The Field of Blood (2011)

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General		Extras
Category	TV Drama Series	Main Menu Audio
Rating	?
Year Of Production	2011
Running Time	111:38
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Kane
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	Stephen Lironi

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

     The BBC has produced world class television for many years and is famous for its thriller and mystery series and telemovies. This recent production (2011) continues in that fine tradition. It was originally shown in the UK as a two part mini-series, however it is presented here as one movie length show. To my knowledge it has not been shown on local television here in Australia.

     It is based on the first of a series of novels by Scottish author, Denise Mina following the life of Paddy Meehan (Jayd Johnson), a young female newspaper employee in early 1980s Glasgow. In this first story, she is employed as a copy boy, which essentially means running errands and getting harassed by the editor (David Morrissey) and the journalists. They are pretty horrible to her, but she dreams of becoming an investigative journalist and so continues to take the abuse. A young boy, Brian Wilcox disappears while playing in a park and shortly afterwards he is found dead near a canal. Paddy's 10 year old cousin is arrested for the crime and all the older journalists are convinced of his guilt. Paddy, however, cannot believe that he would have done it and starts to investigate finding facts which do not support his guilt. As she investigates she enlists the help of Heather Allen (Alana Hood), the only female journalist in the office and a young male journalist, Terry Hewitt (Jonas 'Robin Hoodie' Armstrong). She is also assisted by an older journalist, Dr Pete (Peter Capaldi) who is dying of cancer. As the story progresses Paddy and the other journalists become personally involved and the danger for them increases.

     This is a quality television thriller/mystery/drama, with a great cast, an interesting story and good production values, focused on replicating the time period in which it is set. The only real problem I had with this show is the nearly impenetrable accents which would have had less of an impact on enjoyment if subtitles had been provided.

     Fans of UK television thrillers will enjoy this. Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is good. The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was reasonably clear and sharp throughout. Shadow detail was quite good. The colour is very good but restricted by the dull colour scheme befitting 1980s Glasgow.

     There were a some MPEG compression artefacts especially during motion.

     There are no subtitles which is a real shame in a show with hard to understand accents.

     There is an obvious layer change during playback.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is decent. This discs contain an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo.

     Dialogue was hard to understand throughout but this has more to do with the accents than the transfer.

     The music sounds good but is mixed a little too loud, jumping out because you turn up the volume to try to catch the dialogue.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

       Nothing.

Menu

        The menu featured music and precious little else.

      This show is available in the UK on DVD and features SUBTITLES! There are also some extras including biographies, filmographies and a photo gallery. Region 2 is a clear winner just because of the subtitles.

     A quality UK television thriller.

     The video quality is good.

     The audio quality is decent.

     No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall