Fireman Sam-To the Rescue! (2004)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Childrens	Main Menu Audio Gallery-Photo Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	50:25
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Timon Dowdeswell
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Andrew Offiler John Sparkes
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Fireman Sam is a British children's show with a similar visual style to Postman Pat featuring a combination of animation and puppetry. It was originally made in 1986 and has recently been remade in 2003 by a combination of the BBC and S4C, the Welsh language broadcaster in Wales. There are two versions, one in Welsh and one in English. Our local release includes the English version.

    The series follows the adventures of the residents of the town of Pontypandy in Wales which seems to have an inordinate amount of situations which require help from the Fire Department. Obviously the lead character is Fireman Sam, the local fire-fighting hero and all round good guy. The other firefighters include the slightly dopey Elvis Criddlington, Penny Morris and their boss Station Officer Steele. A new addition to the fire service is a rescue helicopter, Wallaby One, flown by the intrepid Aussie, Tom Thomas. One of his very few lines of dialogue is 'I'll be there in two shakes of a lamb's tail' which surprisingly was not rounded off with a 'cobber'. The townsfolk who need rescuing include Bella Lasagne, who runs an Italian restaurant and Dilys Price who runs the local general store. The main source of business for the fire station is the town's kids, Norman Price, Dilys' son; Mandy and the twins Sarah & James (niece & nephew of Sam). Each episode generally sees someone getting into trouble and being rescued by the fire service.

    The episodes, each of about 10 minutes, included on this disc are:

1. Danger, Falling Sheep - Norman tries to climb Pontypandy mountain
2. Twist of Fate - Station Officer Steele takes Norman and Mandy caving.
3. A Real Livewire - Mandy brings home a squirrel as a pet.
4. Bug-Eyed Boy From Venus - Trevor, the bus driver tells Norman there are no aliens but Norman doesn't believe him.
5. Bath-time for Dusty - A scruffy dog is chosen as the new station mascot but need a bath first.

    Kids will enjoy this exciting and amusing show. Recommended for the pre-school set. My two and a half year old loves it.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.75:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was very clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise.

    The colour was wonderful, rich and solid throughout.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read but somewhat summarised.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync.

    The music is a lot of fun and the theme tune really sticks in the head, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view.

    The surround speakers were not used.

    The subwoofer was used to add bass to the theme song, but this is more a function of my amp's bass management than anything else.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Mnu

    The menu included an intro, music, and the ability to select episodes and subtitles.

Photo Gallery

    A gallery of 20 stills from the shows.

Weblink

    This disc is available in the same format in Region 2 but not in Region 1.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall