Two Fat Ladies (Cooking/British TV/Acorn Media DVD)

 

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

 

 

For the length of their partnership, Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson made an impact in a pre-Food Network world with their BBC cooking show Two Fat Ladies (1996 – 99) which offered all kinds of food from all kinds of interesting locations and histories built around their culinary pursuits.  The entire four series run is now available on DVD from Acorn Media through the BBC archive and the show is pretty good for the most part, deserving of its reputation.

 

Unfortunately, to be nuanced, it skips telling us about all the recipes and that too often pushes into the documentary category and out of food more than it should.  That might be interesting at first, but it leaves the audience out of the full impact of the action and edibles, resulting in a successful, but uneven show.  They are fun to watch and they do come up with some funny things to say and do, but expect this to be more offbeat than overall effective if you are only interested in the food.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image comes form the analog PAL tapes and they look good for their age, with only minor complains.  The locations are a plus.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is simple stereo at best and just fine for such a show.  Extras includes text on both, a booklet inside the DVD case with some of the recipes and a documentary tribute to Paterson who passed away, ending what became a national institution in Britain.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo