New Spy DVDs Out This Last Week

I'm a week late with this, but that kind of works out because as far as I know there are no major spy releases out this week. As of last week, though, America is finally caught up with Britain on seasons of MI-5 (known as Spooks in the UK), for the first time in the series' nine-year run! Because of a weird yearly January release schedule, we've always been a whole year behind, which kind of sucks when the storylines are often closely tied in to contemporary headlines. Now we're on the same page, just in time for the show's last season, due to air this fall in the UK and presumably to come out on DVD here next January. Last week's BBC release of MI-5: Volume 9 is a 3-disc set, retailing for $39.98 (though it's cheaper on Amazon). For once, there are no extras whatsoever, which is unfortunate, as the show's early seasons were packed with bonus features, and recent ones had featured at least a few. Oh well. Maybe that's the trade-off for finally getting a season half a year earlier.

She doesn't do it too often, but I love it when Agatha Christie ventures into spy territory in her mysteries. (And I would really love to see adaptations one day of her few straight-up espionage novels like They Came to Baghdad or Destination Unknown one day.) Agatha Christie's Poirot Movie Collection Set 6, out last week from Acorn on DVD and Blu-ray, contains one such venture in "The Clocks," when Poirot is recruited by the British Secret Service to look into some murders in Dover involving possible German spies on the eve of WWII. And, of course, there are secret documents to be recovered. As a bonus for Bond fans, Tomorrow Never Dies' Admiral Roebuck Geoffrey Palmer turns up as another Admiral. Plus, as the title indicates, it's one of those Christie mysteries that depends on clocks and timetables, and who doesn't love those? The other mysteries in this collection are "Three Act Tragedy" and "Halowe'en Party." Retail is a typically steep $49.99 for the DVD and $59.99 for the Blu-ray.

Read my review of MI-5: Volume 1
Read my review of MI-5: Volume 2

Read my review of MI-5: Volume 3

Read my review of MI-5: Volume 4
Read my review of MI-5: Volume 5

Read my review of Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Movie Collection Set 4
Read my review of Agatha Christie's Marple: The Geraldine McEwan Collection