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DVD Description
The legenary Absolutely finally makes its debut on DVD after Absolutely Productions finally re-aquired the rights to all 4 series of Absolutely. Written by and starring Moray Hunter, Morwenna Banks, Jack Docherty, Peter Baikie, Gordon Kennedy & John Sparkes, the late 80s early 90s sketch show has been described as 'one of Channel 4's best-kept secrets'
This box set finally collects together all four seasons - a total of 28 episodes - a huge 15 Hours and 52 minutes of material!
Special Features
Selected Episode Commentaries Absolute Beginnings Absolute Remembered Absolute Characters Absolute Music and Animation Absolute Other Bits Absolute Pictures
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Without doubt, the third series of Absolutely is the most consistently funny season of any television sketch show. The other series have great moments but they are patchier, hence the 4 stars here. That said, and as I think another reviewer touched upon, it still ranks above modern day contemporaries like Little Britain which, with half of the output, was faltering and rehashing old jokes.
I was involved with the company that was originally negotiating with Channel 4 four years ago to get the series released on DVD. Rather than release all the episodes as they are doing now, we were planning to do a "best of" to dip the toes of interest and follow-up with the complete episodes if the groundswell warranted it. As a precursor to this, Channel 4 converted some of the 1" masters for us to view to select the material that we wanted and I was given the task of picking suitable sketches from Season 2. It was good but not as good as I remembered it and when the shortlist for the 'best of' was drawn up, over half of the content was from the third series. Unfortunately for us, Channel 4 procrastinated for a further two years with changes of personnel and direction. When they became worried that the distributors of the original compilation, The Vido, still had rights over series 1 to 3, we dropped out. Good to see that it is finally going to get a release from the production company that actually made it.
When viewing Absolutely as it ran on TV nearly twenty years ago, I had a gang of people round watching it and we used to memorise the words, especially to Denzyl/Gwynedd sketches and Frank Hovis monologues. Most of them stuck with me, something which disconcerted John Sparkes at Edinburgh a few years back when, whilst he was reprising Frank Hovis in Filth!, I was mouthing the words to "Taxi" idly before I caught his eye and realised what I was doing. Not sure if he was annoyed or pleased but I stopped anyway.
There were only ten people in the audience that night and that kind of exemplifies that despite being a great piece of television, Absolutely somehow missed the real mainstream in its day. Hopefully the DVD release will give an audience size that the programme deserves.
I was involved with the company that was originally negotiating with Channel 4 four years ago to get the series released on DVD. Rather than release all the episodes as they are doing now, we were planning to do a "best of" to dip the toes of interest and follow-up with the complete episodes if the groundswell warranted it. As a precursor to this, Channel 4 converted some of the 1" masters for us to view to select the material that we wanted and I was given the task of picking suitable sketches from Season 2. It was good but not as good as I remembered it and when the shortlist for the 'best of' was drawn up, over half of the content was from the third series. Unfortunately for us, Channel 4 procrastinated for a further two years with changes of personnel and direction. When they became worried that the distributors of the original compilation, The Vido, still had rights over series 1 to 3, we dropped out. Good to see that it is finally going to get a release from the production company that actually made it.
When viewing Absolutely as it ran on TV nearly twenty years ago, I had a gang of people round watching it and we used to memorise the words, especially to Denzyl/Gwynedd sketches and Frank Hovis monologues. Most of them stuck with me, something which disconcerted John Sparkes at Edinburgh a few years back when, whilst he was reprising Frank Hovis in Filth!, I was mouthing the words to "Taxi" idly before I caught his eye and realised what I was doing. Not sure if he was annoyed or pleased but I stopped anyway.
There were only ten people in the audience that night and that kind of exemplifies that despite being a great piece of television, Absolutely somehow missed the real mainstream in its day. Hopefully the DVD release will give an audience size that the programme deserves.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I have such fond memories of this show, my girlfriend and I curled up in bed crying with laughter at Little Girl and the Stoneybridge crowd. We felt like we were part of an exclusive little club, because most of our friends had never heard of Absolutely. It was with great excitement (tempered with a little trepidation - would it be as good as I remembered?) that I ordered this hefty boxed set. But I wasn't disappointed. It's just as hilarious as it ever was, still fresh and sharp and more to the point, brilliantly funny. All the characters are superb, but the ones who stand out for me are the grotesque Denzil and Gwyneth, the outrageously boring Calum Gilhooley, the Nice family, and of course the disgusting Frank Hovis. Watching the latter on the toilet farting for more than a minute left me in tears of mirth. Thank you whoever was responsible for making this available to all its many fans again!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Like a lot of the reviewers, I had fond memories of this programme. Occasionally seeing the Stoneybridge Town Council appearing in 100 best comedy moments (or something like that) whetted my appetite and I decided to invest. My conclusion, like that of a few others, is that it's not quite as good as I remembered. On a positive note, just about everything that features Morwenna Banks is very funny (I can't believe that she didn't become a big name in TV comedy). And to a lesser extent the same can be said of John Sparkes, who had some marvellous comic creations. The sketches and characters that I remembered well (Stoneybridge Town Council, Denzil and Gwynedd, The Nice Family, Bert Bastard), are still very funny. However, there is lots of material that isn't, particularly their more pythonesque attempts, and some of it drags on much too long. I even found myself using the fast forward at times, particularly during the musical numbers.
So, I guess I'm just a bit disappointed overall. I feel bad giving it just three stars as the good stuff is very, very good. But there's a lot of stuff here that isn't. Oh, and I can't agree with the comments regarding the quality of the DVD transfer. It looked absolutely fine to me, and I think we have to remember this is a 20 year old comedy sketch show, not some cimematic epic.
So, I guess I'm just a bit disappointed overall. I feel bad giving it just three stars as the good stuff is very, very good. But there's a lot of stuff here that isn't. Oh, and I can't agree with the comments regarding the quality of the DVD transfer. It looked absolutely fine to me, and I think we have to remember this is a 20 year old comedy sketch show, not some cimematic epic.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Now on 4oD
Enjoyed this series when it was on ... some really funny stuff, but it's a bit patchy ... save your money and watch it free on 4 on Demand
Published 13 days ago by D. Thompson
Thanks for the memories
Brings back happy times. Forgotten how much I enjoyed it first time round and still makes me laugh. Frank Hovis is a touch of genius.
Published 1 month ago by KLF
The Cream of Old School Comedy
Remember watching this on Ch4 when i was a kid! STONEYBRIDGE! buy it if you want a laugh and a well decent box set of Comedy sketches in one go!
Published 1 month ago by MclarenFanLG
Under-appreciated classic
Amazingly this offering, which graced our screens decades ago, has yet to be repeated on Freeview (well, I haven't seen it, anyway). Read more
Published 2 months ago by P Jones
Absolutely Brilliant
Okay, I'm Scottish so I get the daft humour but even if you're from South of the border you'll still laugh at the stupidity of characters such as Kevin Gilhooly and the manic... Read more
Published 2 months ago by BoxWave Capacitive iPad Stylus
A lesser known comedy with some great characters and unusual sketches
I watched this at the time, one of the few who did and had no one else to talk to about it. No fault of the programme, but it deserved far more of a presence on the comedy scene. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Le Quin
Great to have, but picture quality is very poor
Okay, I know this show was aired years ago, but the DVD appears to have been mastered from a VHS source. Certainly not the original broadcast quality. Read more
Published 7 months ago by N Mitchell
Absolutely dismal
I watched 'tea and biscuits with bert bastard', etc, on channel 4D's youtube channel, prior to possibly purchasing the above. Read more
Published 9 months ago by ed
The least you can do are to buy this compilation
No, Gwynedd, the least I can do are nothing at all.
But if you do nothing at all, what will you fall off your seats laughing at? Read more
But if you do nothing at all, what will you fall off your seats laughing at? Read more
Published 12 months ago by Stephen Sadler
Woeful
Absolute rubbish! About as funny as watching an anorak on a hat stand.
Bought it,Watched it,threw it in the bin.
Bought it,Watched it,threw it in the bin.
Published 16 months ago by Gibbo
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