This is a Reference Guide for our View on Demand (VOD) content

This is a Reference Guide for our View on Demand (VOD) content

  • Requests for content will only be accepted on Overseerr and Reporting Issues should also be done on Overseerr.
  • Please refer to the ⁠☆├????〢vod-requests channel to gain access to Overseer.
  • You can report issues on the ⁠☆├????〢vod-issues channel and I’ll probably still get around to them (if you’re polite and I’m in a good mood), but you should be doing that.
  • I’ve done a LOT of work to sort out historic issues, but I can’t find everything, and new issues crop up all the time. Please keep in mind that I can’t fix everything and you may have to wait – I’m supposed to spend an hour a day, weekdays only, but I’m often doing more as I care about it (like writing this) and I have a day job and commitments of my own.
  • The number of times people are reporting/requesting things that I/we can’t do anything about is pretty high, and I’m often repeating myself, so I’m posting this here so I can refer people to it (I hope)...

  1. VOD Problems We Cannot Fix:
    1.1. Can’t Access Overseer - Overseer is subject to ISP EPL Blocks, so at times you’ll need a VPN.

    1.2. Movie Requests not showing - If you’ve requested a new film, please check whether it’s been released outside cinemas. Just because it shows as “released” in Overseerr, that doesn’t mean it’s available to download. Our sources also don't have much coverage of "making of" documentaries, music concerts, or short films - they just aren't available 99% of the time.

    1.3. TV Requests Missing or Missing Episodes - We download what is available. If you’ve requested an older TV show (e.g. over ten years) and it doesn’t show up or is “patchy”, we probably don’t have any sources (“The Wire” was a classic for this – fantastic and popular show, but a complete pain in the butt in its coverage!). The same can be said of non-English TV Shows, Kids TV shows, and Anime/Animation – our sources don’t have a lot of coverage (presumably as the people populating and curating them aren’t particularly interested), especially if the title is foreign too (even Welsh titles fall foul of this).

    1.4. No subtitles on TV Shows - We have no way of downloading subtitles if they aren’t there (i.e. it’s a non-English TV show and it doesn’t get published with embedded subs). If it’s a new show, you can ask if different versions do have subs, but often there aren’t (and you’ll have to download your own, e.g. on opensubtitles – we can’t).

    1.5. 4K Requests of “Older” Films - Requesting a 4k version because the uploaded version isn’t very good (e.g. it’s an older, grainy film) isn’t going to work either – we download the best FHD version that’s out there first and if that’s bad quality, you’re not going to better it with a 4k request. 4k only existed for films after 2005 and wasn’t widely used until after 2012, so requesting older films isn’t worth it (they won’t exist) and will probably end up with a decline.

  2. “Local” Problems (with your Player, Device and/or ISP):

    2.1. Buffering - This is most likely your ISP throttling your bandwidth, or your set-up not being up to scratch – there’s nothing I/we can do other than suggest you get a decent hard-wired set-up with a VPN (OpenVPN UDP protocol, non-UK servers, etc.).

    2.2. Whole seasons not playing - This is typically due to codec issues. If it’s older content (e.g. pre-2005), it’ll probably be a DVD rip and your player may struggle – use VLC as an external player.

    2.3. 4k/2160p content not playing - “Welcome to 2012” – you need to upgrade your kit, or at least find a player/device that downgrades the resolution of content whilst it plays.

    2.4. Purple and Green Images - This is because the source is Dolby Video and your set-up can’t decode it. As we download the best available version of 4K Movies and TV Shows, these are becoming more prevalent. We can sometimes “downgrade” but sometimes it’s not possible. FHD Movies shouldn’t be affected

  3. Problems we CAN fix:

    3.1. New content (Movies or TV Show episodes) not playing (even when you have a 4k capable setup) – not all sources work (a surprising amount don’t!) so I just need to kick them.

    3.2. Requests showing as “Available” but not showing in Playlists – I need to fix the metadata tagging.

    3.3. Wrongly tagged content (Movies or TV Shows showing as the wrong thing) – the automated system isn’t infallible (and neither am I).

    3.4. TV Show episodes not playing when they’re not subject to the problems listed above. Sometimes things are encoded badly and I can re-encode them – sometimes I need to find a better source.

  4. Problems we MIGHT be able to fix:

    4.1. Wrongly ordered TV episodes – IF you can tell us the right order (often sources of older shows are encrypted but with no keys to unencrypt the titles, so there’s no way of telling whether they’re in the right order or not unless you tell me!).
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