Question about "The Avengers" TV series (1 Viewer)

[PianoPlayer]

Feeling nostalgic right now because of Diana Rigg's passing this week.

The last time I purchased episodes of "The Avengers" was on VHS -- it's time for an upgrade. Started looking for DVD and Blu-ray options this morning ... my head is spinning.

It looks like there's no complete Blu ray collection of the Emma Peel episodes that's region free. And no "complete series" on Blu-ray at all.

What are my best options? DVD? Wait for Blu-ray releases later?

I appreciate any guidance and feedback!

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

I had the Emma Peel Megaset on DVD, which was a good option. I've since traded that back because I thought blu-rays were coming out, but so far only able to get season (5) on BD, the second season with Diana Rigg in color. And it's not optimal. A bit overbright and faded colors. Should have stuck with the Megaset. But I see season 4 B&W on BD is available, so I'll probably just get that and call it day.

 

[Jim*Tod]

Not sure what the disc options are, but until about a year ago the whole series was streaming on TUBI in very fine HD versions, some of the episodes even had nicely faked stereo sound. So somewhere out there are good transfers. There may be other places now where you can stream these for a fee. That does not solve your question for finding a blu ray disc, but it is one way to see the series.

 

[GMBurns]

Feeling nostalgic right now because of Diana Rigg's passing this week.

The last time I purchased episodes of "The Avengers" was on VHS -- it's time for an upgrade. Started looking for DVD and Blu-ray options this morning ... my head is spinning.

It looks like there's no complete Blu ray collection of the Emma Peel episodes that's region free. And no "complete series" on Blu-ray at all.

What are my best options? DVD? Wait for Blu-ray releases later?

I appreciate any guidance and feedback!

I bought the Emma Peel megaset way back and it has held up well, but it is out of print and selling for major dollars.

About 7 years ago Lionsgate released the same set minus the bonus disc. I see that appears to be out of print now, too, but you can get a good used copy for around $50. So if it's Mrs. Peel you want to watch, that may be a good approach.

I haven't watched the Avengers in a while, but last night I pulled out the first Diana Rigg episode "The Town of No Return". The chemistry between Dame Diana and Patrick MacNee is so much fun to watch.

Good luck!

 

[JohnHopper]

I used to buy the Studio Canal Blu-Ray sets (R2) and they're wonderful and they included English SDH.​

​

www.amazon.com/The-Avengers-Series-4-Blu-ray/dp/B002SZQC5C​

 

[Bob Cashill]

I bought this years ago (Region B DVD) and also have the HD streaming versions from the Rigg era: See on Amazon

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Season 4 on BD is Region 2 I'm afraid, and will not play in domestic players, so there goes that option (unless you have a Region-free player).

 

[GlennC]

Amazon have the streaming video of Seasons 4 & 5 for $9.99 each and in HD too.

 

[mark27b]

In the U.K. season 1 - surviving episodes - and season 2 are on a combined DVD all other seasons are also available on Blu.

(S1 & S2 are only likely to be ever on DVD as they are recovered 16mm telerecordings unlike S3 onwards.)

There is also a single episode DVD disc release of S1 episode 'Tunnel of Fear' not on the above as it was found in 2016

(Cheaper via U.K.) which had a replacement programme

See on Amazon

[Version 2 Release] The Avengers Tunnel of Fear DVD [1961]

It appears that Studio Canal have released a second version of The Avengers 'The Tunnel of Fear' to rectify at least some of the issues...

ianhendry.com

 

[mark-edk]

I have the UK Blu-Ray sets of 4 and 6 but always needed to pull out a sheet of paper to remember what combination of key presses or whatever would allow the player to play the discs. I eventually got seasons 4 & 6 on iTunes during a sale (already had 5 via a redeem code) and haven't had to pull out that sheet of paper since.

 

[Ejanss]

The last time I purchased episodes of "The Avengers" was on VHS -- it's time for an upgrade. Started looking for DVD and Blu-ray options this morning ... my head is spinning.

It looks like there's no complete Blu ray collection of the Emma Peel episodes that's region free. And no "complete series" on Blu-ray at all.

I'll throw the related question in:
I finally had to upgrade my old Monty Python, The Prisoner and Avengers DVD's from the old 00's A&E boxsets when they went to Blu, but whatever happened to A&E Video?
For a while, seems like they were getting all the great stuff you could get (for those who liked "UFO" and "Space:1999"), and then crawled back into their corporate-cable mindset of only releasing "Duck Dynasty" binge-marketable cable-channel titles, and now I'm not even sure if they're still in business.

