Yes the streaming services don't keep films and series forever. The iPlayer will keep some films for 28 days. On Amazon Prime we've watched the series called The Expanse but they don't have it anymore it's gone to Netflix which we don't have and probably never will, can't record those.
I'm still waiting for a couple of "film noir" which I lost in the hard drive crash to come round again. one is this. Starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. The problem is obviously, because they're in monochrome. Twenty years ago, Alan Whicker suggested doing a new series of "Whicker's World," where he would revisit the places he'd recorded during the first series, twenty years before, of which they could show clips and make comparisons. Their immediate reaction, he said, was to say, "No, viewers don't like anything in black and white." "Talking Pictures" show a lot of old films in monochome, that I consider worth watching. But it's a pain trawling through the listings in the hope of finding what I'd like to see again. I like the thirty-year old comedy film "Mannequin," with Kim Cattrall, which does get shown now and again. It's almost a musical. It's a re-make of this starring Ava Gardner and Robert Walker A film with a better ending, which I have on DVD. But I doubt if it will be shown, although they have I think, or maybe another minor channel, shown another Robert Walker film, "Strangers on a Train,"
As happens with many popular series, other countries make their own, of the same plots with different actors. "Doc Martin" was a typical example. Such was the case with "Patience," which was a copy of a French series called "Astrid, Murder in Paris," the first series was in 2019. The scripts seem almost the same. Also available on Channel 4 streaming. That had five series, so as it has been well received, there will be more series of "Patience."
I've watched a few of the original French series of "Patience," but it's called "Astrid, Murder in Paris." I started on series three as I thought they would all be new to me, but one or two were in Patience, series two. So the stories have been a bit cherry-picked for the English market. As with a lot of series, some of the later ones are not as good as the earlier ones. Astrid herself is a bit irritating sometimes, as her autism is far more accentuated than in "Patience." It's in French, of course with English subtitles. As with other French dramas, like "Spiral." I've been able to re-visit my GCE French. It's surprising how much you remember, I can understand quite a bit if the actors are speaking slowly, but they rarely do. On a few occasions, I've been able to think. "They didn't say that." I ordered this today on eBay, starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. One of my favourite film noir movies, which I'd recorded off the TV a couple of decades ago, I lost it with others in a hard drive crash, two years ago. Many of them have been re-shown, so I've re-recorded them, but not this one. It's not yet been repeated on any channel, probably because it's in monochrome. New stock, less than £6 including postage.
I tried watching "After the Flood," but the main characters have far too much personal baggage. Can't be doing with that. That's why I enjoyed "Patience" so much... Practically no baggage!
I watched the men's Australian final this morning and I'm waiting for the Premier League football match to come on. Flicking through channels. I caught the opening credits of "Flog It," on BBC. I noticed a strap-line which said, "The prices shown were relative to when the programme was recorded." Err... This was in 2016! Really?
