The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

England's first department store: home to the world's oldest problems...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 12, 2013

Set amidst the Victorian splendor of Britain's first department store, The Paradise is a rags-to-riches story of a young girl who falls in love with the intoxicating charms of the modern world. As Denise (Vanderham) finds her feet as a lowly shop girl, she must navigate her way through power struggles, intrigues and affairs. When the shop's dashing and reckless owner, John Moray (Elliott), spots her talents she knows she can use this opportunity to rise to great things. Through sexy, episodic stories driven by romance and glamour, this series creates a world as colorful and captivating as the silks on display in the store. This is a love story, a story of ambition and progress, with a mysterious, dark secret at its heart.

Emun Elliott steals the show, not to mention the hearts of the series' ladies...

The Blu-ray release of The Paradise: Season One features all eight first season episodes spread across two BD-50 discs. The following is an episode by episode breakdown. Minor spoilers may be included:

• Episode 1: Denise Lovett (Joanna Vanderham), a young and ambitious country girl with only her wits to live on, arrives in a booming Northern city to take up a long-held promise of work in her uncle Edmond's drapery shop. But she soon discovers that her uncle (Peter Wight) cannot afford to employ her, as most of his customers have been seduced away by John Moray's (Emun Elliott) The Paradise, England's first department store.
• Episode 2: Jocelin Brookmire (Olivia Hallinan), an old friend of Katherine Glendenning (Elaine Cassidy), is seduced by the wonders of The Paradise. Soon her erratic spending begins to concern the staff. When Sam (Stephen Wight) comes to her rescue, a chance moment leads to a misunderstanding that threatens his career and the reputation of the store. It's left up to shopgirl Pauline (Ruby Bentall) to save the day. Meanwhile, a flustered Miss Audrey (Sarah Lancashire) gives Denise an opportunity to shine.
• Episode 3: A shocking discovery in ladieswear causes ripples through the store. To test Moray's feelings, the wealthy Katherine Glendenning (Elaine Cassidy) pursues another man. At the same time, Miss Audrey bans Denise from having any more ideas, forcing Denise to use all her cunning.
• Episode 4: When Miss Audrey develops a mysterious illness, her absence creates a vacuum. With a potential client expected to make a large order, Moray and business associate Dudley (Matthew McNulty) make a decision that causes friction and jealousy between Denise and fellow shopgirl Clara (Sonya Cassidy). And Katherine enjoys the effect Peter (Mark Bonnar) is having on her life, but is it enough to banish all thoughts of Moray?
• Episode 5: Moray's neighbour fulfils his ambition to work at The Paradise, leading to all kinds of trouble within the store. Denise's new methods ruffle some feathers, and Katherine goes to extreme lengths to win Moray's attention.
• Episode 6: An overeager Pauline offers to man the counter to impress Sam. With Dudley's words ringing in his ears, Moray commits to a life-changing decision but regrets it almost immediately. Security chief Jonas (David Hayman) resorts to blackmail to ensure his secret dealings remain hidden. And despite the warnings of Miss Audrey, Denise is unable to keep her true feelings from Moray.
• Episode 7: Katherine sets out to prove her credentials as the soon-to-be Mrs. Moray, while Denise wins over the Tollgate Street shopkeepers and rises to her biggest challenge yet.
• Episode 8: As a wedding approaches, a dangerous discovery in the dead of night sends shockwaves through The Paradise. Excitement spreads when Moray announces a party for the staff, forcing him to realize where his heart truly lies. When the wedding day arrives, can Moray find courage when he needs it most, or will the threat of losing the Paradise stop him from following his heart?

The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shot digitally, The Paradise impresses in high definition with a rather fetching 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. Crush and noise creep into the image from time to time, but little else distracts. Artifacting, banding, aliasing and other issues are nowhere to be found, and detail -- though occasionally a bit soft due to diffusion and other evocative cinematography techniques -- is natural and nicely resolved. Edges are clean and refined, textures are revealing, and almost every inch of the series' period sets and costumes is showcased without incident. Colors are also lifelike and beautifully saturated, with lovely skintones, deep black levels and excellent contrast. The Blu-ray edition of Season One delivers, and then some.

The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The merits of BBC Home Entertainment's restrained but rewarding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track may not be readily apparent, but given time, the quality of the lossless mix is undeniable. Dialogue is clean, clear and convincingly grounded, prioritization is unimpeachable, and dynamics are quite good. LFE output and rear speaker activity are unsurprisingly reserved, and yet there's a period grandness and fullness to the soundfield that's more than suitable to the task at hand. Add to that very little in the way of irregularities or inconsistencies and you have a track that shines.

The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Behind the Doors of The Paradise (HD, 29 minutes): This catchall documentary features numerous interviews and plenty of behind-the-scenes footage to reveal the inner workings of the show, its production design and, of course, England's first department store.

The Paradise: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Paradise offers immediate appeal with a strong cast and outstanding production design. It's a bit too light on story and a bit too heavy on romantic melodrama, but I'll take that over stuffy indifference or stocky plotting any day of the week. BBC Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release excels as well. Its video presentation is terrific and its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track free of any issues whatsoever; only its somewhat slim supplemental package comes close to disappointing. Still, The Paradise should prove enough for fans of Downton Abbey, Call the Midwife and other current costume dramas. If its second season is a touch tighter, the series might just completely reel me in.