Customer Reviews

League of Gentlemen Series 2 (2 disc set) [DVD] [1999]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The inhabitants of Royston Vasey are back - and this time it's more weird and surreal than the first series. After the first series' plot line of a new road being built through the town (which has evidently not happened!) this time the town is held in the grip of a strange epidemic of nose bleeds. As you'd expect from the League Of Gentlemen lads, there are new characters in this series including the scarily funny Papa Lazarou, the mayor (superbly played by Roy Chubby Brown) and two old ladies who run the charity shop, obsessed by 'special marks' and bags. The series' really hots up in the last episode (i can't reveal what happens, because it would spoil it). If you're new to this show, it might not be your cup of tea, but even so, you'd be a fool to give it a miss - comedy like this unfortunately comes along too rarely. It's also a double DVD set, including fantastic extras like cast commentary, deleted scenes, photo gallery, character biographies, a behind the scenes documentary, and even a selection of music from the series. As it is, this will keep fans glued to their TV's for a long time to come - brilliant!

Apart from all the episodes from Season 2(which would have made a more than worthy purchase on their own) it is the "Special Stuff" that truly makes this double disc a must have for all fans and converts alike.Cast commentry, or "local gossip" is a great insight into each scene, but for me the shining light is disc 2's "Behind the Scenes" documentry - I *suspect* this may have been shown on BBC digital before, but being a simple terrestrial viewer I cannot confirm this. Was nice to finally see Jeremy Dyson. The profiles of the "local people" i was a tad disappointed to not find some of my favourite characters - Stella & Charlie (their constant bickering never fails to crack me up), Pauline the re-start officer, Benjamin & the Dentons, Herr Lipp...or perhaps I'm not looking closely enough? But the photo gallery and music clips are great additions too.
In a nutshell, you could do a lot worse...

As original and darkly funny the first series of The League of Gentlemen was back in 1999 (written by Jeremy Dyson, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and starring the latter three in all the main roles), there was a standard set for this weird comedy and its future series. Luckily, the second series made in 2000 not only matches this standard, it goes beyond it.

Whereas the first series had the ongoing plot of a new road being built through Royston Vasey, this time there is an even darker story of a sinister and deadly nosebleed epidemic claiming innocent lives, and Hilary Briss (Gatiss), the town's butcher, appears to be the main suspect. But, as ever, nothing is as it seems.....

Meanwhile, other continuing plots involve:
Tubbs (Pemberton) and Edward Tattsyrup (Shearsmith) trying to find a bride - or "no-tail" - for their son David.
Restart officer Pauline Campbell-Jones (Pemberton) and her attempts to get her job back by holding Ross (Shearsmith) hostage, aided by one of her "dole scum" Mickey (Gatiss).
Geoff (Shearsmith) and his friends Mike (Pemberton) and Brian (Gatiss) surviving in the woods en route to a work convention.
German exchange teacher Herr Lipp (Pemberton) and his disturbing advances on student Justin.
Benjamin Denton (Shearsmith) who, having escaped the Local Shop, must now endure yet more torture from his toad-obsessed relatives Aunt Val (Gatiss) and Uncle Harvey (Pemberton) as well as their twin daughters Chloe and Radcliffe.
The antics of accident-prone vet Mr Chinnery (Gatiss).
The reunion of 1970s glam rock band Creme Brulee, without rhythm guitarist Les McQueen (Gatiss).
The travelling circus the Pandemonium Carnival and its ringleader, Papa Lazarou (Shearsmith), who sells pegs and collects wives for a living.

Continuing the stories of the local people from Royston Vasey, the second series of The League of Gentlemen is as bizarre, horrifying and hilarious as the first. The majority of the original characters return to this series, which features the on-going stories of The Dentons, Hilary Briss and Edward & Tubbs etc... There are also some new equally strange and twisted characters including Herr Lipp (my personal favourite), Papa Lazarou, and the Mayor of Royston Vasey played by Chubby Brown.

The League of Gentlemen is probably the funniest, grotesque and distorted comedy series I've seen since The Comic Strip presents... back in the early eighties. It's definitely far superior to the majority of other shows around today.

Never, in any comedy show I have ever watched, has a character so utterly sinister and yet so deeply hilarious as Papa Lazarou made such an impact with such little screen time. The first episode, when the circus comes to town and women are carted off with cries of "Dave... you're my wife now!" is comic perfection of the highest order. I laughed my bum off.

The League of Gentlemen are back, and this time they crank up the creepy lever a couple of notches. They find new ways to kill animals in spectacularly violent, explosive ways. They find new 'issues' to write plays for the kids about. And they throw in some plot lines.

The plot, such as it is, has several strands and runs throughout the series. There's the fatal nosebleed epidemic, which initially seems to have been brought on by the arrival of Papa Lazarou but in fact has another, more 'local' source. Then there's Tubbs' and Edward's attempts to find a 'no-tail' for their half-beast son David, including a trip to a supermarket in a stolen rural ambulance and ultimately an alliance with botched transsexual Barbara. Pauline is back, plumbing the depths of despair after being fired from Restart and trying, with the help of Mickey, to get back on her feet. And melodramatic middle-class beauty salon owner Judy Levinson reveals just how close she and her maid Iris are...

Whilst the first series of League of Gentlemen is rightly considered a classic, it's the second - and in fact the third - which rank as the quartet's masterpieces. Characters are given the kind of depth that Little Britain just cannot even get near; and the writers are not afraid of killing off major characters to change the 'scenery' every so often. In fact, by the end of series two, several major characters have been axed - leaving space for a new batch in series three.

The genius of Royston Vasey is in just how beautifully it is all stitched together. In some respects it follows a sitcom format (and characters tend to stay within their own set-ups - Judy Levinson never meets Bernice, for example - mainly because they're played by the same actor!), but because the characters and plotlines are all interlinked, the viewer is given a sense of a wider environment in which everything is happening.

Watch the second and third series back to back, if you have a spare day (and aren't susceptible to nightmares) - it will pay you back again and again.

What do you have if you get a bunch of top-notch comedian/actors/writers who are also film buffs (especially horror) and as a bonus include a big Dr.Who fan & novelist in their ranks? Yep, thats right, the League of Gentlemen. I don't want repeat what other reviewers have said, but suffice it to say that this Series 2 is well worth your dosh. And that Dr.Who connection? Mark Gatiss of course,(as any fule no). In fact I reckon the goings on in Royston Vasey would have had Jon Pertwee's Doctor up there sharpish...even though he wasn't local.

Excellent, unclassifiable & unique (and special!) stuff. It will be interesting to see where thay go from here.

Arrived .....a real good purchase bought all three at the same time so super value for money .

A classic dvd .

The service was first class, the dvd are brilliantly funny as i thought,well packed and arrived very quickly good value too.

Bought this for my fella as a gift. He already had the first series and I wasn't sure if this series would be as good, but it didn't disappoint it is just as funny as the first series. Would recommend.

Dark, witty, gross at times (well a lot of times)... you don't get much better! The only thing that tops series 2 is series 1.