pending thanks ok, I believe i have solved this. the problem arose when i moved notcurses-pydemo from notcurses-bin to python3-notcurses sometime since 1.5.1. so:
* i've added the necessary Breaks+Replace to debian/control, and have built this as 1.6.9+dfsg.1-3. it ought remedy the reported problem. i have made them available at: https://www.dsscaw.com/repos/apt/debian/pool/main/n/notcurses/ i'll almost certainly be cutting 1.6.10 today or tomorrow, so i'm inclined to wait until then, and get this all into one release (especially since I can't yet upload my own packages, and must harass my Sponsor to do so). if a DD would like to upload the 1.6.9+dfsg.1-3 packages i've prepared before then, email me, and we can do that. Andreas, if a fix tomorrow or the next day isn't fast enough, let me know and I can push on the 1.6.9+dfsg.1-3. thanks!