Our Food (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	240:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Alex Freeman Sarah Gibbs Carl Harms Tony Graynoth
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	Carl Harms Tony Graynoth Ben Newth

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Giles Coren may not exactly be a household name on Australian television. Those who do know him will be familiar with his work with Sue Perkins on the series Supersizes Go ... where each week he and his partner in crime explored the cuisine of different times in history and then examined the effect living on the diet of that era had on their health. It was a fascinating and funny series. Our Food makes no assertion about being a funny series yet it still has some of Coren's deadpan humour running through it. Billed as-"an incredible edible journey through the origins of food" - it is a look at the history and development of food in the British Isles.

     The series is divided into four one-hour episodes dealing with a different region of the British Isles. The regions are: Norfolk, North Wales, Kent and West of Scotland.

     The format of the episodes is fairly constant. Coren charts a course through the region influenced by the historical environment. So he follows the ancient stock routes in North Wales as the Welsh Black cattle were driven a great distance to market, and rides an ancient goods ferry up a Norfolk river emulating the journey of the past.

     The series works a little bit like Coast. Coren looks at the overarching theme of the region and leaves it to a team of other contributors to hone in on specific aspects of the area. He is joined by botanist James Wong, historian Lucy Worsley, archaeologist Alex Langlands and horticulturalist Alys Fowler. The approach of breaking it down into segments keeps the story interesting.

     This is a series for anyone with an interest in the point at which history crosses over with agriculture. There are a few surprises along the way and the series is interesting throughout.

Video

     Our Food is presented on DVD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio consistent with the original widescreen television presentation. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     Four episodes of an hour each are squeezed onto a single dual layered disc however there are no problems with compression to be seen. The show is not a nature series as such and doesn't rely upon amazing vistas and glorious sunsets. Most of it is "out in the fields" discussions with farmers and other historians and experts.

     The image quality is reasonably sharp and the flesh tones are accurate. The colours are strong and vibrant.

    There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     The sound for Our Food is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 track running at 224 Kb/s.

     This is perfectly adequate for a series which relies solely on the spoken word. Leaving the sometimes strong accents aside the dialogue can all be clearly heard.

    The music is a perfect accompaniment to the series.

    There are no technical problems with the sound.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
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Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are no extras.

    This is an All Region DVD. Buy local.

     Our Food is an interesting look at the origin of British food. There are a number of surprises throughout - did you know that leaks were probably introduced into Wales by the Romans? Or that saffron, the spice of the subcontinent, was grown in large quantities in Great Britain until a couple of hundred years ago?

    The DVD is of good quality both in sound and vision terms.

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Audio
Extras
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