Billy Connolly - World Tour Of Australia (Box Set) (DVD)

...been a big fan of Billy Connolly and remember a time when he was very rarely on tv because of all the bleeps involved. Today of course swearing isn't such an outlawed thing anymore and whether that's good or bad it certainly allows us to enjoy this BBC1 series following Billy as he tours Australia and introduces us to many delightful characters and interesting facts along the way. For this isn't just about his shows - far from it.

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...20 minutes is the way Billy manages to get people to talk to him about traditions, town histories and their life experiences. He shows genuine interest and intrigue about different customs and arts from his experiences with the Tiwi Aborigines where he joins them in eating mangrove worms to his talks to a bushman about his life in the outback. Travelling round on his brilliant Harley Davidson trike which has become a bit of a trademark for Billy ... more

I have always been a big fan of Billy Connolly and remember a time when he was very rarely on tv because of all the bleeps involved. Today of course swearing isn't such an outlawed thing anymore and whether that's good or bad it certainly allows us to enjoy this BBC1 series following Billy as he tours Australia and introduces us to many delightful characters and interesting facts along the way. For this isn't just about his shows - far from it.

Born in Glasgow in 1942, this innovative comedian with the ruffian style hair and beard has been making audiences howl with laughter til their sides hurt for over 30 years and he is well known for playing not only huge places like the Albert Hall but also small theatres and sometimes village halls in order to maintain contact with real people which is what makes this man so great. He started off as a welder in the Glasgow shipyards and surprisingly also joined the TA in the Parachute regiment and was very interested in folk music in the early days. It wasn't long before he had learned to play the banjo and played in the band The Humblebums who also had Gerry Rafferty as a member. Telling jokes was always a big part of his act though and he soon realised that being a comedian was the right choice for him. Although we do have a couple of early songs which were hilarious including the Welly Boot Song and the parody of YMCA's In the Navy which he made famous as In The Brownies in which he dressed up in a brownie's uniform for the performance.

He has been married to Pamela Stephenson since 1989 and with 3 grown up children he has plenty of delightful stories about ordinary happenings and you can tell that this has been taken from his life experience and not just completely made up.

Of course he has also been in various films including the fantastic Mrs Brown with Dame Judi Dench and has an apparantly limitless bucket of talent he carries with him. He also played a role in the Muppets Treasure Island although I seem to remember him being killed off rather quickly in that but this shows the versatility of this man.

This series took place after a similar one where he toured round Scotland and being from Arbroath myself, where he tells us is the place he lost his virginity I can't help be intrigued by this series. Following the success of the Scottish Tour it was decided that they do one in Australia as well as further series of England, Ireland and Wales and one about New Zealand which had some amazing scenery in it.

This features a 4 month sell out tour of Australia which took place in the autumn of 1995 and we see the footage from the comedian's shows along the way but the real beauty of this dvd set which lasts in total 5 hours and 20 minutes is the way Billy manages to get people to talk to him about traditions, town histories and their life experiences. He shows genuine interest and intrigue about different customs and arts from his experiences with the Tiwi Aborigines where he joins them in eating mangrove worms to his talks to a bushman about his life in the outback. Travelling round on his brilliant Harley Davidson trike which has become a bit of a trademark for Billy he takes to swimming with dolphins and climbing to the top of the Sydney Opera House. We see the different sides of Australia and he goes to unusual out of the way places as well as the main cities where he finds that great culture can be found everywhere when you look hard enough for it.

One of my favourite parts of this series is fact that he manages to come across as such a normal everyday approachable man when he is such a widely known star. There are no delusions of grandeur and he is, I feel, happiest when camping out in the wilds and being at one with nature - which he demonstrates as he does his naked dance scene, an act he seems to enjoy in all temperatures as you will know if you saw the tv program A Scot in the Arctic.

There are 8 episodes on this dvd set and if you haven't seen any of this on the Beeb then I would definately recommend buying it. You can get it for excellent value at Blah where it is on sale for £15. A great christmas pressie for any fan this shows that Billy Connolly is not just about smutty humour but about a caring person who loves to not only learn ,but to share his education on the road with others.

I personally hope he decides to take this series of road trips further round other countries. 

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