The Avengers TV Series

[John Johnson]

I was expecting the UK season sets to get a U.S. release. Oh well...



In early 2006, A&E Home Video released The Avengers - Emma Peel Collector's Edition on DVD, a 51-episode collection with all of Rigg's appearances in the show. It came on 16 discs, plus a bonus 17th disc featuring three previously "lost" episodes from the pre-Rigg era of the program. That item originally went for $179.95 SRP when it first came out, and was later reduced in cost to a $99.95 list price. However, it's been out of print for a long time now, and "new"-condition copies can often go for HUNDREDS of dollars more than the original list price!

Today, A&E and their current distributor Lionsgate Entertainment informed retailers that on October 8th they will re-release these 51 episodes on DVD with The Avengers - The Complete Emma Peel Megaset. You'll get all 3 seasons with Diana Rigg as "Emma Peel" - 51 episodes - on 16 discs for just $49.98 SRP. The DVDs will come packaged in one big plastic case this time (the previous set used a whole slew of plastic cases, in volumes which were also sold separately, that slid into a cardboard box slipcase), with brand-new artwork featuring Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Peel on the cover. It looks fantastic; check it out!

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Avengers-C ... aset/18758

[Eric Paddon]

Really lame that the US market isn't getting an upgrade, let alone a Blu-Ray. I never got the old "mega-set' and still have all the initial releases for the whole run which was only eight episodes a set (save the bonus mega-set disc which had the only extant Keel material which was made available separately).

Of course if I were doing a US release, I'd try to make it possible to view each Emma B/W episode with the "Chessboard" opening which was always an integral part of the viewing experience to me when I first discovered the show.

[John Johnson]

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MISSING EPISODES -
THE LOST STORIES OF THE AVENGERS SERIES 1

How David Keel and John Steed became THE AVENGERS...
The lost stories of the classic television series retold.

n the mid-Sixties, The Avengers proved itself to be a cultural phenomenon. Despite its quintessential Englishness, it transcended international barriers, and established itself as British television’s most successful export of the day.

Today, it remains hugely popular, perhaps because of the schizophrenic nature of the show as it developed; it was a series of many colours, with something for everyone. But the earliest episodes of the show have, since their 1961 broadcast, disappeared from view, the vast majority of the recordings lost forever.

The Strange Case of the Missing Episodes lifts the lid on that first year, and retells the stories in extended synopsis form, covering twenty-four episodes, in greater depth than ever before. The book also boasts a detailed introduction, which explores how these much sought after programmes came to be lost, and a detailed retelling of an alternative, untransmitted version of the episode Double Danger.

http://www.hiddentigerbooks.co.uk/aveng ... e_case.htm

[John Johnson]

My local Sam's Club had this, and I quite shocked to see how the discs have been packaged one on top of each others across several spindles. No buy for me. I don't think the Optimum will be getting a U.S. release anytime soon, so I'm going to order the UK releases.

[John Johnson]

Oh yuck!

[John Johnson]

Release date 11th November (maybe)

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Aveng ... 1266/#News

[sprocket]

At $21 pre-order price, hard to say no to it - especially because I never bought on DVD.

[John Johnson]

Release date 23rd February.

[Paul MacLean]

I've read that the UK DVD release was mastered from better prints, whereas the US DVD used much older prints. Is this so? And is the US Blu-ray also mastered from the same inferior sources?

[Eric Paddon]

Word has it the picture is better on the US release than before but the audio is messed up with the pitch being too fast. I'm sticking to my old set.

[AndyDursin]

I've read that the UK DVD release was mastered from better prints, whereas the US DVD used much older prints. Is this so? And is the US Blu-ray also mastered from the same inferior sources?

The Blu would be identical to whatever was released in the UK.

[John Johnson]

I've read that the UK DVD release was mastered from better prints, whereas the US DVD used much older prints. Is this so? And is the US Blu-ray also mastered from the same inferior sources?

I believe the DVDs such as the recent Complete Emma Peel Megaset, used the old A&E prints.Perhaps these were the same ones used for the US Blu-ray release?

[AndyDursin]

The Blu-Rays (that Season 5 release) sold in the US and the UK are identical. Nobody is striking multiple HD masters for a '60s British spy series at this point in time (lol). The sole difference is the US disc has lower bit-rates by using fewer discs than the European version, but I'd doubt anyone would see the difference.

The DVDs are a wholly separate matter though.

[John Johnson]

The Blu-Rays (that Season 5 release) sold in the US and the UK are identical. Nobody is striking multiple HD masters for a '60s British spy series at this point in time (lol). The sole difference is the US disc has lower bit-rates by using fewer discs than the European version, but I'd doubt anyone would see the difference.

The DVDs are a wholly separate matter though.

I'll probably go for the UK release, as I prefer to support my own region. However, I may wait a while for the price to drop. The pre-prder is way too expensive for me at the moment.

[John Johnson]

RELEASED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON BLU-RAY ON 23RD FEBRUARY 2015

"SEXIER THAN DOCTOR WHO, WITTIER THAN THE PRISONER, CLASSIER THAN THE SAINT"
EMPIRE

Extraordinary crimes against the people and the state have to be avenged by agents extraordinary. Two such people are madcap agent John Steed (Patrick Macnee), top professional, and his glamorous partner, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), talented amateur. Otherwise known as The Avengers.

THE AVENGERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES 4 was a defining series for many reasons; the production budget increased with location shoots being favoured over the original studio setting, it was the last of the series to be shot in black and white, as well as the first to be shot on film, allowing multiple camera angles.

A cult classic, this seven disc boxset includes the complete and uncut Series 4, on Blu-ray™ for the first time, jam packed with over six hours of special features, THE AVENGERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES 4 is not to be missed when released this February.

Extras:

• Exclusive audio commentaries with: director Roy Ward Baker and scriptwriter/producer Brian Clemens on The Town of No Return, scriptwriter Robert Banks Stewart on The Master Minds, scriptwriter Roger Marshall on Dial A Deadly Number, director Gerry O'Hara on The Hour That Never Was and director Don Leaver on The House That Jack Built.

• The Series of No Return - Exclusive audio interview with Elizabeth Shepherd

• Armchair Theatre – The Hothouse (starring Diana Rigg)

• USA Chessboard opening sequence

• The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse promotional trailer

• Alternative end tag from Death At Bargain Prices

• Episode reconstructions for series 1 scripts Kill The King and Dead of Winter

• Colourised test footage from Death At Bargain Prices and A Touch of Brimstone

• Reconstructed The Avengers are Back John Stamp trailer

• Alternative UK opening and closing credits

• Alternative UK animated bumpers

• UK animated bumper

• Variant opening title credits for The Gravediggers

• French opening credits

• German opening credits

• ITN Newsreel footage

• Stills galleries

Blu-ray tech specs:
Cert: PG / Combined running Time: 1352 mins approx / Black and white /
Feature Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 / 2.0 Mono CPCM / Region B /
English language / English HOH Subtitles

http://declassified.theavengers.tv/aven ... l_main.htm