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Broadchurch: Series 1 (TV)
R2 - United Kingdom - Acorn Media Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (11th May 2013). |
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The Film
 ***This is a technical review only. For reviews on the show from various critics, we recommend visiting HERE.*** A hot morning in July and the Dorset town of Broadchurch, is bracing itself for the tourist season, when Danny Latimer, an 11 year old schoolboy, goes missing. His mother, Beth, frantically starts to search for him while her best friend, Ellie Miller, a local police officer, arrives at work to discover that the promotion she thought was hers has gone to D.I Alec Hardy an outsider with a reputation for failure. When Danny’s body is found beneath the picturesque cliffs that dominate the town opposites collide. Both Miller and Hardy are determined to solve the mystery of Danny's murder, Ellie perhaps too sensitive to the people in her community; Alec as efficient as he is blunt. When news of the crime spreads through the town, a chain reaction begins which will put Broadchurch under a national spotlight, pulling the town, its residents and its secrets, apart. Episodes 1-3 are found on disc one, 4-6 on disc two and 7-8 on disc three.
Video
 Acorn Media have presented the eight episodes that make up "Broadchurch" at an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 which has been anamorphically enhanced. This is the same as the original television broadcasts on ITV.
As should be expected for a major British crime drama with a reasonably well known cast that was made in 2013, there are no problems to be found with the general quality of this dvd transfer. There is no print damage or scratches and other nuances such as edge enhancement is absolutely minimal/non-existant. The show is quite a dark show in both tone and in the colours and lighting used. This doesn't stop it from being quite sharp and apart from some occasional macro-blocking, blacks looked great. The longer panning shots weren't problematic and managed to show plenty of detail of the Dorset settings. The use of blurred light isn't overdone and suits the show well.
Audio
There is a single audio option available here; English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. Although seperation is minimal, the track is strong and features no problematic moments such as audio dropouts, background hiss or scratches. The score by Ólafur Arnalds is excellent and often feels as though it is a character itself. Adding tension and suspense to just the right levels and never overpowering or underpowering, Arnalds has captured the story perfectly and the audio track captures the score well. Dialogue is clear and concise at all times. There are optional subtitles in English for the hard of hearing which are white in colour, move at a good pace, and free from mistakes.
Extras
All extras can be found on disc one. We start the extras with a "Broadchurch: Behind the Scenes" featurette (25:50). The featurette starts with footage of the first cast readthrough which took place in August 2012 and includes some early soundbites from various cast and crew members about meeting everyone else and their nerves. Olivia Colman was signed first, quickly followed by David Tennant and they amusingly tell us they don't speak to the others. James Strong talks about the cast being rude and violent, also in an obviously jokey manner. If I'm honest, I think calling this a behind-the-scenes featurette is wrong because it's made up of interviews for about twenty minutes, and then just a few minutes of actual behind-the-scenes footage. The interviews are interesting however, and although they are generally fluff, the cast members are all obviously enjoying their experiences on "Broadchurch". The rest of the extras on disc one are made up of some filmographies and a photo gallery.
Overall
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