The Duchess Of Duke Street – Series Two

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: B

 

 

The Duchess Of Duke Street continues its surprisingly consistent and winning ways with this Series Two set from Acorn Media.  Still a hit in the U.S. on PBS’ Masterpiece Theater, it offers Gemma Jones is Louisa Leyton, born into the servant class of the British caste system.  Not wanting to settle for second best or doom, she is determined to become the best cook in the country and succeeds.  At this point, she has settled into her societal role and may even begin to find some kind of happiness.  The 16 nearly hour-long episodes (on 5 DVDs) offers new surprises and I give the show credit for its ambition, production values for the time and continually great acting.  Where is the great British TV like this today?

 

Because of the storyline, we have once again decided not to list the episode titles as not to spoil anything, but Christopher Cazenove is Jones’ equal as Charlie, who becomes personally involved with Louisa for better or worse.  The best thing about this set, issued by Acorn Media, is that it is the kind of great quality TV that really took its time, and that includes the time the actors are given to play their roles.  In most TV productions today, especially (and oddly) serious ones, it seems the actors are still being rushed through for either commercials or lack of attention span.  Here, all the actors are given a chance to really play their characters with a certain sense of leisure that adds to the realism of the performances and storyline itself.  Louisa is a great character and the unique way she handles everything is so winning, it is no wonder this show was such a hit in its time and is not as “soap opera” or melodramatic as a result.  On that level, it is still very much ahead of its time and this set will give it a new lease on life it deserves.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image originated on analog PAL video, while some of the footage was shot on film (likely 16mm), with these transfers from the vault.  Once again, it is hard to say if the film footage survives, but as it stands, you can tell that footage is old film-to-video work and the PAL itself also shows its age.  The result is a soft picture throughout with its share of yellowing and color inconsistency, but this is the best that can be expected, unless those old film prints can be recovered and the video portions reconfigured.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 is a simple stereo boosted mono that is as clear and clean as can be expected form such a production.  Extras are even less this time, including text cast filmographies and text biography of real life cook Rosa Lewis.  Good thing the show is so solid, but you should begin with the first set to really get the most out of the series.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo