Kingdom-The Complete Collection-Series 1-3 (2009)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of
Rating
Year Of Production	2009
Running Time	824
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (6)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Edward Hall Metin Hüseyin Andrew Grieve Sandy Johnson
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Stephen Fry Hermione Norris Karl Davies Celia Imrie Tony Slattery
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Mark Russell

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The gentle and amusing mystery/drama series, Kingdom ran on UK television from 2007 to 2009. It follows the life, family and clients of local solicitor, Peter Kingdom (Stephen Fry) in a small town in Norfolk. He is not a shark style solicitor but rather sets out to help the locals with their problems using the law as an enabler. He cares more about the personal outcomes of his clients than he does the success of his own practice. He also cares deeply about his employees, his dog, and his wayward sister, Beatrice (Hermione Norris). His office staff include his articled clerk, Lyle (Karl Davies) and receptionist/mother hen, Gloria (Celia Imrie). Certainly in the first season the action is also driven by the fact that Peter's brother, Simon (who was his partner in the practice) has disappeared, seemingly drowned at sea. Peter is devastated by this and the mystery of his disappearance drives some of the plot lines.

     This show ended after three seasons of six episodes each and although never massively successful certainly had its fans. It is not for the fans of grittier mystery/thriller series like Cracker or The Shadow Line but would be enjoyed by those who prefer series like Doc Martin or lighter mysteries like Poirot. Although there is a focused case each week, these are not generally murder situations but are more likely to be suspicious deaths, thefts, land ownership issues or divorces. There are ongoing characters such as the annoyingly amusing Sidney Snell (Tony Slattery) who always wants Kingdom to sue someone.

     This series has previously been released on DVD as three separate season sets and is now being released as a three season set spread over six discs. I don’t get the impression that the contents have changed from the previously released sets so those who already own these seasons separately need not consider an upgrade.

     Recommended for fans of light amusing British drama series.

Video

     The video quality is poor to begin with but gets better as the seasons progress.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite soft in Season 1 but gets better in 2 & 3. Shadow detail was average especially early on.

     The colour is quite good but does include some bleeding especially in light colours.

     Artefacts include some very noticeable grain (which sometimes becomes blocking) in Season 1, getting lighter as the seasons progress; some aliasing and some occasional digital noise reduction artefacts.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which were clear and easy to read.

     The layer changes are quite noticeable.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     These discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The sound is obviously quite front focused.

     Dialogue was generally easy to understand throughout although the subtitles were useful.

     The theme music sounds good and fits the show well.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     One extra specific to Season 1.

Menu

     The menu featured music and allowed for episode and scene selection.

Behind the Scenes (46:12)

     An extensive making of feature for Season 1. It covers shooting, casting, locations and the genesis of the series. Well worth watching and gently amusing like the show itself.

    This show does not seem to be available in this format in other regions.

     A gently amusing drama series from British television.

     The video quality is variable from poor to good.

     The audio quality is good.

     One quality extra.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall