Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The episodes on this DVD set are great (as always). My only complaint is that the price currently shown ($31.49) is substantially higher than the price offered on another site. I have no doubt that Amazon will rectify this problem. I love Amazon, but you should check this issue before you place your order. Although the product description of this DVD set claims that the running time is only 60 minutes, another web site notes that it is 360 minutes. This is probably a typo. I mention this because it means that the episodes provided by PBS on this DVD set are the full episodes shown in the UK. PBS cuts 10 minutes from the US TV broadcast in order to fit the episode into the Masterpiece time slot, which I don't mind so long as the full episodes are offered on the DVD. Unfortunately, PBS has a history of only putting the abridged version of episodes on the DVDs that PBS produces (as opposed to ACORN or BBC). For example, while the full Inspector Lewis episodes are offered on Series 3 and 4, only the abridged versions are offered on the earlier series. I believe that the change to selling the full episodes on the DVDs happened because a number of people complained about the abridged DVDs in reviews like this one. So, be careful about the running time when you buy PBS Masterpiece produced DVDs. Wikipedia states: "PBS owns the exclusive rights to both broadcast Lewis and to manufacture DVDs for North America. This is in contrast to Inspector Morse, which was commissioned by British company Carlton Television (originally Central Independent Television) and which included all original broadcast footage, even if that footage was edited on North American TV stations. PBS edits 10 minutes out of every Lewis episode so that it fits into the 90 minute Masterpiece Mystery time slot; this includes a preview of the episode's contents narrated by Alan Cumming before the episode and commercials for other PBS programs at the end of this slot. Even Barrington Pheloung's end credit music is abruptly cut for this purpose. For the Pilot, Inspector Lewis 1, and Inspector Lewis 2 DVD sets, PBS Home Video releases what was broadcast on-air in the US as opposed to the UK DVD content. However, for the new Inspector Lewis 3 DVD set, PBS Home Video has released the unedited UK version of the programs contained in the set." In conclusion: (i) great series, (ii) full episodes on DVD, but (iii) check the price.