Here's some new information for: Mr. Bean: The Complete Series (TV) (1990-1995)
http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=3638 R2 Holland - Universal Pictures: The Mr. Bean Collection: Volumes 1-3
and
R4 Australia - Universal Pictures: 10th Anniversary Collection
-- 1) These seem to be the exact same releases content wise. Just a re-release, "10th Anniversary Collection" seems to be from about 2000-2004, and redesigned package "The Mr. Bean Collection: Volumes 1-3" from 2008/2009. Both releases seem to have at least R2 Holland (or rather "Europe", with minor cover language/design edits) and R4 Australia releases.
-- 2) And here it gets trickier, I have Finnish R2/4 "10 Years" (covers in Finnish) releases (3 different DVD cases, no box in Finland AFAIK) which doesn't have the "Best Bits" Montage (52:38)" cut, it is the full length documentary running at 71:58 length. 2 sec. "shorter" than what Wikipedia claims is the full running time, so basically it's the full documentary.
-- 3) The "The Story of Bean documentary (48:55)" in Finnish R2/4 "10 Years" is the same cut as in the other releases.
-- 4) The only other differences between my Finnish release and the other releases seem to be: Finnish release doesn't have the "Mr. Bean: The Animated Series trailers" on the discs, and that it has fewer subtitles available (English/German/Dutch/Swedish/Norwegian/Danish/Finnish).
-- 5) I don't have proof, but considering that all these 3 releases are released about at the same time with almost identical content (the same "out-of-order" placing of the episodes is very telling), I suspect that the "Holland/Australia" releases might too have full length documentary on them.
R2 Scandinavia - Universal Pictures: Bean's Brilliant Boxset, 20th Anniversary Edition
-- 1) This is not just a Scandinavian edition, it's been sold in UK, and everywhere else too, even in R4 Australia (All the boxsets seem to have R2/R4 listed), that's why it has so many subtitles, more like "R2/R4 everywhere"
.
-- 2) This is a "Digitally Remastered 20th Anniversary Edition", which should count on which release the comparison suggests to buy. Note that the 2 separate sketches (Library & Bus Stop) are not remastered.
-- 3) I can confirm that the "Best Bits" Montage (52:38)" is correctly listed on this release, i.e. it is the cut version.
Comparison "verdict": "Between the R2/4 releases. It has uncut episodes, the documentary is longer and it has a "Best Bits" montage (which contains unique new footage). The R1 does offer some unique extras but the episodes are edited versions."
-- This is wrong information on many accounts. There's 2 very different R2 releases, one "10th Anniversary/The Mr. Bean Collection: Volumes 1-3", and other remastered "Bean's Brilliant Boxset, 20th Anniversary" (Which is actually R2/R4). Like I wrote earlier, at least some, if not all, of the "10th Anniversary" releases have the uncut documentary, while the "20th Anniversary" release has it cut (and it's not just old footage that is cut, the "new sketch" of "Bean accidentally pulling his television aerial cable" is also cut).
CUTS:
R1 Mr Bean: The Whole Bean America- A&E Home Video - Yes - Some edits have been made for timing reasons (including the 'guess the turkey weight' scene in 'Merry Christmas Mr Bean'). The majority of the episodes are the Rowan Atkinson approved versions as originally shown in the UK which means that, for example, an extra scene shown during the US HBO transmission of 'Do It Yourself Mr Bean' (involving a fight over the purchase of the armchair) is also missing. Note that the scene was never in the original UK version.
-- The "The Story of Mr. Bean documentary (39:56)" is even more cut than in UK/other releases.
R2 The Mr. Bean Collection: Volumes 1-3 Holland- Universal Pictures - No cuts as such, but "The Story of Bean" documentary has a swear word censored.
-- _Might_ have full "Best Bits Montage". "The Story of Bean documentary" is cut.
R2 Bean's Brilliant Boxset, 20th Anniversary Edition Scandinavia- Universal Pictures - No cuts as such, but "The Story of Bean" documentary has a swear word censored.
-- "Best Bits Montage" is cut. "The Story of Bean documentary" is cut.
R4 10th Anniversary Collection Australia- Universal Pictures - No cuts as such, but "The Story of Bean" documentary has a swear word censored.
-- _Might_ have full "Best Bits Montage". "The Story of Bean documentary" is cut.
I don't have any information about the R5 Russian release.
Full information of:
R2/4 Finnish - Universal
"10 Years"
Separate (no boxset as far as I know) releases/volumes I, II, III:
Extras:
VOLUME I
Episodes:
- 1. "Mr. Bean" (24:24)
- 13. "Good Night Mr. Bean" (23:58)
- 10. "Mind the Baby Mr. Bean" (24:15)
- 3. "The Curse of Mr. Bean" (24:30)
"Best Bits" Montage (71:58)
VOLUME II
Episodes:
- 4. "Mr. Bean Goes to Town" (23:57)
- 6. "Mr. Bean Rides Again" (23:32)
- 8. "Mr. Bean in Room 426" (24:34)
- 9. "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean" (24:50)
- 14. "Hair by Mr. Bean of London" (26:14)
"The Story of Bean" documentary (48:55)
VOLUME III
Episodes:
- 2. "The Return of Mr. Bean" (24:57)
- 11. "Back to School Mr. Bean" (24:18)
- 12. "Tea Off, Mr. Bean" (24:50)
- 7. "Merry Christmas Mr. Bean" (26:27)
- 5. "The Trouble with Mr. Bean" (24:29)
Sketches:
- "The Library" (9:13)
- "The Bus Stop" (5:36)
Subtitles: English HoH, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Picture Format: Non-Anamorphic
TV System: PAL
Soundtrack(s): English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Case type: Keep case
Notes: All extras are in English with optional subtitles in English HoH, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish
Some sources:
WIKIPEDIA: The documentary "The Story of Mr. Bean" is edited on both the UK and USA DVD sets: It was originally 52 minutes when broadcast on TV. However, it is 48 minutes on the UK DVD while only 40 on the American DVD. Most notably, in the UK version, the section detailing "The Tall Guy" has humorous clips from the film removed. The American DVD features the same edits as the British DVD but is also missing comments by Burt Reynolds on the set of Bean, comments by Jeff Goldblum, some clips from the show Mr. Bean and many others.
WIKIPEDIA: "The Best Bits of Mr. Bean": When originally released on VHS it was 72 minutes 00 seconds long, but many of the later releases had the episode cut down to 52 minutes 39 seconds as 'The Best of Mr Bean', leaving out Mr Bean helping a busker in The Return of Mr. Bean, Bean trying to stay awake in Church and Bean sitting in an exam from Mr. Bean, and the newly released footage of Bean accidentally pulling his television aerial cable and lifting the television up from the floor below (and then letting go and smashing it).