Available on PAL DVD in the UK since April 2005

Multi-region players are very hard to come by in North America, and because TV sets sold here are strictly NTSC the player must not only play multiple regions, it must also covert the PAL disc signal into NTSC for playback - which not all multiregion players do.

There is a U.S. edition, although at about $150 USD it is pricey (about 3 times what a comparable set would go for ordinarily.) In part this is because it is released by an educational publisher who not only doesn't benefit from economies of scale like the big distributors, but is also selling a public performance license to cover use in the classroom - something specifically forbidden by ordinary DVD home viewing licenses. At least it is cheaper than it used to be (the original price was about $300 USD - which is what they are still charging for the VHS (!) version.)

Interested viewers can find it here:

http://www.ambrosevideo.com/displayitem.cfm?vid=860

I have it and have just been watching it for about the fifth time on disc (hence my visit to this board) and I believe I am getting my money's worth. However, I am also lobbying the BBC and the Discovery Channel in America to consider restoring and repackaging the series for both broadcast and home video, as was done not long ago with Carl Sagan's "Cosmos". I'm hoping the recent success of "Planet Earth" helps convinced both that such a project would be both popular and profitable.