The Return of the Yard - SiF Staff Statement

When we relaunched the SiF Productions site, we axed a number of items to make space and room. For moral issues, we also removed The Yard – given that the site is becoming frequented by young children and families, it wasn’t a great fit among our other output.

For the most part, no-one has had any issue with the media we have removed. However, I have received various e-mails, messages, direct questions on the forum, Facebook and such regarding The Yard. We had intended to keep the series alive on the site initially by uploading the videos to YouTube, but they were rejected by the uploader for both copyright and other issues from a previous submission where they were removed a few years back.

None of the media removed from the site was intended to be removed and gone forever. It’s all been backed up on an external hard-drive, and ready to be reinstated according to demand by people who ask for it.

Reviving the SiF Productions page for The Yard has not been an easy decision on our part. Some members of the SiF Staff Team were opposed or concerned regarding the idea, and even I will admit, despite the popularity of the production among members of our boards and elsewhere, I do have my concerns regarding the content of the production. I have always felt that the series was a product of its time. The production values are very much ‘of their time’ and the jokes and points being addressed in satire are no longer entirely relevant to the current series.

However, we are willing to listen to those who enjoyed the series and have willingly brought it back to Sodor Island Fansite for that reason. We stand by the decision to reinstate the production for download, but fully acknowledge that some will find it offensive and controversial, so for that reason, we will listen and respond to any legitimate complaints regarding the content.

At this point, it is unlikely that further new episodes will be produced.