USA: Released from Jan 30 2001; VHS sets $29.95 each; DVD sets $39.95
DVD megaset released September 2002; $199.95, DVD bonus disc $14.95,
DVD Megaset 30th Anniversary Edition released 3 July 2007; $99.95
BluRay Series 1 released 2 November 2010; $99.95
DVD Season 1 and 2 30th Anniversary Edition released 7 May 2013; $29.98 each
Distributed by New Video (from 2013, distributed by Lionsgate). These are US issues of the remastered episodes from Carlton.
30 Jan 2001 |
VHS |
VHS sets are three videos (each with one episode; total 3 episodes per set). Only four video sets were released, comprising the first half of Year 1. |
30 Jan 2001 |
DVD volumes |
DVD sets are two discs each with three episodes; total 6 episodes per set |
September 2002 |
DVD Mega-Set |
All 48 episodes over 16 discs including a bonus disc. The bonus disc was also available separately. |
3 July 2007 |
DVD Megaset 30th Anniversary Edition |
All 48 episodes over 17 discs including a bonus disc. |
2 Nov 2010 |
BluRay |
First series on 6 discs. |
7 May 2013 |
DVD 30th Anniversary Edition |
Two volumes, season 1 in 8 discs, season 2 in 9 discs |
The episodes (DVD)
The DVD discs and the British Carlton DVDs were released at approximately the same time. The quality of Year One episodes is mostly identical to the Carlton and Japanese discs, although some episodes are of inferior quality, suffering from obvious changes in colour and grain, and warbling sound.
The A&E Year 2 episodes are newer prints, and are generally superior to the Carlton versions. The worst episodes in the Carlton set, such as Devil's Planet, are bright and clear on this set. In other episodes, the Carlton image was good to start with and there is no obvious difference (The Metamorph, Matter Of Balance, although the latter alters one shot to remove a visible clapperboard). Space Warp has slightly brighter colours but a much darker picture. Many of the other episodes have slightly brighter pictures but there is some increase in grain and occasionally poor colour balance (The Mark Of Archanon and Catacombs Of The Moon have greenish, slightly murky Alphan corridors).
The episodes (BluRay)
See more details.
Packaging
The series is subtitled "An Adventure As Big As The Universe!" . Each cover features Martin Landau and/or Barbara Bain in front of a black and white still. VHS and DVD sets are similar but not identical (the background picture varied according to the episodes in the set). DVD Box Set 2 came in two versions: for the first, the background picture was from Guardian Of Piri, and for the second a shot from Breakaway. Liner notes were by Scott Michael Bosco (a number of errors crept in; his original notes are on his site (see links). Set 3 has reversed photos (the sleeves are wrong).
The sets labelled 30th Anniversary Edition were released in 2007 and 2013.
The Lionsgate 2013 editions were initially announced with packaging images showing year 2 publicity photos on the season 1 set, and year 1 publicity photos on the season 2 set.
After the error was explained to them, the final 2013 releases used the correct photos.
DVD Extras
As extras, the DVDs contain interactive menus, scene selection and photo gallery. The opening sequence comprises the theme with shots from Breakaway (or, for the Year 2 sets, from the opening titles), before the menu appears (assembling in a brief animation). Each photo gallery contains about 20 images. These include shots from the episode, some behind the scenes views, and generic publicity, sets and model photos. A proportion are flopped right for left and a few mislabelled images from the wrong season appear. On the latter Year 1 volumes many of the photos are grainy. Set 4 contains "trailers" for all 24 first season episodes (the "this episode" sequences, used as short promos).
Sets 5 and 6 contain Landau/Bain promos for Year 2 (about 3 per disc, all identical apart from naming the station). Two other versions of this appear on the UK Carlton volumes 11 and 12. Set 6 volume 11 contains a short "behind the scenes featurette", a promotional film with scenes compiled from The Metamorph and a single behind the scenes special effects scene (this scene also appears in a much longer form on the UK Carlton volume 12). Set 6 volume 12 contains short "next week" promos by the actors.
The bulk of the Carlton extras appear on volumes 13-16, including the trailers, Horizon footage, vintage interviews and Johnson commentary for behind the scenes SFX footage. The Moonbase Alpha text guide and behind the scenes photos appear unaltered from the Carlton discs, with even the captions intact.
DVD Bonus Disc
A Bonus Disc was released with the DVD MegaSet, initially sold exclusively in the US store Best Buy, and from March 2003 separately from A&E. Megasets purchased from stores other than Best Buy and A&E before 2004 did not have the disc. It contained three remastered episodes, the Keith Wilson interview that had been missed from the earlier volumes, some unusual photos, Message From Moonbase Alpha (also on the French release), and new commentaries by Sylvia Anderson, Johnny Byrne, Christopher Penfold and A&E's consultant Scott Michael Bosco for the three episodes.
BluRay Extras
- 5.1 surround sound audio for each episode, along with the original mono
- Audio commentaries
- Music-only tracks
- Behind-the-scenes featurettes
- Episodic image galleries for all episodes
- Trailers
- Textless titles
- Barry Gray's theme music demo
- Alternate opening/closing titles
- Martin Landau and Barbara Bain US premier intro and outro
- SFX plates and deleted SFX scenes with music track
All these announced extras are identical to the Network DVD with the exception of the music only tracks (announced for the Network BluRay) and the image galleries (which may be the same as the previous A&E DVD sets).
DVD Set
|
DVD Release Date
|
Volume
|
Episodes
|
VHS Set
|
VHS Release Date
|
Set 1

