When I started collecting Doctor Who on DVD, I started with the UK Region 2 releases. This quickly became too expensive, so I shifted back to Region 1. When I heard that The Chase had to have its Beatles footage cut for overseas release, when intact for the UK release, I started exploring replacing my Region 1 DVDs (having fallen well-behind current releases, with Region 2s.
I am fully aware of the obstacles that face someone in the US with importing and watching DVDs from the UK. Here they are:
1. Region Encoding
UK DVDs are all encoded in Region 2, US DVD players are all designed for Region 1. One modern solution is to use a player like VLC to watch them on your PC, which does not respect region encoding. The other modern solution is to purchase or identify a Region Free DVD player. DVD players being advertised as region free, sometimes hacked to be so, others merely identified as such, tended to go for lots of money a few years ago. Now that players are ubiquitous, the big money items are region free Blu-ray players. A site to find region free DVD players is at http://www.regionfreedvd.net/
You may have luck in finding a player at your local Best Buy or Wal-Mart that secretly can bypass or allow you to set the region code. Use this site to locate players that may have a hack:
http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks
2. PAL to NTSC
The next hurdle is getting your video to play. Region 2 DVDs are encoded using the PAL I video format. Region 1 DVDs use NTSC M. A Region 2 DVD use a resolution of 720x576 and show 25 interlaced fields per second. Region 1 DVDs use a resolution of 720x480 and show 29.97 interlaced fields per second. The color encoding for each system is different as well. Your average US TV will likely not react to a PAL signal well. If you broadcast a color PAL without any conversion to an NTSC TV, the resulting picture will likely have its top and bottom cut off, roll uncontrollably in the vertical direction, and be in black and white. Fortunately, most region free DVDs can convert PAL to NTSC with reasonable results. You can always import a PAL/NTSC TV from Europe.
The way PAL video is converted to NTSC gives way to compromises. First, the color must be re-encoded, which is not a real issue. Second, the picture resolution must be decreased so the picture will be visible on an NTSC set. The vertical line difference between NTSC and PAL is 96 lines, which means that the resulting picture has less visual clarity. Third, the field rate must be converted from 25 to 29.97 field per second. This is the most difficult task, because the conversion has to interpolate a 6th field after every 5 fields per second. The result is not quite as smooth as native PAL video.
3. Disc Importing
The final issue is with obtaining the discs themselves. If there is a reason to put up with the above two issues, it is the price differential between US and UK releases of the same discs. US DVDs of British TV shows are almost always much more expensive.
British TV DVDs usually drop substantially in price after a few months on the UK market, which is not so in the US. The casual collector might not be too concerned, but the serious collector will be surprised at how quickly the savings add up. Also, as master videos and films of these productions are generally stored in the UK, the picture and audio quality is often superior to the US releases. Amazon.co.uk's standard shipping is pretty reasonable if you purchase more than one title at a time.
| Title | Amazon.com Price | Amazon.co.uk Price | Currency Conversion = | 1.54 | Notes |
| First Doctor | Difference | ||||
| Doctor Who - The Beginning | $25.99 | £10.41 | $16.07 | -$9.92 | |
| The Keys of Marinus | $20.49 | £6.48 | $10.00 | -$10.49 | |
| The Aztecs | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| The Dalek Invasion of Earth | $24.98 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$14.19 | |
| The Rescue / The Romans | $32.49 | £14.99 | $23.14 | -$9.35 | |
| The Web Planet | $11.99 | £6.93 | $10.70 | -$1.29 | |
| The Space Museum/The Chase | $44.99 | £17.99 | $27.77 | -$17.22 | |
| The Time Meddler | $20.99 | £5.84 | $9.01 | -$11.98 | |
| The War Machines | $20.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$12.05 | |
| Second Doctor | |||||
| The Tomb of the Cybermen | $8.99 | £4.58 | $7.07 | -$1.92 | OOP; Probably to be Re-released |
| The Mind Robber | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| The Invasion | $26.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$18.05 | |
| The Seeds of Death | $26.49 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$15.70 | |
| The War Games | $36.49 | £10.23 | $15.79 | -$20.70 | |
| Third Doctor | |||||
| Spearhead from Space | $8.99 | £5.99 | $9.25 | $0.26 | |
| Inferno | $23.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$15.05 | |
| The Claws of Axos | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| Peladon Tales | $44.98 | £17.91 | $27.65 | -$17.33 | |
| The Three Doctors | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| Carnival of Monsters | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| Dalek War | $46.99 | £14.93 | $23.05 | -$23.94 | Frontier in Space; Planet of the Daleks |
| The Green Death | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| Fourth Doctor | |||||
| Robot | $19.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$11.05 | |
| The Ark in Space | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| Genesis of the Daleks | $25.99 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$17.55 | |
| Planet of Evil | $18.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$10.05 | |
| The Brain of Morbius | $20.99 | £5.99 | $9.25 | -$11.74 | |
| Pyramids of Mars | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| The Masque of Mandragora | $18.99 | £12.88 | $19.88 | $0.89 | |
| The Hand of Fear | $11.99 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$3.55 | |
| The Deadly Assassin | $22.49 | £5.97 | $9.22 | -$13.27 | |
| The Robots of Death | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| The Talons of Weng-Chiang | $22.49 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$11.70 | Revisitation Box Set due to be Released this year |
| Horror of Fang Rock | $11.99 | £6.11 | $9.43 | -$2.56 | OOP |
| Image of the Fendahl | $22.49 | £5.97 | $9.22 | -$13.27 | |
| The Key to Time | $70.93 | £28.99 | $44.75 | -$26.18 | |
| Destiny of the Daleks | $22.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$14.05 | |
| City of Death | $27.99 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$19.55 | |
| The Leisure Hive | $11.99 | £6.43 | $9.93 | -$2.06 | |
| The E-Space Trilogy | $34.49 | £13.93 | $21.50 | -$12.99 | |
| Fifth Doctor | |||||
| Four to Doomsday | $20.49 | £4.77 | $7.36 | -$13.13 | |
| The Visitation | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| Black Orchid | $8.99 | £4.52 | $6.98 | -$2.01 | |
| Earthshock | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| Time-Flight/Arc of Infinity | $37.48 | £9.97 | $15.39 | -$22.09 | |
| Black Guardian Trilogy | $43.49 | £18.42 | $28.43 | -$15.06 | Mawdryn Undead; Terminus; Enlightenment |
| The Five Doctors - 25th Anniversary Edition | $25.99 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$17.55 | |
| Resurrection of the Daleks | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| The Caves of Androzani | $8.99 | £5.99 | $9.25 | $0.26 | Revisitation Box Set due to be Released this year |
| Sixth Doctor | |||||
| The Twin Dilemma | $21.49 | £6.47 | $9.99 | -$11.50 | |
| Attack of the Cybermen | $22.49 | £5.97 | $9.22 | -$13.27 | |
| Vengeance on Varos | $8.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | $1.80 | |
| The Mark of the Rani | $11.99 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$3.55 | |
| Timelash | $20.49 | £4.56 | $7.04 | -$13.45 | |
| Revelation of the Daleks | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| The Trial of a Time Lord | $49.49 | £13.47 | $20.79 | -$28.70 | |
| Seventh Doctor | |||||
| Delta and the Bannermen | $22.49 | £5.97 | $9.22 | -$13.27 | |
| Remembrance of the Daleks - Special Edition | $22.49 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$11.70 | |
| Battlefield | $26.49 | £5.47 | $8.44 | -$18.05 | |
| Ghost Light | $11.99 | £6.99 | $10.79 | -$1.20 | |
| The Curse of Fenric | $22.99 | £5.99 | $9.25 | -$13.74 | |
| Survival | $25.99 | £4.86 | $7.50 | -$18.49 | |
| Multi-Doctor Era | |||||
| Lost in Time | $26.49 | £11.99 | $18.51 | -$7.98 | All Available Hartnell & Troughton Missing Episodes |
| Beneath the Surface | $43.99 | £13.47 | $20.79 | -$23.20 | Doctor Who and the Silurians; The Sea Devils; Warriors from the Deep |
| Myths & Legends | $56.99 | £33.99 | $52.47 | -$4.52 | The Time Monster; Underworld; The Horns of Nimon |
| Bred for War | $80.46 | £11.68 | $18.03 | -$62.43 | The Time Warrior; The Sontaran Experiment; The Invasion of Time; The Two Doctors |
| K-9 Tales | $32.99 | £9.97 | $15.39 | -$17.60 | The Invisible Enemy; K-9 and Company |
| New Beginnings | $37.49 | £10.99 | $16.96 | -$20.53 | The Keeper of Traken; Logopolis; Castrovalva |
| $1,620.70 | $584.05 | $901.53 | -$719.17 | ||
| Eighth Doctor | |||||
| The Movie | No Release | £6.99 | $10.79 | ||
| Ninth & Tenth Doctors | |||||
| Complete Series 1-4 | $256.96 | £49.79 | $76.85 | -$180.11 | |
| Complete Specials (DVD) | $32.49 | £26.98 | $41.65 | $9.16 | |
| The Infinite Quest | $8.99 | £3.97 | $6.13 | -$2.86 | |
| Dreamland | $18.99 | £8.48 | $13.09 | -$5.90 | |
| Other Series | |||||
| The Prisoner Complete (DVD) | $51.49 | £18.58 | $28.68 | -$22.81 | |
| Survivors Complete Series (1975-77) | $57.49 | £18.42 | $28.43 | -$29.06 | |
| Blake's 7 Complete Series One | No Release | £15.47 | $23.88 | ||
| Blake's 7 Complete Series Two | No Release | £15.47 | $23.88 | ||
| Blake's 7 Complete Series Three | No Release | £15.47 | $23.88 | ||
| Blake's 7 Complete Series Four | No Release | £15.47 | $23.88 | ||
| The Day of the Triffids | $18.99 | £3.97 | $6.13 | -$12.86 | |
| The Avengers Complete Series 2 & Surviving Eps from Season 1 | Out of Print | £39.99 | $61.73 | ||
| The Avengers Complete Series 3 | Out of Print | £42.99 | $66.36 | ||
| The Avengers Complete Series 4 | Out of Print | £42.99 | $66.36 | ||
| The Avengers Complete Series 5 | Out of Print | £42.99 | $66.36 | ||
| The Avengers Complete Series 6 | Out of Print | £42.99 | $66.36 | ||
| The New Avengers | Out of Print | £17.79 | $27.46 | ||
| Danger Mouse Complete | $67.49 | £29.97 | $46.26 | -$21.23 | |
| Count Duckula Complete | No Release | £15.93 | $24.59 | ||
| I, Claudius | Out of Print | £23.99 | $37.03 | ||
| The Quatermass Collection | No Release | £11.99 | $18.51 | ||
| Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister Complete | $106.49 | £15.93 | $24.59 | -$81.90 | |
| Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy | $47.99 | £6.34 | $9.79 | -$38.20 | |
| Smiley's People | $47.99 | £5.48 | $8.46 | -$39.53 | |
| Blackadder Complete Collection | $57.49 | £22.99 | $35.49 | -$22.00 | |
| Sapphire & Steel Complete | $54.49 | £18.61 | $28.73 | -$25.76 | |
| The Six Wives of Henry VIII | $51.99 | £9.97 | $15.39 | -$36.60 | |
| Elizabeth R | $54.49 | £10.27 | $15.85 | -$38.64 | |
| Rumpole of the Bailey Complete 1-7 Series | $51.49 | £21.47 | $33.14 | -$18.35 | |
| Cadfael Complete | $132.49 | £14.37 | $22.18 | -$110.31 | |
| Sherlock Homes Complete Collection (Jeremy Brett) | $151.49 | £34.47 | $53.21 | -$98.28 |
Ethan--
ReplyDeleteLong time, no blog post. I'm jonesin' for more nerdly pleasure, and you're withholding it from me!
(O'Keefe sent me your virtual way--wonderful blog!)
Best,
Sean
Ethan, Jamie here.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!