Lost movies after changing country

Changing the Apple store country/region on a Mac was a real hassle in itself (I had to cancel all my recurring subscriptions, which of course did not expire at the same time, etc. etc.). But finally last summer I managed to do it, after more than a year of waiting around for expirations.

However, unfortunately, I forgot to download my purchased movies, and they altogether disappeared. The same movies and TV shows are available on the new store (the move was from US to UK), but it wants me to buy them again. I had a few many-seasons TV shows, which would amount to several hundred ££s altogether; is there any way whatsoever to restore these?

I did some reading and it seems that there isn't if you had not downloaded them before changing stores. But I'm hoping there may be a solution.

(Also, Apple, please, do make changing stores a bit easier. For an itinerant academic, all this is a nightmare.)