The Smoking Room - Series 1 & 2 (DVD)

...Room', here's an extract from the blurb on the box-set of series one and two - "Welcome to room B209, a drab L-shaped storeroom with yellowing walls and a faulty hot drinks machine. But for some, this place is an oasis - the one place at work where these modern day lepers can wallow in their nicotine habit, avoid going back to the office and talk about nothing in particular- the Smoking Room "


If you like humour ...
...have you in stitches. The acting in both series in amazing and there is never a hint of overacting, the series stars Robert Webb, Selina Griffiths, Debbie Chazen and many others. Everything from the script to the body language is subtly done and benefits hugely from it.


The box-set contains four discs, two for each series, with one being solely episodes from the series and the other containing the remaining episodes and the ... more

If you haven't heard anything about 'The Smoking Room', here's an extract from the blurb on the box-set of series one and two - "Welcome to room B209, a drab L-shaped storeroom with yellowing walls and a faulty hot drinks machine. But for some, this place is an oasis - the one place at work where these modern day lepers can wallow in their nicotine habit, avoid going back to the office and talk about nothing in particular- the Smoking Room "

If you like humour delivered dead-pan and sarcasm supplied in bucket-fulls you'll probably like 'The Smoking Room'. Set in, you guessed it, a smoking room of a company (we never really find out what they do), it contains relatable characters, all of whom have little quirks and mannerisms which will have you in stitches. The acting in both series in amazing and there is never a hint of overacting, the series stars Robert Webb, Selina Griffiths, Debbie Chazen and many others. Everything from the script to the body language is subtly done and benefits hugely from it.

The box-set contains four discs, two for each series, with one being solely episodes from the series and the other containing the remaining episodes and the special features. There are six episodes in each series, each lasting about half an hour. While there is very little action in any of the episodes, and the camera never leaves the smoking room, it never feels too slow or boring.

The extras for series one are considerable better than for series two, containing the 2004 Christmas special, outtakes, personnel files, 'The first drag feature', and some drawing by the writer Brian Dooley. The drawings are well worth a look, but only after you've seen the series, then you'll be able to compare you visions of the characters never seen, with how the writer saw them. The extras for series two are some of the drawings again, and 'Behind the scenes of Series Two'- which if truth be told, is relatively dull.

The discs are all very simple to navigate around, and all have a play-all feature, and settings to allow subtitles in English only. There isn't really much more to say regarding navigation, if you've ever seen a DVD of a TV series and/or can read English then you'll have absolutely no problems.

Overall I was impressed by the box-set, although there could have been more special features for my liking. I can't however think of many faults where the series themselves are concerned, quintessentially British humour and exceptional writing. I would recommend it, but only if you're not too sensitive to strong language. 

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