DCI
Banks: Season Two
(2012)/Death In Paradise:
Season Two (2013)/Father
Brown: Season One
(2013/BBC DVD Sets)/Reign:
The Complete First Season (2013
- 2014/Warner DVDs)/Scott
& Bailey: Season Two
(2012/BBC DVDs)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: D/D/C-/C/C- Episodes: C+/B-/C+/C-/C+
Here
is five new dramas we have never looked at before, including the
revival of a detective many, especially in the U.S., have limited
exposure to...
DCI
Banks: Season Two
(2012) is the first of four police procedurals we are looking at from
the BBC that are good, if not great. It follows the
lack-of-character-development style to many U.S. variants have, but
one of its driving forces is the title character, played by Steven
Thompkins in a somewhat hauntingly Edward Woodward-style minus the
great yelled speeches. One episode gets personal when it involves
his brother and the shows are competent, yet none of them really
stuck with me as much as the lead did. Needless to say it found an
audience, but it plays it safer than I would like. Still, you should
see for yourself.
My
favorite entry on the list is Death
In Paradise: Season Two
(2013), a more interesting mystery series with Ben Miller and Sara
Martins play investigators in the Caribbean solving murders and more
as a team with a difference. They have some chemistry and the makers
take full advantage of the change of scenery not just to make a
better-looking show that goes where most have not gone before, but
add complexities to their teleplays to make this much more watchable
and fun than just about any other detective show on TV (closing on in
the likes of Justified,
True
Detective
and few others) so it is the one most worth going out of your way
for. Wish this one was a Blu-ray!
Father
Brown: Season One
(2013) brings back the classic G. K. Chesterton detective which sold
many books, spawned several TV series and a few feature films. This
time Mark Williams (from those Harry Potter films) takes on the role
and he is great casting. The show is better the likes of the
disappointing Father
Dowling Mysteries,
yet the episodes overall are not as strong as the 1974 Kenneth More
series, reviewed elsewhere on this site. Not to say I am the biggest
fan of the character, but there are ways to make him work and this is
at least better than you might expect if not a watershed success. It
is set in the 1950s and does a good job of staying in the period.
Fans should not be too disappointed either.
Reign:
The Complete First Season (2013
- 2014) is an attempt to enter the cycle of shows lie the Tudors,
Spartacus
and the like with a variant meant to appeal to young adults in the
watered down-YA sense (rather condescending, boring material for
young adults meant to distract with formula more than anything else)
and this particular one is a soap opera aimed at a mostly female
audience. Then they add elements that are more like the Horror
genre, which seems desperate, but everyone looks like they are out of
a fashion magazine to boot. This oddly clean show starts in 1557
France where 9-year-old Mary, Queen of Scots has been hidden away for
all the action that is to come.
It
never shows up! Everyone talks too much at each other, history seems
to be played loosely here and I never bought any of the cast in their
roles. But again, I must not be the audience for this one, but
someone is since it has made a second season. We'll see how long
this one goes.
Finally
we have Scott
& Bailey: Season Two
(2012), a U.K.-made police procedural that focuses on a group of lady
police detectives and their lives in private as well as in solving
cases. Suranne Jones and Leslie Sharp are the title characters, have
some chemistry and the episodes have their moments, but Prime
Suspect
it is not. If anything, it may sound like Cagney
& Lacey,
but it actually reminded me of the groundbreaking The
Gentle Touch
(1980 - 84, reviewed elsewhere on this site) that never made it to
the U.S., but was created by the very talented Terence Feely and deal
with a woman alone in the man's world of U.K. police detectives.
There
are even more female detectives that the title characters, showing
true growth, but the episodes are a bit inconsistent. Yet, I can see
why this one is a hit and the casting is key to its success as well.
Those interested might want to check this one out for themselves.
Bet this lasts longer than most shows of its kind.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the DVD sets are all from
HD shoots and unfortunately, tend to be a bit on the soft and even
color dulled/off-color-on-purpose in ways that do no favors for the
shows or their viewers. Raven
especially overdoes such manipulation down to its cheap CGI visual
effects. Death
has the best color and not necessarily by default.
The
sound is a little better in all cases, in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo (sometimes with lite Pro Logic-like surrounds) save Brown
and Reign
with lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, but Brown is laid back &
dialogue-based, while Reign
is the most active, yet more lossy than expected, so be careful of
playback levels and volume switching. Otherwise, all of its episodes
are consistent.
Extras
on Brown,
Reign
and Bailey
include Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes, Reign
adds two more featurettes and Deleted Scenes, but Banks
and Death
sadly have no extras.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
