Janet King-Series 2 (2016)

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General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Featurette-Making Of-1
Rating
Year Of Production	2016
Running Time	453
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	ABC Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Marta Dusseldorp Damien Walshe-Howling Hamish Michael Christopher Morris
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1
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

     A while ago, I reviewed an ABC television series called Crownies which was focused on a group of Crown Prosecutors in the Director of Public Prosecutions Office in NSW. It ran for 22 episodes which covered a variety of cases but also included the lives and loves of the characters as an equally important ingredient to the show. Crownies was not renewed and the show was rebooted with a new name, a reduced cast of characters, a smaller number of episodes and with a more focused style. It is now called Janet King after the character played in the original series by Marta Dusseldorp and focuses much more on her. This 3-disc set contains the second season of 8 episodes to be made and has recently been screened on the ABC.

     This time around the action moves from the Department of Public Prosecutions to a Royal Commission into serious gun crime. Janet is contacted at the beginning of the series by the Attorney General (Philip Quast) who asks her to head up the Royal Commission and she agrees despite her misgivings especially when she realises it might allow her access to more information about the death of her partner. She can choose some of her own team members and so carrying over from the last season are Damien Walshe-Howling as Owen Mitchell, Detective Andy Campbell played by Christopher Morris, Lina Badir played by Andrea Demetriades, Peter Kowitz as Tony Gillies and Hamish Michael as Richard Stirling. With the exception of Tony Gillies who remains at the DPP, the rest become part of the investigation and prosecution teams at the Royal Commission. They are joined by Attorney General appointee, Heather O'Connor (Leah Purcell) and Federal Policewoman Bianca Grieve (Anita Hegh). The case centres around the murder of a young husband and father, whose widow Elaheh Wilson (Sarah Armanious) and her family, the Nobakht's, seem to know more than they are letting on. There also seems to be some sort of link to another case involving the death of a soldier, seemingly by suicide. Aaron Jeffrey appears as his commanding officer, Simon Hamilton.

     This is a quality local drama series and will certainly be enjoyed by genre fans. The acting is of high quality as is the writing generally, despite some occasional confusing and frankly hard to believe sequences. Dusseldorp is excellent in the titular role and the ensemble behind her also does a great job. Her character is less likable in this season as her flaws and frailties come to the fore. The production looks good and the direction is assured. The eight one hour episodes of this series are contained on three DVD discs.

     Bring on Season 3!

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 was somewhat sharp but lacked the sharpness of better DVD transfers at times. The shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was good but there was some chroma noise here and there.

     There was some motion blur along with some macro-blocking and grain at times.

     There are subtitles in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read but which however contain many mistakes in spelling or the words actually spoken.

    The layer changes are not obvious.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is very good for a TV DVD.

     This set contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.

     Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to hear and understand, although the subtitles were useful at times.

     The score is suitably dramatic and raises the tension.

     The surround speakers were well used for atmosphere and surround effects and the subwoofer supported the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu included music.

Behind the Scenes of Series 2 (10:53)

    A decent making of featuring cast and crew interviews which covers the characters, how they change during the season, locations and more.

    This set does not seem to be available outside of Region 4.

    The video quality is good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall