Taking the Flak - Reporters on a War Footing - DVD

Content: For a long time, young foreign correspondent Harry Chambers (Bruce Mackinnon) has been waiting for this, but now the time has finally come: due to the outbreak of a civil war, the small African state of Karibu, where Harry has been mired for years, is suddenly in the worldwide media spotlight. But Harry's hopes of getting his reporting on air with the BBC are abruptly dashed when the network sends its own team on the ground: the aging, arrogant David Bradburn (Martin Jarvis), who has no idea about the country and its people but is well liked by viewers. Resolute producer Jane Thomason (Doon Mackichan), who not only has to deal with the disastrous conditions at the hotel, but is also distracted from her real work by the end of an affair with cameraman Jack (Lloyd Owen). And radio reporter Margaret Hollis (Joanna Brookes), whose digestive problems keep getting in the way of her work. The journalists' oversized egos clash with enervated locals like receptionist Grace (Lydiah Gitachu), Harry's on-again, off-again girlfriend, and shrewd Joyful Sifuri (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith) - and it not only makes for an extreme culture crash every now and then, but also for plenty of absurd situations.

Taking the Flak - Reporters on a War Footing is a BBC comedy-drama series that takes aim at the foibles of news crews in sometimes bitterly nasty, sometimes cheerfully satirical ways. After the pilot, shot in Kenya in 2007, was well received, the series went on air in autumn 2008, although the subsequent episodes were filmed in Tanzania. Since the pictures were shot by a real news cameraman and authentic locations were used, the series has a very professional and lavish overall look. The fact that some real BBC journalists were also allowed to appear as guest stars gives the action an additional touch of realism.

While the satirical element of the series works well at the beginning, although already in the good pilot some shallow clichés are used, the series can not keep the initially promising quality until the end. The characters remain relatively one-dimensional and even if this is part of the concept of the series in a way, it also prevents an interesting development of the characters for the viewer. In addition, the scripts rely more and more often on worn-out clichés, which initially still amuse, but in the end can only produce a tired smile.

Surely, Taking the Flak - Reporters on a War Footing is still far from being a bad series. There are always too many successful moments for that, which can be attributed to the satirical aspect of the story in particular. But since the mixture of comedy and drama only works to a limited extent and the scripts fall far short of the possibilities offered by the wonderful basic idea, the end of the series after only one season is no real loss for the TV world. Still, if you can overlook the rather flat moments and appreciate British TV satire, you'll be thoroughly entertained in the nearly four hours of this series. And for that, despite small deductions, there is then also a: recommendable!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality is for a TV series on a very good level, image sharpness, coloring and matching of contrasts can all convince. And even if there are here and there small weaknesses in the representation of details or slight image noise in darker scenes, so there is actually no reason to complain overall. And the sound also leaves a decent impression, especially since the stereo mix is perfectly adequate for a comedy series that is primarily dominated by dialogue. Good!

Extras: On the second DVD, in addition to the last two episodes of the series, there are a few nice extras. Besides short outtakes (about 3 min.), a dance sequence as well as an alternative title sequence there are fifteen cut scenes from all seven episodes to see. Not really mind-blowing, but there are some nice moments to be discovered here.

Conclusion: Taking the Flak - Reporters on a War Footing is a satirical comedy series that starts out promisingly, but can't always maintain the quality of the pilot episode. Nevertheless, the battle of journalistic egos in a fictional war zone with its sometimes quite wicked humor and well-observed situational comedy is still well worth watching for lovers of British TV satire. The DVD can also still convince in technical terms and also has a few nice extras on board. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp