Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (BBC, 1979) - 2nd September, 2019

[BarnDoor]

Can't find any other source for this right now, but a listing for a special screening at BFI Southbank reveals the good news:

BBC Studios will be releasing the whole series of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, digitally restored for Blu-ray, on Monday 2 September.

Excellent to see the BBC putting out non-genre classic drama on Blu. Hopefully Smiley's People is next, followed by the likes of Edge of Darkness and even Boys from the Blackstuff (of course this would require a mix of material, but just to get the Play for Today and Yosser episode in HD would be fantastic. And they could throw in The Muscle Market as an extra )

[Agent Kay]

Lovely, if they so the work like Dr Who

[Dallasnorthforty]

Would love to see i claudius given a bluray makeover.

[Si Parallel Universe]

Step in the right direction BBC.

[CelestialAgent]

Long time coming, glad I didn’t buy the DVD now.

[McCrutchy]

This is fabulous news.

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

Lovely, if they so the work like Dr Who

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was all film, so this should be a proper HD remaster.

Originally Posted by Dallasnorthforty

Would love to see i claudius given a bluray makeover.

That would be great, but I, Claudius is all PAL video, so any Blu-ray would have to come with the understanding that the entire series would be upscaled.

[spearce8]

Why do the BBC never remaster any of their Classic Comedies? Always Drama stuff I have no interest in.

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by spearce8

Why do the BBC never remaster any of their Classic Comedies? Always Drama stuff I have no interest in.

I presume because the comedies were recorded on video not film and the market for upscaled comedies outside the likes of Red Dwarf is very limited.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

This is fabulous news.



Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was all film, so this should be a proper HD remaster.



That would be great, but I, Claudius is all PAL video, so any Blu-ray would have to come with the understanding that the entire series would be upscaled.

I k ow it was film, but wasn't it edited on video and also out in like Germany?

[RossyG]

It wasn't edited on video. It was shot and edited on 16mm.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

I k ow it was film, but wasn't it edited on video and also out in like Germany?

No, it wasn't edited on tape, it was film all the way, right down to the opening and closing credits.

The series was released by Acorn in the US back in April 2012 (obviously to cash in on the 2011 feature film version), but this Blu-ray apparently has poor A/V quality, and may or may not be the PBS re-edit of the series (six episodes as opposed to seven episodes):



It goes without saying that the BBC Blu-ray should be better on all fronts, containing the original UK version with remastered video (hopefully running at the proper speed) and lossless audio, too.

[Rixx]

Pre-order is up on Amazon for £18.99, think i'll wait for the pre-order on Zoom

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VWR4KF4/

[ravenus]

For some reason the site entry for this blu-ray is not showing up in the Search Box when you type in, I can only see the various editions of the 2011 movie.

[Rixx]

Originally Posted by ravenus

For some reason the site entry for this blu-ray is not showing up in the Search Box when you type in, I can only see the various editions of the 2011 movie.

I submitted the entry this morning, it's on the site database now


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Blu-ray

[imsounoriginal]

I bought the Acorn release for a family member years ago, but if this is better then I'd like to replace it with this new version. EDIT: nvm, apparently Region B-locked, unless they just print that but it's actually region-free?

[John_Drake]

Brilliant news!

Hope Smiley's People comes soon--absolutely loved the two series.

[Agent Kay]

Like that cover, I need screenshots tho

[bladelia]

The times I nearly pulled the trigger on the US one. Great news on this.
As an aside, I would give my right testicle for Edge of Darkness, the best thing that's ever been on TV (IMO). Great soundtrack as well.

[oddbox83]

Back cover says 1080p. This should be 1080i ideally to preserve 25p speed. Typo or reusing the Acorn 24p masters?

[John_Drake]

I think it unlikely that the BBC would reuse Acorn's masters.

Fwiw, the Amazon product page stated this:

To celebrate the 40th anniversary, the classic BBC drama series is available on Blu-ray and in true HD for first time ever.