PBS Edits: What Was Edited? Why Was It Edited? Where Can I See Unedited Episodes?

[purist]

Thread for CtM viewers to find out what was edited from the episodes shown on PBS, where to find unedited episodes, and generally talk/rage about why the episodes are edited.

 

(After every episode airs in the USA, I see people asking these sorts of questions. I live in Australia, where thankfully we get to see the episodes in all their glory. Perhaps someone could post a definitive answer to the question 'Where can I see the unedited version of an episode?' - including info on the DVDs - and it could be pinned to the top of this thread. Attention mods: @SilverStormm @radishcake)

[dargosmydaddy]

16 hours ago, purist said:

'Where can I see the unedited version of an episode?'

The DVDs have the unedited episodes.

[Kohola3]

1 minute ago, dargosmydaddy said:

The DVDs have the unedited episodes.

If you don't want to purchase them, you might try the local library.

[J-Man]

Seasons 1-6 are available on DVD for rental from Netflix. 

[JustDucky]

The PBS website streams the current episode for a limited time.  I wonder if it's the edited version or uncut. 

[marceline]

1 hour ago, JustDucky said:

The PBS website streams the current episode for a limited time.  I wonder if it's the edited version or uncut. 

It's edited. That's where I watch every week and it's infuriating.

[3 is enough]

3 hours ago, JustDucky said:

The PBS website streams the current episode for a limited time.  I wonder if it's the edited version or uncut. 

It is the edited version.

[JoSnowden]

What gets edited? Does Netflix have the unedited version?

[OnceSane]

5 hours ago, JoSnowden said:

What gets edited? Does Netflix have the unedited version?

Nope.  The Christmas specials may be unedited, but I know for sure that the regular season episodes are edited.

[limecoke]

Question.  Does anyone know if the series available on iTunes are edited or unedited? 

[caitmcg]

On 11/8/2019 at 1:39 PM, limecoke said:

Question.  Does anyone know if the series available on iTunes are edited or unedited? 

I don't know about CTM, but I do know that iTunes carried the UK edit of Downton Abbey, which wasn't quite the same issue, as it was edited a bit differently vs. just having cuts. But given that, I'd guess it's possible they've got the full version of CTM.

[alexvillage]

I am new to the show. Started watching on Netflix (in the US) and I really like it. I didn't know the episodes were edited. Why are they and what kind of editing? 

[dargosmydaddy]

7 hours ago, alexvillage said:

I am new to the show. Started watching on Netflix (in the US) and I really like it. I didn't know the episodes were edited. Why are they and what kind of editing? 

The edits were done by PBS because they need time to show a few ads in the beginning (and show the pointless behind the scenes features at the end...). I have no idea why Netflix has the edited versions and not the originals. The editing is usually a few quick scenes/ parts of scenes that aren't completely necessary... usually little character development moments. If you read the thread for each episode, there will usually be mention of what was cut or questions about whether such-and-such small plotline that seemingly went unexplained was actually a victim of a cut.

[Badger]

Someone on the "Call The Midwife" tag on Tumblr posted a few days ago that apparently the US DVDs of Season 9 only have the Christmas special, and episodes 1-2 as the complete UK episode.  Episodes 3-8 are the PBS edit.  Has anyone else noticed this?

[marypat57]

I actually bought my season 9 dvd set as the  BBC version (from Barnes & Noble).  I guess I’ll have to do a side by side analysis of the episodes.

I’ll post the info when I’m done

[KeyLime]

I started watching at the beginning of Season 8 and I’ve been catching up on old episodes. I’m watching on Hoopla (service provided by my local library) and the episodes seem to be the PBS/Netflix edit.  
 

As I’ve been reading the episode threads here, there are often recaps linked.  Commenters from the US mention how helpful the recaps are.  The problem is that all of the links to the recaps seem to be broken 😟. Do you know if there’s any way I can still find these recaps?  In some ways now missing the recaps are adding insult to injury.  I just watched S7 E3 and commenters were saying things like “I’m glad the recap told us about Magda’s escape from Hungary and about what happened with her BF in France”...and I’m here yelling at my iPad “What happened???”  Not only did I not see the scenes, but I can’t read the recap.  😭

[zoey1996]

On 5/24/2020 at 2:44 PM, marypat57 said:

I actually bought my season 9 dvd set as the  BBC version (from Barnes & Noble).  I guess I’ll have to do a side by side analysis of the episodes.

I’ll post the info when I’m done

@marypat57Did you do your comparison? If so, what did you find?

[Badger]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:39 PM, KeyLime said:

I started watching at the beginning of Season 8 and I’ve been catching up on old episodes. I’m watching on Hoopla (service provided by my local library) and the episodes seem to be the PBS/Netflix edit.  
 

As I’ve been reading the episode threads here, there are often recaps linked.  Commenters from the US mention how helpful the recaps are.  The problem is that all of the links to the recaps seem to be broken 😟. Do you know if there’s any way I can still find these recaps?  In some ways now missing the recaps are adding insult to injury.  I just watched S7 E3 and commenters were saying things like “I’m glad the recap told us about Magda’s escape from Hungary and about what happened with her BF in France”...and I’m here yelling at my iPad “What happened???”  Not only did I not see the scenes, but I can’t read the recap.  😭

I love reading recaps so I was also disappointed when the ones I read here (or more precisely, the ones from the previous incarnation of this website) were unavailable.  FTR, I saw the original BBC broadcasts so for me, it's more about what things the recapper chooses to highlight and their interpretations of various plot points.

[Blackie]

WOW I can't believe I just saw there has been a special thread for bitching about the cuts since 2018!!! Because I have definitely been bitching about the cuts since 2018!!!