The Prisoner US BD Edition Gets Detailed

Posted September 16, 2009 04:39 PM by Juan Calonge


Our friends at TV Shows on DVD have the release details for the US Blu-ray edition of the classic British series 'The Prisoner', which will hit store shelves on October 27, released by A&E Home Entertainment, in conjunction with Network DVD. The series will come in five discs, featuring a complete high-definition restoration and 5.1 Dolby Digital audio. Special features include: "Don't Knock Yourself Out": this exclusive, feature-length documentary is the definitive look at the production of THE PRISONER, told by those involved in its creation. It includes a combination of archive and newly-filmed interviews with nearly 400 people, including Amette Andre, Bernard Williams, David Tomblin, Derren Nesbitt, Peter Wyngarde, Anton Rodgers, Michael Grade, George Baker and Peter Bowles. Additional featurettes: "The Pink Prisoner:": Peter Wyngarde pays tribute to the series in this unique cross between an interview and comedy sketch "You Make Sure it Fits": music editor Eric Mival discusses his role behind the scenes in making 'The Prisoner' and provides a unique look at the Music Bible for the show Newly restored original edit of "Arrival" with an optional music-only soundtrack featuring Wilfred Josephs' complete and abandoned score Original edit of the episode "The Chimes of Big Ben" Production crew audio commentaries on seven episodes Image Archive: individual galleries of over 1,200 stills are featured throughout this set, including episodic shots, generic/PR Photos, coverage of the original press conference in 1967 and Jack Shampan's designs. Archive material, including textless titles with clean themes by Ron Grainer, Wilfred Josephs, and Robert Farnon, as well as material from Rover, Foreign 'Filing Cabinet' title footage and the McGoohan photo montage from "Arrival." Production Paperwork Archive: original scripts for each episode, along with other rarely-seen production documentation, press releases, call sheets and other memorabilia. This unique collection is sourced from the personal archives of Tony Sloman, Steven Ricks, and Simon Coward and is reproduced here with their permission and assistance. (DVD-ROM Feature) Exposure strips gallery Commercial break bumpers Trailers for all episodes Preview of AMC's 'The Prisoner' mini-series remake
Source: TV Shows on DVD \| Permalink \| [Country settings]

News comments (12 comments)

rich_adamson

Sep 16, 2009

Great news except, WTF no lossless audio! If Criterion can do great Lossless Audio on their old titles in mono nonetheless, why can't other companies manage it for their releases? It is just plain lazy and disrespectful IMO to your paying customers who expect the best possible PQ and AQ.

Top reviewer

bluskies

Sep 16, 2009

Oh, come on, rich, I think doing 5.1 is more than we can expect on an old mono show like this. If you are going to be concerned about something, be concerned that the UK Network release is 6 discs, while this one is only 5. Since they are working in conjunction with Network, what is missing (besides the book)? And also be very concerned about the PQ! In comparison of the A&E DVD releases and the Network DVD releases, the Network was considered highly superior. Which will be get from A&E?

rich_adamson

Sep 16, 2009

I am worried about that as well, but I am optimistic that it will be good like the Pride and Prejudice restoration... on the other hand, I am getting very annoyed by companies continuing with the lack of Lossless audio. Warner, and others have no reason to do this, because like I said, the Criterions (in MONO) sound great w/ lossless, and any new blu-ray release should be expected to put together a well-rounded package of not just great PQ, but top-notch AQ as well. I am expecting to pick it up, but I am very disappointed in the lack of lossless audio nonetheless.

Top reviewer

DVDave

Sep 16, 2009

Seriously, lossless audio is the least of my concerns. I am just fine with the Dolby 5.1 mix that was created from the mono stems on the Network release. It's certainly the best you are likely going to get out of a 40 year old mono source. What concerns me most of all is if they are using the Network HD masters which are FAR superior transfers to the NTSC masters that A&E has been using. This is the make or break point for me and if I have to I'll finally invest in a multiregion BD player and get the Region B UK set from Network because this is the greatest series ever conceived.

Top HT gallery

J6P

Sep 16, 2009

Rich is correct, Bluskies.

Where 2ch or mono audio sources are concerned it is far more important that they be encoded losslessly, rather than multichannel. I'll take uncompressed mono or stereo over DD 5.1 any day of the week.

Top reviewer

DVDave

Sep 16, 2009

The Netwrok UK set is only Dolby 5.1 audio as well so the only difference is going to be the PQ depending on which source A&E is using.

rich_adamson

Sep 16, 2009

My concern is not the 5.1 at all, as I would prefer an original mono in lossless to a 5.1 remix. As far as the PQ is concerned, I am not commenting on that at all, as at this point it is just pure speculation. What I am commenting on is the listed specs, as I see no point in useless speculation until reviews or more concrete info begins coming in on the PQ.

dougotte

Sep 17, 2009

It looks like the extras are nearly identical to the Network UK set. I'm also heartened that it says "in conjunction with Network DVD." Maybe that means that A&E will be using Network's transfers.

I also would rather have lossless mono that Dolby Digital 5.1.

Top contributor

Clark Kent

Sep 17, 2009

The lack of lossless audio on this release is a disaster. What is even more disturbing, and what most people do not realize, is that whenever a release has a 5.1 Dolby Digital track, is that a full PCM soundtrack exists. Dolby Digital tracks are always created from a fully lossless PCM master. Lossless mono is a viable option that should always be included.

Top reviewer

nazdar

Sep 18, 2009

What is the region? or is that a secret. American set looks compact, 60s and all the discs will work. British box looks nicer with the Prisoner Bike Logo. So what region please?

JurassicMass88

Sep 18, 2009

To nazdar:

The U.S. release is Region-A "locked"

The U.K. release is Region-B "locked"

matt_hargett

Sep 21, 2009

I totally agree with several of the commenters: Dolby 5.1 tracks on a bluray in lieu of lossless, is plain retarded. I, too, would rather have a mono/stereo 24-bit lossless track than a poorly mixed surround 16-bit lossy track. In this case, the 5.1 track obviously already exists and so not including a lossless version is just dumb.

The only practical reason I can think of why they would do this is if they are using BD-25s and want to cram as much onto each single-layer disc that they can. If that's the case, shame on them, and I hope they regret it once they realize no one will pay the premium box set price.