The Royle Family Album - The Complete Collection (Box Set) (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	funny
Disadvantages:	none

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This box-set is made up of the three series, and the bonus ‘Queen of Sheba’. I paid £50 for this when it first came out, so it’s now a real bargain at just £15.

The Royle Family is a TV sitcom which focuses on the lives of the Royles, a working class family from Manchester. Series 1 is made up of 6 half hour episodes. It is shot with one camera, and has no studio audience or canned laughter.

The show begain in 1998, and heralded a big change in TV. The basic idea behind it is that each episode takes place in the Royle's house, where the family sit around watching TV and chatting. In a nutshell: nothing really happens. The major strength of the show is found in the dialogue, which is extremely witty.

Series one revolves around the planning of Dave and Denise's wedding. Played by Craig Cash and Caroline Aherne (who also wrote the show) these two are one of TVs most lovable couples. Dave is a dopey removal man, completely gormless, and Denise is a lazy layabout. As a couple, they are hilarious.

Series one is the weakest of the 3, and you can tell that they are still finding their feet with it. Some of the jokes seem forced and unnatural, which goes against the grain of what the show is about. However, this disappears in series 2 and 3, so at least they learnt a lesson from it.

The star of the show is Jim Royle, the father of the family (played by Ricky Tomlinson). A lazy, grubby, stubborn old git, he's both lovable and relatable. Some of his lines have gone down in comedy history, like his response to Denise's complaint about him fiddling with his bum; "I paid a pound for this pair of pants, and I've got fifty pence worth stuck up my arse". If you find that funny, that's a good indication you'll like the show, and vice versa.

Posh critics suggest the show is a satire, using wit to poke fun at society, but working class audiences like myself will enjoy it for how relatable the show is. Because of this, anyone who is middle or upper class will find a lot of the humour impossible to relate to.

Season two focuses on Dave and Denise expecting a baby, but of course that doesn't change the format of the show; the whole family still spend every episode sat in front of the telly, chatting and smoking.

As I said earlier, the comedy comes not in set gags or jokes, but in the dialogue and relatabililty of what is going on. In season two we see more depth added to the father daughter relationship of Jim and Denise. At the end of season one, on the wedding day, there was a very moving moment between the two, and season two is no different.

The star of the season is Nana, who is developed in this series to take a more active role. A selfish woman, all she wants to do is to move in with Jim and Barbara, but Jim is defiantly opposed to this. This leads to some excellent verbal battles between the two, which many men will delight in whilst thinking of their own mother in laws.

One of the reasons I think the show is so popular is because of how it presents us with the characters' weaknesses and flaws. It is refreshing to watch TV and see someone who is far from perfect, and makes no apology for it. Dave is stupid, Denise is lazy, Barbara and Jim are grubby, Cheryl is fat, Anthony is quiet and shy, Nana is selfish and Joe is prosaic to the point of coma. There is something about seeing someone who is flawed (like David Brent in 'The Office') and here we have a show that is full of such people. The result: comedy gold.

Season 3 sees the arrival of Baby David, and the terrible parenting of Dave and Denise, which is continued in ‘The Queen of Sheba’. October 2006 drew Caroline Aherne, Craig Cash and friends back to the Royle Family for a one off special, just in time for Christmas DVD release. After her atttempted suicide, Aherne had said she'd never return to the show, but she was lured back, and this one off was the result.

Like any show or film making a comeback something has to be different, and in this case that difference is Nana is dying. That aside, Jim's still the same lazy git he always was, Barbara is still the run down woman we know and love, and Denise and Dave have hardly changed (except for a new baby being on the way). Anthony's all grown up and doing well for himself, and it's just Nana that is on the decline.

Ultimately, this episode (like the 2008 Christmas episode) tried to do a lot in the one hour it had, and to me it felt forced. The comedy wasn't so subtle, and the 'sad' bits were uncomfortable and un authentic; I don't care what you say, Jim would not have cried like a baby at losing Norma - it's not in the character that has been so well presented for so many shows.

Just like in the recent special, they were trying to force the comedy and emotion too much, forgetting we hadn't seen these characters for six years. Yes, we remembered them, and felt fondly about them, but the fact that we hadn't seen Norma for half a decade meant the emotional loss wasn't as profound as it would have been at the end of a series.

All in all, it's nice to see glimpses of the old family, but the emotional highs and lows were too forced and unreal for a show that was all about being real.

All in all, a brilliant box-set that will have you falling about laughing.