The Avengers UK series in the US on blu ray?? (1 Viewer)

[Osato]

I saw this blu ray listing on Amazon.uk for The Avengers Series 4 on blu ray.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Avengers...=103GDWMT1VIGH
Currently, it appears that A&E is no long distributing the series on DVD in the US. Does anyone know the status of The Avengers and if this set will also be coming to the US?

 

[Paul_Scott]

Interesting. I hadn't realized the A&E Emma Peel set had gone OoP. I just side-graded to the slim pack version of the set with the bonus disc two years ago around this time. A&E was blowing these out for around $35, now people are trying to get $200 on Amazon. Wow.
This (the out of print status of the A&E set) does bode well for getting a Bd set sooner rather than later. To be honest, the DVD set looks horrid. Compression artifacting distracts in just about every frame when I try to watch this on a big screen. I've been wanting to see this remastered for a while now, so It will be great if they skip the standard def middleman and go straight to high def.

 

[JoshuaB.]

I never bought many of the A&E British TV sets after the middling AV quality of The Prisoner and Space: 1999, but if there were BD releases of The Avengers with a proper restoration job on all of the episodes (not just the Peel years), I'd buy them in an instant. Of course I'd like to see BD sets of the entire Saint series (A&E never finished the monochrome episodes on DVD), New Avengers, Return of the Saint and Space: 1999.

 

[LarryH]

I'd go for this in a flash, if decently done. I gotta wonder what they mean by series 4 since there obviously haven't been any prior series. I assume this was produced on film and could be mastered to high-def, though I assume it was also 25fps. I still haven't any idea what a PAL blu ray is.....

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

Originally Posted by LarryH /forum/thread/295367/the-avengers-uk-series-in-the-us-on-blu-ray#post_3633463
I'd go for this in a flash, if decently done. I gotta wonder what they mean by series 4 since there obviously haven't been any prior series. I assume this was produced on film and could be mastered to high-def, though I assume it was also 25fps. I still haven't any idea what a PAL blu ray is.....

Series 4 of The Avengers is the last black-and-white series, the first to be shot on film as opposed to videotape and the first series with Emma Peel (played by Diana Rigg, or Dame Diana Rigg as she is now).
Like The Prisoner, this was produced on film at 24fps, so will almost certainly be mastered as such on any Blu-ray release.
There is no such thing as a PAL Blu-ray as PAL is an analog standard./img/vbsmilies/htf/smile.gif The vast majority of film-originated Blu-rays in PAL countries are produced in 24p, certainly anything mainstream I've come across.

 

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Kaye /forum/thread/295367/the-avengers-uk-series-in-the-us-on-blu-ray#post_3633977
There is no such thing as a PAL Blu-ray as PAL is an analog standard. The vast majority of film-originated Blu-rays in PAL countries are produced in 24p, certainly anything mainstream I've come across.

24p or 60i - it depends on whether they slowed it (Life on Mars) or standards-converted it (Doctor Who, Torchwood).. There's been an occasional mainstream release in 50i (Being Human), though. And special features in SD might be in PAL (as on Life on Mars).

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

I was referring to 24fps material. As you say, more recent hi-def (or in the case of Life on Mars, upconverted) TV programmes shot at 25p (or 50i and filmised) have either been slowed or standards-converted for Blu-ray.
The Avengers and other shows of that era that were shot to be compatible with US television were shot on 35mm film at 24fps.

 

[ATimson]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Kaye /forum/thread/295367/the-avengers-uk-series-in-the-us-on-blu-ray#post_3634644
The Avengers and other shows of that era that were shot to be compatible with US television were shot on 35mm film at 24fps.

Really? That's news to me, but I'll take your word for it. The only UK TV show of the era that I'm familiar with is Doctor Who, which was neither shot on film (mostly) nor shot at 24 FPS. /img/vbsmilies/htf/smiley_wink.gif
(I believe that they're shot on 35mm film easily enough, but I'm surprised it was at 24 FPS and not 25 FPS...)

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by JoshuaB. /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I never bought many of the A&E British TV sets after the middling AV quality of The Prisoner and Space: 1999, but if there were BD releases of The Avengers with a proper restoration job on all of the episodes (not just the Peel years), I'd buy them in an instant. Of course I'd like to see BD sets of the entire Saint series (A&E never finished the monochrome episodes on DVD), New Avengers, Return of the Saint and Space: 1999.

