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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Call the Midwife-Series 3 Christmas Special (2012)

Call the Midwife-Series 3 Christmas Special (2012)

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Released 15-Jan-2014

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Drama None
Rating Rated PG
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 74:27
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Philippa Lowthorpe
Studio
Distributor

Roadshow Home Entertainment
Starring Jessica Raine
Miranda Hart
Jenny Agutter
Pam Ferris
Judy Parfitt
Case Amaray-Opaque
RPI ? Music Peter Salem


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
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

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     The BBC has done it again, turning out another high quality drama. This series, which has now completed its third season on the ABC here in Australia, is a wonderful production, emotional, heartfelt and touching. The show is set in the East End of London during the 1950s, a time of great poverty amongst the working classes. The show centres on an institution called Nonnatus House, a local medical service with a focus on midwifery. The House is run by a group of nuns who are assisted by a number of young secular nurses, whom the stories tend to focus on. The show is based on a series of memoirs by a nurse, Jennifer Worth who worked in the East End during the 1950s. Her books were bestsellers and the series has a realistic quality to it which reflects the reality of the situation faced by nurses at the time.

     The main character, Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) is based on the author, Jennifer Worth and is a young midwife from the better parts of London who arrives in the East End in Season 1. By the beginning of Season 2 she is well established at Nonnatus House with her colleagues, Camilla 'Chummy' Noakes (Miranda Hart), Cynthia Miller (Bryony Hannah) & Trixie Franklin (Helen George). These four are all young midwives who work with the nuns who include Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter), the leader of the group, Sister Evangelina (Pam Ferris) a curmudgeonly older nun with lots of experience in midwifery and Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt) an older nun who is growing slowly less and less able. There is also a Doctor who supports their work, Dr Turner (Stephen McGann). In Season 2, one of the younger nuns, Sister Bernadette (Laura Main) fell in love with Dr Turner who is a widower and is now known as Shelagh.

     This one off Christmas special episode follows a number of different story threads including the upcoming marriage of Shelagh and Dr Turner, an outbreak of polio amongst the children, Chummy dealing with a new baby, a man dealing with shell shock from the Korean War and the finding of an unexploded World War II bomb near Nonnatus House. This is a marvellous episode full of all the great elements of this show, human drama, joy, humour, romance and the hardness of day to day life at the time. The screenplay is very well written bringing out all the emotions I have mentioned. The cast does a quality job of their roles and the production is well put together overall providing an enjoyable and emotional viewing experience.

     This is the 2013 Christmas Special and sets up nicely for the new season, being Season 3 which follows on and will be released on DVD soon. It is slightly longer than a normal episode of the show.

     The wonderful Christmas Special of a high quality English drama series set in 1950s London.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     The video quality is good but not without challenges.

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

     The picture was a little on the soft side with some scenes looking softer than others. Shadow detail was quite good.

     The colour was generally very good however there is some obvious light colour bleeding.

     There was also some mild motion blur.

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

     There are no noticeable layer changes during playback.

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

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to hear and understand. The soundtrack had a nice full presence in the room (for a two channel track) and drew you into the show.

     The music used was from the period and suited 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

Extras

    No extras

Menu

    The menu included music and motion.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    This show is included as part of the Season 3 set in both the UK and US. To me this is a much better option than the two separate purchases required here in Region 4. Season 3 is not released until June here in Australia.

Summary

    A high quality Christmas Special from a great series.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras stumbled onto an unexploded bomb.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Tuesday, June 03, 2014
Review Equipment
DVDSONY BDP-S760 Blu-ray, using HDMI output
DisplaySharp LC52LE820X Quattron 52" Full HD LED-LCD TV . Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderBuilt into amplifier. Calibrated with Ultimate DVD Platinum.
AmplificationMarantz SR5005
SpeakersMonitor Audio Bronze 2 (Front), Bronze Centre & Bronze FX (Rears) + Sony SAW2500M Subwoofer

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