If the Color-Peel set had to come out from Studio Canal/Lionsgate, who's got the B&W '65-'66 Avengers episodes now?

 

[cadavra]

I'm happy with the MegaSet. I don't have the inclination to upgrade every damn thing in my library, especially TV series.

 

[William T. Garver]

It is doubtful that there will be a U.S. Region A Blu-ray release of all of the seasons of The Avengers. Season 2-6 are available for digital purchase on Amazon and FandangoNow. The Honor Blackman seasons (2&3), which were preserved as Kinoscopes are SD. Seasons 4-6 (Diana Rigg & Linda Thorson) are in HD, which is an improvement over the DVDs. I ended up buying them through FandangoNow. Since Fandango now owns Vudu, I’m hoping they will eventually merge their libraries (as I own several TV shows on Vudu).

 

[Harry-N]

I still have the old A&E 2-disc "Volumes" that were the first issued on DVD in the US. They were in big, fat cases that only held 2 discs and took up a lot of space. I've since moved them into two eight-disc cases. One holds all of the b&w Emma's, and the second holds the color episodes.

I've shunned the Blu-rays because the color ones had high-pitched audio, They were the correct speed but inexplicably pitched up. Can't stand that. And the b&w Blu's are region locked, I'm perfectly happy with the old DVDs for now.

 

[jan goorsky]

I have the Diana Rigg mega set with the bonus disc. Quality is quite good and highly recommended.

 

[quantumsnoga]

I'm an Avengers fan, and have all the existing episodes. I was currently re-watching S5 R2 Blu-Ray episodes anyways. It is interesting to see how the show morphed over the season. S1 episodes had zero to do with S5 episodes, with the exception of Patrick McNee in the background of S1.

The Region 1 DVDs were quite good, so it is only a matter of taste to upgrade to Bu-Ray (Unless you have a <real> home theater setup - I don't. . .)

As much as I enjoyed Diana Rigg's Emma Peel, I'd rather have Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman) at my back in a real set-to. She defined bad-assed.

 

[Steve Chomicz]

I purchased the "i love Ms Peel" megaset and S5 Blu-Ray. I watched the megaset up to S4 and watched S5 on Blu-ray and my heart was broken when she left Steeds apartment in her final episode. Their chemistry was amazing.

I updated the Prisoner from DVD to Blu-ray. It's the way to go. The bonus disc is DVD and wouldn't play on my Panasonic Blu-ray player.

I purchased the Monty Pythons Norwegian edition in Blu-Ray online from network.com in the UK. Most of their releases are UK region but this one was designed to also be sold to the US. Some how Monty and Network new about covid and that we would need the flying circus to watch during covid quarantine.

And Man from Uncle i purchased in DVD as that is the only version. At least it comes in a steel attaché case. I binge watched uncle and avengers. Not sure who copied plots from who.

 

[CC95]

Feeling nostalgic right now because of Diana Rigg's passing this week.

The last time I purchased episodes of "The Avengers" was on VHS -- it's time for an upgrade. Started looking for DVD and Blu-ray options this morning ... my head is spinning.

It looks like there's no complete Blu ray collection of the Emma Peel episodes that's region free. And no "complete series" on Blu-ray at all.

What are my best options? DVD? Wait for Blu-ray releases later?

I appreciate any guidance and feedback!

Blu ray

for all other series
DVD

 

[johnnybear]

I have the region 1 DVD set including the 17th disc but does anyone here have any pixellation on the Girl On The Trapeze about 42 minutes in when Keel tries to trick Edwin Richfield and Kenneth J.Warren as Zippo bursts in and covers keel with the pistol? I've checked the disc and there is no evident damage or mark outside of a small scrape near the very edge! Can anyone assist?
JB

 

[Anthonydasher]

I have the UK discs for season 4-6 and the image is fantastic. The version on Amazon prime are definitely from these transfers as the picture quality especially on Season 6 is superb. As a note Network will be releasing the 26 episodes of The New Avengers on BluRay as well. https://networkonair.com has some amazing Blu rays on offer but you will need to invest in an all region Blu-ray player, available on Amazon. They currently offer The Cybernauts Trilogy on Blu Ray (2 Peel episodes and 1 New Avengers episode). The New Avengers remaster is fantastic.