The Diary of Charles Pooter
This DVD is compromised of four episodes that total just under two hours. In each episode, we are presented with Charles Pooter, who verbally accounts the events in his life directly to the camera. Pooter talks about a variety of matters including being omitted from a formal gathering, frustrations with his son Lupin, the costs of living, and so forth. You never quite know what to expect from Charles as he goes from one topic to another. Topics and dates are separated with a quick fade to black that has Pooter moving to another part of his house and reappearing with different clothing.
Watching the Diary can be a dry experience — this is British comedy afterall. You’ll need to pay attention to Hugh Bonneville’s body language and gestures as much as his dialogue. I’m more of a fan of British mystery than comedy, and that may be why most of this release had me smirking at best. To be frank, most of this show is quite boring. This isn’t due to Hugh’s acting, but the comedy itself is just flat.
In addition to the four episodes, a few still images show the biography of authors George and Weedon Grossmith, as well as a Hugh Bonneville filmography. As far as presentation, the image and audio quality are on par, but the total lack of subtitles is annoying.
To the summary…
