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Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] [DVD]
 
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Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] [DVD]

DVD ~ Amelia Bullmore
4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
RRP: £24.99
Price: £7.68 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] [DVD] + The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD] + The Armando Iannucci Shows [DVD] [2001]
Total RRP: £60.97
Price For All Three: £18.64

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] [DVD]
83% buy the item featured on this page:
Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] [DVD] 4.4 out of 5 stars (34)
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The Armando Iannucci Shows [DVD] [2001] 4.6 out of 5 stars (16)
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The Day Today : Complete BBC Series (2 Disc Set) [1994] [DVD]
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Product details

  • Actors: Amelia Bullmore, Julia Davis, Catherine Tate, Phil Cornwell, Barry Davies
  • Format: Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
  • Number of discs: 2
  • Classification: 15
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 25 Oct 2004
  • Run Time: 348 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0001MIQ80
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,959 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Originally shown in 1998, Big Train was the eagerly awaited follow-up to Father Ted from writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews. Resisting the pressure to make another sitcom, Big Train is, instead, a sketch show in the best Monty Python tradition, updated with influences from arch-surrealist Chris Morris as well as the contemporary The Fast Show. The sketches can be joyously odd--Pythonesque firefighting showjumpers, the evil hypnotist, and the outrageous onanistic office workers, for example--but the show never neglects to keep the punchlines coming thick and fast (though the animated staring contest does rather drag after a while). The cast comprises some of the best new names in comedy, including Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore (who went on to become Alan Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend).

Series 2 didn't pull into the platform until 2002, by which time Graham Linehan was absent writing Black Books. But Arthur Matthews maintains the quality of the first series on the whole--the man with oversized hands, the creepy cult questionnaire, the zookeeper's recruitment agency--adding some spot-on French art house cinema spoofs and other movie-style take offs somewhat in the manner of Spaced, which Pegg and Heap had gone on to make. That duo return here for more silliness along with new cast members Rebecca Front (The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You) and Tracey-Ann Oberman (better known now as Chrissie Watts in Eastenders).

On the DVD: Big Train belatedly arrives on DVD in a two-disc set which includes a plethora of deleted scenes for both Series 1 and 2. There are cast biogs plus three of the sketches as performed on a German TV sketch show. Commentary on the first series is by both writers, though happily Pegg, Heap and Eldon gatecrash halfway through. Matthews and Eldon join director and producer for the somewhat more straight-faced commentary on the second disc. Menu options thankfully include the treasurable "Play all" facility. --Mark Walker

Synopsis
From the creators of Father Ted, this rather surreal sketch show features the recurring themes of jockeys, surgery and offices. There's a man with a spoon phobia, some show-jumpers in Hunting Pink who yearn to be firemen, and the first-series' animated Stare-Out with BBC Sport's own Barry Davies commentating. The second series features a foul-mouthed mermaid and a look at the life of a Beefeater. Jump aboard the lunatic subversion of the Big Train.

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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews
5 star:
 (22)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars At Last! One of the most sublime comedy series on DVD :-), 22 Mar 2004
By A Customer
Okay Okay, so i am writing this before the DVD is released, but people, there is no need to wait for then, no need to delay clicking 'add to basket' for one moment longer....

Big Train is one of the best ever comedy series. The range of Characters are fantastic, and some scenes really are comedy gold - the jockeys being chased by the artist formally known as prince.. ..Ming the Merciless at home doing the hoovering.. the show jumpers who yearned to be firemen..and last but not least the supurb World Staring Championships, commentated on by Barry Davies. When you consider that it was written by the men behind 'Father Ted' and starred top comic actors such as Simon Pegg, Mark Heap and Kevin Eldon, the only question is why have we had to wait so long for the DVD??

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Abstract, funny, Genius, 2 Jul 2007
By DangermouseZilla "He's the strongest, he's th... (Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)   


I remembered this series containing some of my favourite sketches of all time...

...Whilst watching the DVD, the main thing that struck me is how many of the sketches aren't actually that funny. *BUT* you still enjoy the genius behind them! The Flamenco Dancer in the Bomb Squad is one of the first sketches, I didn't laugh at it - but I couldn't help but appreciate what was being done.

The long French-cinema-style sketch about a man and a woman who fall out of love but find "something" else was too long to be laugh out loud hilarious - but it was still fab!

I find series 2 to contain more laugh out loud material, but overall, this 2 series set contains some of my favourite sketches of all time. The "Hot Cakes" sketch really creases me up, and the guys in the laboratory where Simon Pegg is looking through the Microscope at some sort of plague had me crying with laughter.

The amount of talent in this is mind-blowing. The creators of Father Ted writing, and some of the best (maybe THE best) comedians/comedy actors of the current time, performing.

For me, Simon Pegg and Kevin Eldon are perfect on screen. Eldon has such an expressive face. Between them, they can portray anyone doing anything - they aren't only great comedians, they are fantastic actors.

The rest of the cast are also top notch - and all of them are familiar having appearing in each others' work at some point before or since (Spaced, Black Books, etc).

If you want to see a sketch show which isn't just reliant on catchphrases, them stick this in yer (DVD) slot.

I will without doubt watch this again, and again, and who knows? Maybe again!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars At last its coming out.., 15 Jul 2004
By A Customer
Don't need to say much. But I'm buying these dvds just so I can see my all time favourite sketch of Simon Pegg teaching a kid to ride a bike.

Anyone who's seen that sketch and P*ssed themselves like I did will know why.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Train - comedy classic
Big Train only ran for two series but established itself as one of the funniest shows ever made in a very short space of time. Read more
Published 19 months ago by S J Buck

4.0 out of 5 stars Some misses, but still a must own dvd!
First things first, a lot of people have dubbed the second series as somewhat inferior to the first. I think series is just as good as the first in all honesty. Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by A. Miller

3.0 out of 5 stars hmm not sure
First series didn't really have a lot of laugh out loud moments for me, second series however got better and the sketches became more witty. Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2007 by E. Nicol

5.0 out of 5 stars Hit and Miss Cult Comedy - But the Hits are Hilarious!
Remember when you were young and watched the original Monty Python's Flying Circus every week. Not every sketch hit its target (in fact in hindsight most didn't! Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2007 by Karn9evil

3.0 out of 5 stars Alot of Sketches are hit & miss ... but still, great and unique laughs await ....
I do like this show alot .... but although there are alot of sketches in this DVD set that makes me laugh alot ..... there just seemed hit & miss with me. Read more
Published on 10 Nov 2006 by Low-Quality

5.0 out of 5 stars Big Fun!
This is quite possibly the best sketch show ever made! Written by the creators of Father Ted and starring, among others, Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Rebecca Front and Kevin Eldon it... Read more
Published on 20 Aug 2006 by Mango Boy

5.0 out of 5 stars The best sketch show Britain has produced in years
With most modern day sketch shows making use of recurring characters with "hillarious" catchphrases that grow tired after seeing 1 episode, Big Train is a breath of fresh air... Read more
Published on 2 Aug 2006 by Mr. Andrew Vaughan

4.0 out of 5 stars Subtle sketch comedy at its best for some time.
Big Train was a masterpiece in subtle sketch shows comedy, in my opinion some of the best humour to grace our screens since the days of Not the Nine O’clock news. Read more
Published on 19 Mar 2006 by J. Hammond

5.0 out of 5 stars Stunningly Funny
Firefighting Showjumpers, How to distract staff when they are after their bonuses, Ming the Merciless, "Sorry I don't speak English", A man dressed up as a cat and a man... Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2006 by Andrew J. Codling

4.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the funniest sketch show I've ever seen...
Well, Series One is. Series Two is, I have to admit, somewhat disappointing. However it still has its moments (the "not married" bit, Eldon as Heap's natural mother)... Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2006 by Carly Monardo

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