US & Canadian DVDs are usually Region 1 whereas Europe is Region 2.
There are also a few DVDs which are Region 0 and can be played on any
equipment. Unfortunately, the Onedin Line DVDs of series one
released in the UK by Playback are Region 2. I also believe series
one, two and three available from a Dutch company are Region 2 but am
not positive (I'm at work at present so can't check mine). These can
also be purchased on eBay.
However, in Europe you can buy multi-region DVD players which will
play DVDs from any region. Don't know if you can get multi-region
DVD players in the US but I understand it's quite a simple process to
convert the equipment to multi-region (don't ask me how as I'm not
that technical!).
More more info on DVD regions:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/502554/026-9816926-
3309263
Hope this helps.
I certainly recommend you purchase the two BFS Onedin Line sets on
DVD. Enjoy!
Regards,
Diana