I ended up replacing my A&E sets of The Saint, with the UK Network DVD sets. Network released all episodes of The Saint on 2 box sets. One for the color and one for black and white. They are outstanding and include extras as well! Still, I would love to get The Saint, The Avengers and The Persuaders! on blu ray if done proper. Network also did a Return of The Saint box. I have that one as well. Of course I had to pick up an Oppo DVD player to play the discs too.

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Interesting. I hadn't realized the A&E Emma Peel set had gone OoP. I just side-graded to the slim pack version of the set with the bonus disc two years ago around this time. A&E was blowing these out for around $35, now people are trying to get $200 on Amazon. Wow.
This (the out of print status of the A&E set) does bode well for getting a Bd set sooner rather than later. To be honest, the DVD set looks horrid. Compression artifacting distracts in just about every frame when I try to watch this on a big screen. I've been wanting to see this remastered for a while now, so It will be great if they skip the standard def middleman and go straight to high def.

I was surprised to see A&E had dropped The Avengers as well. It's been tough to get any information as to why. I'm guessing the contract expired. I don't believe they ever wanted to issue the entire series, rather just the Peel years. Might have been a contract thing to release all of them. I really had hoped they would put out a Tara King box set, but it never happened.
Hopefully a US company will distribute or hopefully the Optimum UK sets are region free for blu ray. I've heard great things about the remastering and restoration with the Optimum sets.
There's more information about the Optimum DVD sets here: http://declassified.theavengers.tv/base_optimumnews.htm

 

[JoshuaB.]

Originally Posted by Tim Haxton /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I ended up replacing my A&E sets of The Saint, with the UK Network DVD sets. Network released all episodes of The Saint on 2 box sets. One for the color and one for black and white. They are outstanding and include extras as well! Still, I would love to get The Saint, The Avengers and The Persuaders! on blu ray if done proper. Network also did a Return of The Saint box. I have that one as well. Of course I had to pick up an Oppo DVD player to play the discs too.

Buying a region-free DVD player (or BD player) has been an idea I've flirted with for awhile, but the R2 British TV DVD releases are expensive to ship to Canada, so I've never bothered. Perhaps I'll get a player for Xmas and reconsider!

 

[Osato]

Originally Posted by JoshuaB. /img/forum/go_quote.gif




Buying a region-free DVD player (or BD player) has been an idea I've flirted with for awhile, but the R2 British TV DVD releases are expensive to ship to Canada, so I've never bothered. Perhaps I'll get a player for Xmas and reconsider!

Have you tried ordering from Amazon.UK? I had great success ordering all of the Network sets from them. Don't recall what the cost were at this point though. It's been a few years.. Anyway. It might be something to consider.
Here's a link to the Saint sets w details on Network's site:

http://www.networkdvd.net/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=the+saint&x=0&y=0

The pricing on Amazon.uk is much lower than the Network site.
I'm curious about The Baron series. I've never seen an episode, but it sounds very similar to The Saint. Network has a set of that series as well.

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

Quote:

, which was neither shot on film (mostly) nor shot at 24 FPS.
(I believe that they're shot on 35mm film easily enough, but I'm surprised it was at 24 FPS and not 25 FPS...)

The key phrase in my post is "shot to be compatible with US television", in other words a decision was taken by the production team to shoot at 24p so that the final version would be compatible for the US TV system. Specifically for The Avengers, the programme was sold to the US for its fourth season, prior to which it was shot mostly in studio on monochrome 405-line video cameras (the then UK standard) and telerecorded to 16mm film for overseas sales. The extra funding from the US deal meant that season four could be shot on 35mm (albeit still monochrome), and since the US was now financially the main market it's not surprising that the decision was taken to produce it in a US system-friendly format.
Further evidence that the US was the primary consideration lies in the first colour season (season five) having the US English spelling of 'colour' in the pre-titles card ("The Avengers In Color"), and the fact that it was being produced in colour at all some three years before colour television was widely transmitted in the UK!
This decision to produce on 35mm film at 24p for US-compatibility was also made for shows like Thunderbirds and The Prisoner to name but two (and indeed most if not all the ITC canon, AFAIK), and is a result of independent television in the UK using overseas (i.e. US) investment. This contrasts to BBC output (Doctor Who, for example) which has always been recorded in the UK TV standard of the day as the licence fee is required to fund UK programming only (and also frankly because that's how the BBC's studios were set up).

 

[JoshuaB.]

Thanks for the link, Tim! I think I may just invest in a cheap region-free player or spend a bit more and get a region-free blu-ray player. I'll probably pick up the two Saint sets, along with Return of the Saint. As for The Baron, I believe there's a R1 release, but I don't know if it's a solid release (as per AV quality).

