Both firmly of and spectacularly ahead of its time, The Strange World of Gurney Slade is, we are assured, to television comedy what The Prisoner has become to television drama – brilliantly inventive and startlingly surreal.

Anthony Newley stars as an actor who walks off the set of a banal sit-com in disgust and ennui, and into a fantasy world of his own imagination. In this strange odyssey through his own personal alternative reality, he indulges in random conversations with both animals and inanimate objects – it's a world in which characters can step out of advertising posters and where he can hear the most intimate thoughts of passers by.

An unpredictable, absurdist fantasy, Gurney Slade created an indelible impression upon those who saw it, though it's a task and a half to find someone who did – its IMDb page carries just one review and has received only 7 votes, though these have given it a tantalisingly high score. Created by Newley and written by the highly talented Sid Green and Dick Hills (who were soon to become key writers for Morecambe and Wise), this series has been newly transferred from the original 35mm film elements specifically for this release.

A hybrid mix of innovation one associates with modern comedy like The Mighty Boosh and Psychoville, The Strange World of Gurney Slade – The Complete Series (PG) will be released by Network Releasing for the first time in any home video format on 15th August 2011 at the RRP of £14.99.

You can check out Network's own exclusive teasers for the release here:

You also catch a glimpse of the opening sequence of episode 1 below, and if you hop to the YouTube page there are some very positive reactions to the series and this upcoming release.