THE PROGRAM

"Agatha Christie's Poirot and Marple: Fan Favorites" collection is the DVD equivalent of a greatest hits collection, gathering 11 episodes from the British TV adaptations of Christie's two most famous literary creations, Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple. While both series have had DVD and Blu-Ray releases over the years, to the newcomer, to ask one to invest money and time into such long-running (at least in the case of "Poirot) series' is no easy feat and this moderately priced collection serves as a great entry point, highlighting some of the best of each series over the years and in the case of "Miss Marple" giving viewers a look at the work of both Geraldine McEwan and Julie McKenzie's work as the iconic character.

Despite her predating the character by decades, I'm always going to think of Jessica Fletcher when I watch an episode of "Miss Marple." Represented wi...Read the entire review

THE SHOW:

Sometimes in this movie-reviewing racket, you roll the dice and come up with a low number. You choose something like the 2002 British television version of Doctor Zhivago, nearly four hours of unrelenting mediocrity. There is something particularly punishing about the unexceptional. At least the bad stuff stirs your emotions, causes one to cry in anger or laugh in disbelief; for something like Doctor Zhivago, you end up watching the clock, wondering when it will be over, how you can ever make it to the end while still sitting upright.

The recent translation of Bruce Pasternak's romantic novel Doctor Zhivago has been sitting on my "to read" pile for some time now. I am a big fan of Read the entire review

What's with all the incest and anti-Christian sentiment? Oh, that's right...it's England. ...and the mysteries aren't so mysterious this go-around, either. Acorn has released Midsomer Murders: Set 21, a four-disc collection of the first four episodes of the internationally popular British mystery series' 14th season (or "series" in BritTV-speak), which originally aired in the U.K. from March to May, 2011. Titles include Death in the Slow Lane, Dark Secrets, Echoes of the Dead, and The Oblong Murders. Certainly the most notable aspect of these Midsomer Murders entries is the full-time arrival of Neil Dudgeon as John Nettles' replacement. Even though I'm a huge fan of Nettles, Dudgeon is fine as Causton CID's new Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby (even if the screenwriters have him do some pretty dumb things), but this a very shaky start to ...Read the entire review

Not much needs to be said of Trial & Retribution - Set 6, a two-disc set of the British policier's final four of 22 complete stories, and specifically the final two-parter from Series 11 (2008) and all of Series 12 (2009).

Created by Prime Suspect's Lynda La Plante, Trial & Retribution began extremely well. Originally starring David Hayman and Kate Buffery, the program premiered in 1997 as a one-off television film divided into two 100-minute parts. The series further explored La Plante's interests in realistic, even clinical murder investigations (chiefly) while also examining, also realistically, the relationships and frequent conflict between men and women working together on the investigation, as well as their general inability to leave work at the office. The 200-minute total running time also allowed for a more leisurely pace. The long, methodical, and maddeningly ...Read the entire review

The Show:
The Brits have a long tradition of high quality mystery and thriller stories, both in fiction, on the stage, and on television and film, going back to Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle and before. The producers of Kidnap and Ransom continue on with that august tradition, even while giving the genre a unique twist of their own.

Instead of the normal police detective or private investigator, Kidnap and Ransom revolves around the exploits of a team of hostage negotiators, led by the indefatigable Dominic King (Trevor Eve). Along with his business partner Angela (Helen Baxendale) and assistant Carrie (Amara Karan), Dominic eschews involvement with the police, and does his best to get kidnap victims returned to their families unharmed. Though his relationship with his wife Sophie and daughter Tess (Natasha Little and Laura Greenwood) suffers at times because of it, Dom...Read the entire review

Familiar but well-done U.K. WWII documentary series. Athena has released Narrow Escapes of World War II, a 4-disc, 13-episode collection of the 2011 U.K. television series (which has aired here in the States on The Military Channel) that focuses on battle/mission/campaign "close calls" during the Second World War. From looks at familiar operations like Dolittle's raid on Tokyo and The Battle of the Bulge, to more obscure (but no less thrilling) events such as Moore's March and Operation Hannibal, Narrow Escapes of World War II gives the viewer concise overviews of these Allied and Axis operations, with the added benefit of first-hand accounts from the soldiers that participated. A few extras help with this good-looking transfer.

To be honest...Narrow Escapes of World War II certainly isn't going to surprise fans of Second World War cable documentaries. From a p...Read the entire review

The TV Series

The densely plotted British public school drama Waterloo Road is apparently a big deal in the U.K., where its eighth series is currently running strong. It was produced by Shed Productions, the same outfit responsible for the better-known (here in the U.S., anyhow) Footballers' Wives. Trading manipulative, sexed-up trophy wives for overburdened teachers and snotty students gives a slight idea of what Waterloo Road deals with in each drama-packed episode.

Waterloo Road's ever-present turmoil mostly emanates from the lower middle-class Manchester, England middle school where it is set. In each episode, faculty members' complex personal lives butt up against their pupils' misbehaviors and the constant threat of closure due to an apathetic staff and underperforming students. The things that go on in each installment can get overwrought and kinda stupid, ...Read the entire review

The Show:
One could say that gothic drama is not what it used to be, and one would mostly be correct, with the exception of the BBC's The Crimson Petal and the White, based on the novel by Michel Faber, which is gothic drama at its macabre finest.

Romola Garai stars as exceptionally literate and intelligent prostitute Sugar in Victorian London. She's high priced and sophisticated, to be sure, but really only a step or two above the streetwalkers turning tricks in alleys. That is, until she meets William Rackham (Chris O'Dowd, who turns in a surprisingly good dramatic performance), somewhat bumbling heir to a perfume manufacturing fortune. He feels lost and tossed about, since he only wants to write and live the life of a poet, and his father has cut off his allowance, which makes paying the servants ever so difficult. Sugar inspires him to do something more, to make business into a...Read the entire review

Entertaining follow-up for two of Upstairs Downstairs' most popular characters. Acorn Media has released 1979's Thomas & Sarah, the 4-disc, 13-episode single season spin-off of the wildly-popular U.K. series, Upstairs Downstairs. Starring Pauline Collins and John Alderton, Thomas & Sarah's uncomplicated but generally well-written adventures will appeal most to those who are already familiar with the original series...but newcomers can enjoy it, too. No extras for these okay-looking transfers.

A brief synopsis to set the stage. Willful Cockney maid Sarah Moffat, last seen as a downstairs servant in the toney, fashionable Belgravia home of the upper-class Bellamys, has now found a position in Surrey: she's a nanny for Grace Laughton (Jessica Benton), an invalided wife of an overseas military officer. Having spun an elaborate story about her own recent p...Read the entire review

Less than five minutes into the first episode of "Vexed," the cool, doesn't-play-by-the-rules detective Jack Armstrong (Toby Stephens) discovers crucial evidence at a crime scene: a copy of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, a DVD of Bridget Jones' Diary, an empty bottle of wine, and a giant bar of chocolate. The victim, he declares with a knowing smirk, was a "single, lonely, needy, neurotic, vulnerable, insecure, desperate, comfort-eating woman," an assumption his new, uptight, by-the-book partner Kate Bishop (Lucy Punch) turns up her nose at. Minutes later, though, Kate discovers the victim's pet cat, and even Kate has to agree that's pretty indicative of a woman who "blubbered herself to sleep every night."

At moments like these, it's hard to believe "Vexed" is a real television show and not some sort of competition to see if "mismatched cop partners" or "battle ...Read the entire review

THE PROGRAM

Prior to viewing "The Sinking of the Laconia" I was not familiar at all with the Laconia incident that serves as the narrative structure for the obviously titled "The Sinking of the Laconia." While a summary of the incident doesn't fully convey the full significance of the events leading up to, occurring during, and the fallout thereafter, it does however, provide an encapsulation of how badly this, three-hour, 2011 German and British co-production misses the mark. The RMS Laconia was torpedoed on September 12, 1942 by a German U-Boat; while it may have carried a small number of British civilians, its value as a military target was obvious as the number of British and Polish soldiers far surpassed the civilian count, while the 1000-plus Italian POWs took up the bulk of the passenger space on the boat. What makes the Laconia incident so fascinating is the U-Boat captain's sho...Read the entire review

Well...it's not The Sweeney, but it'll do. Acorn Media has released Special Branch: Set One, a slightly misleading moniker considering this is actually the third "series" (season) reboot, from 1973, of the Thames Television U.K. police procedural/spy series that originally premiered in 1969. Starring George Sewell, Patrick Mower, Roger Rowland, and Richard Leech, Special Branch: Set One works best if you're a nostalgic fan of location-heavy 70s British television―and precisely because of shows like Special Branch, there are plenty of those kinds of enthusiastic viewers, to this day, all over the world. An interview (from 2004) with the two leads is a small but welcome bonus for these okay-looking transfers.

The ...Read the entire review