Some of the news is still bad for fans of HBO’s “The Sopranos” who have felt deprived since the series aired the last episode of its fifth season a year ago.

The Emmy-winning mob drama has only recently gone back into production, filming the opening episodes of its sixth and what may or may not be its final season. (Creator David Chase, ever the artful dodger, is now dropping hints that there could be a seventh year.)

“The Sopranos” won’t be back on Sunday nights until March – another 10 months of waiting.

At least there’s one piece of good news: Usually, HBO waits until just before a series returns to issue the DVD set from the previous season. But “The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season” (HBO Video, $99.98) hit stores this week, well in advance of the show’s return.

The release should be an even bigger deal to non-subscribers to HBO, who wait for DVDs to get their “Sopranos” fix. The show has been the best drama on television since its debut in January 1999, and the fifth season was its best since those brilliant opening episodes.

At a point when most series are starting to wind down creatively, “The Sopranos” was funny, morally ironic, poignant, full of psychological insight and loaded with surprises.

Just when some fans were starting to believe the show had no twists and turns left in it, the saga of Tony Soprano, his family and his Family took off in another direction, leaving many unanswered questions to chew over.

The new set includes some of the finest episodes the series has ever produced:

“In Camelot” is an engrossing hour in which Tony Soprano (the splendid James Gandolfini) learns more than he wants to know about his father from the old man’s ex-lover, Fran Felstein (Polly Bergen in a nuanced performance).

“Long Term Parking” marks the violent end of the show’s moral center, Adriana La Cerva (Drea de Matteo). The final raw confrontations between Adriana and her wise-guy fiance, Christopher Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli), won Emmys for both their performances.

“The Test Dream” may be the most controversial episode the series has produced, with a 21-minute fever dream sequence that was a tour de force for Gandolfini. With allusions to films ranging from “The Godfather” to “Frankenstein,” all those who have died because of his actions come back to haunt Soprano: Big Pussy Bonpensiero, Ralphie Cifaretto, Richie Aprile, Gloria Torres, even Pie-O-My, the race horse. The dream took him to a dinner with corrupt cop Vin Makazian (bumped off in Season 1) and actress Annette Bening, playing herself and invoking her roles in both “Bugsy” and “American Beauty.”

It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.

And, of course, viewers get to enjoy the rich characterizations that ran throughout the season: Edie Falco’s Carmela Soprano, Lorraine Bracco’s Jennifer Melfi, Dominic Chianese as Uncle Junior and guest star Steve Buscemi as Tony Soprano’s loose-cannon cousin, Tony Blundetto.

As television goes, it doesn’t get any better than this.