Black Books - Series 2 [DVD] [2000]

The second series of Black Books somehow succeeded in being even further off the wall than the first. A larger team of writers no doubt helped, but Dylan Moran's greater input clearly shows. His Bernard Black doesn't get the best lines (that honour is always Bill Bailey's), but he definitely gets the best visual gags: a wine-bottle ice lolly, a dinner jacket made from tax receipts and a talent for the piano that defies logic. Aided by the hapless Fran (Tamsin Greig), the bookshop boys survive plenty of adventures, such as a touch of Dave's Syndrome, transforming into a restaurant, falling in love and even a few molluscs on the walls. Guest actors are all aware that they need to be at their funniest in order to register amid the madness: Johnny Vegas is the perfect slimy landlord, Jessica Stevenson revels in being the ultimate health-fad flake and Rob Brydon is terrific in his office-boss cameo. All this series lacks is any sense of closure for the characters, which, without the prospect of a third series, is a terrible tease. --Paul Tonks

Featuring all 6 episodes from Series 2:

• The Entertainer
  
• Fever
  
• The Fixer
  
• Blood
  
• Hello Sun
  
• A Nice Change

Bernard Black (Dylan Moran), proprietor of the grubby bookshop Black Books, prefers the company of his books to his customers. Devoted to the twin pleasures of excessive drinking and wilful antagonism, Bernard enriches his life and the lives of his only two friends, Manny (Bill Bailey) and Fran (Tamsin Grieg) in the process. In this second collection of episodes, Bernard finds proof positive that Manny is mad, Manny worries about the reliability of his magic hot water bottle and uses his underworld connections to help the recently unemployed Fran find a job, Fran struggles to find her inner karma in between trying to find her cigarettes and making excuses to have another drink. Under constant threat from the nasty, unfeeling outside world, the characters in Black Books attempt to maintain the haven of the bookshop even as their own talent for meaningless stupidity pitches them towards mayhem.

• Out-takes
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Black Dolls
  
• Audio commentary
  
• Series 3 teaser trailer

DVD Technical Information:

• Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Anamorphic
  
• Main soundtrack: English Stereo
  
• Subtitles: English for the Hard of Hearing
  
• Disc Format: Single Sided, Dual Layer – DVD-9
  
• Running Time: 144 mins approx. (episodes), 20 mins approx. (extra features)
  
• PAL
  
• Region Code: 2

"The most original sitcom since Our Lord John Cleese’s finest half hours"

"Throat-achingly funny comedy. Makes life worthwhile."

Brilliantly deranged comedy"

"Gloriously and effortlessly funny"