A week ago the BBC
announced that they, and their USA distribution partner Warner Home Video, would be releasing
Torchwood - The Complete 2nd Series on high definition Blu-ray Disc this
July 7th. At the time we left our report with a few loose ends, so we're going to tie those up a bit for you today!
We explained that the info provided in the studio announced showed a list price of $79.98 SRP, and that we thought it might be incorrect (because it would make the list price of the Blu-ray the same as that of the DVD version...certainly a rarity in this business!). We've double-checked with the studio on this, and confirmed that $79.98 SRP for the Blu-ray Disc release of
Torchwood - The Complete 2nd Series IS CORRECT. So that's the good news!
The bad news, though, is that fans who have waited for this high-def release to come ten months after the DVD version of the same episodes, won't get any additional bonus material for their trouble. The extras found on last September's DVD-format release are all that the BBC is including, according to their most recent information: Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, "The Lives and Deaths of Captain Jack" Featurette, and the "
Torchwood Declassified" Cut-downs (13 episodic behind-the-scenes featurettes). Also, the sound isn't getting upgraded into a high-def audio format for this Blu-ray release, either...it's still clocking in at the DVD-standard English 5.1 Surround Sound.
DAVID's EDITORIAL: This is a great season of the show, with a lot of slam-bang surprises and exciting moments. Plus the visuals are terrific; I'd personally love to have them in high-def, and see it ripple across my screen in all of its glory. But I also have to criticize the BBC's apparent policy of making fans wait months and months for the Blu-ray versions of their non-documentary TV titles, especially in this economy. Fans of the show can't be asked to give in and buy the DVDs when they first arrive, and then go for the double-dip on the BD format version later on. And
Torchwood isn't the only BBC title that we've seen this on (
Robin Hood is another example). So, it's time for BBC Video to begin releasing both DVD and BD versions together, day-and-date, like so many other studios do (including their own distributor, Warner Home Video, does most of the time).
Here's a look at the packaging for
Torchwood - The Complete 2nd Series on Blu-ray Disc:
