Agatha Christies Poirot - Series 1-13: The Definitive Collection [DVD]

FULL SERIES OF PIOROT

Nostalgia back to an earlier era with a hint of comedy that's another nice N easy N cosy TV lighthearted programme.

I've seen every episode when it was Originally on ITV Many years ago.I wanted to watch the hole series again but ITV only seem to Continuously show the same two or three episodes over and over again?So I decided to buy this wonderful complete series 1- to -13 dvd box set, and I'm so glad that I did.It arrived the same day of ordering it, the packaging is of good quality, the two plastic dvd cases are a very good design you just need to know how to use them properly and yes that's a dig at those who have complained about it in their reviews.The video quality is very good and to those of you who say it is of poor quality here is some good advice for you, update your TV to an HD one and dvd player to an HD Blu-ray player and set them both to 1080p or 1080p-50Hz and you will get HD quality play back regardless of the recording format on the dvd.The sound quality is good but you have to remember the sound format on these discs or in mono/1-channel and stereo/2.0-channel ony, so my advice to you would be to invest in a 5.1 surround sound system no less than a 1000w system if you want Excellent sound quality.

Together at last, the 'definitive' Poirot collection, though some may cavil at that. As the series was produced over a number of years, to be able to view all the episodes closer together does give a better overview of the development of the various characters and see how they interact with each other and the plot lines. The producers haven't gone over the top with the supplemental material, which makes it all the more interesting and enlightening. Given that some of the earlier episodes were shot using 16mm film format, which was supposed to be a preparation for 16:9 transmissions, its a pity that these episodes were not delivered in 16:9 on the disks. It also a shame that a Blu-Ray option was not available.A couple of downsides. First is the packaging which makes it awkward to fish out individual disks/episodes. Multi stacking disks increases the possibility of damage and I found it quite difficult to remove many disks from the spindle, the disks really bending quite a lot before they lift off. Secondly, the opening banner on many disks gives a 'collection number' that differs from that on the disk itself. A bit confusing until one learns to ignore it. One annoyance; after the usual copyright warning, many of the early disks in the set have an obnoxious, noisy, flashy, overly indulgent, crass anti-piracy video quite out of character/place with the DVD content. It is right producers should be concerned with the protection of their intellectual property, but a better and effective way than this crass invention is not difficult to imagine.

I have read all critical reviews regarding the packaging of this product. In my point of view, however, it's actually not that bad at all. Although I feel it would have been much easier to navigate if there were no more than 2 disks on each tray, I don't think it is "the worst packaging ever" kind of thing. I owned the previous set (Agatha Christie's Poirot The Complete Series 1-12 [DVD]) - and compared to the previous packaging, I actually like the new packaging better. At least, the new plastic inner cases are more durable and sophisticated looking than the previous paper & easily breakable plastic combo. If you own Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes Complete Collection [DVD], the inner case design/material of the Poirot Definitive Collection is quite similar. The only downside is that unlike the Sherlock Holms collection that holds only 1 DVD on each pile (= max 2 DVDs on each tray), the Poirot collection is holding up to 2 DVDs stacked on several piles (= some trays holding up to 4 DVDs).It is understandable some people worry about scratches and damages to the DVDs - but if you look closer, there is little space between the disks so the DVDs are not really directly contacted each other.Anyhow, I guess "seeing is believing" - so I have uploaded some photos to "Customer Images". I hope they will help.----------(UPDATE): In case if you still feel a pain in navigation, I would recommend you to reorganize the DVDs inside the box so that every tray holds 3 disks evenly (except the last tray of the second box which will hold 2 DVDs). First, take out all the DVDs from the box (at this point, I would also suggest you to check the back of each DVD to make sure there is no initially faulty disk. If you find any visible damage, contact Amazon immediately for exchange.) - then put 3 DVDs back on each tray. It may not sound like making much difference but I've found it better than dealing with 4 DVD trays :-)