Blackpool (2004)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2004
Running Time	351:04 (Case: 350)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (45:41) Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Coky Giedroyc Julie Anne Robinson
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	David Morrissey Sarah Parish David Tennant Thomas Morrison Georgia Taylor David Bradley Steve Pemberton John Thomson Jacqueline Pilton Kevin Doyle Michelle McCaw David Hounslow Bryan Dick
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	Robert Lane

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/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

    Another in a long line of excellent made for television dramas from the BBC comes to local DVD release after being seen on the ABC here in Australia recently. This one is one of the best I have seen lately, with a wonderful mixture of murder mystery, relationship drama, black comedy and musical. Yes, that's right musical. It doesn't sound like it should work, but let me assure you it does from first frame to last. The story is told over 6 one hour episodes, which although not short never flags and keeps you entertained easily over the six hour running time.

    The story involves Ripley Holden (David Morrissey) who is a family entertainment arcade owner in Blackpool, the English equivalent of the French Riviera combined with the seaminess of Las Vegas (if that is possible). By the way, a family entertainment arcade is in fact a low rent casino offering games of luck such as poker machines and the like. He has just opened a new arcade on the waterfront strip in Blackpool with two investors, Terry Corlette (John Thomson from Cold Feet) and DCI Jim Allbright, one of Blackpool's finest. Ripley is a bit of a lad and has a dark past and a fairly unscrupulous approach to business. His approach to other people, including his family, is on the Neanderthal side. Despite all his failings, his family genuinely love him and he elicits loyalty from his friends. On the morning following his arcade's grand opening, the body of a young man who Ripley threw out earlier is found in his arcade, which results in the police suspecting him and launching a murder inquiry. This results in an outside detective being brought in to conduct the investigation, DI Carlisle (David Tennant). Carlyle is Scottish, scruffy, litters, is constantly eating but has a razor sharp mind. As the show continues, the sparring between him and Holden becomes personal. Other important characters (and possible suspects) include:

• Natalie Holden (Sarah Parish) - Ripley's long time wife who is sick of his womanising and their marriage.
• Shyanne Holden (Georgia Taylor) - Ripley's daughter who is in her early twenties and is going out with a much older man, Steve.
• Danny Holden (Thomas Morrison) - Ripley's younger son who is a constant disappointment to his father. He is quite mixed up and something of a loser.
• Hallworth (David Bradley) - An Anti-gambling alliance demonstrator who has set up camp outside the new arcade.
• Adrian Marr - Holden's business adviser and accountant

    This show is very different because of the mix of styles used which really works as a whole. The show includes fantasy sequences and various characters singing songs to camera. The songs used fit into the storyline and make important plot points about how the characters are feeling. It is very difficult to describe in words how well it works. The music includes various popular songs mostly from the 1950s and 1960s although there are also newer tunes such as ones by Elvis Costello and The Smiths.

    It should be noted that the case of this release reads 'For clearance and contractual reasons, certain edits have been made'. I do not have any information about what is missing, as I did not see the show on television. The run time of the first and last episodes are slightly shorter than the other but this may not be related.

    The acting, cinematography and direction are all excellent making for a hugely entertaining, intriguing and ultimately satisfying story.

    Highly Recommended.

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.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was very good. There was some light grain throughout.

    The colour was excellent with no issue to report.

    The only noticeable artefacts were aliasing which was not overly regular and some bits of edge enhancement. Examples of aliasing can be seen at 20:05 in episode 1 on the oven and at 36:10 in episode 3 on the bath..

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired. The English subtitles were clear and easy to read but included some changes to the spoken dialogue. Helpfully, the subtitles also included titles and artists for all songs.

    The layer changes occur at 45:41 in episode 2 and 43:22 in episode 5. They both caused slight pauses.
    

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 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. Some accents were hard to understand and some lines of dialogue were a little indistinct.

    The music used is fantastic with great choices of songs which were an integral part of the production as mentioned above.

    The surround speakers added some atmosphere when played with ProLogic II.

    The subwoofer added bass to the music which was a function of my amp's bass management.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None.

Menu

    The menu included music, access to scenes and episodes and allowed for accessing the musical performances directly rather than trying to find them in the shows.

    This series is available in the same format in Region 2 and is not currently available in Region 1.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The set has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall