The original 6-part version on DVD! (More info added)

I'm pretty sure the version you're talking about is the same as the version released on Region 1 DVD by Koch Vision earlier this year. It's the original British version which is different than the American version shown on PBS.

They are plenty of little differences between the US and UK editions sprinkled all over the miniseries. This little clip ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GulYpMQsobI ) shows the 3 types of the most common differences: (1) shots truncated or extended, (2) shots missing or added, and even (3) alternate camera angles. Here are some more differences: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYL9xl8GSlg

I recently purchased a copy of the DVD, the three VHS tape set, and have Part 2 of a two VHS tape set ("censored" version) of this series. The DVD is based on the UK London Weekend Television broadcast in 25 minute shows (6 of them) while the 3 VHS tape set is based on the USA Wonderworks PBS TV broadcast in 58 minute shows (3 of them). The UK version is about 150 minutes while the USA version is about 160 minutes. As mentioned by the earlier post, there are different scenes between these two video sets. Since the time slot for the UK and USA broadcast took up different schedules on TV, you had two film editors selecting certain scenes to fit into each show. I am sure that there was originally a full cut filmed version from the original production, but since that master version would not fit exactly into either the UK or USA show's time slot, some scenes were selectively omitted. As noted earlier, the VHS tape version is missing the scene after Miss Amelia resigns from the school and Becky gives Ermengarde the letter from Sara telling her that she is not returning to the school. Becky hears the news and is seen walking up the stairs crying. In the VHS version, this scene omission left the viewer wondering why Becky was crying. The scene when Sara meets Carrisford for the first time is more extended in the VHS version while the scene when Miss Minchin goes to bring Sara back to the school, that scene is more extended in the DVD version. Near the end when Sara is playing chess with Carrisford, the scene is more extended in the VHS version as she talks about setting up a school to help the poor and orphan children. The DVD version cuts that scene short and just jumps to the bakery shop where she asks the baker to bill her for any food given to the hungry children. In the VHS version, the baker recalls when Sara gave some of her purchased bread to another hungry girl and only kept one for herself (an earlier scene included only in the VHS version). Just before the end, the DVD version has a discussion between the baker and Anne talking about Sara. On the VHS version, this conversation is missing. And the scene with Sara and her father in the carriage as they travel to the school is also a bit different between the two versions. In the DVD version, she talks about finding the Emily doll in the store. In the VHS version, she makes no mention about the new doll and there is a scene where a group of beggar boys approach their carriage asking for money.

The second part of the 2 VHS tape set appears to have roughly the last 100 minutes of the series (presumably the first tape has around 70 minutes). The scenes appear to be just about the same as the USA Wonderworks VHS 3 tape set, but there appears to have been some voice editing which removed remarks like "idle slut" and "good lord" from the dialogue.

The video quality is much improved on the DVD version.

Update: There is one scene that appears to have been shot from different camera angles between the two versions. It is when Sara and her father are talking about the diamond mines. In the VHS version, Sara and her father are seen in one continuous shot as her father tells her about investing in a diamond mine. In the DVD version, the camera angle changes to Sara when her father tells her about the diamond mine and she exclaims "A diamond mine?" with a closeup of her face and returns back to the camera angle with the two of them. It looks as if there were scenes shot from different camera angles and the film editor selected different scenes between the two versions.