Victor Meldrew is one of Britain's best loved sitcom characters, and it's easy to see why. He's funny as hell! Renwick's writing is outstanding throughout the whole run of the show. The writing is so fine, it can be minutes, or merely seconds between tears of laughter and tears of sorrow. I am not easily moved; I have cried countless times upon certain scenes. So you see, it really is that brilliant. The characters are real, they have faults, and they have commendable traits. The relationships are never foggy, but never superficial. The funny moments come in droves and it's never long before there's another gag - Renwick uses certain techniques almost as a motif, they occur so often (such as Victor's absentminded inane droning leading to a delayed reaction to other character's revelations), but it never gets old, and never appears forced.
To jog your memory, the episodes in series 6 are:
The Executioner's Song Victor's window cleaning performance is reviewed (poorly) in the parish magazine, but he does manage to find the perfect birthday present for modern art lover Patrick.
Tales of Terror Victor's got the lead role in the amateur production of Nosferatu the Vampire, but real life is scarier...
The Futility of the Fly A deep-fried finger in his chips, an unsolicited giant plastic fly and inadvertantly getting his wife's best friend tattooed... who would believe it?
Threatening Weather A power cut on the hottest day of the year is a trial for victor, as if coping with feet that have been featuredin The Lancet and teenagers having sex on the back seat of his car isn't bad enough.
The Dawn of Man Nick's identical 'twin', Patrick's gay brother and video shop popcorn... all contrive to create maximum havoc. (NB: PARTICULARLY HILARIOUS)
'Things aren't simple anymore Nothing out of the ordinary in Victor's last days on Earth, their home becomes a sacred shrine, Victor syringes a car mooner's behind and he's the only one to turn up to a work reunion. (NB: MAY MAKE YOU CRY)
The episodes can be watched again and again - at 45 minutes a pop each, with self contained storylines, each has many strands of plot to follow. Included on this DVD is "I don't believe it - The Story of One Foot in the Grave" which is worth a look, including interviews which reminisc on the characters of bygone days. There is also an audio commentary on The Exectuioner's Song with David Renwick and Richard Wilson. Not particularly different from any other audio commentary, various bits of info are revealed of the production.
203 mins run time.
Also note, the DVD box set doesn't include the Christmas specials DVD, and it doesn't include the two Comic Relief specials (available for viewing only on youtube - not available on DVD)
Strangely enough, although none of the visuals have been edited for the DVD, a lot of the special effect noises and scores have been removed or replaced in various places, so if it's not how you remember it that's why! I believe it was for copyright reasons.
--- buy the complete box set, you'll save so much more money and many copies are available on sale on amazon and other retailers now, rather than spending £10-15 on each series, buy the whole thing for that --- I couldn't wait so I bought each series as it came out on DVD (much better quality than the videos)
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Soundtrack
Good
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Not applicable
Value for Money
Poor
What format are you reviewing?
DVD
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