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In many ways DVD releases such as ALIAS are a bit of a no-brainer. Archive series have that "is it as good as I remember?" element, but most people buying ALIAS will be pretty familiar with the series already.

Of course, that also means we're more likely to have off-air copies than with a series that hasn't been repeated in years, but one of the great advantages of DVD is that - unlike video releases - the picture and sound quality is potentially better than the off-airs that most of us will have.

Releases such as ALIAS also have the advantage that most UK viewers will have either watched it cut to pieces on Channel 4 or plastered with a DOG on Sky One. This release is not only uncut but also in widescreen, so finally we can see the series as it was meant to be seen.

First impressions of the set are good, with a sturdy cardboard slip-over, which slides off to reveal an equal sturdy book-style cover. However, this simply holds the trays holding the six discs which are just held together by sellotape. For a series of this quality, it's a bit shoddy and you'd expect Disney to have come up with something better.

Fortunately, the episodes themselves are much better. Personally I'd rate ALIAS as one of the best series currently in production and although over a season you expect some ups and downs, this is a cracking collection.

The extras are typical for a contemporary US series of this sort - a few commentaries, some short features, a gag reel and a few TV spots.

Four episodes get the commentary treatment, and these are well chosen: Jennifer Garner and J.J Abrams on TRUTH BE TOLD, exec. producers Ken Olin and Sarah Caplan and director of photography Michael Bonvillain on SO IT BEGINS, exec. producers John Eisendrath, Alex Kurtzman-Counter and Robert Orci on Q AND A and all the regulars on ALMOST THIRTY YEARS.

As you'd expect, all four have a different feel, but are worth listening to at least once. I found the two involving actors to be the more enjoyable, partly because I knew who the participants was. Jennifer Garner occasionally sounds like she's feeding questions to J.J. Abrams, but it's not really a problem. The season finale has an end of term feel, although this is hardly suprising with eight cast members taking part.

There are also short features on the shooting of the pilot and the series stunts and effects, and the usual deleted scenes, gag reel, TV spots and promos (in this case the season 2 set and the video game). The features are interesting, but the rest are the sort of things you'll probably watch once and not bother with again.

Annoyingly the extras slightly vary between region, but overall they're pretty equal and so I opted for the region 2 release. Anyone who hasn't done so already might want to check out Amazon, who have knocked it down to around twenty quid for ages.

Even at the usual online price it would be a great collection, but if you can pick it up for that sort of price it's got to be one of the bargains of the year. It's just a shame that the packaging couldn't have been a little better. BACK TO THE TOP

ALIAS: SEASON 1

Starring JENNIFER GARNER,
VICTOR GARBER, MICHAEL VARTAN, MERRIN DUNGEY, CARL LUMBLY, KEVIN WEISMAN, BRADLEY COOPER

TOUCHSTONE HOME ENTERTAINMENT

REGION 2 PAL
CERTIFICATE: 15


RATING: 9/10


NEXT RELEASE:
SEASON 2