|
January 30th 2001
|
Volume 1
|
Breakaway
Matter Of Life And Death
Black Sun
|
Set 1
|
January 30th 2001
|
Volume 2
|
Ring Around The Moon
Earthbound
Another Time, Another Place
|
Set 2
|
January 30th 2001
|
Set 2

|
January 30th 2001
|
Volume 3
|
Missing Link
Guardian Of Piri
Force Of Life
|
Set 3
|
July 31st 2001
|
Volume 4
|
Alpha Child
The Last Sunset
Voyager's Return
|
Set 4
|
July 31st 2001
|
|
Set 3

|
July 31st 2001
|
Volume 5
|
Collision Course
Death's Other Dominion
The Full Circle
|
Volume 6
|
End Of Eternity
War Games
The Last Enemy
|
Set 4

|
July 31st 2001
|
Volume 7
|
The Troubled Spirit
Space Brain
The Infernal Machine
|
Volume 8
|
Mission Of The Darians
Dragon's Domain
The Testament Of Arkadia
|
|
Set 5

|
Feb 26 2002
|
Volume 9
|
The Metamorph
The Exiles
One Moment Of Humanity
Landau-Bain Trailers
|
Volume 10
|
All That Glisters
Journey To Where
The Taybor
Landau-Bain Trailers
|
Set 6

|
Feb 26 2002
|
Volume 11
|
The Rules Of Luton
The Mark Of Archanon
Brian The Brain
Trailer with behind the scenes SFX footage
Landau-Bain Trailers
|
Volume 12
|
New Adam, New Eve
The A B Chrysalis
Catacombs Of The Moon
Landau-Bain Trailers
"Next week" trailers
|
|
Set 7

|
June 25 2002
|
Volume 13
|
Seed Of Destruction
The Beta Cloud
A Matter Of Balance
Season 2 trailers
Pre-production gallery
About Moonbase Alpha
|
Volume 14
|
Space Warp
The Bringers Of Wonder part 1
The Bringers Of Wonder part 2
BBC Horizon footage
Theatrical trailers
Behind The Scenes photos
|
|
Set 8

|
June 25 2002
|
Volume 15
|
The Lambda Factor
The Seance Spectre
Dorzak
SFX footage with Brian Johnson commentary
Blackpool Exhibit film
Ice Lolly commercial
|
Volume 16
|
Devil's Planet
The Immunity Syndrome
The Dorcons
Brian Johnson interview
Vintage interviews with Landau, Bain, Schell, Anderson, Freiberger
Behind The Scenes photos
|
|
MegaSet

AAE-70522
|
September 24, 2002
|
-
|
All 48 episodes over 16 volumes
Bonus disc with remastered episodes:
Death's Other Dominion
Dragon's Domain
The Testament Of Arkadia
Message From Moonbase Alpha
Commentaries by Sylvia Anderson, Johnny Byrne, Christopher Penfold, Scott Michael Bosco
Production stills
Vintage interview with Keith Wilson
|
|
MegaSet 30th Anniversary Edition AAE-77337
|
July 3, 2007
|
-
|
All 48 episodes over 17 volumes. Reissue of Megaset with bonus disc in slim cases.
|
|
Bonus Disc

AAE-70614
|
March, 2003
|
-
|
Available separately from MegaSet (only from A&E).
|
|
Season 1 30th Anniversary Edition
|
May 7, 2013
|
-
|
24 episodes over 8 discs
|
|
Season 2 30th Anniversary Edition
|
May 7, 2013
|
-
|
24 episodes over 9 discs
|
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