Welcher & Welcher-The Complete Series (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio Outtakes
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	201:27 (Case: 240)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Ted Emery
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Shaun Micallef Robyn Butler Frances Greenslade
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	Yuri Worontschak

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	Yes
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

     Shaun Micallef is one of the funniest men in Australia, probably the funniest. He has been doing a variety of comedy shows over the last 20+ years, first appearing on Theatre Sports back in 1987. He is also a writer of some renown writing both comedy and drama. This show from 2003 is an excellent sitcom, created and written by Micallef and also starring other comedic talents such as Robyn Butler, Francis Greenslade and Santo Cilauro. Guest stars also include John Clarke, Max Gillies, Tony Martin, Wayne Hope, Sigrid Thornton and William McInnes.

     The show is set around a legal practice, Welcher & Welcher, Solicitors and Barristers. Shaun Micallef plays Q.C Welcher ('They're just his initials'), a barrister who is vain, pompous, arrogant and incredibly incompetent. Robyn Butler plays his long suffering wife, Kate, who is a solicitor and does most of the work around the office. They also have an associate, Peter Cohen (Francis Greenslade), a secretary, Jan, a receptionist, an incompetent computer 'expert', Griffin (Santo Cilauro) and a revolving cast of articled clerks.

     The comedy is of many different types from satire, to witty dialogue, to physical comedy, general silliness and even some occasional absurd comedy touches. Regardless of style it is hilariously funny with many belly laughs in every episode. Micallef is excellent as the very annoying, pratfalling and utterly hilarious Quentin Charles Welcher. The support cast also do a great job especially Robyn Butler and Frances Greenslade. There are many running jokes over the course of the eight episodes which are spread over two discs. The series was directed by Ted Emery, who has directed many classic Australian comedy series such as Kath & Kim.

     A classic comedy series which should be in the collection of any lover of Australian comedy.

Video

     The video quality is very good. 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 quite sharp and clear however it was affected by some mild background grain. Shadow detail was very good.

     The colour was very good with no issues to report. There were no other noticeable artefacts.

     There are no subtitles.

     The layer change is not noticeable.

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 224 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand throughout which is obviously critical in a show like this.

    The slightly annoying theme is most of the music.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Menu

    The menu is cool featuring a flickering light.

Outtakes (15:30)

    Only one extra but what a cracker it is! Simply the funniest set of outtakes I have ever seen. It includes the usual stuff-ups but also lots of comedic runs where Micallef is just ad-libbing. Great Stuff.

    This local release is all regions.

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

    One top quality extra.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall