The Bletchley Circle (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Interviews-Cast & Crew
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	163:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Andy De Emmony
Studio Distributor	ITV Global Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Anna Maxwell Martin Julie Graham Rachael Stirling Sophie Blundell
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Nick Green

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	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     In the latest season of Futurama an alien overlord from the planet of Omicron Persei 8 watches earth television. There's a trailer for a new TV series about a cop. Some cops, it says, can read minds, and others can see the past. Yet others can speak to angels. Not this cop. He has no special abilities and has to solve crimes using standard police work. He is… The Finder Outer! Like a lot of the humour from Futurama it is bang on the mark. The traditional detective procedural has been replaced in recent times with the specialist detective who has an ability which places them on the one hand at a great advantage over their fellow cops. And yet the advantage usually comes at a price. Our hero also has a major defect.

     The Bletchley Circle is a British made TV drama. The first season consisted of three 45 minute episodes and the second season has just commenced in the UK. Set just after the war it features four special women coming together to solve the mystery of a serial killer dispatching young girls.

     So what is the hook that makes them special? During the war the girls worked at Bletchley Park, heavily involved in deciphering German codes. In the short opening sequence we see the four ladies working together to crack an important cipher. After the war they are bound by the Official Secrets Act and can't divulge, even to their partners, their history. Unlike the soldiers, who can regale a crowd with stories of wartime heroism, these women simply repeat the mantra that they were clerical workers during the war. My own auntie worked at Bletchley Park and went to her grave without revealing her real tasks.

     A spate of murders around London piques the interest of the "brainy" one of the group Susan (played by Anna Maxwell Martin of Bleak House fame). Due to her wartime efforts and mathematical training she can recognise a pattern in the deaths and convinces her husband Timothy (Mark Dexter) to take her to see Deputy Commissioner Wainwright (Michael Gould) to explain her theory and set out where she believes a missing girl will be found. Of course, the girl is not found and, not for the first time in this series, the police brush Susan off as a well-meaning but misguided person.

     That's when Susan gets the gang back together. They are quartet of identifiably different women with different skills. Jean (Julie Graham) is the spinster type who knows how to organise things to get information. Millie (Rachael Stirling) is the world-weary pretty girl who just happens to be very resourceful. Then there's Lucy (Sophie Blundell) the mousy young girl who has a photographic memory.

     Together the team work to track down and expose the serial killer terrorising London. It must have been amazing to be at the pitch meeting when the producer appeared before the BBC executives and said he had a great idea for a show that featured four women doing mathematics! Of course, their strength is also their weakness. The women are physically vulnerable which becomes a problem when their target becomes aware of their intervention.

     The show is pretty decent fun though the short running time means that it ends just as we are starting to get to know the characters. The post war setting is essential to the success of the show - it is maps, train timetables and deep library research instead of a bunch of people huddled over computers.

Video

     The Bletchley Circle comes to DVD in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio consistent with its wide screen TV origins. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The show is, as said, set in Post-War Britain when the nation was recovering from the War, dealing with the economic consequences of 6 long years of fighting. Rationing was still in place and the mood was one of disappointment that progress wasn't achieved quicker, which led to a change in Government in 1951.

     The design reflects this feeling and is intentionally drab throughout with only splashes of colour.

     The image quality itself is decently sharp. The flesh tones are accurate.

    There are no technical problems with the transfer.

    There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The Bletchley Circle carries a Dolby Digital 2.0 track running at 224 Kb/s.

     This is a little disappointing as a 5.1 track might have added a touch more atmosphere to the tense sections of the show. However, for what it is the track is pretty decent.

     The dialogue can be heard clearly and there are no technical problems with the track.

     The music, by Nick Green, has a "40s thriller" sound with sharp strings, which complements the show.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Interviews with the Cast and Crew (28.11)

     This is, as can be seen, quite a lengthy series of interviews. Not only are members of the cast and the show creator interviewed but there are also lengthy sequences featuring set and costume designers. It gives a pretty good overview of the show and is worth a watch.

    This DVD is the same as the Region 2 UK DVD. Buy local.

     The Bletchley Circleis a mystery with a twist, a crime fighting show where patterns and numbers are more important than DNA. It is still finding its feet with this season but definitely worth a watch.

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

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall