Men Behaving Badly - Series 1-6 - Complete (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Not applicable

Advantages:	All 6 Series in one box set
Disadvantages:	Missing the last 3 episodes .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Men behaving badly was created by Simon Nye for Hartswood Films. It was first shown on Thames Television Limited with a swap to BBC at the start of Series 3. In all 36 episodes were made over 6 series between 1992 and 1997. Four Christmas specials were also made but they are not included in this box set.

This box set is the first time that all 6 series have been brought together. The box itself has an outer sleeve. Inside it folds out to reveal all 6 discs. On the other sides can be found a list of all the title episodes along with very bright and colourful pictures of all the characters.

~~~The Characters~~~

Gary….Martin Clunes
Tony…..Neil Morrissey
Dorothy….Caroline Quentin
Deborah….Leslie Ash
Dermot….Harry Enfield

Gary is the manager of a small security firm. His two unfortunate co workers are Anthea, his secretary and George his assistant. Both are more mature in years than Gary, and their thinking on many matters is usually quite different from his. They both put up with quite a bit from their boss but miraculously they both manage to survive the whole 6 series.

Gary lives in a house that has been split into two flats. He owns the downstairs half, which he shares with his tenant. In the first series, this is Dermot, however he leaves during the break of series and so in series 2 in comes Tony. The idea is that Gary rents out the spare room in order to help pay the bills but Tony spends most of the five series trying to find work after the collapse of his music business and so never actually manages to pay any rent at all.

Dorothy is a nurse at the local hospital. Dorothy is also the long suffering girlfriend of Gary. She knows him better than he knows himself. Despite his ways she puts up with him and his ways, even moving in with him for a temporary period.

Deborah has the privilege of owning the upstairs flat, above the boys. As if that was not great enough she also always has to fight off the affections of Tony who is absolutely besotted with her.

~~~The Episodes~~~

Series One

With the first couple of Series being shown at an earlier time there was a limit to what could be shown. Whilst it was very entertaining at the time, later Series show what they were really capable of.
The first series starts with the two boys trying to win the affections of the new owner, Debs, of the upstairs flat. Despite already having a girlfriend, there is no stoppintenant.g Gary. Then Gary comes up with the idea of an open relationship. Amazingly Dorothy agrees, but it's not as simple as that, she has a plan. Most of the rest of the Series is continued with the boys desperately competing to be the one to get into Debs' knickers.

Series Two

Series Two comes to life with the introduction of new lodger Tony. With Dermots abrupt leaving Gary advertises for a replacement and doesn't get quite what he expects. Then Tony comes along. With the two only have booze and birds on the brain they are a perfect couple and Tony moves in. At first Gary is a little worried about Tony's sexual preferences but as the series goes on it can clearly been seen that Tony is quite a womanizer but he only really has eyes for one woman…..Deborah.

Series Three.

Now being shown on a later time on BBC things start to hot up a bit, and let's just say not so much is left to the imagination. The Series starts good for Tony as Deborah splits from her boyfriend. Tony senses that she must therefore be desperate and so sees this as his chance to woo her, or something like that. But Deborah's just gets more and more depressed and decides to sell up and go traveling. Can Tony persuade her to stay? Meanwhile Dorothy is disgusted with the way Gary and Tony behave like typical bachelors and spend all their time getting drunk rather than worrying about small things such as cleaning. As a result she orders him to get a cleaner. Gary is not happy but reluctantly agrees, however he changes his mind when he meets his new cleaner, a young polish student. Tony finally gets a job in the Crown, the local pub and Gary and Dorothy toy with the idea of getting married.

Series Four

Deciding not to get married in the end, series Four then kicks off with Gary and Dorothy deciding on whether or not to start a family. Gary is all for it until his assistant George informs him that there will be no sex for at least two years after the birth. To make things worse Gary then becomes convinced Dorothy is having an affair after reading an article about tell tale signs. The question is, is she? A couple of the episodes concentrate on Tony and his girlfriends. Despite still chasing Deborah, he still manages to have a string of girlfriends, and even has to cope with three at once, and then one, rather unhappily, finds his collection of porno.

Also in this Series Dorothy gets to be nursed by Gary after having her appendix removed. She survives the op, but will she survive the nursing?

Series Five.

During the Series break Tony has gone traveling. The series starts with his return but all has changed. Dorothy has moved in and she decides that threes' a crowd so insists that Gary asks Tony to leave. Not only that but their favourite haunt 'The Crown' has a rather unexpected facelift as well as a change of landlord. What will Gary and Tony make of him and the changes? It also looks like debs has decided to become a lesbian, at least that is the conclusion Tony and Gary come to when Debs has a friend to stay.

Upset by Gary telling Tony he is putting on weight, Tony decides to Tell Dorothy what Garys' bank balance is resulting in him grudgingly giving a donation to the hospital which he immediately attempts to retrieve.

To finish the series, the girls go away for the weekend leaving the boys alone with a home made sauna and a couple of girls from next door anything could happen.

Series Six

To bring the program to an end, this last series concentrates on finishing things up. It starts off with Gary and Dorothy planning to get married, which of course means a stag night. Then the wedding Day arrives and both are having second thoughts. For Tony things are on the up, literally, as debs decides that Tony is not so bad after all and gives in to his pleas to join her in bed.

Now two happy couples they all decide to go away for a weekend, but things just don't go as planned.

Back home, Dorothy decides its' time to change the sofa, which has been the center piece for most of the six series. This is an ideal time for Gary to reminisce and the writer and producer to put together clips from the other series just to remind you that it is about time you watched it all over again.

The Box set also includes 4 interactive Quizzes which when successfully completed you are rewarded with out takes from the episodes.

~~~Enjoyability~~~

This box set is certainly one for your collection if you have a good sense of humour. For those easily offended it may be a bit near the mark, as all areas of relationships and typical mens' habits are covered throughout.

The box set is rated 15 so not suitable for younger viewers. I think most of the innuendos would go over there heads but some of the scenes may need a lot of explaining, particularly the one where Dorothy finds a number of tissues in Garys' bed.

For me, I find it hilarious and can relate to so much of it. It is one of those that you can watch over and over and never tire.

One thing I particularly like and the main reason it was bought is that as the episodes are just half hour long it means they can be watched when I go to bed, usually just enough for me before I nod off.

The only downside I would say is that they did not include the final trilogy in the box set. This was the three Christmas specials that they showed to finish it all off. Whilst they are available separately, it seems strange to have included all the series bar the last 3 episodes.

~~~Price~~~

Expect to pay around £40 for the box set. This is not bad considering that it contains over 17 hours of comedy.