Heroic Comeback Holds Back Blu-ray Release

The final season of Heroes at last will go to air here a month after the Blu-ray went on sale in the US.

It’s being double-billed with another long-overdue premiere, Joss (Firefly) Whedon’s Dollhouse, from August 30, at 8.30pm Mondays on C4.

Like Heroes, Dollhouse is another HD series that won’t screen here in 1080i because C4’s SD-only and will stay so for the foreseeable future.

Dollhouse is a sci-fi thriller about a laboratory that implants humans with false memories to undertake different missions; the cast is headed by Tru Calling’s Eliza Dushku.

The reviews were mixed, ranging from “haunting, cerebral and gorgeous” (Time) to a “pretentious and risible jumble” (The Washington Post), and the series lasted only two seasons. The first season is out on region-free Blu-ray in the US and the second releases October 12.

A NZ Blu-ray release date has yet to be confirmed for season four of Heroes but it won’t be until the end of the year, given it will take C4 that long to complete its broadcast of the 19 episodes.

However, the US Blu-ray is region-free and the Australian Blu-ray release is set for next month.

Blu-ray.com called the HD transfer “commendable” but thought the extras less so whereas DVD Talk agreed the video “generally looks terrific” and felt the extras were worthwhile, too, even if the number of picture-in-picture commentaries has plummeted from 25 on season three to just four.