Review of Monarchy

Introduction

This is the latest high-profile tv series on the Royal Family - five documentaries on the running of the Royal Household and the work the Royals do.

It is also the series that got the BBC and RDF Media into a lot of hot water about a certain trail that made it look like Her Majesty had gone off in a huff, and cost the then controller of BBC1 his job (happily he`s taking over as head of drama at ITV).

Narrated by Tim Piggott-Smith, it follows the Queen and 13 other members of the Royal Family through twelve months of official engagements from the State Opening of Parliament to a school visit in Brighton.

It is a highly entertaining show, full of candid observations and anecdotes that lift it up from the run-of-the-mill Royal documentary. Visually, it is quite amazing with some extraordinary camerawork around the Royal Palaces including crane jib shots within the rooms of Buckingham Palace itself.

Video

The programme was originally made in HD (720p). It`s wonderful to be able to see this programme in all its spectacular glory, and not reduced to a mosaic by digital overcompression on Freeview and Cable. The programme looks as good as it possibly can without being shown in HD. The programme is presented in anamorphic 16:9 as originally broadcast.

On a personal note, I can`t help wondering if HD downconverts particularly well to standard definition. I feel you can tell that a programme is downconverted as it doesn`t quite look the same as a programme shot in standard definition. It`s hard to put a finger on the telltale look that tips you off, but it seems to be a subtle blurring on movement. I`ve seen the same effect on Torchwood and one or two other HD-originated shows, but for some reason I`ve yet to see a programme shown in both HD and SD for comparison.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround reproduction of the broadcast soundtrack.

Features

An additional thirty minutes of footage previously unscreened. Subtitles on the main documentaries but curiously not on the bonus feature.

Conclusion

This is one of the most striking series on the Royal Family, better than the previous high water mark that was "The Queen`s Castle". The added notoriety of "trailergate" went to help the programme`s viewing figures when it was originally screened. Although the extras on the disc aren`t overwhelming, the show is presented in much higher quality on the disc than it received from its Freeview and Cable transmissions (in SD).