PBS Masterpiece Releases (The Collection)

[EricHG]

I hope this is the right place for this kinda vague question.

I was wondering what has been the experience in the past with releases of recent Masterpiece shows from PBS directly on BluRay. Specifically, I'm asking about the shows that have had nudity and language censored while airing on PBS--do the BluRays come out uncensored?

This came up because The Collection which is currently running (and I think isn't a brilliant show but is entertaining and, accents aside, well done) is filled on PBS with ridiculously poorly done blurring bubbles covering various body parts and dubbed "fricking" or "hit" instead of swear words. Anyone know if the Region A release is uncut? The PBS site for their DVDs DOES give a "May contain offensive content" vague warning and Amazon seems to (it's unclear) give it an R, which would seem a bit severe but there has been at least one full frontal nude shot.

(Oddly the show seems to be an Amazon original that I never heard of when it premiered last year, done with the BBC and some funding from Masterpiece. The UK DVD does have a 15 rating, which is the equivalent of an R. Also, one odd thing I've noticed is more and more the UK seems to be giving up on BluRay releases of their TV series, releasing only DVDs, so I was surprised that a lot of these shows are getting BluRay releases from PBS).

[BluPat]

I ordered the UK Network Blu-ray of Man In An Orange Shirt from Amazon UK and it shipped yesterday. Ridiculous that PBS butchered the televised version and their Blu-ray here in the states. But I'm sure if it had been a heterosexual film, this wouldn't have happened.
Thus, I had to import.

[EricHG]

Originally Posted by BluPat

I ordered the UK Network Blu-ray of Man In An Orange Shirt from Amazon UK and it shipped yesterday. Ridiculous that PBS butchered the televised version and their Blu-ray here in the states. But I'm sure if it had been a heterosexual film, this wouldn't have happened.
Thus, I had to import.

I was curious about that--so the BluRay from the UK is definitely uncensored? Is it region encoded? (A few of us were asking about this in the Gay Film thread as well).

It is ridiculous--I watched the BBC airing and the stuff they censored is so minor really (and ridiculous, again--such as the sound of one character peeing).

In the past, the BluRays released by Masterpiece have been uncensored even when the PBS airing was not, and this included some gay stuff. And this thread, about The Collection, is a case in point. It had a gay subplot that had full frontal male nudity (which as awkwardly censored on TV with blur bubbles over the naughty bits) and for the BluRay they released it uncensored. I almost wonder if they just made a mistake and released the TV edit and didn't bother doing anything about it...

Thanks for any info about the UK release you can provide!

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by EricHG

I was curious about that--so the BluRay from the UK is definitely uncensored? Is it region encoded? (A few of us were asking about this in the Gay Film thread as well).

It is ridiculous--I watched the BBC airing and the stuff they censored is so minor really (and ridiculous, again--such as the sound of one character peeing).

In the past, the BluRays released by Masterpiece have been uncensored even when the PBS airing was not, and this included some gay stuff. And this thread, about The Collection, is a case in point. It had a gay subplot that had full frontal male nudity (which as awkwardly censored on TV with blur bubbles over the naughty bits) and for the BluRay they released it uncensored. I almost wonder if they just made a mistake and released the TV edit and didn't bother doing anything about it...

Thanks for any info about the UK release you can provide!

Did it have anything else censored or was it just nudity? Maybe PBS just doesn't want to release anything with nudity.

There seems to be two releases for MIAOS in Canada, one on June 19th, 2018 and another on December 4th, 2018. Maybe they fixed it in Canada?

[EricHG]

Originally Posted by kevin87

Did it have anything else censored or was it just nudity? Maybe PBS just doesn't want to release anything with nudity.

There seems to be two releases for MIAOS in Canada, one on June 19th, 2018 and another on December 4th, 2018. Maybe they fixed it in Canada?

Just male rear nudity (the sex scene in part 2 may have had a few seconds cut too) and, as I said and author Patrick Gale even mentioned, the sound of one of the characters peeing. There may be some censored language too. But the film/series is hardly that extreme.

PBS has avoided nudity for a while now (ever since, really, the controversy and crackdown from certain republicans about the light nudity in Tales of the City 25 years back--before then PBS often got away with mild nudity). Masterpiece is currently airing the Jane Austen adaptation, Sanditon which has edited out some pretty tame rear nudity as well. But, as I mentioned, in the past the BluRay and DVD releases of Masterpiece shows are the uncut originals.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by EricHG

Just male rear nudity (the sex scene in part 2 may have had a few seconds cut too) and, as I said and author Patrick Gale even mentioned, the sound of one of the characters peeing. There may be some censored language too. But the film/series is hardly that extreme.

PBS has avoided nudity for a while now (ever since, really, the controversy and crackdown from certain republicans about the light nudity in Tales of the City 25 years back--before then PBS often got away with mild nudity). Masterpiece is currently airing the Jane Austen adaptation, Sanditon which has edited out some pretty tame rear nudity as well. But, as I mentioned, in the past the BluRay and DVD releases of Masterpiece shows are the uncut originals.

I can remember watching I, Claudius way back in the late ‘70s and being surprised (pleasantly!) at the female nudity shown. I got away from watching Masterpiece Theater after Alistair Cooke left the show. After I started watching a few years ago I was somewhat shocked at the censored language and nudity. I just assumed that with the passing years the things that were very daring back in the Claudius era would be no big deal now.

[James Luckard]

PBS doesn't just cut British shows for content, they also cut them down just to make them shorter.

I always watched Kenneth Branagh's "Wallander" when it aired in the UK, because it was usually months earlier than here in the States, so I saw the complete versions.

However, season 4, the final season, actually aired in the US about two weeks before the UK, so I watched the first episode on PBS. It felt really choppy, so I rewatched it when it aired on BBC a few weeks later, and I was astounded to find that PBS had cut at least 10 minutes from the episode. Whole scenes and subplots were removed.

I suppose PBS needs to remove scenes to be able to fit those inane 10-minute introductions they do, where a celebrity host explains, in great detail, the plot of the show you're about to watch.

I avoid any PBS airings of British shows now. As I understand it they also edited Downton Abbey and they edit many other shows. And again, I'm not talking about censoring things, but full-on edits.

Just to be clear, I'm talking about their broadcasts, I'm less familiar with their BDs, though the couple that I have do appear to be full, uncut British versions.

[EricHG]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

PBS doesn't just cut British shows for content, they also cut them down just to make them shorter.

I suppose PBS needs to remove scenes to be able to fit those inane 10-minute introductions they do, where a celebrity host explains, in great detail, the plot of the show you're about to watch.

I avoid any PBS airings of British shows now. As I understand it they also edited Downton Abbey and they edit many other shows. And again, I'm not talking about censoring things, but full-on edits.

Just to be clear, I'm talking about their broadcasts, I'm less familiar with their BDs, though the couple that I have do appear to be full, uncut British versions.

The celeb intros are mostly gone now it seems--though that's a new thing. I do try to usually find out if a show's been edited or not before I decide how I'll watch it (with Orange Shirt it was different anyway as it aired a full year earlier int he UK as part of the BBC's celebration of the anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality, and I wasn't about to wait).

But you're right about Downton. Episodes in season 1 were edited--and the official reason was that they were editing out elements they thought Americans might find confusing (I thinks specifically some legal stuff) though obviously it was also done for time (which is odd as DOwnton is not a BBC show and airs with commercials in the UK). At any rate they did stop editing episodes after that season, once it became a huge hit and I guess someone realized that a lot of the viewers were into it *because* of the British stuff.

[ElectricPeterTork]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

PBS doesn't just cut British shows for content, they also cut them down just to make them shorter.

I always watched Kenneth Branagh's "Wallander" when it aired in the UK, because it was usually months earlier than here in the States, so I saw the complete versions.

However, season 4, the final season, actually aired in the US about two weeks before the UK, so I watched the first episode on PBS. It felt really choppy, so I rewatched it when it aired on BBC a few weeks later, and I was astounded to find that PBS had cut at least 10 minutes from the episode. Whole scenes and subplots were removed.

I suppose PBS needs to remove scenes to be able to fit those inane 10-minute introductions they do, where a celebrity host explains, in great detail, the plot of the show you're about to watch.


I avoid any PBS airings of British shows now. As I understand it they also edited Downton Abbey and they edit many other shows. And again, I'm not talking about censoring things, but full-on edits.

Just to be clear, I'm talking about their broadcasts, I'm less familiar with their BDs, though the couple that I have do appear to be full, uncut British versions.

Call The Midwife gets about 10 minutes chopped for airing and many streaming versions, but the US Blu-rays (and DVDs) are the original UK versions, though they have some edited music and get the old standards conversion NTSC slowdown treatment.

Why PBS cuts shows is anyone's guess. They're not a commercial network, they don't have to fit things into neat timeslots.

[EricHG]

Originally Posted by kevin87

There seems to be two releases for MIAOS in Canada, one on June 19th, 2018 and another on December 4th, 2018. Maybe they fixed it in Canada?

