Review of Gormenghast

Introduction

The BBC is known worldwide for the quality of some of its dramas, and Gormenghast is one such production that will add to their well deserved reputation. It is a lavish fantasy based on the 1950 story by Mervyn Peake, and the production features just about every well known British actor we have!

The four part series, each episode one hour in length, includes a large supporting cast to the main characters, and features June Brown, the wonderful Stephen Fry, Christopher Lee, Martin Clunes, Spike Milligan and even Sean Hughes.

The plot revolves around the castle of Gormenghast, the home of the ancient Groan family where time has stood still for many years. Deep in the kitchens of the castle, the young good looking kitchen boy, Steerpike, sees his chance to rise to power and rule the castle of Groan. However there is one obstacle in the way – the newly born 77th Earl of Groan, Titus. Over the years as Titus grows up, Steerpike worms his way into the family aiming to rule the castle of Gormenghast.

As the tagline says:

“Six murders, two seductions and three tragic deaths… Who will rule Gormenghast?”

Video

This is the stuff DVD was designed for.

The video quality is faultless. Beautifully crisp and sharp, with deep balanced colours that make this such a memorable fantasy drama. Blacks are true black, with no loss of detail in the shadows, and contrast is high. No compression artefacts were seen.

Audio

As seems the practice on the BBC range (compare The Planets and Walking With Dinosaurs) a flashy Dolby Digital trailer is played on initialising the disc. As there is no 5.1 available, some would say this is a bit of a waste of time!

Sound is Dolby Digital Stereo and is crisp and clear, with plenty of punch sent to the subwoofer. This is brought home during the menus and opening credits of each episode, as the single operatic human voice is beautiful to hear.

Features

With a TV production, generally you would expect not too much in the way of extras, but we get some worthy of note here.

The menus are nicely presented, slightly animated with a spider spinning its web to the right of the screen. You also get a comprehensive summary booklet with brief history of the author, and short synopses of each of the four episodes, as well as a summary of each of the main characters.

The full 30 minute ‘Making of Gormenghast’ is included on the second DVD, and features full cast and crew interviews. The individual sections of this documentary for each of the main characters are also accessible via the cast notes.

A design gallery is available with many still pictures of the detailed costumes that were designed for the series.

Conclusion

Two of the staff from Reviewer were privileged enough to be invited down to Abbey Road Studios to see this DVD of Gormenghast being authored several months ago. At the second annual DVD EuropA Award Ceremony held on 22nd May the award ‘Best Overall DVD Video’ was won by the BBC Worldwide release of Gormenghast produced by Abbey Road Studios. Congratulations to all concerned!

As you would therefore expect, this DVD is superb in every respect. The BBC produces some very polished packages, even down to the box the double DVD set arrives in, which is no larger than the standard Amaray case but includes the second disc mounted on a small hinged plastic ‘page’ in the box.

Video cannot be faulted, and audio too, although first and foremost a television production means no Dolby Digital 5.1, is crisp and clear. The extras are also worthwhile – plenty of background information is available about each character, and the 30 minute Making Of documentary completes the package.

If you enjoyed this series, the DVD will not disappoint. If you have not seen it, the originality and visual appeal of this spectacular series will make a spontaneous purchase of this title a decision that you will not regret.