A Young Doctor's Notebook (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Black Comedy/Drama	Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	105
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Alex Hardcastle
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Daniel Radcliffe John Hamm
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	$28.95	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

    Well, here is an oddball little blackly comedic series based on a series of short stories by Russian writer of the 1920, Mikhail Bulgarkov. It was made for and shown on a UK based pay television channel, Sky Arts which focused on arts based and other highbrow programming. It appeared as part of an ongoing series of plays designed for television. It is certainly not run of the mill programming for the masses as evidenced by its origins. On screen, it certainly feels like a play but as I mentioned is actually based on short stories. It tells some specific vignettes from the life of a young Doctor (Daniel Radcliffe) from Moscow who gets assigned as the only doctor of a small hospital in a backwards village in the far reaches of Russia. The show was executive produced and also stars Jon Hamm (from Mad Men) as the doctor's older self who guides him through his challenges. The young doctor's story is set just before the Russian Revolution and is bookended by the older doctor being investigated by the NKVD in the 1930s.

    The series is mostly shot on a couple of indoor sets which enhances the feel of it being a play. It consists of four episodes each of half an hour. The young doctor struggles with his confidence, the difficult staff including The Feldsher (a sort of unqualified doctor) (Adam Godley) and two nurses Pelagaya (Rosie Cavaliro) and Anna (Vicki Pepperdine). They all miss the doctor who died requiring the young doctor to replace him. He must perform amputations, caesarians and other things he is pretty unprepared for. There is comedy both broad and satirical combined with drama as he struggles with morphine addiction and his challenges in the middle of nowhere. There is quite a bit of gory medical procedures. A second series has also been shown in the UK.

    This show is certainly not for everyone, however fans of the author will certainly find something to enjoy here as will those interested in this period of Russian history or fans of interesting and literary theatre. Fans of Radcliffe and Hamm will also be interested to see them together and in something quite out of their usual fare. Interesting, different and determinedly odd.

Video

    The feature 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.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This discs contain 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

Menu

    The menu featured music and motion.

Behind the Scenes (12:19)

    Interesting featurette which explains how the leads got involved, the author, the adaption plus behind the scenes footage and more. Well worth a look.

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

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall