Rob's Nostalgia Projects - Gamesmaster S1-7 Blu-Ray Set

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Gamesmaster S1-7 Blu-Ray Set

Last Upgrades:
Production Time:
Number Of Discs:
Language(s):

October 30, 2025
8 Weeks
8
English

Subtitle(s):
Source(s):

None
Home Recorded PAL VHS Tapes
Pre-existing DVD MPEG-2 files
Pre-existing AVI/FLV/MP4 files

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Please Note: this project is in-progress. The page below is presented as a sneak preview, and various elements may change before completion.

Double sided Blu-ray cover artwork - 25mm spine (click to enlarge)

This Blu-Ray set is an update, to one of my earliest DVD projects. Gamesmaster was a UK Channel 4 TV show that ran for 126 episodes over 7 series', from 1992 to 1998, dedicated to video games. Prior to my original 2010 DVD project, a handful of episodes were available online, but were quite a mix; some had sections missing, and most were fairly low resolution.

I decided to try and create my own DVD set from original VHS recordings. Over the next couple of years, that DVD set went through various upgrades as I found new people with original VHS tapes I could loan. The original set was assembled from 25 tapes loaned from Joel/Xenepp. This was then upgraded with another 39 tapes from Adam/MisterToYou, plus a further 13 tapes from Marcus, and some existing transfers by Al of GamesMasterLive.co.uk (since defunct). The last physical DVD sets were duplicated back in 2016, by which I'd sent out close to 100 box-sets & upgraded disc orders. For a good few years I hosted the full ISO DVD images online for anyone to download and burn themselves, although in 2021 I moved hosting providers and could no longer do that. You can read all the details on the original project here

Since then, people have asked every so often about getting copies, which brings me to his Blu-Ray upgrade. I've created a standard definition Blu-Ray set; Re-authoring the 24 DVD discs on to a more manageable 8 Blu-Ray discs. It's worth saying up front that the current release, is identical to the old DVD release. If you already have that version, the episodes are the same here. That's 1:1 the same content, just on fewer larger-capacity discs. I did look at re-loaning and re-transferring all the original source VHS tapes with the much better capture setup I have today, but I found that two out of the three source tape owners (52 VHS tapes!), binned them way back once they got a copy of my DVD set (That's why I now always ask about keeping VHS tapes I'm loaned if there is a chance they will be binned at some point in the future). I did manage to get Joel/Xenepp's 25 tapes, but unless I get more new footage, it's not really worth doing new transfers.

All 126 episodes aired are here, and virtually all bar a few minutes is present on this set. The total running time across the eight discs is 55h 55m 04s. 95% of the footage used is taken from VHS tapes, with the missing 5% remaining assembled together using pre-existing DVD MPEG, AVI or MP4 files, but unfortunately there are still some small sections missing. The quality varies over quite a range from perfect DVD quality down to roughly average VHS quality. As the episodes are currently the same as the older DVD set, the transfer notes for that project are still correct;

Gamesmaster S1-7 Upgraded DVD Box-Set Listings Page

In its original 1992 airing, S1-E10's reviews section focused on 'adult' games. When this episode was repeated on Channel 4, then later on Challenge TV, this had been censored and replaced with a generic feature on an ELSPA countdown of the best selling console games since the series began. This was presumably because the 'adult' theme caused a few complaints! As this episode was captured from VHS tapes of that original airing, the reviews section is uncensored and plays in full. The repeat's censored reviews section is included separately as an extra.

To add to the nostalgia factor, each episode from S1-3 is preceded with a Channel 4 ident/intro, along with two toys/games related 80s/90s TV adverts, plus junctions, continuity announcements, and other bits & pieces. I assembled 125 adverts to use from various sources, and will hopefully be able to expand this with any future upgrades.

As a side project, added to this project within the S1 extras, GamesMaster fan Jack got in contact at the end of May 2020, asking about transferring a number of GamesMaster S2 BetaCamSP tapes, which he'd borrowed from Simon Dunstan some years earlier. Simon along with Chris Mills, ran Real Time Graphics back in the 90s. They produced all the TV show's graphics for Series 1-3. These 12 tapes where what Simon had held on to for his showreel, although over the years they'd become mouldy, and some of the tapes were snapped on previous playback. After airing out the tapes over a few weeks, I repaired and transferred what I could. In the end, I managed to transfer one complete GamesMaster episode (S2-E17 - Cathy Dennis), plus a second (S2-E01 - Tony Slattery) with a few minutes missing at the beginning due to tape damage, one complete set of live audience inserts (S2-E08 - Kristian Schmid). Two more tapes had graphics showreels' dated in 1995, very brief flashes of GamesMaster animation, and one section of the 'Atari Teenage Riot' music video. The quality ranges from sharp broadcast, to 2nd/3rd generation duplicates. Everything else was lost to mould and tape damage. You can read more details on that project here

Complete Blu-Ray Set Screenshots

The set is supplied in a blue 8-way Blu-Ray case, with a laser-printed cover, and printed disc artwork. The original DVD set was also supplied with a pair of red/green 3D glasses for use with the 3D sections in Series 2 Episodes 18 (Ulrika Jonsson) & 19 (Vic Reeves). The 3D game in Episode 19 (Vic Reeves) looks OK, but being from a VHS source the picture quality isn't perfect causing some colour bleeding which doesn't help and the 3D effect is virtually lost, so I've left these off this time round. If you do source your own, you can also use the red lens for the Series 3 'Room Of The Future' competition segments.

A gallery; the finished Blu-Ray eight-disc set

This set need not be the final version. If anyone out there has either more complete, or better quality source material, I would be happy to re-visit the project. All the artwork & menus are all saved so I can easily re-visit any of the discs in the project if I get new source footage, and people can get upgraded discs in the future.

If you're interested in any of my fanmade projects, you can contact me via email at , or through the Rob's Nostalgia Projects Facebook page. Check out & 'like' that Facebook page to see the latest in-progress updates to any current projects, and check out my Wants List to see if you can assist me with any future projects or upgrades.

Disc 1 of 8 - Disc Artwork & Menus