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The Comic Strip Presents - Complete [DVD] [1982]
 
 
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The Comic Strip Presents - Complete [DVD] [1982]

DVD ~ Peter Richardson
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Actors: Peter Richardson, Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Nigel Planer
  • Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Full Screen, PAL
  • 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: 9
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: 2 Entertain Video
  • DVD Release Date: 4 July 2005
  • Run Time: 999 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0007LPLRY
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 33,366 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

It hardly needs spelling out that The Comic Strip Presents… kick-started the careers of the bulk of our ‘alternative’ comedians. Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, French and Saunders, Peter Richardson, Keith Allen--all started here.

The series is the very definition of a ‘mixed bag’. Each show was a separate story in its own right, and each one couldn’t be more different from the last--from the sixties pastiche ‘The Bullshitters’ to the arty ‘Les Dogs’ (starring Kate Bush, no less).

With 39 episodes to choose from, the overall quality of the episodes does vary somewhat. For every excellent ‘South Atlantic Raiders’ and ‘The Supergrass’, there’s a woeful ‘Spaghetti Hoops’. But The Comic Strip Presents… deserves its place in comic history by virtue of being different, by trying to create new and interesting work, and in doing so being truly groundbreaking.

When you take risks, you end up with gems such as the double header of ‘Bad News Tour’ and ‘More Bad News’, which follow a chronically bad rock group on the road. These two episodes alone are worth your attention, the interplay of the four leading players (Edmondson, Planer, Mayall and Richardson) a marvel to watch and with scenes that will make you keel over--Vim Fuego’s take on ‘Imagine/Imogen’ is pure gold.

Other highlights include ‘Five Go Mad In Dorset’, a wonderful take on Enid Blyton’s skewed and irreverant view of teenagers in Britain; ‘Mr Jolly Lives Next Door’, which sees Mayall and Edmondson, in a precursor to their days on ‘Bottom’, getting themselves in a sticky situation with Mr Jolly, played brilliantly by the late Peter Cook; and Strike!’, a Hollywood-esque take on the miners’ strike of 1984.

The Comic Strip Presents… pushed comedic boundaries and was never afraid to do things a little differently and this collection is a fine record of its prolific, always interesting, and often hilarious output.--Mark Oakley

Synopsis

Features the complete thirty-nine episodes from the ground-breaking comedy series. Episodes include: 'The Beat Generation', 'Five Go Mad In Dorset', 'Dirty Movie', 'The Strike', 'Consuela', 'Bad News', 'Funseekers', 'South Atlantic Raiders', 'Les Dogs', 'The Crying Game', 'Wild Turkey' and much more...
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Customer Reviews

54 Reviews
5 star:
 (36)
4 star:
 (8)
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (54 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars HEAVILY EDITED !! Don't erase your old tapes !!, 12 Aug 2005
This would have been the DVD-release of the decade to me...
until I compared some of the episodes to my old tapes.
I haven't checked the old Channel 4 films yet, but a lot of the later episodes
have been heavily edited and messed around with. Many longer scenes are shortened,
but worse: some of the funniest dialogue is missing!!
I could only check a few shows and discovered these cuts:

SOUTH ATLANTIC RAIDERS 1 - about 2 minutes cut: a lot of the dialogue in Max' house is cut,
including the classic "My cousin's just been let out of a Lancashire cotton mill and the
Southern air and the Chateau Mignon 54 has rather gone to his Northern head";
the airport & prison escape scenes are shorter; some very funny dialogue between Billy
and Stan dressed as his mother is cut)

SOUTH ATLANTIC RAIDERS 2 - about 5 minutes (!!!) cut, too many cuts to mention, the worst are:
the whole intro sequence before the titles; most part of the flashback scenes when Stan tells the story;
some great gags in the airplane; a very funny scene, when Cathy wants to be alone with Stan and Billy
doesn't really get it; the whole dialogue between Stan & Frances, when he tells her he was wrong & loves her;
Cathy & the dead General (she originally says "Sieg heil, my darling!"); the whole scene when Billy
seems to be shot; the monologue from the Newsreporter is shortened; ...
To make matters even worse, the remaining pieces of the episode are messed around with.
The scene where Cathy goes to Frances with an axe is placed after Stan has arrived at the cottage,
which makes it look like a very stupid continuity error. Has the editor been totally drunk??!!

WILD TURKEY - 1 min. cut: the whole intro, where Ruby Wax writes Xmas cards;
the dancing scene ("have you kissed a turkey before?"); when the turkey leaves,
they hug & kiss ("I wish you were a turkey, Sue!") - you can clearly see the sloppy cut!

FOUR MEN IN A CAR - 1 min. cut: dialogue between Jennifer & Peter; the scene where Rik
tries to steal the motorbike is shorter.

GREGORY: DIARY OF A NUTCASE - I don't have an original to compare, but you can see a very sloppy cut!

Shame on the publisher for this unneccessary butchering !!!

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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars classic!, 19 Feb 2007
By Howie M (New Zealand) - See all my reviews
Oh man, this is quite a marathon, I purchased this when it first came out back in 2005 and it has taken me a quite while to sit down to view them all.

Sure the film quality isnt clean and crisp but who really cares, does that matter? Take into consideration the films at your local box office, a fair few are rubbish right? well, you dont sit there and say "sure, that film was bad, but wow, what picture clarity!" no you dont, so please dont bag this wonderful show. Peter Richardson is a God and there's a stack of jems in this treasure box of laughter. Sure, ok, there is the odd dud but nonetheless great viewing.

I am old enough to remember all the classics from Five Go Mad right up to Mr Jolly Lives Next Door and More Bad News but sadly I never got to view anything pass a certain date as they never aired the latter shows in NZ. Watching all the shows I never saw from the late 80s through to just a few years ago was fantastic and there are some really great moments, such as Robbie Coltrane playing Charles Bronson in GLC, starring as the mighty tour de force ramboesque Ken Livingstone, or Adrian Edmundsen as John Major in Red Nose of Courage. Brilliant. Plus The Bullshitters returning to form in Detectives On The Edge Of A Nervous Breakdown!

The total list of shows are:
DISC 1. Five Go Mad In Dorset / War / The Beat Generation / Bad News Tour / Summer School / Five Go Mad On Mescalin.
DISC 2. Dirty Movie / Susie / A Fistful Of Travelers' Cheques / Gino - Full Story and Pics / Eddie Monsoon - A Life?
DISC 3. Slags / The Bullshitters / The Supergrass (feature movie) / Consuela
DISC 4. Private Enterprise / The Strike / More Bad News / Mr Jolly Lives Next Door
DISC 5. The Yob / Didn't You Kill My Brother / Funseekers
DISC 6. South Atlantic Raiders / South Atlantic Raiders Pt II / GLC / Spaghetti Hoops / Oxford
DISC 7. Les Dogs / Red Nose Of Courage / The Crying Game / Wild Turkey / Detectives On The Edge Of A Nervous Breakdown / Space Virgins From The Planet Sex
DISC 8. Queen Of The Wild Frontier / Gregory - Diary Of A Nutcase / Demonella / Jealousy / Four Men In a Car / Four Men In a Plane
DISC 9. The Comic Strip Presents - A Retrospective / First Laugh on Four Pt 1 / First Laugh on Four Pt 2 / The Comic Strip (Julien Temple)
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36 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Thirty Nine Steps to Film Heaven, 23 May 2008
This review is from: Comic Strip Presents - Complete Collection [DVD] (DVD)
Difficult to imagine in these days when we get a new TV channel every couple of days that in 1982 we only had three and that the first night of Channel Four would be an important cultural event. The one programme that I had been looking forward to was `The Comic Strip presents...Five Go Mad in Dorset' a perfect parody of the Enid Blyton's `Famous Five' books. It was an absolute scream and has coloured my television viewing ever since, from `The Young Ones', `The New Statesman', `French and Saunders', `Happy Families' and `Bottom' on to this weeks `Teenage Kicks'.

The remainder of the first series carried on the success with the brilliant ensemble piece `War', the fantastically clever `The Beat Generation', the classic heavy metal parody `Bad News Tour' and the brilliantly observed `Summer School'. The first three films were written by the Peter Richardson and Pete Richens partner ship while `Bad News Tour' was the brain child of Adrian Edmondson and `Summer School' was written by Dawn French.

The second series raised the bar even further with it's precursor of a second `Famous Five' film, `Five Go Mad On Mescalin' which built on the first film. Second up `Dirty Movie' is a brilliant visual comedy from the pen of Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall which works well with Rod Melvin's organ accompaniment. `Susie' is a brilliant love story parody from the Richardson Richens axis with Dawn French brilliant in the lead. `A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques' has Rik Mayall collaboration with the core writing team to create a perfect pastiche of the Dollars trilogy. `Gino' is a brilliant film with Keith Allen in the lead and is without doubt my favourite of all the Comic Strip films.
Edmondson's `Eddie Monsoon' and Jennifer Saunders `Slags' close the series and show how all the writing had improved.

`The Bullsh*tters' is now considered a Comic Strip film although as a collaboration between Allen and Richardson it was originally released without the familiar title so as to give Allen equal status as the creator of this perfect parody of Seventies TV detectives `The Professionals'. Other stand alone episodes at this time where Edmondson's brilliant `Private Enterprise' and `Consuela' a perfect French and Saunders parody of Daphne Du Maurier's `Rebecca' which was the template for the shorter film parodies that would later be the centre pieces of their own TV show.

The next film was the cinema release of feature `The Sugergrass' which was Peter Richardson's directing debut and does perhaps drag in areas and would possibly have been better served to have been edited to a hour as part of the next series which kicked off with the brilliant `The Strike' which was the first of many films to parody Hollywood and it's most famous sons through films within films of very English political films, in this case a sexing up of the miners strike. The next film was `More Bad News' which continued in a similar vein to its predecessor. Edmondson's and Mayall then gave us `Mr Jolly Lives Next Door' which is a film prototype of the duo's later sit com `Bottom'. The Next film was Allen's `The Yob' which mocks Allen's own football yob persona and parodies `The Fly' in a brilliant film which was the first film not to use the bulk of the original ensemble. This is continued with Alexi Sayle's film `Didn't you Kill my Brother?' and Nigel Planer's `Funseekers'.

The fourth series of films saw a move to the BBC and a return to the half hour format but continuity was guaranteed with Trouble from `Traveller's Cheques' and Max from `Gino' as well as the full ensemble appearing in two parter `South Atlantic Raiders'. `GLC' was a sequel to `The Strike' with Robbie Coltrane playing Charles Bronson as Ken Livingstone in the story of the abolition of the Greater London Council. `Oxford' features special guests Lenny Henry and Leslie Philips while `Spaghetti Hoops' and `Les Dogs' featured less of the regulars, the latter been a particularly weird piece.

Three specials came from the Comic Strip staple the first of one being the brilliant `Red Nose of Courage' which parodied British politics with Adrian Edmondson being a worryingly good John Major. `The Crying Game' was another Allen Richardson collaboration twisting the Paul Gascoigne story with a politically correct twist. `Wild Turkey' was a Christmas special featuring a gun toting turkey questioning our Christmas traditions.

The fourth series started strongly with Allen and Richardson's `Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown' expanding the `Bullsh*tters' to parody all TV detectives with a few song and dance numbers. `Space Virgins from Planet Sex' was possibly the last great film with a B-movie pastiche blending with a wonderful James Bond parody in a way only the Comic Strip could pull off. `Queen of the Wild Frontier' saw Richens and Richardson move towards straight films but had none of the charm of the older films. `Gregory' was an accurate parody of `The Silence of the Lambs' whilst `Demonella' and `Jealousy' outlined that the Comic Strip had indeed had its course.

The original cast re-assembled on Channel Four five years later with the brilliant `Four Man in a Car' the success of which was almost repeated in 2000 with `Four Men in a Plane'. This DVD was released before the last Comic Strip film `Sex Actually' was produced but a further release will no doubt see this been added.

Although the bonus documentaries offer very little insight the original Julian Temple film of the initial stage revue at least fill in the gaps of a brilliant box set of a truly bench mark TV show.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Big Lot of Comic Strips
Generally enjoyable and some episodes really funny, but some surprisingly dated, and not just the retro ones! One forgets that the world changes so fast these days. Read more
Published 15 days ago by Wells Weaver

5.0 out of 5 stars Have been waiting for it!
When being in the UK for an exchange with my students I had my first encounter with The Comic Strip and immediately fell for it. Read more
Published 2 months ago by orsomaggiore

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic comedy
My memory did me no justice, this is still classic comedy.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000QRI4BY/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title
Published 2 months ago by Mr. I. K. James

5.0 out of 5 stars Blast from the past
I grew up on the young ones and French and Saunders so when I discovered that this set was available, after reading a book by Dawn French, I rushed to buy it and what a super... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. Tedros Basil

5.0 out of 5 stars Comic Genius!!
Arthur Scargill played by Al Pacino, John Major as Co Co the clown. It gets better and better through out and will keep you entertained for hours and hours.
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5.0 out of 5 stars briiliant,where it all started
Comic Strip Presents - Complete Collection [DVD]
buy this or lose out this is where they all started,& thank goodness they did. Read more
Published 3 months ago by D. barnett

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfection, I Love This!
Took a chance having never seen any of these shows before because i live in the US , and am i glad i did! Read more
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Caught these classics first time around (they immediately became required viewing) and while nurturing fond memories ever since, had really quite forgotten exactly how superb all... Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Comedy Genius
From the glory days of channel 4's birth and so called alternative comedy this has to be one of the greatest comedy series of all time. Read more
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