Review of Inspector Morse: The Dead Of Jericho/The Silent World Of Nicholas Quinn

Introduction

Unfortunately, I don`t know an awful lot about the subject matter here, or the people carrying it. But when somebody who`s made such a significant impact in his/her profession, passes away, you tend to sit up & take notice. The late John Thaw is a prime example, without a doubt, the most remembered British TV actor of recent times. And now he comes to DVD in the series that confirmed him as an outstanding performer he was. In this Inspector Morse double-header, we have two of the earlier episodes of the series, which focused on the evolving relationship of Lewis & Morse himself

Video

Were given a full-frame presentation here, and a pretty awful one at that. Even by judging the source material, which is 12 years old, this does not serve as a competent excuse for the poor presentation displayed. The problem definitely lies with the contrast & awkward blending of the colours. A lot of the scenes are quite dark & moody, as the detectives visit dreary & dull locations, and the picture does little to bring anything to life, and a lot of the props & distant settings are very testing on the eye.

Audio

Significantly better than the visual presentation. The soundtrack is in stereo, and whilst isn`t particularly groundbreaking, serves the terrific balancing of dialogue & themes up a treat.

Features

Not not too clever in this aspect. However there is a half-decent featurette, which runs at 50 minutes, and is basically an extensive look at the detective, containing interviews with the cast and crew. There`s also a few crumby photographs admits some un-interesting biographies.

Conclusion

For what isn`t my ideal viewing, I found both of the episodes rather engaging. But sadly the poor presentation of the programmes, and the dreary extras, make this a recommendation for Morse collectors only.