Delicious:
Series 2 (2017 -
2018/DVD)/Girlfriends:
Series One
(2018/DVD)/Keeping Faith
(2017/Blu-ray)/Striking
Out: Series Two
(2018/DVD/all Acorn releases)
Picture:
B/B/B-/B- Sound: B/B/B-/B- Extras: C/C+/C/C+ Main
Programs: C+/C+/C+/C
Here's
a new set of upscale comedy and drama releases from Acorn Home
Video....
Delicious:
Series 2
(2017 - 2018)
is a interesting British drama/thriller about a chef named Leo
Vincent (Iain Glen from Game
of Thrones)
who is an all around bad guy. He stole recipes off his ex-wife Gina
(comedy legend Dawn French of French
& Sanders)
on top of having an affair. Now remarried to the woman that he
cheated on his wife with (Emilia Fox), he ends up cheating on her
with his wife... and things just get weirder from there.
Series
2 is comprised of four episodes, all of which are presented on
standard definition DVD with a 2.00:1 anamorphically enhanced,
widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital track, the show
looks fine on DVD but nothing to necessarily write home about.
Special
Features include...
Behind
the Scenes Featurette
Photo
Gallery
Miranda
Richardson, Phyllis Logan (The
Good Karma Hospital),
and Zoe Wanamaker (Piorot) highlight this cast of the British drama
Girlfriends:
Series One
(2018).
The story centers around three older women who end up balancing the
stress of modern life with their jobs and families in the wake of a
tragedy. The show shifts more towards the dramatic end but has some
funny moments thrown in and a strong cast that play off of each other
well.
The
first season features six episodes, each of which span two DVD discs.
Presented
in an anamorphically enhanced widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a
lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital track, the show looks and sounds fine for the
format but has some compression issues. The skin tones are natural
and the overall look of the show is high key and shot cinematically.
Special
Features include...
Behind
the Scenes Featurette
Cast
Panel at the TCA (Television Critics Association) Event
Keeping
Faith
(2017) is about the married with a few children title character (Eve
Myles from Torchwood)
whose husband goes missing one day on the way to work, a scenario
we've seen and heard more than a few times before. This variation
offers the twist of trying to develop the situation and characters in
a slow, deliberate, even too-quiet approach that at least tries to do
something different with the situation, but hopes the cast and
underseen locales also make a difference.
You
might recognize her husband Evan as Bradley Freegard from the series
Doctors,
Matthew Gravelle from Broadchurch
or even Mark Lewis Jones from the moderate hit film Master
and Commander,
but most of the actors will not be familiar to U.S. audiences and
this always gives these better programs an edge of realism they would
not have if produced by the same country they are seen in.
Nevertheless, I found this a mixed bag despite it ambitions, with a
conclusion I did not buy and the possibility this might be the first
season/series of a longer show. I cannot imagine where they'd go if
they go there, but it would be 'fascinating' if so. Otherwise, this
is for the curious only, but I thought it did not add up and went on
too long. At least it is professionally produced throughout, which I
cannot say about many a sloppy TV dramas on both sides of the
Atlantic, et al.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer has the best
color of the four releases here, but slight motion blur and slight
detail issues randomly foil the otherwise fine presentation. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is on the quiet side more
than expected or maybe one would like down to a sparse use of music,
despite a warmer sound than any of the Dvd sets here.
Extras
include Character Introductions (5 minutes) and a Behind The Scenes
featurette that runs a surprisingly long 48 minutes.
And
finally, another drama from Acorn, Striking
Out: Series Two (2018)
is a courtroom drama that centers around a Dublin lawyer Tara
Rafferty (Amy Huberman) whose life starts to crumble once she
realizes that her fiance has been cheating. She abandons the wedding
plans and her job by starting her own private practice and starting a
new life for herself. The show also stars Rory Keenan and Neil
Morrissey in starring roles.
There
are six episodes of the season that span 2 DVD discs.
Presented
on DVD with a standard definition transfer and anamorphically
enhanced, standard definition 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a
lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital mix. The presentation is up to standard for
the format and nothing terrible or glaringly bad in terms of the way
it looks. The show is naturally shot and lit with nothing too
stylized and a more 'real world' look.
Special
Features include...
Behind
the Scenes Featurette
Cast
Panel at the TCA (Television Critics Association) Event
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Faith)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
