Grass Roots-Series One (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	419:42 (Case: 440)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Peter Andrikidis
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Geoff Morrell Zoe Carides John Clayton Rhondda Findleton Sophie Heathcote Jodie Dry Sacha Horler Rhys Muldoon Chris Haywood Michael Craig Judi Farr Sandy Gore Tammy McIntosh
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	?	Music	Peter Best

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	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	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    I am going to go out on a limb here and say that this is the best political satire I have ever seen, bar none.

    This is an absolutely note perfect satirical expose of the world of local government in Australia. This is a fictional comedy, however, it is remarkably true to what local government is actually like. I have been involved in many different ways with local government over the years, as an employee, software supplier, consultant and ratepayer and I can assure you that this series is only slightly exaggerated to make it funnier. If you have ever wondered what goes on in your local council, both amongst the staff and councillors this is the series you need to watch. If you work or have worked in local government you will recognise the characters immediately and laugh until it hurts.

    In addition, as a television series this is incredibly well written (Geoffrey Atherden) and directed (Peter Andrikidis). It is split into 8 approximately one hour episodes, however, it is not linear - episodes cross across each other giving you the same scene as was in the previous episodes but with details added or from a different person's perspective.

    The series as a whole covers one year in the life of Arcadia Waters council, a fictional council in Sydney. As you may be aware, local government elections are held every four years in September and the story begins as the current Mayor, a consummate politician, Col Dunkley (Geoff Morrell), is preparing for the election of the council for the next four years. His main opposition and the leader of the other main faction on the council is Biddy Marchant (Sophie Heathcote), not as good a politician and a decidedly unlikeable person. Both of these factional leaders (they are not identified as being from particular parties although Col is more Left and Biddy more Right) want to get more of their supporters on council, so they can be elected Mayor. A couple of facts about local council elections; every four years the people of the council area elect the councillors (in this case 9) and then the council elects the mayor (in some councils the Mayor is also elected by popular election) every year. So the plot here runs from the council election, followed by the first mayoral election and then through the first year of the council, up until the next Mayoral Election. The plot covers issues facing local government such as outsourcing, building permissions, garbage collection, corruption, development and many more, all handled in a very funny way.

    The other important characters are

• Greg Dominelli (Rhys Muldoon) - The self-serving General Manager whose catch phrase is 'Leave it to Me', although he never actually does anything about whatever 'it' is.
• Karin Schumaker (Rhondda Findleton) - The new councillor elected for the first time. Both Biddy and Col try to get her vote for Mayor.
• Helen Mansoufis (Sacha Horler) - Council press officer and unofficial press secretary for Col Dunkley.
• Liz Murray (Zoe Carides) - Head of Community Services.
• Harry Bond (John Clayton) - Current Deputy Mayor to Col Dunkley and a silly old communist.
• George Hasnakov (Chris Haywood) - The crafty old head of Building & Planning
• Daryl Kennedy (David Field) - The corrupt Head of Works Contracts, which means he is responsible for letting contracts for council building work, most of which seem to go to his relatives.
• Janice Corniglio (Judi Farr) - Col's very amusingly droll secretary.
• Dr Salwah Mandikis (Sandy Gore, former pop singer from the 60s) - One of the councillors in Biddy's faction
• Derek Garner (Matthew Newton, son of Bert) - The enquiries desk operator

    The cast are all fantastic and include some great Australian talents.

    Overall, this is brilliant television with top quality acting, writing and direction. I just hope Series 2 gets a DVD release!

Video

    The video quality is very good.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio. It also includes automatic pan and scan information if you really hate the black lines.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise, although it does have the minor softness normally associated with television. The shadow detail was fine.

    The colour was generally very good although I did notice one or two minor colour artefacts such as the slight rainbow effect on Helen Mansoufis's shoulder at 0:30.

    From an artefacts perspective there is some very minor aliasing and a few jagged edges but most people would not even notice them.

    There are subtitles in English. The English subtitles were clear, easy to read but a little summarised from the spoken word. They are in yellow which to my mind makes them not as clear as white ones.

    These are dual layered discs but the episodic nature of this series allows for the layer change to be between episodes on both discs.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand which is essential for a series focussed on the comedy writing.

    The score of this series by Peter Best is a whole lot of fun, adding to the satiric tone.

    The surround speakers did occasionally add some atmosphere, especially for the music, when played with Dolby ProLogic II.

     The subwoofer was used occasionally but this has more to do with bass management on my amp than the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None.

Menu

    The menu includes photos and a scene selection function.

    This disc is coded for all regions, but does not seem to be distributed outside of Region 4.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The set has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall