The One Foot In The Grave - Series 1-6 - Complete (Box Set) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	Absolutely brilliant at messing with your emotions, it has everything .
Disadvantages:	Not a single one .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I should find this review easy as my wife is constantly calling me Victor when I'm on the phone complaining again. One thing I can't complain about is this great box set.

Comprising of the full series 1-6 and the Christmas specials plus a couple of special features titled, "Britain's Best Sitcom" and "The story of One Foot in the Grave", there's certainly plenty of viewing.

12 discs in the set with 6 episodes per disc running for 30 min approx. The Christmas specials are roughly 60 to 90 min in length and are on their own disc.

Written by the morbidly minded David Renwick and starring Richard Wilson & Annette Crosbie respectively as The embittered and grumpy Victor Meldrew and his long-suffering and surprisingly patient wife Margaret.

The series follows Victor & Margaret through Victor's recent early retirement as a security guard replaced by his modern equivalent, an electronic security system. Or by, "A box" as Victor so eloquently puts it. We are taken through Victor's subsequent days on end trying to amuse himself and find things to do to while away the very long days. Margaret meanwhile continues to work at the flower shop.

It's not long before Victor's boredom and lack of things to do gets him into trouble and creates a man who won't overlook the tiniest mistake and incompetence of delivery men, BT, garage mechanics, answering machines, neighbours, plumbers and just about everyone else he comes into contact with. He will even have a go at the local yobs which eventually explodes into a retaliatory and hilarious disaster. This doesn't stop Victor however, it just fuels his impatience even more and poor Margaret is usually the first one to take the brunt of it. She will listen, and listen, and listen more, then, "FOR GOD'S SAKE". Victor stops, lowers his shoulders, mouth agape with a look on his face that says, "What's YOUR problem?".

From watching the series I found that Victor & Margaret, despite his relentless drive to rid the world of incompetence as Margaret looks on with despair, actually love each other affectionately. There are some moments that made me smile and even produced a little tear at the corner of my eye.

As the stories unfold they take you through a rollercoaster ride of emotions. You can be laughing your head off and in a second you will be very emotional but that doesn't last long as the pace moves swiftly and soon you will be angry or even shocked. It really does tug at every emotion, sometimes in just one episode.

Victor and Margaret have neighbours to one side called Patrick & Pippa played by Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitsky. Patrick is always amused and intrigued but irritated by Victor and is forever peeping through his curtain watching him while giving Pippa a detailed verbal and intellectual narration of the action as it unfolds. Pippa meanwhile strives for Patrick and Victor to get along with each other as she and Margaret are friends despite their other half's bickering all the time.

There's a neighbour to the other side often referred to as "Mr Swainey". This is a neighbour that even Victor regards as annoying. He has conveniently cut a well disguised gate in the fence bordering his and Victor's back garden to make it "easier" to chat with his neighbour. Mr Swainey is the kind of person who arranges local events and helps the aged. He often asks victor to get involved by doing his once prestigious Ventriloquism act or by playing the back end of some animal in a panto. As you would expect, it never goes to plan and often ends in some kind of catastrophe but you can be sure it will be at the very least, funny in a morbid kind of way.

Doreen Mantle plays Margaret's friend Mrs Warboys. Victor usually seems to have no time for her and laughs at her misgivings. One episode she is sitting on the sofa discussing a sensitive issue with Margaret. Victor is on the chair wearing headphones apparently listening to a comedy but seems to laugh at every key moment of Mrs Warboys evident problem. Later on in the series you will find that Victor isn't just the epitome of grumpiness, you find that he does have feelings for those he normally disregards and that he does care, well, until he's sure the person is all right.

I won't bother going into the synopsis of each episode as it's better to just watch without knowing what's going to happen. A description, even brief, can spoil what's to come.

Just be sure to have a box of tissues because you will need them for wiping tears from laughter and sadness all the same.

There's some cameo appearances by well known actors like Eric Idle, Barbara Windsor, Ray Winstone and Brian Murphy amongst others.

In conclusion the only way to describe this series other than the obvious for a comedy would be to say its emotive and despite the often morbid connotation, it's actually a very warm and pleasing collection of tales to watch and watch again. This is a man to whom all of us can relate at some point in our lives and to a certain degree is the type of person one should admire.

It's a no holds barred journey of one man's mission to rid the world of utter incompetence and impudence. I wish more were like him.