Originally Posted by Tim Haxton /img/forum/go_quote.gif




Have you tried ordering from Amazon.UK? I had great success ordering all of the Network sets from them. Don't recall what the cost were at this point though. It's been a few years.. Anyway. It might be something to consider.
Here's a link to the Saint sets w details on Network's site:

http://www.networkdvd.net/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=the+saint&x=0&y=0

The pricing on Amazon.uk is much lower than the Network site.
I'm curious about The Baron series. I've never seen an episode, but it sounds very similar to The Saint. Network has a set of that series as well.

 

[Bill Buklis]

I recommend blahdvd.com for UK imports. The shipping is dirt cheap. A while back the shipping was free (even to the states). Last time I ordered, shipping was still free in the UK, but to the U.S. it was only £1 (one pound) per item. This easily beats amazon UK by a long shot.

 

[smithb]

Originally Posted by Paul_Scott /forum/thread/295367/the-avengers-uk-series-in-the-us-on-blu-ray#post_3633109
Interesting. I hadn't realized the A&E Emma Peel set had gone OoP. I just side-graded to the slim pack version of the set with the bonus disc two years ago around this time. A&E was blowing these out for around $35, now people are trying to get $200 on Amazon. Wow.
This (the out of print status of the A&E set) does bode well for getting a Bd set sooner rather than later. To be honest, the DVD set looks horrid. Compression artifacting distracts in just about every frame when I try to watch this on a big screen. I've been wanting to see this remastered for a while now, so It will be great if they skip the standard def middleman and go straight to high def.

I bought my sets back in the late 90's when they were first released and I've always thought they looked pretty good, at least the b/w episodes. Reviews I've read also score these sets pretty well, unlike some of A&E's other british titles. I watch on a 92" screen for reference.
Bill, thanks for the blahdvd.com reference. I may have to try them some time. I've been interested in some day getting the Equalizer TV season 1. In the US it alwasy seems to be around $30+ and on Amazon UK it now shows as 17 pounds, while on blahdvd.com it is only 5.95 pounds. Thanks for the tip and alternate source for price checking British imports.

 

[Bill Buklis]

The base price at Amazon UK is usually pretty good, but overseas shipping prices can be prohibitive. Blahdvd.com has fairly competitive prices and the shipping is unbelievable. I've ordered a few things from them and all have been processed and shipped promptly. Pick and choose, whoever comes out ahead, go with it.

 

[Osato]

Any further news from Optimum on a blu ray release of The Avengers??

I saw that Network will be releasing The Persuaders! complete series on blu ray in 2011. The discs will be locked to Region B UK.

Network just released some action series episodes on blu ray in a 3 volume set called Retro Action. Saint, Return of the Saint, The Prisoner and The Persuaders are all featured in the sets..

http://www.networkdvd.net/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=retro&x=0&y=0

The product link page above also has links to you tube with trailers for each of the blu ray sets too!

 

[sclem]

I bought as many of the Emma Peel sets as I could but I was lacking funds. Then they came out with the giant whole series box after I had already purchased mostvof the Emma Peel. Now I want to buy them and I have money and they sre gone. There's really no reason for anything to be OOP in this age. People are asking $600 on Amazon for the DVD set. If they come out on Blu-ray I will buy it but they need to get their act together on packaging. You can't start selling in small boxes then jump to whole set boxes after everyone has bought several small boxes. This time I want the entire series in one set -- but the price should be reasonable. The previous release was pricey.

 

[Osato]

I bought as many of the Emma Peel sets as I could but I was lacking funds. Then they came out with the giant whole series box after I had already purchased mostvof the Emma Peel. Now I want to buy them and I have money and they sre gone. There's really no reason for anything to be OOP in this age. People are asking $600 on Amazon for the DVD set. If they come out on Blu-ray I will buy it but they need to get their act together on packaging. You can't start selling in small boxes then jump to whole set boxes after everyone has bought several small boxes. This time I want the entire series in one set -- but the price should be reasonable. The previous release was pricey.

My A&E Peel set sold for $180 this week. I also had the bonus disc and it sold for another $26 or so. The UK set was around $188 so that worked very well for me. I'm getting more episodes and extras then what I had before too. Looking forward to checking out the Optimum set! It should arrive this week. It's too bad there is not any interest in releasing The Avengers on DVD or blu ray in the US. There is a new Saint tv film in the works, so maybe The Saint (movie and tv series) will come to blu ray soon?