Crusoe on DVD

Amazon.com have announced that Crusoe: The Complete Series is available for Region 1 pre-order ahead of its release date on May 5th, 2009.

I haven't been involved with the DVD in any way, so I can't tell you anything about it other than what you'll find there.

I don't know how accurate some of the advance information is, but 3 discs sounds technically stingy for 13 hours of material. It certainly doesn't allow for any extras, and NBC crews shot a wealth of footage around the production. I know because I had to keep getting out of their way during the UK part of the shoot.

Some of this made its way onto the NBC website in the form of streamed snippets about the locations, the production design, the stunts, the special effects... although the early trailers seemed to play worldwide, the later material was access-restricted.

It'll be a pity if it's a bare-bones release. I'd have loved to have seen all the flashback material cut together - it makes a one-hour standalone episode telling the story of Crusoe's life before the island, and includes scenes and extended material that were dropped when the segments were shaped to fit into their relevant episodes. They include a key appearance by Daniel Defoe that ties together the 'universes' of the miniseries and the novel.

All of which is made a little more poignant by the news that, according to TVshowsonDVD.com, the set will include a copy of the novel itself!