Death in Paradise-Series 4 (2014)

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General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2014
Running Time	?
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	$39.95	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 fourth series and survived a change in lead actor (and now most of the rest of the cast). 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 fourth eight episode series kicks off with DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall) now being an established member 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 Florence Cassell (Josephine Joubert). Humphrey is a brilliant detective but also a bit of a buffoon, scatterbrained and disorganised. He tries much harder than his predecessor Poole did to fit into the local culture and is getting used to life on the island. Each episode brings a new murder mystery, sometimes locals, sometimes visitors or travelling criminals. This series there are episodes featuring team building courses, inter-island volleyball and an English band who have arrived to record their comeback album.

     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.

     By the end of the fourth season the cast who started in Season 1 have virtually all been replaced.

     Recommended.

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 is mostly clear and sharp although there is some noticeable motion blur at times. 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 quite a bit of digital noise and aliasing, more than previous seasons.

     There are subtitles in English which are clear and easy to read.

     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 discs contain 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

Menu

    The menu featured music and a still from the show.

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

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall