BBC on blu

[benbess]

One of the very best adaptations of a novel to film in history is, imho, the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice from 1995. It stars Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, and a whole galaxy of British character actors. I owned the vhs of this back in the day, and watched it several times with my wife. It makes you laugh, and cry, and the length is just perfect, because in 6 nearly hour-long episodes they were able to include virtually all of this sparkling novel, which the movie of a few years ago simply could not. It was adapted by the great Andrew Davies, who I think is considered "king of BBC miniseries," or something like that.

Finally, a couple of years ago we "upgraded" P & P (if you can call it that in this case) to the dvd--which if anything looked worse somehow than the vhs because the colors were washed out and just wrong.

I was looking forward to this on blu-ray, but then I read that it was only filmed in 16mm and my heart sank. How could a 16mm film possibly look good on blu, I wondered. It was just impossible, I thought. But, I read some reviews that said that the pq was actually amazing for Pride and Prejudice, considering it was 16mm. And now that I've almost watched the whole thing again with my family on blu (we're down to the last episode) I can report that it looks fantastic. It almost looks to me like it was filmed in 35mm. It's that good, imho. And it's a bargain right now from amazon--19.95.

Has anyone else seen this? I had no idea it was possible for a 16mm production to look so good in blu. There are details in terms of the facial expressions, the fabric, the interiors, the horses, etc, that we just hadn't seen before.

Anyway, I'm now on a BBC kick in blu, and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations. I've seen one other title, the excellent Cranford, which is an adaptation of some novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, who is rather obscure, but wrote rather well about the middle of the 19th century. This production was filmed in 1080, and looks great on blu. And it's a wonderful show, starring Judi Dench and a whole cast of British luminaries. It starts kind of slow, but in the end it's quite moving. This is much more of a dramedy than P & P. Anyway, it's highly recommended on blu.


Those are the only two bbc productions I've seen on blu. Are there others that people can recommend?

[Atreyu]

I would love to see Fawlty Towers on blu. It was one of the funniest shows ever produced. It would be a day one purchase for me indeed.

[Mr.White]

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I would love to see Fawlty Towers on blu. It was one of the funniest shows ever produced. It would be a day one purchase for me indeed.

It won't look any better on Blu-ray, it was videotaped! Awesome show, I do agree on that!

[koontz1973]

Great BBC on Blu are

Bleak House (period)
Wallace and Gromit (animation)
Planet Earth, Earth, Wild China, Galapagos (natural)
Becoming Jane
The Lost Prince (true story)

These are the ones I have or seen. If you like period, then you must see Bleak House.

[benbess]

Originally Posted by koontz1973

Great BBC on Blu are

Bleak House (period)
Wallace and Gromit (animation)
Planet Earth, Earth, Wild China, Galapagos (natural)
Becoming Jane
The Lost Prince (true story)

These are the ones I have or seen. If you like period, then you must see Bleak House.

Many thanks, koontz, for the recommends. I like Dickens, but my wife is wary. She doesn't like the downbeat endings. I will watch it in any case, but is this one I should warn her away from?

[MaCruz]

Another one is Earth: The Biography.

[pbouzaid]

Wonder if they will ever put Black Adder on Blu. I love that show!

[DoctorFruitloop]

I would assume that Blackadder was also video tape so wouldn't benefit from Blu-ray, same with Red Dwarf, The Young Ones, Bottom, etc.

Shame really cos they are some great shows, although even if it were possible how much of an improvement to the show would better PQ be?

[pbouzaid]

Probably not much, but the DVD copies I have a really really bad.

Although I did see an ad here in an oz news paper for a new Blackadder set that has been re-mastered....

Could be worth a look.

[kay9]

Might as well throw in Blake 7 and The Goodies into the mix of wanting to come out on blu.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by benbess

Many thanks, koontz, for the recommends. I like Dickens, but my wife is wary. She doesn't like the downbeat endings. I will watch it in any case, but is this one I should warn her away from?

It's bleak all right, but just show one episode at a time--
Even though I've only seen the 80's Diana Rigg version, and not the Gillian Anderson version on Blu, this is the one that turned me from a casual Dickens fan to a diehard Dickens fan:
Because Dickens wrote his novels in monthly serials, ain't no other word for it: He knew how to write SOAP OPERAS.

(The scene where

[Show spoiler]the nasty, manipulative lawyer is shot and we don't know whodunnit--the disgraced Lady Deadlock, the virtuous hero, the scheming maid, the evicted ex-army gun-nut?--you watch and realize "This IS 'Who Shot J.R., 1842".

)

And if that doesn't do it, last year's BBC "Little Dorritt" should be out on widescreen disk soon enough.

[koontz1973]

Originally Posted by EricJ

It's bleak all right, but just show one episode at a time--
Even though I've only seen the 80's Diana Rigg version, and not the Gillian Anderson version on Blu, this is the one that turned me from a casual Dickens fan to a diehard Dickens fan:
Because Dickens wrote his novels in monthly serials, ain't no other word for it: He knew how to write SOAP OPERAS.

(The scene where

[Show spoiler]the nasty, manipulative lawyer is shot and we don't know whodunnit--the disgraced Lady Deadlock, the virtuous hero, the scheming maid, the evicted ex-army gun-nut?--you watch and realize "This IS 'Who Shot J.R., 1842".

)

And if that doesn't do it, last year's BBC "Little Dorritt" should be out on widescreen disk soon enough.

Little Dorrit war great. Wife cannot wait to add this to HER collection. And Bleak House is not called that for no reason.

[Jutty]

Damn,,
blackadder,young ones ,bottom. fawlty towers,,,how about adding Filfy ,richie and catflap as well as Allo Allo,Alas smith and jones,Extras,,The comic strip presents... AHHHH good times ,nothing better than british comedy.

[koontz1973]

Originally Posted by Jutty

Damn,,
blackadder,young ones ,bottom. fawlty towers,,,how about adding Filfy ,richie and catflap as well as Allo Allo,Alas smith and jones,Extras,,The comic strip presents... AHHHH good times ,nothing better than british comedy.

You just took me on a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Thanks

[EricJ]

So, nobody's mentioned vintage Doctor Who yet, or are we saving that for a separate thread?

Originally Posted by Jutty

Damn,,
blackadder,young ones ,bottom. fawlty towers,,,how about adding Filfy ,richie and catflap as well as Allo Allo,Alas smith and jones,Extras,,The comic strip presents... AHHHH good times ,nothing better than british comedy.

The UK make so many jokes about Americans watching Benny Hill, they'd never even dream the truth about Americans watching "Are You Being Served?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPyvkPw--Kg
(But one episode, and I'll just find myself going through the whole twelve-year boxset again.)

"Open All Hours" (betcha never heard of it on this continent) also recently surfaced on R1 DVD, and it's hysterically funny--
Ronnie Barker, David "Danger Mouse" Jason, and some of the most baldfaced double-entendres ever written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PzM6ra8Ucs

[SquidPuppet]

It's not on Blu-ray, but I thought that Masterpiece Theatre did a FANTASTIC production of Jane Eyre. It's a (DVD 2-Disc Series) (2006).

[benbess]

Originally Posted by EricJ

It's bleak all right, but just show one episode at a time--
Even though I've only seen the 80's Diana Rigg version, and not the Gillian Anderson version on Blu, this is the one that turned me from a casual Dickens fan to a diehard Dickens fan:
Because Dickens wrote his novels in monthly serials, ain't no other word for it: He knew how to write SOAP OPERAS.

(The scene where

[Show spoiler]the nasty, manipulative lawyer is shot and we don't know whodunnit--the disgraced Lady Deadlock, the virtuous hero, the scheming maid, the evicted ex-army gun-nut?--you watch and realize "This IS 'Who Shot J.R., 1842".

)

And if that doesn't do it, last year's BBC "Little Dorritt" should be out on widescreen disk soon enough.

Thanks for the review!

[Kirsty_Mc]

Originally Posted by EricJ

So, nobody's mentioned vintage Doctor Who yet, or are we saving that for a separate thread?



The UK make so many jokes about Americans watching Benny Hill, they'd never even dream the truth about Americans watching "Are You Being Served?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPyvkPw--Kg
(But one episode, and I'll just find myself going through the whole twelve-year boxset again.)

"Open All Hours" (betcha never heard of it on this continent) also recently surfaced on R1 DVD, and it's hysterically funny--
Ronnie Barker, David "Danger Mouse" Jason, and some of the most baldfaced double-entendres ever written.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PzM6ra8Ucs

For the most bold faced double entendres, I think you should investigate " 'Allo, 'Allo ". I don't know whether you ever got it where you are, but this is hysterically funny in a "Carry On" kind of way. Surprisingly It was also reputed to be popular in Germany!!!

[arcadeforest]

Originally Posted by DoctorFruitloop

I would assume that Blackadder was also video tape so wouldn't benefit from Blu-ray, same with Red Dwarf, The Young Ones, Bottom, etc.

Shame really cos they are some great shows, although even if it were possible how much of an improvement to the show would better PQ be?

Old thread but I've been watching Black Adder on NetFlix (it's been a few years since I've watched it) and once again have to state I love this show. Red Dwarf is another favorite.

Is the above comment about video tape true? I'm going to pick up the remastered DVD collection off Amazon but would like to see a bluray version one day.

[Canuck21]

Originally Posted by koontz1973

Great BBC on Blu are

Bleak House (period)
Wallace and Gromit (animation)
Planet Earth, Earth, Wild China, Galapagos (natural)
Becoming Jane
The Lost Prince (true story)

These are the ones I have or seen. If you like period, then you must see Bleak House.

The Lost Prince is one of my most anticipated releases and I know it's already out in the UK, but I rather have a North American version.