Dave Allen - The Best Of (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Satisfactory

Advantages:	Dave Allen fans will love it
Disadvantages:	Don't pay the BBC (see review)

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

On the 6th of July 1936, in Tallaght, Ireland, a little chap called David Tynan O'Mahoney came into the world. Born of strict catholic parents into a large family and with a war just around the corner, life was not easy for little David.

After being educated in a strongly disciplinarian convent school, he ventured out into the world to become a journalist. From there he followed his first love of comedy, and eventually, in 1959, he was given his chance on the show New Faces. But it was in Australia where his true potential was first recognised and he was given his own talk show, which ran for a year between 1963-64.

Returning to Great Britain, he guest appeared on numerous shows, most notably The Val Doonican show, until in 1965 he was finally given his own by ITV. From there, he flitted between ITV and the BBC, where his sketch and comedy shows became infamous for their anti-religious, sex-filled content, and often brought him to the forefront of the moral watchdogs like Mary Whitehouse. In particular, his use of the f-word on television caused questions to be asked in parliament.

In 1993, after the end of his final series, he slipped quietly into semi-retirement, being tempted out only for the occasional chat show appearance.

On the 5th of March 2005, little David Tynan O'Mahoney passed away in his sleep, aged 68. And so passed one of the greatest, most controversial and ground-breaking comedians of our time.

Why the potted history of someone that you have never heard of?

The answer to that, dear reader, is two-fold.
Firstly, David Tynan O'Mahoney was better known to the world as Dave Allen.
Secondly, because he deserved better than what he was given by the BBC or ITV, companies for whom he had worked, on and off, for 28 years before retiring. Let's face it, if Alan Bl#*$y Titchmarsh stubbed his toe, there would be twelve hours of programming in tribute and a televised appeal for all those 'foot-damaged' victims out there. Why? Because he isn't controversial, because he doesn't push the boundaries, because he is safe.
Dave Allen was none of those things, and instead of a series of tributes, his passing was completely ignored.

Except for the release of this DVD. (You were wondering, weren't you.)

Dave Allen, for all those of you who were living in either a box or a womb for the past 40 years, was the original alternative comedian. He had a very unorthodox style, sitting on a high stool, swearing, drinking whisky and chain-smoking cigarettes.
Neither did he 'tell jokes' to any great extent. True, the occasional Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman managed to creep their way into his act, but for the most part, his brand of comedy fed from the trough of human nature.

He was THE observationist comedian, quick to grasp the minutiae of life and see the funny side. His two favourite subjects were sex and religion, both of which he sank his teeth into so far that he drew blood from the TV watchdogs of the day.

When it came to sex, Dave Allen attacked both the liberal, flower-child free-sex attitude of the younger generation as much as he made fun of the closed-minded, hell-fire and brimstone ranting of some of his peers.
With religion, his favourite target tended to be the Catholic Church. This vitriol seemed to be fuelled by his up-bringing, and many a time his stories would revolve around the nuns from his old school.

As Dave grew older, his bile seemed to lose some of its potency, and his target seemed to shift more to himself. Never was he more funny than when he was complaining about the effect that aging was having on him; losing his memory, his hair etc.

During his time on television, he had many shows. Lots were basically just him, sitting on his stool, pondering life, the universe and his naval. But some were sketch shows, where he used his writing talents to produce various vignettes of humour. This showcase allowed him to go to town on his two pet subjects, often combining them in one sketch for added humour.

But, somehow, despite the promise, these sketch shows never managed to live up to Dave Allen's solo performances.

This DVD, produced by the BBC (to cash in on his death), is just over an hour and a half in length and combines both the solo sit-down performances with the sketches. For a die-hard Dave Allen fan, it is good to be reminded of the many facets of his talent. But for a Dave Allen virgin, it will seem very disjointed, jumping from sit-down to sketch, from subject to subject, without flow or rhythm.

Anyone who wants to buy a Dave Allen DVD, I would strongly recommend one called Dave Allen Live……On Life. It is much funnier, and better put together.

As regards the technical aspects of this offering.
Well, it is a collection of clippets from nearly forty years of TV. Obviously there are going to be some problems with picture and sound quality, but at least the BBC seem to have done their best to overcome these and keep the feature to an acceptable DVD standard.

With regards to Extras.
It is true to say that extras to this sort of DVD would, for the most part be superfluous. However, in the mid-nineties, Dave came out of retirement to film a six-part 'documentary' about himself and his life for ITV. Despite the fact that the BBC produced this DVD, I think it would have been a fitting tribute to a truly great entertainer if they had joined forces with their mortal enemy and added some of the footage from this documentary, to give a little bit of background to the life of Dave Allen.

Obviously, this would have been too much to ask from two companies who, between them, couldn't come up with a single tribute programme.

Dave Allen. Rest in Peace.