Inspector Morse: Series 1-12 [DVD]

There isn't a lot to add in light of previous highly detailed reviews, except that for hard-of-hearing people like myself, this collection not only has subtitles - amazing how difficult it is to ascertain whether or not a DVD sports subtitles in these days of mumbling actors and thunderous sound design - but they are the *default* selection!Obviously designed by someone who knows their audience, as Morse tends to appeal to the older crowd, esp. if they are CAMRAites. Not to say the young wouldn't love Morse as well. Made back in the days when mysteries played fair by givng you clues to work out rather than confusing you with too many characters, most of them blonde.John Thaw peerless. Best thing K. Whateley has ever done. Wonderful music, too. Brilliant stuff. With subtitles.

I've only watched the first 5 episodes so far. I agree with other reviewers that the first 4 episodes don't look that wonderful (in terms of picture quality), but really I found them quite acceptable. According to the credits they were shot on 16mm film so the quality cannot be as good as a feature film, say. Occasionally there is a very slight jiggle between shots, presumably this indicates that the editing was done by splicing the film rather than after the transfer to video (this is very slight and doesn't detract). Episode 3 was particularly bad quality, but I imagine this was due to the director trying to be arty, shooting all the interior church scenes with moody lighting, often rendering the picture almost completely dark. There is a noticeable improvement in episode 5 (the first of series 2) - I wonder if the producers realised they had a hit on their hands and upped the budget - a lot more trouble seems to have been taken with the lighting. My remarks on the first 4 episodes are not a complaint - it's just interesting to see how the series developed. Also interesting is to see how the 'powerful' women in 1987 wore what looks like wide coat-hangers across their shoulders under their clothes - thank goodness that fashion didn't last! One reviewer complained that the picture format on the DVD hasn't been converted to widescreen; I would have complained if it had! Altering the original format destroys the director's picture composition - as bad as chopping the edges off a widescreen film in the 4:3 TV days.My only slight gripes are the amount of printed information supplied with the set - it's almost non-existent- at the least I would have liked a list of the episodes with their original broadcast dates ('though this information can easily be found on the internet); I'd also have preferred the original ad breaks to be clearly indicated (without the actual ads, of course). However, considering the price of the box set, it's excellent value for money.

I have been buying DVDs for about 25 years now and have accumulated a fair number of them. So much so that Management is forbidding the purchase of any more DVDs because there is no space left to store them.Many older boxsets are unnecessarily bulky. A case in point is the complete collection of “Inspector Morse”, originally issued in 2-disc regular packaging at about £8 a pop. My collection of these occupied 25 cms (say 10 inches) of shelving. The repackaged box set under review is under 5cms (2 inches) of shelf space. This has mainly been achieved by putting two episodes per disc. That has been accomplished by compressing the data more, allowing two episodes in the 4.7 gigabytes of a single DVD. This does mean a loss of picture detail in this new packaging. Is this noticeable?A previous reviewer saw no discernible difference on his standard (32 inch?) TV, but thought that a large-screen TV would demonstrate a difference. I can confirm that this is true. I watch quite a lot of television and have invested accordingly: I have a 2014 model LG 55 inch OLED set. I played episode 2 (“The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn” ) in both formats, with my wife and I agreeing that there is a bit more detail perceivable on the older single-episode DVD. This, however, did not spoil our enjoyment one jot – the wonderful production values and acting still shone through. So, if you are hesitating about buying this repackaged set at its really appealing price I would say “Go ahead.”These programmes were originally shot on film, on 16mm Ariflex cameras. I don’t know if these cameras shot in what was called “Super 16” format. I know that the great BBC production of “Pride and Prejudice” (with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth) was shot in Super 16 and has been transferred to Blu-Ray to wonderful effect. If only that could be done with “Inspector Morse” for ultimate quality.

As described