Clarence (1988)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1988
Running Time	176:58
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (88:07)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	None Given
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Ronnie Barker Ronnie Barker Josephine Tewson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$19.95	Music	None Given

    Clarence is the tale of a myopic furniture removalist, the titular Clarence (Ronnie Barker) who meets a housekeeper, Jane Travers (Josephine Tewson), while on the job during the coronation in 1937, and falls in love. The pair decide on a "trial period" of living together while Travers decides if she could marry Clarence. They head off to live in a country cottage that Travers has inherited from her late aunt and, unsurprisingly, Clarence gets himself into a series of bungles as he adjusts to a different style of life.

    The seven episodes of Clarence are reasonably sequential, to the point that most use the final gag of the previous episode to kick off. This may seem a little annoying when they are all played together, but generally works well when the show is watched episodically.

    Clarence was Ronnie Barker's final series upon announcing his retirement from entertainment in 1988 (though he did occasional appearances after his retirement). It both stars and was written by Barker (though written under the pseudonym Bob Ferris) and was produced and directed by the prolific BBC comedy producer Mike Stephens. It is a very silly affair really, and a little slow paced by comparison to more modern gag-a-minute formula sitcoms, but manages to go a long way on its charm. Though Clarence is a long way from Ronnie Barker's best work, it is an undeniably worthy farewell for one of Britain's greatest comedians.

Video

    The video is presented in its original 1.29:1 aspect ratio.

    The video quality is good for the age of the material, but the show certainly looks dated. The image tends to be a little on the soft side, particularly scenes shot outdoors, and a handful of scenes appear improperly focussed (such as at 5:08 of the first episode). There is a mild amount of grain visible, but it is quite a consistent level throughout and it does not take long before you get used to it (if indeed it bothers you at all). Occasional film artefacts are visible, but never enough to cause a real distraction.

    There are no particularly distracting instances of MPEG compression related artefacts, such as macro blocking, visible. Occasional background aliasing is noticeable, but it is fairly mild.

    The colour looks a little faded by today's standard, but is fairly typical of the era and is accurately translated to DVD.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with a layer break occurring discretely between episodes 3 and 4 (at 88:07 if you were to watch all episodes together).

    English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available. Based on the small section I sampled, the subtitles are quite accurate and well timed.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    One audio track is available, English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps).

    The dialogue is quite clear and well synchronised.

    The audio sounds to be mono and generally hovers about the centre speaker. There is no use of the surround channels or subwoofer, which is true to the original source and fits the program.

    There is not a great deal of music in the show. It is appropriately restrained and, stylistically, what there is fits the era very well.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    Nothing beyond menu audio (if indeed you consider that an extra).

    This title is not currently available in Region 1. An identical version is available in Region 2.

    Clarence is certainly not Ronnie Barker's best work, but it is well worth a giggle to fans of his work.

    The video quality is fair, decent for its age but not nearly the standard one would expect of a recent series.

    The audio is very basic, but befits the show.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall