Bonekickers (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Mystery	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	344:36 (Case: 258)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Matthew Graham
Studio Distributor	ITV Global Beyond Home Entertainment	Starring	Hugh Bonneville Julie Graham Adrian Lester Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Case	Amaray-Opaque-Dual
RPI	?	Music	None Given

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	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

'Don't mess with me, I'm an archaeologist' - 'Dolly' Parton

     The BBC has produced lots of interesting drama, comedy and science fiction television series over the years, many of very high quality. A recent entrant into this stable is Bonekickers, which is quite a different series to others I have seen. It does not totally work as some of the writing is a little lacking, with some episodes being a little silly; however, it is entertaining. The basic premise involves a team of archaeologists based in Wessex University who always seem to be involved in digs which lead to modern day danger and intrigue as well as unravelling mysteries from the past. The team includes Dr Gillian Magwilde (Julie Graham), who is a feisty maverick in the archaeological community and sometimes can be quite a b****, Professor Greg 'Dolly' Parton (Hugh Bonneville), a lecherous but highly intelligent Indiana Jones style character, and Dr Ben Ergha (Adrian Lester), a forensic expert who used to be involved with Magwilde. Into this group who know each other well comes a new young intern, Viv Davis (Gugu Mbartha-Raw), who seems to have things to hide.

     Each episode has a freestanding story but also adds to a mystery which extends over the entire season. The show combines historical fact with fiction to make the stories more interesting. This should not be seen as a documentary series, it is more like the Da Vinci Code in style i.e. some historical facts added to conjecture added to fiction to make an entertaining story. The episodes cover digs for lost Templar relics, Roman trinkets, evidence of Boadicea, tanks buried in French battlefields, slaves from America and the sword of King Arthur. The stories are far-fetched and ambitious and the writing doesn't really do the ideas justice. There are some welcome comedic elements (mostly very tongue-in-cheek) along with some occasional goriness. The special effects are quite obvious and probably done on the cheap; however this and the series in general gets better as it goes along.

     This set includes all six episodes made in 2008 across two dual layer discs. According to what I read, the BBC wanted a second series made but the writers decided against this as they didn't feel it was really working.

     As long as you don't take it too seriously this show is quite entertaining and worth watching, especially if you like things which involve a bit of history, a bit of mystery and just a little fantasy.

Video

     The video quality is good but nothing special. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, which is the original aspect ratio I would guess, 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was reasonably sharp and clear however it was affected by some graininess in darker scenes and a little motion blur during fast motion. Shadow detail was very good. The colour was quite good although there was some light colour bleeding to be seen.

     There were no other noticeable artefacts.

     There are no subtitles.

     The layer change is fairly obvious in both episode 2 & 5.

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 192 Kb/s. Dialogue was mostly clear and easy to understand although there were some passages that were harder to understand which would have made subtitles worth having.

     The music adds to the atmosphere and drama without ever really standing out.

     The surround speakers were used for some mild atmosphere. The subwoofer added a little support to the music.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu features music and episode selection options.

    The Region 1 version of this series includes a wealth of behind the scenes and making of extras for each episode. Seemingly, these give quite a bit of insight into behind the scenes issues on the show. Region 1 is the best available.

    The video quality is good. The audio quality is good.

    No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall