It's been a while since these were on physical media in the US but now you can stream on Prime (also purchase seasons for $9.99) - seasons 4, 5, 6 are in high def!
Like you said, there aren't too many that survived. They also have Season Two and Three for free for those people who don't pay for an Amazon Prime membership.
I had a quick look at season 4 and 5, because I'd read (here at SHF, I think...) that there was somehow a problem with 24fps / 25fps when the HD transfers were done up for the BD release. For anyone interested, here's what I found... Season 4 is HD and looks great, so no dirt and sparkle as in the prints used for the original A&E set, and the audio is fine. Well, they may have fiddled with some fake surround or something but it's not at the wrong pitch/speed. I checked S4E1 from the A&E set against the stream, and they're perfectly synchronized except that episode 1 on the DVD is a different edit compared to the HD transfer. So, the length of black for commercials is different, and some scenes (like Emma and the dying school inspector, Steed's conversation as Piggy changes a fuse) are cut differently and/or are missing in the HD transfer (Steed imagining the sounds of the air crew as he walks the old base). I suspect some of that has to do with that episode being re-shot and re-cut originally. And a quick check of S4E2 shows that the HD transfer has new episode titles, in a different font. So it appears whatever elements they used for the HD transfer were a step back from those used to make the original prints. Season 5 is a different story. I checked side by side, and again the old A&E DVD and the HD transfers were perfectly in sync. other than fade to black, but the HD audio was pitched up, so in sync. but digitally pitched up. Music was off key and voices are a bit chipmunky. The HD video looks good, but the audio is really annoying (to me anyway...). Now, I remember in the original discussions about these, people were checking run times etc., but I think those differences have nothing to do with 24fps vs. 25fps video. I suspect that the audio for season 5 was processed incorrectly, with someone believing the original video material was 25fps being slowed down to 24fps for disc, so they pitched the audio back up to fix it. I'm going to go dig through the old threads here to see if I can find that discussion...
Here's a link to the old Season 5 BD release thread and the discussion regarding audio pitch. The Amazon Prime season 5 streaming episodes appear to be from the same source as the season 5 U.S. BD, and has the same pitch problem. And again, I don't believe there's any mistake at all with frame rate, just that someone mistakenly thought the original material was 25fps being slowed to 24fps, and pitched the audio up to compensate. The Avengers TV Series - Blu Ray Preorders
Bummer if they used the same PAL-speed source as that terrible US season 5 Blu-ray set. I posted speed comparisons on You Tube back when that set was released. It's a shame because the Blu-rays made in the UK were perfect and would have been an accurate source for streaming services.
I knew I'd seen that discussed here, so I went back and scanned that thread and your old posts and comparisons from when the BD was released. I checked by having VLC playing my old A&E discs while playing the Amazon stream with the windows side by side. Everything stays in sync perfectly except for occasional slight differences in the length of commercial black inserts, when you have to re-align. It would be interesting to know what work was done on these at the time and what elements were used. I was surprised to see new titles on the S4 HD, and really surprised to see the S4E1 scenes with the different editing vs the DVD. I was due for a re-watch, so I'll enjoy season 4 on Prime but go back to DVD for season 5.
Can anyone provide any feedback on this particular set? (StudioCanal, Region 2, DVD): Amazon.com I currently own the Region 1 Emma Peel set on DVD but wanted a complete collection of Avengers. Would buy the Blu Ray, but there's no series 1-3. Thanks!
Imprint Australia released Emma Peel collection boxset 16 disc 'Limited Edition' in massive slipcase with booklet, and recently Tara King years boxset 11 disc 'Limited Edition' with booklet both on Blu-Ray and Region Free! The Avengers: The Emma Peel Collection (1965-1967) - Imprint Television #3 | Via Vision Entertainment The Avengers: The Tara King Collection (1968) – Imprint Television #4 | Via Vision Entertainment
My Prime is only showing seasons 4 and 6, no 5. so no Mrs. Peel in colour! Not even the first episode of season 6. No Mrs Peel and Tara King meeting on the stairs! Strange! Still great fun watching these!
I can't speak for the particular set but if I were you I'd buy the 3 last series on bluray and try to get the Honor Blackman separately on DVD. I have series 2 and to me PQ is awful, sound is very variable but many episodes have bad sound. The 3 series on BD in my eyes are outstanding and way better than the DVDs, it's like you have never seen the series before.
I have the Optimum DVD sets for the Honor Blackman series and those seem to be a good option for that material. And there is the DVD of the "Tunnel of Fear" story from Series 1.
