Are the episodes as seen on PBS and available on DVD) the same as they were aired on the BBC, or have they been edited.
I’m generally not a giddy fan-girl, but I have to admit, I’ve found myself absolutely captivated by this updated version. I love Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Freeman’s John Watson. I can’t wait for the next series - if it comes out on Blu-ray before they’re aired over here, I’ll have to buy it. Blu-ray’s are regionless, right?
StG
Masterpiece Mystery’s time slot requires 8 minutes or so be edited from each episode of Sherlock; the work was done by the production company. The version on DVD’s & BluRays sold here is the full show, as seen on BBC. When the new episodes join Series 1 on Netflix Streaming, they probably will also be the uncut version.
The BluRays sold at Amazon.UK are “Region Free.” However, they will not play on many US players; read the small print at the site to determine whether you have the right model. Since my DVD player had died, I bought a Region Free model–mostly to watch the new series. Which aired on the UK beginning 1/1/2011 & went on sale there soon after the 3rd episode–but was not shown here until May!
Production on Series 3 begins next January. When will it premiere in the UK? When will PBS find a slot?
Thanks. I was thinking about asking the DVD question. So even though PBS is airing cut versions, the U.S. DVDs are uncut? What about the streaming versions available for sale from Amazon?
Per my friend who has the season 2 DVDs, region 1, yes they are uncut.
The discs are not necessarily regionless, and they have different region definitions than DVDs. Players are supposed to be region locked to only play regionless discs or discs from that region, but apparently they can be modified easily to play discs from any region.
Many major studios release region-free versions of their films, so YMMV. I guess the UK releases are region free. The UK is in region B while the US is in region A.
The bigger problem may be the PAL/NTSC difference. That shouldn’t be an issue if you’re watching at 1080p, but it can be a problem at 1080i, and if you want to watch any extra features that are only available in standard def, you may not be able to watch those.
Yep, I was annoyed that my DVR recordings of series 2 had many bits and pieces apparently chopped out. I found out when I was looking at at some clips on youtube at work and saw new-to-me fragments - like Sherlock stealing an ashtray from Buckingham Palace. WTF!
I have series 1 on DVD that I ordered through Amazon and I think those episodes are intact.
Weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a region locked DVD player.
US players are region locked.
My oldest US one’s are, but nothing in the last 7-8 years are, including my slim PS2.
My slim PS2 and my Philips DVD player are both US bought. Not hacked or anyting either. Actually, I have two Philips DVD players and both play all DVD’s from all regions and I have a ton of region-elsewhere DVD’s.
The Blu-Rays on sale at Amazon.UK are officially Region Free. However,
Some US players will pass the test; I think there’s info on the 'net. But many US players will not play the “Region Free” BluRays at all.
However, my Region Free DVD player had no problem with the DVD’s from the UK–or any other DVD’s. And the content is identical from either country–three episodes as broadcast on the BBC (two with commentaries) plus a Making Of featurette…
The manual for my Blu-ray player says the following:
You can play Blu-ray discs bought in another region if the video standard is NTSC. However, you cannot play Blu-ray discs that do not include region code A. Region codes indicate that a disc conforms to industry standards. You cannot play a disc that does not have a region code.
I’m guessing it won’t play.
StG
Can someone refresh my memory about something? ISTR reading that you can watch the episodes on the BBC website right after they’re shown in the UK. Or am I remembering that wrong?
Yup, via iPlayer. You’ll need a UK proxy though.
Baron Greenback - What’s a UK proxy?
StG
Basically a temporary UK-based IP address.
If you want to check if a particular version is cut or not you should be able to tell from the running time.
A way to con the BBC into thinking you’re in the UK.
Is a UK proxy legal? And is it hard to do?
StG
Not hard, hard, but from what I understand, it can be tricky if you’re not used to monkeying with your network settings.
A very non-tech-oriented friend managed to get her PC set up to use it for this season’s Sherlock, though she somehow managed to make her PC stop talking to her wifi in the process. She assured me that it wasn’t worth worrying with until the season was over (wired connection still worked fine), so once the episodes had aired, she had me over just to reset things to the way they had been before.
The proxy itself is perfectly legal. I’m not sure what the legal status of using one to watch iPlayer is.