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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Thriller > Relationships > Food > Comedy > Aging > Mystery > Crime > Affair > Irish > Welsh > British TV > 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)

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/


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