Armchair Cinema: The Collection (1973 – 1975/Network U.K./Region Two/2/PAL DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C Extras: D Episodes: B
PLEASE NOTE: This DVD set can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle Region Two/2/PAL
format software and can be ordered from our friends at Network U.K. at the
website address provided at the end of the review or at finer retailers.
A
spin-off of Armchair Theater and
later revived as Armchair Thriller
(reviewed elsewhere on this site), Armchair
Cinema is yet another high quality British mystery series that has been out
of circulation for too long. Each
installment is a telefilm and was the beginning of Euston Films subsidiary of
Thames Television. A new, realistic
style was set up and it eventually changed all of British TV in its last Golden
Age. The ten installments over five DVDs
include:
Disc One
(featuring films by writer/producer/director Mike Hodges)
Rumour starring Michael Coles and
Vivienne Chandler
Suspect starring Rachel Kempson,
Bryan Marshall and George Sewell
Disc Two
The Prison starring James Laurenson,
Philip Madoc and Diane Keen
Regan starring John Thaw, Dennis
Waterman and Garfield Morgan, inspiring the realist British police drama
classic The Sweeney.
Disc Three
Sea Song starring Tom Bell and Kika
Markham
When Day Is Done starring Edward
Woodward and Rosemary Leach
Disc Four
The Sailor’s Return starring Tom
Bell, Clive Swift and Ray Smith
Tully starring Anthony Valentine,
Kevin Miles and Henry Szeps
Disc Five
Charlie Muffin starring David
Hemmings, Ian Richardson and Ralph Richardson
In Sickness and In Health starring
Patrick Mower and Prunella Ransome
The
Hodges films are among his best work, what served as a pilot to The Sweeney (whose first season just
came out in the U.S. recently before the releasing company folded, putting it
out of print), Madoc is a plus in the decent The Prison, the late Edward
Woodward is amazing as a Classical Music lover who is getting old and still
dreams of recording music and being part of the industry in When Day is Done, his Callan co-star
Anthony Valentine helps make Tully
work, The Sailor’s Return has
surreal moments that will remind one of Nicolas Roeg and Peter Watkins and the
last two films seem to be intended as TV pilots of some sort for shows that
never materialized. All in all, a very
interesting set worth going out of your way for.
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot mostly on 16mm film, though these are sadly older PAL
masters that can be outright rough. Hope
the film materials survived so these can be restored and issued in Blu-ray and
High Definition down the line. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is good for its age with some expected distortion, but the
audio is down as many generations as the image and be careful of playback levels
and audio switching. There are no
extras.
For more
on the follow-up series Armchair
Thriller, read more at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8977/Armchair+Thriller+%E2%80%93+Set+
As noted above, you can order this PAL DVD import
exclusively from Network U.K.
at:
http://www.networkdvd.net/
or
www.networkdvd.co.uk
- Nicholas Sheffo
