River Cottage Australia (2013)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2013
Running Time	376:00
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Paul West
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	None Given

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	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     River Cottage is a long running series of English TV shows which follow the adventures of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall as he sets up a sustainable and self-sufficient farm in the English countryside. He is looking for a simpler and healthier life. There have been about 10 different television shows with various themes since Hugh started the farm in 1998. Some have featured vegetarian cookery, some covering the various seasons of life and others cover Hugh trying various new ventures in similar styled farming. All of the shows feature a combination of the challenges involved and some cookery segments. Now in 2013, in combination with Foxtel's lifestyle channel, Hugh has launched River Cottage Australia. This series features Paul West, a former chef from Tasmania, who is setting up a similarly themed farm on about 20 acres in southern coastal NSW near Tilba. Hugh visits for the first of eight episodes and then Paul is on his own, working to get the farm set up, interacting with the local community and cooking the produce he grows or can get from the local environment and community.

     This is an interesting and entertaining series featuring a good mixture of cooking, challenges and community feeling similar in many ways to Gourmet Farmer. Paul is a good host and in some ways this is more enjoyable that the original River Cottage series.

     Recommended for foodies and those interested in this style of farming.

Video

     The video quality is good.

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

     The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout for DVD although the bitrate is somewhat low causing some softness and artefacts.

     The colour is very good with no major issues to report.

     There was some mild blocking at times and also quite a few jagged edges and some aliasing, probably both driven by the bitrate.

     There are no subtitles available.

     There was no obvious layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand.

     The music features the River Cottage theme and some mild incidental music.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu featured music and allowed for episode selection.

    This is an all regions release.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall