Australian Avengers DVD Releases: December 2016

Brendan Jones · Post by **Brendan Jones** » Sun Jan 01, 2017 11:21 am

I have good news I wanted to share immediately.

Firstly, Stay Tuned, and thus I presume the rest of the film episodes, have the correct pitch.

Secondly- there is no difference I can see between the Optimum and Madman editions of Stay Tuned. See below.

Stay Tuned Comparison

I've spent the rest of the night puzzling over the All Done With Mirrors problem, so not more comparisons tonight- see below!

Brendan Jones · Post by **Brendan Jones** » Sun Jan 01, 2017 12:16 pm

On the topic of All Done With Mirrors- the missing 15 minutes of footage IS on the disc! Furthermore, the episode is watchable in full on a computer using VLC player. I'll go into that first- technical explanation to follow.

Load up your disc in VLC, and it'll load the DVD menu. Instead of clicking on the episode title, use the menus to select: Playback > Titles > Title 7. Click here for an illustration.

This will take you directly to the episode. If you want the commentary, use the menus to select: Audio > Audio Track > Track 2. Click for an illustration. Track 1 is the original episode audio.

Continue for the technical info!

I decided to check the sizes of the VOB files on the disc. The episodes take up Titles 4-7 on the disc, and all four titles are around the same data volume (around 1.92 GB). This means that roughly the same amount of footage exists for each episode.

Loading the VOB files directly into VLC Player for Title 7 shows the opening for All Done With Mirrors- albeit with distortion due to copyright protection (the files aren't designed to be played in this way). Screen grabs below!

Title Card
Tara almost beside herself

This further indicates an authoring error- there is only one version of All Done with Mirrors on the disc. However, while it is listed as Title 7, the menu button links instead to Title 8 (original audio) or 9 (Commentary). These titles access the same data as Title 7, but ignore Chapters 3 and 4 of the episode. These incomplete versions has six chapters, where the complete version has ten. The general structure is:

Chapter 1: Studio Canal Logo
Chapter 2: Titles
Chapter 3: Teaser
Chapter 4: Act One
Chapter 5: Act Two
Chapter 6: Act Three
Chapter 7: Act Four
Chapter 8: Tag
Chapter 9: End Titles
Chapter 10: DVD Authoring Credits (only on final eps of discs)

For All Done With Mirrors, the link on the menu jumps to the incomplete version of the episode- Title 8 if you select original Audio and Title 9 if you select Commentary (although both tracks are available on both). No other episode with commentary is authored in this way- there is one title on the disk, and the title links to the various audio tracks as instructed.

In conclusion: the episode is there in full, but is not accessible via normal means. There is only one copy of the episode on the disk, but it is indexed three times, with the two wrongly authored titles being accessed via the menu, and the correct version of the episode on Title 7.

I doubt we'll hear back from Optimum this week, but I'll include the above technical info in my email to them.

Post by **dissolute** » Mon Jan 02, 2017 1:00 am

Madman are back at work from tomorrow - at least, some of them are, we won't know for a while.

Post by **dissolute** » Wed Jan 04, 2017 5:03 am

The response from Madman so far:

So annoying after so much work!! I’ll let you know what I discover once I talk to my production team, so you can inform your readers.

denis rigg · Post by **denis rigg** » Sat Jan 07, 2017 4:50 pm

Many thanks, Brendan, for your detailed look at the technical side of some episodes in DVD edition.

Cheers for correct pitch in film episodes!!!

It seems there is a very little difference in versions of episode Stay Tuned from the Optimum and Madman editions - color shades. But it is necessary to look at a close-up for sure.

There is one more interesting riddle, Brendan - the names of the director and writer for the episode Too Many Christmas Trees. Wonder, is there Roy Baker and Tony Williamson (correct titles) or is there Roy Baker and Brian Clemens...

Well, let's wait for news about production team's response from Piers.

MRotten · Post by **MRotten** » Mon Jan 09, 2017 11:08 pm

I've sent a message on the Madman website regarding the missing segment of "All Done With Mirrors". I suggest everyone else who bought it to do the same. (It matters not that it is accessible on a computer; I didn't buy it to put it into a computer).

Post by **dissolute** » Wed Jan 11, 2017 6:16 am

The good news from Madman is they are issuing replacement discs for the "All Done with Mirrors" issue - if you bought directly from them you may have already received an email. Otherwise, stay tuned and I'll see if they're doing a send in and replacement offer.

darren · Post by **darren** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 9:28 pm

I'm so saddened to have to miss out on the Honor and Linda commentaries with O'Grady, he has a wonderful rapport with them so I just know they'll be great to listen to.

mrspeel01 · Post by **mrspeel01** » Thu Jan 12, 2017 10:09 pm

I too would love to hear those commentaries. My hope is that Paul O'Grady doesn't interrupt the recollections with too many of his renown funny remarks...

MRotten · Post by **MRotten** » Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:50 pm

Linda Thorson is delightful in the interviews. If you were at all unsure about her, it is unwarranted. She is a real champion for the show. Her comments alone made it worth the price of the set for me. She said that everyone involved with The Avengers and all the fans should "pat yourselves on the back" for loving "one of the Top 5 shows ever". Right on, Linda.