SIX FEET UNDER
"Six Feet Under" is another Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning American drama series which has had success both sides of the Atlantic. It's had a 'ground-breaking' five-season run on HBO in the States (the same people who brought us Sex and the City) and though I thought we'd only seen the first three seasons over here in the UK, it would appear that four have been aired, as the fifth and final season will go out on E4 on the 16th August.
As far as I'm aware, the first three seasons are available to buy as complete sets in this country, and you can get hold of the fourth season over the Internet as it's available to buy in the States. (Remember though to check that your DVD player will be able to play it). The fifth, and final, season is currently airing on HBO with 12 episodes over the summer.

FROM THE BEGINNING...
The front of the box for the second series will be familiar to viewers of the show - it's the tree from the title credits, with the title 'Six Feet Under' encased in a box under the ground. Once you open the box and take out the DVD casing (the front of which is the same as the box) you'll see that it's one of those fold-out concertina types which houses the five discs.

As you pull the casing out you'll find the name of each episode, what disc it's on and who wrote and directed each episode - there's also a still photograph for each one.

There are 13 episodes in total - two on disc 1 and disc 5 and three episodes on the other three discs. If you were watching a lot of these episodes in one go it might be a bit annoying to have to keep changing the discs, but the episodes are just under an hour each in length. The running time for the entire set is a whopping 727 minutes - over 12 hours! That should keep you occupied for some time.

LOADING...
The quality of the DVDs is good, though I'm sure DVD players and TVs are a contributing factor the DVDs play extremely well. As part of the show the screen often fades either to black or to white - a good effect in my opinion. The DVDs have never skipped or done anything other than play perfectly, even in my temperamental machine, though sometimes if I pause during an episode it can take a good few seconds to get going again. It actually states on the box that you can experience a slight pause due to its dual-layer format.

When the DVD loads, you'll see the HBO logo and then a montage which plays as the menu loads - taking exactly 28 seconds. The good news is that if you have a menu button on your DVD player, pressing it takes you directly to the menu. Once you're there, the menus are easy to navigate and fairly quick to load; on choosing a sub-menu you'll have to wait a very impressive 3 seconds for it to load. There are no moving images or sound on these sub-menus, as there is on the main menu. You're always able to see clearly what your options are on the menus, and which option you're currently highlighting, something which cannot be said of all DVD menus.

EXTRA...
Once you've selected an episode, you'll find a brief synopsis of that episode, and where possible, the option to play the episode with audio commentary. This feature is available on five episodes: 1, 7, 10, 12 and 13.

To be honest, I don't see the appeal of this feature and have never felt the urge to use it, but I shall try it briefly so as to be able to make some comment on it: Well, I've watched about three minutes of episode 10 with audio commentary and I must admit that it quite interesting. It is, as you'd imagine, very intrusive - talking constantly over the dialogue of the characters so I'd recommend watching the episode first and if you think 'Wow, that's interesting, I wonder how they filmed that...' watching at a later date with the commentary.

WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT...
The show centres around the Fisher family - owners of Fisher & Sons., a funeral home. It looks in particular at what life is like when death is your business. On top of that, the Fisher family themselves are still trying to come to terms with the death of Nathaniel Fisher - the head of the family - almost a year after it happened.

When you consider that not one episode is written and directed by the same pair - instead the team of writers and directors mix and match with each other - the show flows extremely well. I think this is due to a lot of conventions that the show has, such as, for example, a death at the beginning of each show. Fishers & Sons. will take on the funeral and the rest of the show plays out around this. Also, we see the main characters' thoughts, hopes and fears through daydreams that they have - sometimes even through imaginary conversations with Nathaniel Fisher.

It's a fairly dark sort of humour in this show, not everything is doom and gloom but serious issues are dealt with, both in the deaths of the minor characters at the beginning of the show and their friends and family, and in the lives of the main characters themselves, whose roles are all acted superbly. The show gives an insight into how people deal with death in different ways, and how culture, upbringing, religion and other factors can affect this. It doesn't make a joke out of death, but it does sometimes highlight the ironies of both life and of death.

SUITABILITY...
The DVD is rated 18 - no other rating would be appropriate. There are scenes of a sexual nature, swearing, violence, occasionally drug usage is depicted, but on top of all this the show deals predominantly with death. Not only is this unsuitable for under 18's (not to say that there aren't under-18's mature enough to deal with the issues raised) but you might find that this show is unsuitable for many adults, it can be quite gory. You'll see bodies being prepared to be buried and though really gory shots are rare, they do occur.
I feel that I should warn you, each and every show opens with a death, ranging from an old man having a heart attack as he puts the wheelie bin out, a Santa Claus having a fatal accident on a motorbike, to a man accidently killing himself trying 'autoerotic asphyxiation' - probably best not to ask...
I read a review that said that this show was 'family orientated' - a statement I don't completely agree with, though I can see what they mean. The 18 rating is there for a reason and it's really up to parents to watch this and then decide whether this is suitable viewing for their children. My parents have seen an episode of this (watching one was more than enough for them) but at least they know what we (me and my 16-year-old sister) are watching.

EXTRA EXTRAS...
I already mentioned the audio commentary feature, but on disc 5 there's also a 20 minute featurette (cute word) called 'Making of a Working Stiff' (not quite so cute) which is a behind-the-scenes look at what special effects are used. I have watched this and thought that it was a very interesting insight into the show. It's a bit like the shows where they tell you how they make the wounds look realistic for hospital/surgery type dramas, only this time with corpses. This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you like this kind of thing then it's perhaps worth watching.

SPECIAL EFFECTS...
Taking of special effects...they are good. Not that I've seen too many, but the bodies used are very...true to form (I had to think my way out of using the word 'life-like' there). Thankfully you don't see too many bodies during the show, and the majority of those you do have been prepared for their viewing. Like I said, the manner in which some of the minor characters die is sometimes very brutal and bloody and sometimes (rare but it does happen) you'll see the body whilst it's being prepared for viewing - in a less than perfect state.

SOUNDS PRETTY GOOD...
The music played the show is always good, suitable for the moment. They deal with serious issues that have to be handled sensitively and the music echoes this. Again, due to the different cultures, religions, lifestyles that come into the show week in week out because of the dying character at the beginning, you'll see a huge range of music. A biker funeral, a Jewish funeral, a Buddhist funeral - all with the kind of genre's of music you would be expect.
The sound quality is very good too - with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound when played in English. You also have the choice of English 2.0 and French 2.0. I didn't realise you could play it in French (even though it says as much on the box) but I've just tried it and the French is beautifully clear and crisp. Of course, you do get the problem with dubbing that the mouths of the characters are not moving in time with what they are saying - this goes without saying, but the quality of the French is very high.

Subtitles are also available - in English, French, Dutch, Arabic, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish and Swedish. I find these to be fairly unintrusive, clear and easy to follow.

A HEFTY PRICE TAG...
You need to shop around to find the best deal - I just did a search for this on Froogle (part of Google) and I found it for a whopping £57.41 on 'Looking4dvds'. The average sort of price is around the £39.99 mark. Remember, buying online might also incur a delivery charge which will push the price up by a couple of quid. Froogle brought up a couple of eBay auctions where it's selling for about £20.

Tesco - £39.97
Amazon.co.uk - £28.97
play.com - £37.99 (this site quotes the RRP as being £49.99)

MY OPINION...
I really enjoyed this show when I caught it on Channel 4, so bought Series 1 to catch up on what I'd missed. By this point I was so into it that I had to buy Series 2 when it came out. The characters are all so complex, and are all played so well and that's what makes it so enjoyable to watch. It's certainly not a morbid programme, it just doesn't skirt around the issue of death but this is just one issue the show deals with. It takes a very clever bunch of writers to be able to make a show funny when it deals with such delicate issues, at least that's what I think, and the writers of this show really pull it off, whilst still managing to be very sensitive. The main writer and director of this show (though there is a team of them) Alan Ball is an Oscar-winning writer - he's the guy who wrote American Beauty. Don't get me wrong, you won't be laughing out loud every few minutes, it's definitely an acquired taste.
Though it cost a lot of money, I'm very glad I've got this DVD. There aren't many extras to speak of, but what there is is good. And the episodes are good enough to stand alone without a million and one extras. I'm impressed by the quality of the DVD, well it had to be more than good for what it cost, but it hasn't disappointed me. I'm even content to let the menu just play for a while, it's very artistic and I think, too, very symbollic of the show. It wasn't until I watched the audio commentary until I became aware of some of the devices they use and the effect they're trying to create - it's very subtle and I was only aware on a subconscious level. A lot of thought goes into each and every scene and it certainly pays off. Like the characters of the show, the show itself is complex and has many layers and that's what makes it so good.

THE FISHERS AND FRIENDS...
Nate Fisher - played by Peter Krause (We Don't Live Here Anymore)
David Fisher - played by Michael C. Hall (Paycheck)
Ruth Fisher - played by Frances Conroy (The Aviator)
Claire Fisher - played by Lauren Ambrose (Psycho Beach Party)
Brenda Chenowith - played by Rachel Griffiths (Hilary and Jackie)
Federico Diaz - played by Freddy Rodriguez (Chasing Papi)
Keith Charles - played by Mathew St. Patrick

There isn't really a main character, each one steps into the spotlight at one time or another with their own personal fears and issues to deal with. They're complex characters on their own, but the fact their lives and choices intertwine adds an extra layer to the show.

All in all, I do recommend the DVD - especially at the bargain prices you can find it for on eBay and other sites. If you've watched it on E4 or C4 and enjoyed it then this box set is great to add to your DVD collection. If you've never seen the show then I would recommend trying to catch a couple of episodes before you buy. It's not currently showing on C4 or E4, but if you check out the HBO website then there is the option to watch clips of the show and you can read episode guides for the first four seasons - be warned though, this will spoil the plot (especially seeing how season four hasn't been aired over here in the UK yet).

The Six Feet Under page on the HBO website can be found at www.hbo.com/sixfeetunder

Thanks for reading!