Object Z

[What A Disgrace]

Dual format release of a rare sc-fi programme, on September 22.

• Newly remastered in 2K and presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Newly recorded audio commentaries on all six episodes: Episode 1 by Jon Dear, Episode 2 by Dick Fiddy, Episode 3 by William Fowler and Vic Pratt, Episode 4 by Elinor Groom, Episode 5 by Kevin Lyons, and Episode 6 by Celia Bannerman and Toby Hadoke
• In Search of Sierra Nine (1963/2025, 7 mins): edited highlights from the sole remaining episode of the Rediffusion science fiction drama Sierra Nine accompany this investigation of a mostly missing television series
• Object Z Episode 1 shooting script
• Image gallery: rarities and curiosities relating to Object Z and its missing sequel series, Object Z Returns
• Illustrated booklet featuring new essays by Jon Dear, Dick Fiddy, Ellie Groom and William Fowler

[GaryC]

It was written by Christopher McMaster, not Nigel Kneale.

[What A Disgrace]

That's what I get for watching every supplement on Hammer's Quatermass Xperiment boxed set.

[jlnight]

Associated-Rediffusion was an ITV company, not BBC.

For UK audiences there is a season at the BFI Southbank in September on some of their programming, including this series.

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

OBJECT Z
The complete first series of the ground-breaking science fiction drama
Directed by Daphne Shadwell
Written by Christopher McMaster

Released on BFI Blu-ray and DVD (Dual Format Edition) on 29 September 2025

Unseen since its first transmission on ITV in 1965, this vintage six-part Rediffusion sci-fi serial will delight aficionados of the golden age of British television drama. Now newly remastered, the BFI brings Object Z to Blu-ray and DVD for the first time, released in a Dual Format Edition on 29 September with special features including audio commentaries for every episode, each by a different expert.

A mysterious mass – known only as Object Z – hurtles through space, threatening earth with destruction. As society erupts into riotous panic and extremist political factions attempt to snatch control, the world’s nations must unite to find a solution in the face of Armageddon. Television producer Peter Barry (Trevor Bannister) and assistant Diana Winters (Celia Bannerman) become embroiled in the race to find answers – but time is running out. The cast also included Margaret Neale, June Challis, Denys Peek, Robert Duncan and Ralph Nossek.

Hard-hitting and contemporary, Rediffusion’s progressive programming for teatime viewers challenged the traditional dominance of BBC television in the 1960s. The cataclysmic world-under-threat sci-fi of Object Z will appeal to anyone who thrilled to Nigel Kneale’s The Quatermass Experiment.

This release is part of the September BFI Southbank TV season ASSOCIATED REDIFFUSION: THE UK’S FIRST GROUNDBREAKING TV FRANCHISE, which celebrates seventy years since the birth of modern commercial television in the UK. Launched on 22 September 1955, Associated-Rediffusion, ITV’s original weekday London television franchise, quickly distinguished itself from the BBC with a heady mixture of highbrow programming and populist fodder, with progressive drama, current affairs, discussion programmes and issue-led documentaries rubbing shoulders with flashy game shows, children’s entertainment and groundbreaking comedies.

Special features
• Newly remastered in 2K and presented in High Definition and Standard Definition
• Audio commentary on Episode 1 by Jon Dear
• Audio commentary on Episode 2 by Dick Fiddy
• Audio commentary on Episode 3 by William Fowler and Vic Pratt
• Audio commentary on Episode 4 by Dr Elinor Groom
• Audio commentary on Episode 5 by Kevin Lyons
• Audio commentary on Episode 6 by Celia Bannerman and Toby Hadoke
• In Search of Sierra Nine (1963/2025, 7 mins): edited highlights from the sole remaining episode of the Rediffusion science fiction drama Sierra Nine accompany this investigation of a mostly missing television series
• Object Z Episode 1 shooting script
• Image gallery: rarities and curiosities relating to Object Z and its missing sequel series, Object Z Returns
• **FIRST PRESSING ONLY** lllustrated booklet featuring new essays by Jon Dear, Dick Fiddy, Dr Elinor Groom and William Fowler, and credits

Product details
Blu-ray: RRP: £24.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1551 / PG
UK / 1965 / black and white / 147 minutes / English language with optional descriptive subtitles / original aspect ratio 1.33:1 / BD50: 1080p 25fps, LPCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit) | DVD9: PAL, 25fps, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/16-bit)

[colinr0380]

If you want more on the history of Associated-Rediffusion, it gets covered in the early section of the London episode of Matthew Harris's "ITV in the Face" idents series.

[Dr Amicus]

Be careful googling this, I did and was presented with what appears to be a major spoiler (although having not seen it before this may be something revealed early).