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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Hardware-Series 1 (2003)

Hardware-Series 1 (2003)

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Released 6-Jan-2006
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	137:30 (Case: 180)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Ben Kellett
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Martin Freeman Peter Serafinowicz Ken Morley Susan Earl Ryan Cartwright Ella Kenion Peter Heppelthwaite Tony Way Stephen Powell Howard Karloff Steve Oram
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip	Starring
RPI	$29.95	Music	Richard Attree Richard Halladay John Connor

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (320Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.75:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

English television comedy has produced the greatest television comedies in the history of the medium including such classics as Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Red Dwarf and many more. This series is a new one from the creator of Men Behaving Badly, Simon Nye, starring one of the actors from The Office, Martin Freeman. Both of those series are quality comedies but neither quite make the upper echelons inhabited by the shows I mentioned earlier (in my opinion). This show is a good quality situation comedy but is certainly not a great one. It is amusing and worth watching but doesn't quite have what it takes to become a classic.

The show revolves around the four employees of a small independent hardware store called Hamways Hardware. The employees are:

Mike (Martin Freeman) - the brains of the operation.
Kenny (Peter Serafinowicz) - Mike's best friend and co-worker
Steve (Ryan Cartwright) - a student who works part-time in the store
Rex (Ken Morley) - the sex-obsessed and very odd manager

The other important characters are Anne (Susan Earl), Mike's girlfriend who works at the cafe two doors down run by her best friend (Ella Kenion). Most scenes takes place either in the hardware store, in the cafe or at home in Mike and Anne's flat. The show has some similarities to Men Behaving Badly as much of the humour revolves around the guys and their interactions with each other, customers and women. The disc includes all six episodes from the first season, which was nominated for a BAFTA award in 2004.

The episodes are:

Nice (23:22) - This is the best episode of the series. Kenny tries to help Steve get a girlfriend. Mike treats a customer badly and the customer attempts suicide.
Naked (23:23) - A funny but silly episode in which Rex decides the boys in the shop need new uniforms and Anne's mother comes to stay with Mike & Anne. Things get complicated when she makes a pass at Mike.
Bondage (23:10) - Mike is bored with sex with Anne so she suggests bondage but he lets his hardware store ideas get the better of him.
Finger (21:07) - Mike refuses to build an ironing board for Anne so she decides to do it for herself. Steve has an accident at the store.
Women (23:07) - Mike gets a job offer to work for the DIY superstore which they loathe. They decide to try and attract more women to the store.
Hutch (23:21) - Mike & Kenny offer to make a guinea pig hutch for a foster home and Rex's wife leaves him.

A fun sit-com which doesn't really have the quality of writing required to push it into the upper echelons.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is good.

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

The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was OK but no more. There was light grain throughout.

The colour was very good with no issues to report.

The only noticeable artefact was some mild aliasing on some shirts and walls.

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

*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 an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack encoded at 320 Kb/s.

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

The music by Richard Attree is a bit over the top and an instrumental version of The Beatles' song 'A Taste of Honey' is used as the theme.

The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used in any noticeable way.

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

Extras

None.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

I cannot find any evidence of this series being available in other regions.

Summary

A fun situation comedy from England set in a hardware store.