The Bletchley Circle-Series 2 (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Interviews-Cast & Crew Filmographies-Cast Gallery-Photo
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	202
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Andy De Emmony
Studio Distributor	World Productions Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Anna Maxwell Martin Julie Graham Rachael Stirling Sophie Blundell Hattie Morahan
Case	Amaray-Transparent
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

     Last year, my site colleague Trevor reviewed a new British television series called The Bletchley Circle which told the story of four ex-employees of the secret code breaking facility in England in World War II, Bletchley Park, and their exploits in the 1950s using their skills to solve a mystery. The original series had one mystery spread over 3 episodes. Now comes the second series where the team initially start working together again as another girl from Bletchley Park, Alice (Hattie Morahan) is accused of murder but they believe in her innocence. This new season contains 4 episodes of about 50 minutes each, telling two stories with some crossover.

     Despite the misgivings of mother-of-two Susan (Anna Maxwell Martin), tough and uncompromising Jean (Julie Graham) pushes the team to reunite to investigate why Alice seems to be very accepting of her fate and is resigned to death by hanging. They are joined by resourceful Millie (Rachael Sterling) and the girl with the photographic memory, Lucy (Sophie Rundle). As they investigate it takes them back to their past at Bletchley and into new intrigues in the current world. The second story sees the team rally round to help Millie as she gets herself caught up with mobsters running the black market and people trafficking.

     This second series follows the same general pattern as the first where the ladies use their unique skills to investigate and crack the cases despite problems with the authorities and in their personal lives. The quality is still good but probably not quite as good as the first season. Once again the audience is left wanting more as the season is over after only two mysteries which is a shame.

     Well worth a look for fans of the first season or British mystery thrillers.

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 was quite clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was quite good.

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

     There were no obvious artefacts.

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

     There is no obvious layer change during the episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     The disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The sound is obviously quite front focused.

     Dialogue was generally easy to understand throughout although the subtitles were useful.

     The music sounds good and fits 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

     A small set of extras are included.

Menu

     The menu featured music and motion.

Behind the Scenes (28:06)

     Electronic Press Kit style interview segments with an original Bletchley worker, the writer, the makeup and hair artist, the production designer and more. Worth a look.

Filmographies

     Text filmographies for the five main actresses.

Picture Gallery (1:00)

     Stills from the show.

    This show is available in the UK and US in similar formats.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall