And Now for Something Completely Retro

Thanks to video, baby boomers can revisit as often as they like TV series from their youth such as “The Monkees,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show,” “I Love Lucy,” “Star Trek” and “Bewitched.”

But boomers aren’t just interested in the American TV of years past. Several companies, including A&E; Home Video, Acorn Media and BBC Video, have found great success in releasing vintage British comedy and dramatic series on video.

BBC Video is currently offering episodes of the British sci-fi classic “Dr. Who,” as well as the classic animal series “All Creatures Great and Small.”

A&E; is releasing every episode of the Emmy-winning “Masterpiece Theatre” series “Upstairs, Downstairs” and the more recent title “Jeeves & Wooster.”

“We’ve always specialized in the highest-quality British programming we can find on video,” says David Walmsley, who heads up A&E; Home Video.

Last year, A&E; hit pay dirt when it released episodes from the 1967 season of the cult British spy series “The Avengers” ($13 each, $30 for a set on VHS; $25 each, $45 for a set on DVD), starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg. Earlier this year, A&E; released episodes from the 1965 season on video and DVD, and followed that up late last month with selected installments in both formats from the 1966 season.

“ ‘The Avengers’ was a title we had been looking for several years--the rights had been in dispute,” says Walmsley. “It has a loyal cult following--a very wealthy, highly educated fan base of people who grew up with the series.”

So far, “The Avengers” has sold more than 1 million units “from sets to singles to DVDs.”

“The Avengers,” he says, also is tapping into the country’s fascination with the ‘60s. “I think Mike Myers and the ‘Austin Powers’ movies have increased America’s interest in the kind of mod ‘60s super-sleuth. The demand for the series has been incredible. It has really taken us by surprise.”

Walmsley believes its video and DVD release this week of the seminal British sketch comedy series “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” ($13 each, $30 for the set on VHS; $25 each, $45 for a set on DVD) will outperform “The Avengers.”

“It is very high-quality programming,” says Walmsley. “I think that is one of the attributes that has a lot of appeal to collectors. The quality of the writing is one of the key facets to the popularity of ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Monty Python.’ ”

A&E; has included all sorts of goodies on the “Python” DVD. “There are games, clips and sound bites,” says Walmsley. “There’s a lot of information and extra content.”

Until a few years ago, Acorn Media’s main focus was documentary programming. The company has slowly shifted its emphasis to British comedy and dramas after investigating how well the product was doing with other distributors.

“When you are selling TV programs on video, you are going back to things that people have seen in the past,” says John Lorenz, executive vice president of Acorn. “You are trading on almost a nostalgic remembrance of a TV series and miniseries. I think a lot of the most memorable TV that really people got attached to was coming out of Britain.”

Acorn recently released two terrific “Masterpiece Theatres” from the early ‘70s: “The Golden Bowl” ($60 ), based on the Henry James classic, and Dorothy L. Sayers’ “Lord Peter Wimsey” ($60). Among its recent Britcom releases is “That’s My Boy” ($15 each; $40 for the set), starring Mollie Sugden of “Are You Being Served?”

“It’s not generic programming,” says Lorenz. “If you can turn on a cable channel and watch it 24 hours a day, there’s not much interest in collecting it on video. A lot of these miniseries and comedies haven’t been run for years and years.”

Acorn does extensive research as to what titles Anglophiles want to see on video. “At the end of the day, it is a calculated risk what will sell,” Lorenz says. “We listen very carefully to our customers. We always ask them what they are looking for.”

The Internet has also become important to Acorn. “We get involved in chat groups,” says Lorenz. “There are often people who post messages on the Web that they are looking for such and such a video. We kind of get a sense of how much current buzz there is for a series. I think the Internet has been a great tool.”