Taggart – Set Two (2003 - 2004/Acorn Media DVD)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: D 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.
We covered the previous set at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8332/Taggart+%E2%80%93+Set+One+(200
The biggest question I had was, did the show get past
McManus’ death and find itself an even better series at this point? Well, not exactly. It did not pick up, yet it is much better
than I expected and there is not decline.
If anything, it became the best U.K. variant of C.S.I. one could expect and much better
than the many newer imitators we have had to suffer through from British
TV. We get eight telefilm episodes this
time and if you like the new version of the show, you will be pleased with this
set. Not bad.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image can look a good
from show to show, but there is some stylizing, but once again not to the point
of being a joke of visual cliché.
Locations still remain a plus as they were when the show launched. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is not bad, with
better Pro Logic-type surrounds than the last set. Wonder if the next set might be 5.1. There are oddly no extras this time.
- Nicholas Sheffo
