TV spin-off CD-ROM first

Televisual, September 1995

Claimed to be the first CD-ROM spin-off from a television series, Edge of Empire is a co-production between Striding Edge productions and Compact Books.

Based on the 4x30 minute series of the same name, joint-commissioned by Tyne Tees and Border, the £60k CD-ROM will be produced by CBL using its own 3D graphics and Striding Edge’s footage.

“I certainly don’t know of anyone else as advanced as we are on a project like this,” claims Striding Edge producer Ian McNulty. The CD-ROM is headed for shops in November, just after the October screening of

the £120k series in regional schedules.

The series is based on “access to unique Ordnance Survey computer-modeling of Hadrian’s Wall and the surrounding terrain,” says Tyne Tees director or programming Peter Moth. “We can draw a computer model of the area to see what it looked like.”

“CD-ROM exploits perfectly material that you can’t use in the linear narrative of a television programme or video,” says McNulty. “A lot of people are throwing money at CD-ROM ... we’re trying to throw intelligence.”