In Deep-Season 1 (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Crime	Main Menu Audio & Animation
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	315:35 (Case: 318)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Multi Disc Set (3)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Colin Bucksey Roberto Bangura Paul Marcus
Studio Distributor	Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Stephen Tompkinson Nick Berry
Case	Slip Case
RPI	$29.95	Music	Paul Bartholomew Joe Campbell Paul Hart

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	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    In Deep is a rarity among BBC police dramas, in that I cannot recall it being shown on local television here in Australia before being available on DVD. I may be wrong of course but I cannot remember this series being shown on the ABC or any other free-to-air network. Considering its high quality and well known cast this surprises me somewhat. All three seasons of this show were aired in the UK, starting in early 2001. Two have so far been released in Region 4 by Force Entertainment, with the third season due in July. The format of the show is two-part episodes, which when combined run to somewhere near 100 minutes, slightly shorter in this first season than in the second. The first season contains three of these two-parters (each one on its own DVD5 disc).

    The basic premise is that these episodes follow the various cases taken on by a two-man team of undercover cops, Liam Ketman (Nick Berry, Heartbeat) and Garth O'Hanlon (Stephen Tompkinson, Ballykissangel). One of the first surprises considering the cast and their famous earlier roles is that this show is gritty, violent and takes on story lines which other shows shy away from such as paedophilia. Accordingly, it has been given an MA15+ rating by the OFLC. The next and very pleasant surprise is that this show avoids the soft and easy endings which afflict many cop shows. Rather than the main characters always getting the win in the end, they struggle to get results, do things which may not be approved of by the ethics committee and certainly don't come away unscathed (mentally or physically).

    Having said that, the show is not perfect as sometimes the writing is a little lacking in exposition or includes unlikely coincidences. These issues, however, can be ignored as this is an entertaining, thought provoking and very watchable show featuring two fine performances which are pretty much against type for these actors.

    Liam is a married man, with two teenage children. He struggles to hold his family and marriage together due to his demanding and very secretive job. Garth on the other hand is a loner who is estranged from his family and tries not to let his personal life interfere with his work. He does not always achieve that aim and his mental state can be quite variable as the demands of the job weigh on him. Both of them suffer in different ways due to their career choice.

    The episodes included in this series are:

1. Blue on Blue (104:30) - A girl working in a massage parlour/brothel is murdered by a drug squad cop and Liam and Garth must investigate their fellow officers while working undercover.
2. Romeo Trap (110:11) - A very dark episode involving paedophilia. Garth goes undercover in prison to try and make contact with the leader of a paedophile ring who is being released from prison soon. This case is very tough on Garth and he finds it hard to work within the rules. While watching this episode, I actually wondered whether this was originally designed to be episode 1 as some overarching plot points seemed out of alignment with things which happened in Episode 1.
3. Ghost Squad (100:54) - This is the best episode of Season 1 and involves a group of racist terrorists trying to disrupt petrol supplies with explosions. Also, a man from Garth's past is released from prison after 14 years.

    I would certainly recommend this series to those viewers who enjoy the grittier end of UK cop shows such as The Ghost Squad, Cracker or Prime Suspect. Well worth a look.

Video

    The video quality is decent but no more.

    The show is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, 16x9 enhanced, which I would guess is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was not overly sharp and appears somewhat grainy throughout, with no low level noise. The shadow detail was decent. The grain sometimes became mild macro-blocking especially in backgrounds. The overall bitrate was low.

    The colour was reasonable but somewhat pale. There was colour bleeding visible, especially from light colours.

    Artefacts included edge enhancement, some white spots & splodges and some minor aliasing.

    There are no subtitles on these discs.

    There is no layer change.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is fine.

    This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was mostly easy to understand but the lack of subtitles was certainly felt in some scenes.

    The score is slightly overbearing at times, but not offensive.

    The surround speakers were used for some atmosphere when played via Pro Logic II and the subwoofer was not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    No extras.

Menu

    The menu is simple, featuring some music and the ability to select scenes.

    As far as I can tell, this show has not been released on DVD anywhere else in the world.

    The video quality is decent.

    The audio quality is fine.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall