largest commercial archives in Britain are BBC Motion Gallery and ITN Source (which handles Channel 4's archive and a large part of ITV's output). Please note, however, that these archives are focused to supply commercial, rather than private, usage.

Showing DVDs or videos to an audience

Showing a DVD or video to a group of people outside of the home is legally regarded as a public showing, and is therefore in breach of copyright for items purchased or hired for domestic use. For further advice, please see Organising a Screening.