I don't know how you do your ordering, but I just placed a test order for Black Books 2 at www.atlanticdvd.com.au and the shipping to the "rest of the world" (that is, everywhere but Australia and Asia) is just $5.50 AUD.

So, in Australian dollars, my order looks like this:

SUBTOTAL $27.23
SHIPPING $5.50
TOTAL $32.73

I will let you do the conversion to whichever currency you like, but it sure as hell won't come anywhere near your claim.

For what it's worth, I have the old laserdisc which includes the Christmas episode, and it does indeed include the scene with the turkey. It was probably mastered from the same source as the VHS tapes.

So the story is that when they made the original versions for the British ITV network, they had to edit to a relatively short time slot. When the time came to sell it to PBS and cable, longer running times were allowable, so they included more of the original footage, which originally had ended up on the cutting room floor simply for time reasons.

I suspect that they used the original British versions for the digital master without really thinking about the fact that they had the longer alternate versions available. It's not so much that the ones they used are the "definitive" versions, they're just the versions that were originally approved for British TV, and happened to be handy when they made the new digital masters.

If someone had stepped in at that point and said, "Hey, let's use the longer versions," everyone would have said "Why, of course! We should have thought of that! We can even present it to the British audience as 'Contains Extra Footage' - DVD buyers love that!"

All involved have been caught with egg on their faces, but to save face they're simply going to cling to the justification that these versions were approved for the original British broadcasts.

Brilliant. I could not have said it better myself.

I would swear that the first time I saw the pilot episode on my local PBS station, there is a scene in the department store that ends with a woman's skirt getting blown up over her head.

Am I crazy, thinking of something else, or does anyone else remember that as well?

My thinking exactly. This seems more apparent when you watch the endings of the episodes. Look at the ending "idents" on each episode. They vary WIDELY from episode to episode. Some say "Thames production for ITV", some say "Pearson" (which would be syndication versions), and one or two might evey just say "ITV". Bizarrely, a couple of them have the Thames "front-cap" on them (almost made me think I was watching Benny Hill).

Clearly, they used a mixed bag of originals to start with. Probably as you said, picked the handiest copies of the shelf (or perhaps, the newest transfers).

Just too bad they didn't have a fan "expert" as a consultant. I'm sure they would have included the additional footage as an added "selling point" for the set.

By the way, didn't somebody say here that they have confirmed that the German set has both "US edition" scenes (the turkey and the recliner) intact? If this is so, can anyone tell me what the video quality is like on the German discs? Is it good or is there a bunch of crappy artifacting all over the place? Presumably, you can watch in English audio without any subtitles? Anywhere else less expensive to get them from than amazon.de?

The reason I ask for someone to confirm this is the Australia set has the exact same art, but someone up here has said that the "recliner" scene is missing on these discs. A lot of Australian companies who use the same art also use the same masters, so I'd like to be sure before I possibly waste my money on a German set.

The turkey scene is there, however the recliner scene is missing. BTW, both scenes were never included in German TV broadcasts.
Picture quality is - considering the source - fine, and you can watch in English without subtitles. The DVDs also include English menu screens.

I'd like to point out that the bonus disc has scenes that were cut from the programs - you can see where they were supposed to go - so the set wasn't put together recklessly or without care, this is just an oversite. C'est la vie, I *think* everyone can survive it.

laugh track always there?
 

I just received the Whole Bean box set on DVD, but one thing is really bugging me. I watched Mr. Bean on PBS around 5-6 years ago, and I do not remember a laugh track. Can anyone verify if the laugh track has always existed.

I'm sorry but I really hate laugh tracks.

Re: laugh track always there?
 

Hmm... I watched them on HBO years ago and I'm pretty sure they had the laugh tracks....

Re: laugh track always there?
 

LOL!!

They ALWAYS had laugh tracks dude. Always.

I haven't gotten around to buying this yet because of the deleted scenes. But a local channel near me airs Mr Bean once a week (probably to promote the DVD). They aired the Christmas episode recently and I noticed it was the version on the DVD with the deleted scene. Before, I remember watching the uncut versions on that same channel. Ugh. :(

so...?
 

So, after all the discussion and little in-fighting that's been happening, the basics are still not clear.

1) I can confirm that my French box set (which the GERMAN Amazon shipped to me for some reason instead of the German version I ordered) DOES contain the Turkey cheating scene.

2) I can confirm that my French box set DOES NOT contain the Recliner scene, and I have always noticed it and wondered if the German version has it. So far, one person her has said "yes, the German one DOES have the recliner scene", and other people have said "no, it doesn't". So, for once and for all, is there ANY DVD version that DOES contain the version with the Recliner bit?

3) And finally, as a side note, does anyone know if there is any difference in content between the French and German box sets?

I'm waiting too for someone to confirm WHERE I can get the recliner scene. Whether its DVD , VHS , United States , Europe , whatever. As long as I know which version has it.

Apparently , the U.S. VHS versions have the recliner scene but I'm not absolutely sure about that either. Also to make things more complicated, there are 2 different releases of the U.S. VHS versions , Polygram and Universal.

As these series are released earlier on separate discs maybe someone could check is the "missing scene" on Mr. Bean - The Perilous Pursuits DVD

Hmm, funny, I seem to recall seeing the additional scenes mentioned here IN ENGLAND.

Of course, it could just have been on vhs over there... or I watched it on PBS here.

Not to hijack the thread away from cut scenes but there is another issue I have with my Whole Bean collection that I haven't seen mentioned yet...
The packaging on both the box and the disc 1 & 2 dvd covers indicate that "The Trouble with Mr. Bean" should be the last episode on disc one and "Mr. Bean Rides Again" should be the first episode on disc two.
Yet on the DVDs themselves, Mr. Bean Rides Again is on disc 1 and The Trouble with Mr. Bean is on disc 2.
Does everyone else have the same mix-up? And which should be the right order? Thanks.

The episodes order on the discs does NOT reflect the original broadcast order. They're just thrown on there in a sort of random order. During the original broadcasts, "Trouble" was aired as episode 8 and "Rides Again" was aired as episode 9.

The correct broadcast order is here: www.epguides.com/MrBean. As you can see, they were aired sporadically as "specials" over a period of about 5 1/2 years!

Thanks for the link and info on the organization of the set.

As to my other question does anyone else have a set where the episode listings on the box set itself and the cases for disc one and two don't match up with the content on the discs?
Everywhere on the Whole Bean packaging it says that:
"The Trouble with Mr. Bean" is on Disc 1.
"Mr. Bean Rides Again" is on Disc 2.
In actuality these two episodes are reversed and I was wondering if it was a typo/misprint on all copies or only mine.

I just thought of something, has anyone factored in PAL/NTSC conversion speed up?

Yes, this mistake is on all the packaging and was first noted by the original poster on page 3 of this thread.