Taggart – Set One (2002/Acorn Media DVD)

 

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

 

 

Even long after it original star Mark McManus passed away as Taggart, the big hit police procedural TV series from Scotland continued as Taggart without him and is still running since its debut on the mid-1980s.  For whatever reason, audiences loved the show so much that they stuck around.  It switched from a series of telefilms to episodes and by 2002, would go TV widescreen, which is where Acorn Media has decided to pick the show up from as their Set One. 

 

BFS issued early seasons on DVD, starting with the following sets we covered a while ago:

 

One

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3659/Taggart+-+Killer+Set+(BFS+Season

 

Two

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3693/Taggart+-+Death+Call+(BFS)

 

 

All these years later, the show remains smart and though McManus is missed, the energy and intelligence that kept the show out of the glut of decolored police procedurals resulting in less clichés and a still-solid show.  Alex Norton, John Michie, Blythe Duff and Colin McCredie share the lead as investigators of each case.  The shows are now episodes under an hour (50 minutes is actually pushing it) so they cannot do what the original shows did, but they are a throwback to the kinds of well-written crime dramas TV used to have all the time.  These 3 DVDs have 7 episodes.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image can look a good from show to show, but there is some stylizing, but not to the point of being a joke of visual cliché.  Locations remain a plus as they were when the show launched.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is not bad, with some slight Pro Logic type surrounds, but nothing substantial.  Extras include Taggart’s Scotland, which covers those locations.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo