January 11, 2007

PRISONER CELL BLOCK H (1979) Biggest box set ever!

Streuth! In July 2007, an incredible 179-DVD box set will be released, containing all 692 episodes of the infamous Australian drama series, Prisoner - Cell Block H! All you'll need is $1600 Australian dollars (around $1250 US, or £650 UK).

At about 45 minutes per episode, you're advised to double-check that you're strong enough to lift it, and young enough still to watch it.

In the meantime, a series of (much) smaller 4-DVD sets will be released, building up to the big one.

Not the final box artwork, but mind-blowing nevertheless

The series ran 1979-1986 in Australia, and spasmodically around UK regional TV ever since, never getting a full run on network television. While initially intending to be a serious drama, the very low budget and increasingly wild plots made it appealling as a violent, black comedy soap opera - a genre all of its own.

With an entertaining roster of characters, both regular and incidental - my favourite was always "Vinegar" Vera, the malicious warder - I'd certainly watch this if it were repeated on TV now. But a box set of 179 DVDs? I'll have to think about that.

Vera and Meg always played bad warder, good warder

Do you want to know more?
More great colour stills and info about the series here.



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1 comment:

  1. A boxset of 179 DVDs is a bit too much for most to accommodate. In the case of Prisoner, perhaps digital downloads on a USB flash drive or a PC hard drive would be easier to store and more readily accessible. One could download every episode from YouTube if they wish to own their own copies but extreme patience would be required if going down that route because it would be very time consuming.

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