Coupling-Series 2 (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Interviews-Cast & Crew Featurette-Behind The Scenes
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	263:11
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Martin Dennis
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jack Davenport Gina Bellman Kate Isitt Sarah Alexander Ben Miles Richard Coyle
Case	?
RPI	Rental	Music	Simon Brint

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	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	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    For the past few years whenever I heard of Coupling it was described as the BBC equivalent of Friends. For whatever reason that comparison put me off watching it. Coupling succeeds on a level that Friends never even dared approach. It's racier, edgier and explores sex and sexuality in singles in a way that Friends could not in conservative network television.

    This is the two disc release of the second season. Because the premise has been introduced in the first season, this series really kicks into gear exploring hiccups that can occur in relatively new (and not so new) relationships, hurdling the gap between friend to lover and so on. This is my favourite of the four seasons. It's fresh and has more laugh out-loud moments than any other show that I have seen over the last few years.

    The nine episodes from the second season are:

• Episode 1 (29:08) The Man With Two Legs: Jeff somehow gets a beautiful woman to think he has lost a leg in an accident. They start dating and she wants to get him into bed. There's a problem though.... he has two legs!
• Episode 2 (29:11) My Dinner in Hell: Steve and Susan are confronted with the issue of Steve's Mariella Frostrup fetish. Patrick finds out that an ex has used a mold of a certain piece of his anatomy for business purposes.
• Episode 3 (29:10) Her Best Friend's Bottom: Steve accidentally sees Sally naked. Will it mean the end of Steve and Susan's relationship?
• Episode 4 (28:35) The Melty Man Cometh: Jeff's theory on The Melty Man scares Patrick. Sally wants to know why Patrick's nickname is Donkey.
• Episode 5 (29:14) Jane and the Truth Snake: Jane has some problems at work and seeks a career change. She seeks the advice of Sally, Susan and Steve.
• Episode 6 (29:13) Gotcha: Wedding invitations cause a stir, scaring the blokes and upsetting the girls.
• Episode 7 (29:11) Dressed: Jane meets the man of her dreams, manages to alienate all his friends and 'underdresses' for his dinner party. Patrick needs a pretend wife, but is anyone good enough?
• Episode 8 (29:17) Naked: Jeff gets romantically interested in one of the senior women at work, leading to some strange encounters and nudity at a staff party.
• Episode 9 (28:55) The End of the Line: Susan has a thing for Australian men. Will it mean that she and Steve split up?

    If you haven't seen Coupling, don't go out and get this set. Go and get the Complete 4 Season set instead and start watching it from the beginning. If you have the first season, get this one for sure.

Video

    The video quality of this transfer is great.

    The series is presented in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and it is 16x9 enhanced. The picture is generally pretty sharp and looks about how it would on standard definition digital TV.

    Colours look good. Skin tones look natural. Blacks look good and solid with no low level noise and shadow details are good too.

    There are some MPEG artefacts. Aliasing is not a problem but there is some of that ugly shimmer. Not too distracting though.

    Edge enhancement is not a major issue, but it can been seen from time to time.

    Overall, I can't complain - this is a great transfer for a TV show.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    There is nothing wrong with the audio but it is pretty standard for a TV show.

    The English audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo encoded at 224 kbps.

    The dialogue is clear and is always audible, even when the annoying laugh track gets loud.

    There is some music used in the show to good effect.

    The surrounds are unused as is the subwoofer.

    A good track but nothing that really stands out. It does the job just fine.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio & Animation

Interview with Writer Steve Moffat (21:06)

    Not really enlightening, but interesting to hear where the idea for the show came from. The audio for this interview was done without a boom and there is so much background noise Steve's voice is often drowned out. A real disappointment, considering there were no special features for Season 1. A real chance lost.

Interview with Jack Davenport (4:02)

    A fun interview. It's pretty obvious Davenport doesn't take it all too seriously. The same issues with poor sound ruin it, though.

Behind the Scenes (3:54)

    The same sound issues apply here to. We have an intro followed by theme music which segues to behind the scenes footage which is neither revealing nor entertaining.

    The R1 scores multiple audio commentaries by most cast members and Moffat. Why does R4 miss out again?

    The R1 also has an extended Davenport interview and cast bios.

    Arguably the best season of one of this century's best TV comedies. What are you waiting for?

    The video is great.

    The audio is good too.

    The special features are alright, but why no commentaries?

    A great way to spend time as a couch potato.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall