Afterlife: Season One
Made nearly ten
years ago, you might be wondering why the first season of “Afterlife” is only
now finding its way to DVD, and the answer is quite clear to find in the cast
members. This British horror series stars Andrew Lincoln of “The Walking Dead”
fame, with ghosts rather than zombies for the actor to take on. Unfortunately,
the series feels more than ten years old, with a dated and cliché narrative
structure. Ghost stories are difficult to make engaging, and “Afterlife” does
little to update or modernize the tired clichés of the genre. “The Walking
Dead” this is not.
The DVD release
is of the first season alone, despite the fact that there are only two seasons
with fourteen episodes in the entire series. This collection has the six
episodes from the first season included on two discs. The special features
include audio commentary with Lincoln
Entertainment Value:
4.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 4.5/10
Call the Midwife: Season Three
“Call the
Midwife” fits in perfectly with the new wave of popular period melodramas that
have sprung up with the success of “Downton Abby.” Based on the memoirs of
Jennifer Worth, the story follows the experiences of twenty-some-year-old Jenny
(Jessica Raine) working as a midwife in the impoverished slums of London’s East
End in the 1950s. Vanessa Redgrave narrates the series as an aged Jenny, giving
us wisdom of experience and time with a voiceover contribution.
Jenny works out
of a clinic run by a convent, finding herself working alongside nuns who
eventually gather side stories of their own. There are other young girls
working as midwives alongside Jenny, and the episodes vary from the source
material some in order to allow these characters their own melodrama. Though
there are changes made to the cast by the end of this season, the opening
episodes include nearly all of the original midwives working together in
Nonnatus House, until they are all forced to move.
When their
convent is scheduled for demolition in the dilapidated neighborhood of decrepit
buildings, Jenny, Chummy (Miranda Hart), and Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) go
on a hunt for a proper replacement location in the neighborhood. There is also
a polio outbreak in the neighborhood which has a devastating effect on the
nurses and nuns. The show also always finds time amidst the tragedy and babies
being born to throw in a romantic storyline or two. This season has the
continued development of Jenny’s relationship with Alec (Leo Staar). There are
also additions to the show’s plutonic relationships as well, especially in the
form of new recruits.
The third season
includes nine episodes that include the Christmas Special. Rather than making
us wait a lengthy period, this season has made its way rather quickly onto DVD.
There is nothing left to do but wait for season four to arrive. The special
features in this 3-disc set include interviews with the cast and crew of the
series.
Entertainment Value:
7/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
Special Features: 4.5/10
Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
Chased by Dinosaurs
Following up the
“Walking with Dinosaurs” series, this 2003 single-season series utilizes the
special effects to bring to life extinct animals for an otherwise traditional
nature program. “Chased by Dinosaurs” is unique in that it adds human elements
into the visual imagining of a dinosaur nature program, whereas “Walking with
Dinosaurs” merely used voiceover narration. Hosted by zoologist and performer
Nigel Marven, we are brought back to the days of roaming dinosaurs with the
opportunity to see their behavior with human interactions included.
Digitally
created dinosaurs combined with Marven’s playful willingness to pretend
provides an amusing and educational examination of the extinct creatures.
Marven’s interactions with the digitally created creatures vary from simple
reaction shots to actual physical contact. The approach is purposefully similar
to other nature programs, with feigned fear of the dangerous creatures along
with techniques that would normally be used by zoologists. Children especially
will likely find this imaginative approach far more engaging than the typical
programs.
The DVD contains
five 30-minute programs created in 200. There was not much to this series,
likely due to the extensive effort put into creating the effects for the
episodes which were made. On land, in the air, and beneath the surface of the
ocean, Marven finds an assortment of creatures. It is somewhat strange that
there are only five episodes, and three of them are a part of the three-part
Sea Creature special, but the format of the show remains the same. The special
features only include a single featurette, “Big Al Uncovered.” All episodes and
this extra are included on a single disc.
