Breaking news: North American fans of The Avengers may finally want to open that bottle of John Steed champagne. A&E has announced the release of Season 5 on Blu-ray! I wish I could report the imminent release of the entire series, but this is still great news. A&E is starting with the color Mrs Peel episodes, which I hope is just the tip of the iceberg. Cover art is ported over from their last Emma Peel Megaset (matching Optimum's UK box design), but it is not clear yet if A&E will be sourcing from Optimum's celebrated Hi-def transfers. Reports are also speculating the absence of special features. I join my fellow fans in hoping the set will use the best prints possible and include bonus extras. Season 5 will be amazing to see on Blu-ray, especially fave episodes like From Venus With Love, The Winged Avenger, The Living Dead, Epic, The Joker, and Return of the Cybernauts. Street date is November 11th.
I investigated the Optimum UK set last spring on my all-region player, and though the episodes looked stunning, the PAL-NTSC speed-up issues made everyone sound like they were on helium. See my test-comparison video here. I'm thrilled to see this new NTSC Blu-ray release, which should offer us the best visual quality played at the correct speed. Spy Vibers can now pre-order the A&E set from Amazon for a low $20.99 here. Blu-ray page. I'll update with further details as they are announced. Read Spy Vibe's feature interview about The Avengers production history with Michael Richardson here.
