Video News Briefs, March 15, 2011 

Coming to DVD on March 29 from Acorn Media Group: a 40th-anniversary edition of Upstairs, Downstairs, the most popular and successful British drama series in television history. The 21-disc set will collect all 68 episodes of the show’s five-season run (1971–75) and will feature over 25 hours of extras, including a five-part behind-the-scenes documentary, 24 episode commentaries, a 25th-anniversary retrospective, and interviews with the show’s stars and creators. Its release precedes a contemporary revival of the show to air on PBS Masterpiece on April 10, with Jean Marsh reprising her original role. Acorn further plans to release all five of the show’s seasons as stand-alone sets. More at www.acornonline.com.

Audiobook publisher/distributor Recorded Books (RB), which since 2005 has also distributed educational films from Films Media Group to U.S. public libraries, recently expanded its film offerings to include popular movies and TV series. For RB’s current catalog of popular titles, available on DVD and Blu-ray disc, as well as to browse its product line of third-party video games and equipment (see Audio NewsBriefs, LJ 11/15/09), visit www.recordedbooks.com/games.

Coming to DVD and Blu-ray disc on March 29 from Paramount Home Entertainment: a newly restored 55th-anniversary edition of Cecil B. DeMille’s legendary 1956 epic, The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner. The film will be available as a six-disc DVD/Blu-ray combo gift set ($59.99) and will alternately be sold as a two-disc DVD set ($14.99) and a two-disc Blu-ray set ($24.99), with the gift set to feature significantly more extras. More at www.paramount.com/dvd.

Amazon, which already offers digital movies/TV shows for rent and purchase on an individual-transaction basis, has launched a new streaming service making 5000 titles available at no additional cost to members of Amazon Prime, its membership program through which customers pay $79 annually for unlimited free shipping.—Raya Kuzyk