"There are now more video shops in Britain than book shops it's a terrible thought, isn't it?"

Inside information's Nigel Farrell warns viewers about the risk of buying blank VHS tapes that are so cheap, it seems to good to be true.

Counterfeit video tapes often deliver a poor quality, dropoutaddled picture, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. It's what they do inside your video recorder that is the real concern Nigel opens up a VHS player to demonstrate the damage they can do to your playheads.

Never fear, though Nigel has a few top tips for spotting knockoff tapes. While he's on the subject of dodgy tapes, he has a word of warning for all those film fans who might be tempted to rent a pirate copy of Steven Spielberg's (as yet unreleased in the UK) ET: The Extra Terrestrial.


Originally broadcast 29 November, 1982.






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