Death in Paradise-Series 3 (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Main Menu Audio Featurette-Making Of-Multiple (7)
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	488
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Kris Marshall Don Warrington Sara Martins Danny John-Jules Gary Carr
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$31.95	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	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Detective series come and go pretty quickly on the BBC, however Death in Paradise has now made it into this third series and seemingly survived a change in lead actor. It is a high quality entrant to the genre which brings dramatic cases combined with lots of comedic touches, a fish out of water theme and exotic locations.

     This third eight episode series kicks off with Detective Inspector Richard Poole (Ben Miller) being part of the local Sainte-Marie (a fictitious island in the Caribbean) police team, led by the commissioner (Don Warrington) and supported by fellow detective Camille Bordey (Sara Martins) and two uniformed officers, Dwayne (Danny John-Jules of Red Dwarf fame) and Fidel (Gary Carr). Poole was sent from the Met in London to investigate the murder of another British detective in the first series and whilst many would have seen this as a spectacular opportunity to get away from grey London and spend some time with sun, sand and beautiful women, Poole saw it as a punishment. This series opens with Poole meeting a similar fate and another detective from London is called in to investigate and replace him, DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall). Humphrey is just as much a fish out of water but in a very different way. He is a brilliant detective but also a bit of a buffoon, scatterbrained and disorganised. He tries much harder than Poole to fit into the local culture and works out quickly that his wife is not coming out to join him. Each episode brings a new murder mystery sometimes locals, sometimes visitors or travelling criminals. This series has episodes featuring bird watchers, cast and crew in a zombie movie, a deeply unloved businessman, a corrupt politician, gun running and a retirement home.

     This is an enjoyable and entertaining light mystery series with some great dialogue and nice comedic touches. Kris Marshall is a fun replacement for Ben Miller bringing a different style and a new dynamic to the series. The supporting cast are great too adding to the style and substance of the show. The show was filmed in Guadeloupe and the scenery is beautiful. The episodes feel a little more formulaic in this season with a setup, whiteboard discussions, reveals and the final group session at the end. The eight episodes are about one hour each and are spread over 3 discs.

     The show has been renewed for a fourth season which is sure to develop the burgeoning sexual tension between Humphrey and Camille.

    Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

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

     The picture is clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail is very good.

     The colour is very good showing off the tropical location to full effect.

     There is some mild motion blur and bits of aliasing on jackets and shirts.

     There are subtitles in English which are clear and easy to read. There were some minor mistakes at times such as misspelling timber and 'too' vs 'two'.

    The layer changes cause an obvious pause

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     The audio is an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     Dialogue was generally easy to understand and clear throughout.

     The theme music is suitably Caribbean in style adding to the atmosphere.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     A collection of small featurettes are included.

Menu

     The menu featured music and a still from the show.

Making Of

     This is actually a set of small featurettes each between 2 and 3 minutes rather than one extra. They cannot be played all together. The titles are

• Ben's Last Day - Ben Miller's last day on set
• The Handover - From Ben Miller to Kris Marshall
• Ben's Day Off - Ben Miller takes us on a tour of Guadeloupe
• Harry the Lizard - CGI for the lizard and a scene where he breaks a hammock
• Guest Stars - The guests in Episode 1 including Helen Baxendale
• Meet the Crew - Discussion of weather challenges etc.
• Meet the Cast - Interview Snippets

    This film is available on Region 2 DVD in the same format.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall