Are the Avengers British TV show DVD sets out-of-print?*

There was some discussion earlier in this thread about a Blu Ray version of The Avengers. Was this ever more than a rumor or does this have a high liklihood of happening? I personally would snap up a high quality BD collection in a heartbeat.

On a related note, I know that Patrick MacNee has largely retired from acting (he's almost 90), but does anyone know what his current health status is? Would he be able to participate in new interviews for such a set?

 

Given that this was posted seven months ago, is it safe to assume that only the corrected sets are now being sold at places like Amazon (not including Marketplace sellers obviously)?

I wouldn't mind getting myself some Emma Peel.

 

It should be safe by now. I haven't heard of any recent issues with places like Amazon, and Optimum have just released a Collector's Set in the UK of all the newly remastered episodes (Blackman, Rigg and Thorson) which apparantly had all the corrected discs present.

Me, I'm waiting for the Blu-rays

 

I'm waiting for the Blu-rays too. Come on already......

 

So basically no news is probably bad news on the Blu-ray front for the Avengers?

 

OK I'm kinda reviving this thread, even thought I'm a late comer to it.

A Blu-ray release might come, and probably will, but is not scheduled yet.

In addition to Pistols stuff, as some of you may know, I was behind the first The Avengers DVD sets releases over a decade back from A&E.

I'm the one who pushed to do box sets in a time when TV series box sets didn't exist (they only went for single release volumes before that with two episodes on each disc, like for ST or Twilight Zone).

Funnily, John Lydon / Rotten is a big The Avengers fan. I gave him all the sets and he was nut about it. He loves classic english TV and comedians.

I'm not the guy who sent Steve the complete Emma Peel box set. Or maybe I was drunk the night I did it and forgot.

I read here something about 16/9 masters, thought I pushed for 16/9 (actually more like 16/10) masters for the HD restoration, I'm not aware they did it when the series was remastered.

Where does this come from?

 

It has all been remastered in HD (I got this from another forum from someone who worked on the additional content), but not in 4:3 ratio as far as I am aware. Unfortunately, as you say, no Blu-ray has been scheduled yet and given the time elapsed since the remastered sets were issued I'm not holding my breath!!

Nevertheless, the filmed series look stunning on DVD now.

 

I think you got it confused, the remasters were 4/3, and they have been released on DVD in the UK in 4/3 by Optimum / Studio Canal.

They also air, still in 4/3, in HD, on french channel Arte HD.

Now, here, take a look at this very interesting and informative compararison :

This is the original A&E DVD, fromon the 1993 Lumiere VHS masters.



This is the Studio Canal restoration



This is the difference between both framings



This is what happens when you take the original, 1999 DVD top and bottom framing, and keep the sides of the new HD restoration.



Guess how it comes back to... surprise... surprise 1.77:1

Strange, ennit?!

Note that it's just a random example shot. The 4/3 framing have been ajusted from shot to shot on the restoration, and this example just shows how much more information there is on the negative...

The Avengers in 16/9 without cropping of the original TV transmitted framing? Yes I can

 

Sorry yes you're right, I meant not in 16:9 ratio. My bad.

 

Gosh, I really hope this gets released eventually. I fell into the series via reruns when I was a kid in the late 90's. Missed the DVDs before they went OOP. SO, I'm still waiting to finally go through this and The Saint at some point. That image looks very promising.

 

So these are the new HD discs? I found this box set on amazon UK, 39 discs, it was the first on the list but it's not in stock.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Av...ef=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1330737597&sr=1-1

 

Yes, they are HD sourced / remastered, but in SD DVDs only and in the UK only for now.

Having watched a few of those on french HDTV, I say the DVDs are a pretty neat and respectable presentation when it comes to definition. The HDTV airings are pretty soft, thought you can see the additional definition in a few shots.

 

UK version looks fantastic. Is the difference for color episodes only, or, do the b/w (specifically those with Emma Peel) have a noticeable difference as well?

 

The b/w Rigg episodes also look stunning.

The pre-Rigg episodes look and sound the best they ever have but they are nowhere near the same quality and you may be disappointed in the restorations depending upon your expectations.

 

Yes the B/W are awesome looking.

Here is a comparison video I made, using the scene as illustrated above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNf7f44pAb4

 

Any updates on whether BD Avengers will appear Stateside?

 

Our local 1/2 Price Books is selling a Mega Emma Peel DVD set for $250.00 - wow. Are these really going that high in the secondary market? I have one myself that I wouldn't sell until a BD release is confirmed and even then I'd have to wait for reviews to ensure it is of high quality.

 

I would be extremely surprised if a Blu-ray release was worse quality than the standard def DVDs from more than 10 years ago.

 

Agree. My concern is that I'd want to ensure that it was a legit upgrade and things like aspect ratio, complete episodes, English subtitles, etc. were all done correctly. There have been some rare instances (Kung Fu S1, McCallum's Invisible Man) where 4x3 programming was presented as 16x9 for home video. For the price some independent BD releases go for, I'd want to make sure it was done correctly (or as correctly as can be expected).

In any case, this is a moot point until a BD release of the Peel episodes is actually produced and released in the U.S.. Until then, I'll keep my Mega Peel set

 

Per below article, no longer OOP, but not coming in BD either (at least not announced yet):

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Avengers-Complete-Emma-Peel-Megaset/18758

artwork of the new compact set is included at the link

 

Doesn't say if these are the original A&E masterings, or the new masterings being sold in the UK. From the price, I'd assume they're the originals, which I already have. Fingers still crossed for a BD set (and wallet still closed, for now).

 

Please please please remastered version on blu-ray! Otherwise I guess I'll stick with my old ones (which take up quite a bit of real estate)