Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have been waiting for years for these programs to come to dvd! My family and I watched them on A&E many years ago when it was still a good network. The scripts are excellent, the acting superb. Rather atypical fare for Christie dramatizations, but still quite worthy. I am giving the programs 5 stars for content. The complaint that I have is with the marketing here in America. There were actually 10 dramatizations done for The Agatha Christie Hour. This set contains only five for, at this writing, $28.99. The British set contains all 10 stories and is labeled as "the complete set". It was released only about a month ago with the same cover art (a five disc set, two stories per disc), so it's not as if our American set is a re-release or a re-think. So, again as of this writing, the British set containing all 10 stories is available from Amazon.co.uk (in case the site name is deleted, it's this site's sister site in England) ~ at a price of $31.35 after conversion to dollars from pounds and adding shipping and handling. Our American release is saying "Set 1". Let me tell you that Acorn, the distributor, is notorious for bringing out the first part of a series and never bringing out the rest. So, assuming that they do eventually bring out "Set 2", if it is priced like set one the total price for all 10 will be $57.98. That's a far cry from the $31.35 that the Brits are paying for their region 2 release. This pricing practice seems to be the norm (I daresay that the Brits also pay a premium for our shows). If you love British fare, as I do, you are paying a high premium when you buy their discs in region 1 format ~ and unfortunately many of their tv shows and movies are never released in region 1. When the tv shows are released here in America they are often done piecemeal like this Agatha Christie Hour release. Quite often, only the first year or so is ever released. If you feel as I do that this practice is unfair, do yourself a favor and purchase a region free dvd player. There are many available here at Amazon, some for under $60~ or just google and find one. It will pay for itself with just a few purchases of region 2 discs. I have not only saved a lot of money by purchasing region 2, but I am also able to buy dvds of shows that are not available here in America and I am often able to enjoy British shows at least a year before they are released here in the USA.