The DVD release is a tighter, three-part version which is 56 minutes shorter. However, no subplots or major scenes are cut. Instead, existing scenes are trimmed, extraneous dialogue removed and exposition tightened up. The other notable difference is in the drawings which denote chapter breaks. In the original four-part cut, the drawings are copied from the original novel, whereas in the tighter, three-part version the drawings are newly made to resemble the actors in the series.
The three-part episodes are as follows: "Kollezhskiy registrator" which combines the first and half of the second episode of the longer version, "Ruletenburg" which combines the second half of the second and the third episode of the longer version and "Bednaya Liza" which corresponds almost exactly to the fourth episode of the longer version except for the inclusion of a short scene which was originally part of the third episode.