Interesting. I wish I could check without buying them :P Though I have my doubts.

It is interesting that the BluRay came out so late in the UK--though more and more TV shows in the UK don't seem to even get BluRay releases (I guess that's true everywhere). I remember when I wanted to buy Russell T Davies' Cucumber I ended up importing the region free German (!) release.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by EricHG

Interesting. I wish I could check without buying them :P Though I have my doubts.

It is interesting that the BluRay came out so late in the UK--though more and more TV shows in the UK don't seem to even get BluRay releases (I guess that's true everywhere). I remember when I wanted to buy Russell T Davies' Cucumber I ended up importing the region free German (!) release.

Yep, TV on BD is almost completely dead in the UK. (Though don't say that over in the UK forum, people will chime in with all the exceptions, haha) But yep, most TV in the UK is DVD only:

Years and Years, my favorite TV show of the last few years -DVD only
Summer of Rockets - DVD only
Babylon Berlin - DVD only
A Very English Scandal - DVD only
etc, etc, etc

I have that German BD of Cucumber too! If you sought it out, you MUST see Years and Years, it's Davies's masterpiece, he's been building his whole career towards it.

It's hard to believe that German BD is the only BD in the world of ANY of his shows, except for his Dr Who episodes, of course.

[BluPat]

Originally Posted by EricHG

I was curious about that--so the BluRay from the UK is definitely uncensored? Is it region encoded? (A few of us were asking about this in the Gay Film thread as well).

It is ridiculous--I watched the BBC airing and the stuff they censored is so minor really (and ridiculous, again--such as the sound of one character peeing).

In the past, the BluRays released by Masterpiece have been uncensored even when the PBS airing was not, and this included some gay stuff. And this thread, about The Collection, is a case in point. It had a gay subplot that had full frontal male nudity (which as awkwardly censored on TV with blur bubbles over the naughty bits) and for the BluRay they released it uncensored. I almost wonder if they just made a mistake and released the TV edit and didn't bother doing anything about it...

Thanks for any info about the UK release you can provide!

I *think* it's region locked but not sure. When I get it in the mail, I'll check it and let you know.
I just love Oliver Jackson-Cohen. So handsome and a wonderful actor.
But yea I read that the UK Blu-ray is the full broadcast version aired on BBC One.

[EricHG]

Originally Posted by BluPat

I *think* it's region locked but not sure. When I get it in the mail, I'll check it and let you know.
I just love Oliver Jackson-Cohen. So handsome and a wonderful actor.
But yea I read that the UK Blu-ray is the full broadcast version aired on BBC One.

Thanks--really appreciate you checking for me! In the past I've found a lot of BBC releases have claimed to be region locked--but aren't. (And we are in full agreement about Oliver!)

[BluPat]

Originally Posted by EricHG

Thanks--really appreciate you checking for me! In the past I've found a lot of BBC releases have claimed to be region locked--but aren't. (And we are in full agreement about Oliver!)

No problem. As soon as I get it I'll check the Region and let you know.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by EricHG

In the past I've found a lot of BBC releases have claimed to be region locked--but aren't.

The other issue with a lot of UK TV BDs is that they're often 1080i/50, because the shows there are filmed at 25fps for PAL broadcast, so even if they're not region locked, they often won't play on most American systems.

[BluPat]

I got my Man in an Orange Shirt Network UK Blu-ray in. It says Region B on the back but I'll check it when I'm off work tomorrow.

[BluPat]

Yea it's Region B locked. Tried it in our 4K player but no go.
Glad to have our Region Free player. Got off ebay years ago for fairly cheap.

[Chedwiggen]

Originally Posted by BluPat

Yea it's Region B locked. Tried it in our 4K player but no go.
Glad to have our Region Free player. Got off ebay years ago for fairly cheap.

Unfortunately, I figured that would be the case but I sent for it anyways. Now I just need to get a region free player, something I should have done years ago.

[BluPat]

Just watched this. Gorgeous film. Beautiful music score. Outstanding. Oliver Jackson-Cohen is an amazing actor. Handsome and talented. The whole cast are amazing. Heartbreaking at times but ends on a positive note.
One of my favorite gay-themed movies EVER. I really liked Call Me By Your Name but it depressed me so. But Man In An Orange Shirt is heartbreaking at times but also is so fulfilling too.

LOVE it.

[bravelydefault]

Hmm, does anyone know if any other Blu-ray editions of Sanditon are in the works?

I'm really quite annoyed with the way PBS has edited/censored both this show and Man in the Orange Shirt. But at least with Orange Shirt, we got an unedited release from Network...