IT Crowd Box Set has no region, can be viewed anywhere

Here's a sneaky fact that's fun to know: the UK-only special edition boxed set of the IT Crowd (which comes complete with its own awesome tabletop RPG) is set to Region Zero, which means that it will play on any DVD player, even those outside the UK. What's more, Amazon UK will ship it to anywhere in the world -- so Americans and other exotic foreign types can get a usable copy no matter where in the world you reside. (The IT Crowd DVD extras are wicked fun -- things like leet subtitles and 8-bit RPG extras!)

The IT Crowd - Series 1-4 Special Edition Box Set [DVD] (Thanks, anonymous source!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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US$40.00 or so and the URL for Amazon.com and one can buy a new DVD player that will play anything from anywhere, along with DivX and avi files. Oh, and don’t forget the USB port for flash drives and external hard drives.

So that pretty much renders the whole ‘Won’t Play in Region One’ thing rather moot.
Anonymous

Hi there – trying to get my hands on this set. I ordered it back in January from amazon uk but now they say they are no longer working with that manufacturer because of a rise in prices. I have looked everywhere I know of in US and can’t find it and the few places I know of in UK (like Tesco Entertainment, etc) all say out of stock. There are a few people selling it on Amazon marketplace but they are robbing people blind – charging 50 to 200 pounds. Any suggestions out there? I am not rich and can’t afford to pay $100 usd for a dvd set, you know?
Thanks, Gamester Girl
seanc0x0

Well, that’s cool. I’m getting the box set from the UK and thought I’d finally found a use for my region free DVD player (which I bought on principle).

But of course, I’ll most likely rip the DVDs and stream from my computer anyway, so the DVD player will still just sit there doing nothing…
Purplecat

Cool feelies, but how many fans of the series are actually going to need a cut-out d20?
Anonymous

Is it weird that I want to buy this for the RPG?
Modusoperandi

Pah! Fat lot of good being able to play a foreign DVD here will be. How the hell are we supposed to understand the menus?
digithed

Why is it that all European TVs, VCRs and DVD players built in approximately the last ten years can play both PAL and NTSC without any problems while all the comments here seem to point to the fact that US TVs, VCRs and DVD players can’t?
Anonymous

So, I guess this is my bad, but I bought this thinking it would play — and only got seasons 3 and 4. to whom should I address my complaint, and a request for 50% of my money back ? The bodies responsible for the DVD region nonsense ? Mr. Doctorow for posting incomplete information ? Or myself, for going out and spending money based solely on a blog post ? I’m going to go with blaming myself for now, but I am quite disappointed, I bought this as a gift.
Anonymous

Completely untrue. Discs one and two are region two, and won’t play on any of my DVD-playing devices. Seasons 3 and 4 are region-free. It’s like geeks got angry after the first 2 DVDs, but they didn’t go back and fix the originals.
Bowlie

I have the new box set. We have two DVD players, top one is for US and bottom for the UK.

I noticed the kids put it in the top DVD player which is a Region-1 only player and it played. I meant to investigate but I forgot. Now the mystery is solved!

I hate region coding almost as much as I hate DMCA

Cheers Nigel
Anonymous

Uhm… not true.

I ordered this a few weeks ago, it’s Region 2, will not play in my DVD player, only on my laptop.
PolishQ

They don’t come with the board game, but seasons 1-3 have had legitimate US DVD releases and season 4 comes out in December. You might just want to wait!
Vinylsaurus

I put this in my Macbook and it insisted I change the player to Region 2, FYI.
Poet

“The Work Outing” is still their greatest accomplishment.
SammySardines

Just looked at the Amazon page. It clearly says Region 2 in the Product Details.
kehoemj

Do we know if there is going to be a fifth season? I hate it when box sets are outdated.
- TheLoneIguana
  
  According to Wikipedia, a fifth and sixth season are planned.
Anonymous

Just because it is region 0 does mean it is playable on every DVD player – but it does NOT mean it is playable on every TV! There is still PAL and NTSC to deal with. It’ll work nicely on a computer/laptop.
Caveat Emptor!
Anonymous

But it is in PAL, so you would need a DVD player that can convert from PAL to NTSC.
Anonymous

They won’t allow me to order it today and ship to Canada. Who cares about the regions. I want the bloody RPG game!
SonOfSamSeaborn

Unfortunately the show also sucks balls.
Sine

Yes, there will be a fith and a sixth season.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_IT_Crowd)
Anonymous

You say Region 0 but the listing on Amazon still says Region 2 – doesn’t anybody have verification?
Anonymous

It doesn’t play on mine :(
LibrarianX

It would still require a PAL or multi-system player/TV though, presumably.
dunnright

I guess my continued excuse to download the series has been nullified.

Time to pony up (happily)!
David Voss

Region code is only half the battle. This box set is PAL format, which means your player needs to be able to handle this. Most computer players can do (but not “any” DVD player), standalone not so much. (The standard in US is NTSC.) Now that was geeky, wasn’t it?
- cjp
  
  re: IT Crowd dvd not working in your standalone player – Have you tried turning it off and on again?
  - Anonymous
    
    Umm, let’s see if you get this: pre-HDTV televisions in the US follow a standard called NTSC, which is different from the standard followed in the UK (PAL). The signal is wrong, so the TV won’t understand it. Rebooting the DVD player will not magically allow the TV set to understand a different signal scheme and display a different aspect ratio.
    - turn_self_off
      
      Err, the content of the dvd is digital. As such, it should be convertible to fit any format imaginable in the fly by the player. But then digital content formats have been shitty from day one, even tho the physical media they come stored on have potential. For instance, i am more interested in blu-ray as a upgrade from dvd-r(w) then for “hd video”.
    - cjp
      
      You were missing the joke, man.
Larrydata

I bought this from Amazon.uk and it was region 2. I have no problem with Pal, but the region was an issue.
Anonymous

But won’t most stand-alone US DVD players not be able to play them because they are in PAL format and not NTSC? (I think you would still be able to play them on your computer, though.)
Anonymous

As far as I remember the box I got only had Season 3 and 4 region free, Season 1 and 2 were Europe… As I am at work right now I cannot check.
bkofford

PAL

Seasons 1 and 2, Region 2
Seasons 3 and 4, Region 0

Bought it for the RPG, and the fact that I pirated these seasons to watch them originally, so I don’t really care if they play, but I will likely find a way to play them later.
jmzero

Going to buy now! From a quick look around, it appears these should play on an XBox 360 despite being PAL (though this is just from forum chatter, so could be wrong). I’d actually been considering ordering anyways (ie. even if I wouldn’t be able to use the DVDs), just to support a great show I’ve, er, somehow managed to watch. It’s a clear decision now that the shows will be watchable.

Good find!