Entertainment Value:
6.5/10
Quality of Filmmaking:
6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 4/10
Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC
Dalziel and Pascoe: Season 9
Based on the
books by Reginald Hill, “Dalziel & Pascoe” is a traditional detective
series highlighting the unlikely friendship between colleagues Superintendent
Andy Dalziel (Warren Clarke) and DI Peter Pascoe (Colin Buchanan) as they work
together to solve a number of unconventional cases. It is a typical opposites
attract friendship, like the Bert and Ernie of detective mysteries. The show
aired from 1996 to 2007 for a total of twelve seasons. This two-disc set includes
the eight episodes of the ninth season.
Each storyline
is split into two episodes in this series, for a total of four two-part
mysteries in the collection. The first is “Heads You Lose,” in which they solve
the mystery of body parts floating in the river. In “Dead Meat,” the detectives
solve the murder of an animal activist found partially eaten in a tiger cage at
the zoo. “The Dig” is a bit more complex, with an archaeological mystery
involving a corpse and a murdered construction worker thrown into the mix. The
final story in season nine is “Dust Thou Art,” which is about a kidnapping that
results in a PC being taken ransom as well.
The series
writers had moved away from the books somewhat by this time in the series, and
much of the initial raw energy had melted away to a more sanitized series.
There are still some good mysteries and Dalziel is still occasionally
offensively humorous, but even his personality seems to have been watered down
by this point in the show. There are no special features to mention in the
season 9 DVD release.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
Special Features: 0/10
Doctor Who: The Enemy of the World
Yet another
storyline rediscovered after thought to be lost for 45-years arrives on DVD
with the release of “The Enemy of the World” from season five of classic
“Doctor Who.” While some discoveries still left the segments incomplete, this
story went from only one known episode in existence to all six available in
this single-disc DVD collection. The only disappointing discovery is the lack
of special features, which is oddly out-of-character for a “Doctor Who”
release.
The plot in “The
Enemy of the World” also varies slightly from what fans may expect from “Doctor
Who,” and it would seem that the success of the James Bond film franchise in
the 1960s had an impact on the direction of the storyline. Rather than the
typical creatures, aliens and robots often featured in the stories of this
science-fiction series, we are given dictator with evil plans for world
domination. When the Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria arrive by TARDIS on an
Australian beach in the (then) distant time of 2018, they discover a world
threatened by the evil Leader Salamander.
As luck would
have it, Salamander is the Doctor’s doppelganger, producing the expected
espionage plot development. This role also gives Patrick Troughton the opportunity
to play dual roles, stretching his acting skills with a villainous performance.
With all six episodes to feature this performance and a bit of action to make
up for missing creatures, the only thing missing from this collection of
episodes are the special features.
Entertainment Value:
6/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6.5/10
Historical
Significance: 9/10
Special Features: 0/10
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, NTSC
Waking the Dead: Season Nine
“Waking the
Dead” first aired in 2000 and ran for nine seasons, with the final episodes
aired in 2011 and available now on DVD. It is a typical cold case detective
drama in many regards, comparable to many American counterparts aside from the
unique aspect of the two-part episode for each mystery. This allowed for a
cliffhanger to be resolved in a second episode for each of the stories,
allowing for more in-depth narratives. This is a double-edged sword, especially
for the stories which are less compelling and seem to drag on incessantly. But
when it does work, there is twice as much to enjoy from every criminal
conundrum.
The final season
of “Waking the Dead” introduces a new team member to join Detective Superintendent
Boyd (Trevor Eve) and his team. Inspector Sarah Cavendish (Eve Birthistle) is
forced on Boyd by his superiors after an incident working with a
counter-terrorism unit left her with post-traumatic stress. This new team
member being an equal to Boyd in rank makes his unorthodox procedures come into
question. This all builds to a climax of the overall narrative which ends with
a twist typical of the series. Fans of the show should be rather pleased by the
way things have been wrapped up.
This is certainly
a series meant for die-hard fans of the crime drama, lacking the trappings of
comedy relief or too many relationship entanglements. Instead, the crime is
focused on with near tunnel-vision. This makes for somewhat dreary viewing,
however, and I found myself in need of escape from the dark vision of the
series after each episode. I can understand now why they have been separated
into two hour-long episodes, because a TV movie may have asked for the audience
to endure too much depressing content in one sitting.
There are five
storylines in the ninth season of “Waking the Dead,” which means ten hour-long
episodes. All are included in this three-disc set.
Entertainment Value:
5.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 7.5/10
Historical
Significance: 6/10
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