BBC

Sense & Sensibility (BBC)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 25th, 2008

This BBC mini-series has the unenviable task of winning over audiences very likely familiar with Ang Lee and Emma Thompson’s excellent theatrical adaptation of the Jane Austen novel. And the opening scene might very alarm many a viewer: the rather steamy seduction on display does not, at first blush, seem to fit in to the comedy of manners one is expecting. The post-credit sequence is also rather more gothically melodramatic than one might anticipate (or hope for).
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MI-5: Volume 5

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2008

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When MI-5 first hit American shores, Alias was in full swing, and the comparisons were inevitable. After all, both were sy shows set in a post September 11 world, and both were slick, fun thrillers. Fast forward to 2006, however, and the landscape has changed dramatically. Alias is now off the air, having crashed in spectacular fashion, yet MI-5 is still going strong. In fact, the show just seems to keep getting better and better.

Doctor Who – The Complete Third Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2008

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Imagine a world where William Shakespeare is being controlled by creatures akin to witches, a place where Santa is a deadly menace, and a rather eccentric fellow travels about in a police call box with a rather deceptively spacious interior. To Dr. Who fans of all ages, this is all very familiar territory. I fell in love with Dr. Who as played by Tom Baker from 1974 – 1981. He was the fourth actor to portray the Doctor and arguably the most popular. With a pocket full of jelly babies and a trusty sonic screwdriver,
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Robin Hood Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 6th, 2007

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Synopsis

Robin of Locksley returns to England from the Crusades to find the home he had left behind has taken a drastic turn for the worse under the tyrannical Sheriff of Nottingham. He is forced to take up an outlaw life, fighting for justice for the common man. Marian, fending off the advances of Guy of Gisborne, is his mole in the houses of power.

Of course, you probably knew all of this, didn’t you? What’s new to this version of the Robin Hood’s adventures is a rather contemporary aware…
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Planet Earth – The Complete Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007

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Planet Earth – The Complete Series presents the original U.K. broadcast version with narration by David Attenborough, not the version airing on Discovery narrated by Sigourney Weaver.

Have you ever sat back and wondered about the sheer size and shape of our world, its diversity of habitats or the incredible variety of life we share it with? It’s hard to get your head around it all, especially when most of us are living out our existences in one tiny slice of the place, with the only the odd vacation …
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Hu$tle – Complete Season Two

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2007

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Seriously, have criminals ever been this cool or this much fun to watch? Since Ocean’s Eleven, I mean. For those that don’t know, Hu$tle is a BBC drama that follows the exploits of a team of five con artists as they “earn” their keep. For the sake of keeping the charaters interesting, the majority of the jobs they pull target people who deserve to be conned. Sort of a modern day band of Merry Men, so to speak. If you are a fan of Spooks (known as MI-5 here in the states), you will probably…
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Worst Week of My Life – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2006

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If you ask me, what sitcoms need are fewer contrivances and more realistic humor. That’s what made Seinfeld so brilliant. As horrible as those people were, the sad truth is that all of us have a little bit of that twisted humor lurking within us. That’s just the kind of thing that happens with The Worst Week of My Life. This amazingly funny BBC series lasts just seven episodes, but I guess that should be expected judging from the show’s title. The names of the episodes themselves are “Sunday”, “Monday”, “Tuesday” and so on. By the end of the season, viewers have been treated to what is often-times the worst week of many people’s lives.
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Doctor Who – The Complete First Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 2nd, 2006

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Doctor Who is much more of a cultural phenomenon in the UK than it is here in the States. In fact, the series about a time traveler who fights evil is very much on par with the Star Trek series in North America in terms of its rabid cult following. The original series ran for a staggering 26-seasons on the BBC before finally fading away. The show has become one of the most popular Science Fiction programs of all time.

In 2003, the dead show was brought back as a new series, following the same ba…
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MI-5, Volume 3

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 18th, 2006

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I think all true DVD fans have a list in their mind of movies or television programs that they find to be utterly captivating, and simply cannot fathom why the rest of the world doesn’t feel the same. I have some products on that list in my mind, and MI-5 may very well be on the top.

I first discovered MI-5 when I was sent Volume 2 to review. Upon watching the first episode of that season , I was so completely blown away that I promptly sent away for Volume 1 before proceeding any farther. I was…
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Men Behaving Badly – Seasons One and Two

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 12th, 2005

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No, this is not the NBC series from the mid-90’s starring Rob Schneider. This is the original UK show. All 12 episodes from the first two seasons are available here on 2 discs. In fact, it’s not just a two disc set, but two completely separate releases packaged together.

At first, I was a little surprised that this mediocre show lasted for six full seasons. I changed my mind, however, when I thought about such American staples as Family Matters and Boy Meets World. They are not great monuments…
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MI-5, Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 7th, 2005

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Five discs, ten episodes, one amazing show.

For those that are unaware, MI-5 (or Spooks, as it is called in the UK) is a popular spy series set in London. While some similarities will inevitably be drawn to ABC‘s Alias, MI-5 is an excellent show in its own right. I highly recommend that those that are new to the series start with Season One of the show and work their way up. Starting in the middle of a series cliffhanger is never a good idea, as I learned all-too-late. Of course,…
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Coupling – The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 4th, 2005

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The complete fourth season of the UK’s hit show Coupling arrives on DVD in 6 exciting episodes.

Wait a minute…did I just say “complete season” and “6 episodes” in the same breath? Unfortunately, yes. Now, I can’t really blame the DVD producers; they’re just putting out content that has already been made. Television seasons are short in the UK… what are you going to do? The rumor is that season five has been ordered for production by the BBC, but the show is currently on hiatus, so there is no guarant…
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Office Special, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

This is a two-part special episode of The Office, picking up some time after the endof the second season. The loathsome but self-regarding David Brent no longer works in theoffice, but still hangs out there all the time. Gareth is now in Brent’s position, and Brent is tryingto launch a pop career, and at the same time find himself a girlfriend in time to avoid humiliationat the Christmas party.

This is more of the viciously corrosive humour that made this sho…
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Dame Edna Experience – The Complete Series Two

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

The most enduring creation of Barry Humphries (recently the voice of the shark inFinding Nemo), Dame Edna is a “megastar housewife” and this series is “her” version ofa talk show. Guests include Jane Fonda, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Tony Curtis, Dolph Lundgren,Grace Jones, Princess Michael of Kent, Lauren Bacall and so on. An eclectic bunch, you’ll admit.The interviews are really much more about Edna than they are about her guests: she barely letsthem get a word in edge…
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Room with a View, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 10th, 2004

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Joe Queenan is one of my favorite writers. He is the author of wonderfully amusing essays and books dealing with the subject of film. In his book Confessions of a Cineplex Heckler, he is bold enough to take on the challenge of watching every Merchant Ivory film, back-to-back. At one point late in the narrative, he has this to say:

As I sat there in my reclining chair with my kids lighting matches to my feet, I realized that God had created Merchant and Ivory for only one reason: because otherwise …
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Office, The: The Complete Second Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 13th, 2004

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Synopsis

We’re back at the open plan offices of Wernham-Hogg in Slough, which have now mergedwith the branch at Swindon. This spells disaster for manager David Brent (Ricky Gervais). His(erroneous) self-image of popular, entertaining boss is dealt a mortal blow by the arrival of theSwindon employees and their genuinely smart and funny manager, who becomes Brent’simmediate superior.

The style, as in the original series, is mockumentary, with a fly-on-the-wall handheld camera…
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Doctor Who – The Three Doctors

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2004

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Most American Doctor Who fans are most familiar with the Tom Baker Who. There is no question he added a flair to the role. In this 10th Anniversary special episode we get to see the first 3 Doctors in action. John Pertwee was the current Who. He teams up mostly with 2nd Doctor Patrick Troughton. The first Doctor was played by William Hartnell and was limited to view screen images as he was quite aged and ill. The idea would occur again with the 5 Doctors to celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who. The story is a bit contriv…
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Red Dwarf – Series Three & Four

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2004

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The 1980’s saw a second British entertainment invasion reach the shores of America. That’s when the BBC began to unleash its peculiar brand of humor mixed with sci-fi on PBS stations in the US. College campuses all over the land were tuned to the likes of Dr. Who and later Red Dwarf.

There’s no question that this stuff is not for everyone. Red Dwarf brought us the cheesy f/x and dry humor of Tom Baker’s Dr. Who and added a generous helping of Monty Python and Benny Hill. With the third season, however, thi…
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Allo Allo

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

René (Gorden Kaye) is the owner of a cafe in occupied France. All he wants to do is getthrough the war, and avoid making any waves, and so is very obsequious towards the Germans.Unfortunately, the French resistance wants him to hide two British airman. And every woman insight throws herself at him. And his wife is jealous. And, and. and… One complication afteranother descends upon his head.

I’ll confess that I’ve never been a fan of Are You Being Served?, s…
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MI-5, Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2004

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Synopsis

The format is familiar (as is pointed out by the series creator): this is a “precinct” show. Onlyinstead of cops, we’re dealing with spies, who fight against threats to Great Britain, whilejuggling complicated personal lives. Given the combination of ensemble cast, investigations, andsnazzy, futuristic look of the MI-5 headquarters, you might want to imagine a cross betweenNYPD Blue and La Femme Nikita. The performances are strong, the productionvalues are hig…
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Cambridge Spies

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2003

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Synopsis

We begin is the 1930s, as the forces of Fascism are rising on the European continent.Convinced that Communism is the hope of justice for the future, Cambridge University gradsKim Philby (Toby Stevens), Anthony Blunt (Samuel West), Guy Burgess (Tom Hollander) andDonald Maclean (Rupert Pehry-Jones) become Soviet agents. We follow their lives over thecourse of twenty years, as they rise (in no small part due to the British class system) to everymore important positions …
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Complete Are You Being Served? Collection (Series 6-10)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2003

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This wonderful British comedy comes to DVD once again… this time in a Vol. 6-10 box set. If you are not familiar with this outrageous show, it ruled BBC airwaves from 1972-1985, and continues to entertain today on DVD. Taking place solely on a single floor of a department store, this show covers the lives and misadventures of the staff who are employed there.

Audio

Not much can or should be expected from an aging British television audio track such as this. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono …
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Absolutely Fabulous – Absolutely Special

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 8th, 2003

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Absolutely Fabulous is a British series that aired on the BBC starting in 1992. The show stars Jennifer Saunders as Edina, who is a fashion-world publicist whom with her best friend Patsy, played by Joanna Lumley, tries to re-live their younger days by consuming large amounts of alcohol and drugs. Gotta love those crazy Brits! This formula worked well enough for 4 seasons of the show, which are now available on DVD. Apparently Rosanne Barr tried to convince the networks in the US to make an American version but they…
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Full Bottom – Not Another Half-Arsed DVD Set

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 5th, 2003

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Rik Mayall (Drop Dead Fred) and Adrian Edmondson are the stars in this British comedy about two obnoxious loaners at the bottom of the food chain. Follow along with Richie Richard and Eddie Hitler on their quest for love and money as they try out pheromones, dating services and visit the carnival. This DVD collection contains all three seasons of the show for a total of 18 episodes.

Video

This disc contains a 1.33:1 fullscreen transfer of very good quality. The putrid green color of Richie and Eddie’s apartment comes through in all its grimy glory.
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Office, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 3rd, 2003

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Synopsis

Set in a dismal industrial park (appropriately named the Slough), the offices in questionbelong to Wernham Hogg, a paper company. Principle characters are insufferable boss DavidBrent, skeletal yes-man Gareth Keenan, cynical receptionist Dawn, and bored-out-of-his-skullsales rep Tim. The characters each get their turn speaking to the camera (especially thepsychotically pleased with himself Brent), and we see them interacting too. The tone is not unlikeLarry Sanders, and the…
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