Newton's Law (Blu-ray) (2017)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Interviews-Cast & Crew Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Multiple
Rating
Year Of Production	2017
Running Time	474
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Jennifer Leacey
Studio Distributor	ABC Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Claudia Karvan Toby Schmitz Georgina Naidu Jane Hall Andrew McFarlane
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Greg Walker

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080i
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

     Newton's Law is a legal comedy drama made and set in Australia which featured on the ABC. It is a good combination of screwball comedy, drama and mystery providing an entertaining experience for its run of 8 episodes. Like in many of these series, cases can span one or more episodes and there are linking character developments and some surprise links between cases. This is not another Janet King or Jack Irish as it is more of a comedy and certainly could not be described as gritty. It is closer in tone to Miss Fisher and was put together by the same team.

     The concept is that Josephine Newton (Claudia Karvan) is a suburban solicitor who used to be a successful barrister, before having her daughter, 15 years ago. When a disgruntled client burns her office down she is offered a chance to return to the bar at Knox Chambers, however she encourages her former assistant to open up a solicito's practice in a caravan in the basement carpark of the new chambers. At chambers she is supported by fellow barrister, Lewis Hughes (Toby Schmitz) who has a hidden soft spot for her romantically. The eccentric head of chambers is Eric Whitley (Andrew McFarlane). The office manager, Jane Russo (Jane Hall) is uptight and is annoyed by Josephine's presence. The solicitor's practice is now led by Helena Chatterjee (Georgina Naidu) and the cast includes some qurky interesting characters such as young investiger, Skye Stewart (Miranda Tapsell), Johnny Allbright (Sean Keenan) and Zareb Mulumba (Makwaya Masudi). Josephine tries to balance being a barrister on big cases, helping her old colleagues and being a parent, generally with a struggle.

     If you are a bit tired of angst and grittiness in your Australian television but still want some drama and mystery this show may well be the answer for you. The cast certainly seem to be enjoying their quirky characters and storylines are interesting and entertaining. The 8 episodes are spread across two discs and each runs for just under 1 hour.

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 and in 1080i high definition as it was shown on television.

     The picture was nicely sharp throughout. The shadow detail was good.

     The colour was very good.

     There were no noticeable artefacts other than some minor motion blur.

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

     There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

     The audio quality is also very good without setting the house on fire.

     The discs contain a English soundtrack in DTS HD-MA 5.1.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to hear and understand.

     The surround speakers were used for music and some directional effects.

     The subwoofer supported the music mostly.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

     A decent set of short featurettes which lack a little substance. They are in 1080i with DTS HD-MA 2.0 sound.

Menu

     The menu included music and motion.

Interviews- Claudia Karvan, Toby Schmitz, Georgina Naidu, Sean Keenan, Jennifer Leacey (2:26, 2:37, 2:45, 2:16, 2:21)

     Short interview snippets with cast and set up director mostly discussing their characters. Jennifer Leacey, the director, also talks about casting.

Legal lessons from Newton's Law (2:46)

     Short featurette on some of the actual law behind the series.

Inspiring Women on Screen (2:33)

     Featurette on the development of the series.

Set Tour with Jane Hall (2:40)

     Tour of the Chambers Set.

Introducing Makwaya Masudi (2:04)

     Featurette on the young refugee actor from Burundi.

Look of Newton's World (4:03)

     Featurette on production design, costumes and set design.

Having it All (2:28)

     Featurette on the challenges of being a working mother.

Meet the Ensemble (4:13)

     Featurette on the other characters and actors not featured in the interviews.

In Court with Newton's Law (2:02)

     The actual court room used for court scenes and details of different setups for different cases including props.

    This show does not yet seem to have been released outside of Australia.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall