Rating: 
Summary: DVD Quality Not Up to Standard
Review: This is a review of the DVDs on technical terms. Not a review of the artistic merits of the production. For that the DVD gets a five-star. The second season DVDs released by A & E boast an image that is sharper by far than the Carlton R2 U.K. release, but sadly 4 of the 6 episodes in Set 1 are sub-par in every other respect, especially the audio. Whoever remixed the dialogue, music, and sound effects clearly had no respect for Derek Wadsworth's dynamic scores because in "The Exiles", music is consistently
low in relation to dialogue and feeble when it's meant to convey mood like at the start of Act 2 when we see Cantar in Medical Centre. Wadsworth's "alien" score is barely audible on this transfer. Same is true for the glorious drum music of the travel tube scene at the seven minute mark. It sounds positively dim here. None of the first five episodes sound right. "One Moment of Humanity" has its music at a better level but certain tonal aspects are completely missing, especially during the dance scene, and even some of the dialogue is muffled. Compare these to the Carlton R2 releases and the audio there booms through with crystal clarity and full range. "All That Glisters" and "Journey to Where" have the same audio problems though not as bad. Moreover, "The Metamorph" has a yellowish tint to its reds and oranges in sharp contrast to the uncorrupted hues of the R2 Carlton. And the film grain so clearly evident on this release is minimal on the R2. "All That Glisters" is way too red and dark whereas the R2 version is more clearly lit. That said, "Journey to Where" has better colors and contrast here than on the R2, and its bass levels are outstanding, while "The Taybor" looks and sounds superb. The remaining A & E second season transfers are top notch but it's sad that the first episodes of second season, the ones that form the initial impressions of the new series, are so badly remastered.
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