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The Thin Blue Line: Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1995]
![The Thin Blue Line: Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1995]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/419NG2GHENL._SL160_.jpg)
Strongest among the supporting cast is Sgt Pauline Dawkins (Serena Evans), who also happens to be Fowler's live-in lover--a moral dilemma that his traditional values won't allow him to resolve. He salves his conscience by avoiding sex with her whenever possible, an amusing subplot enhanced by Evans's brilliant performance--she positively vibrates with contained, ladylike lust in a manner only equalled by Penelope Keith in the classic sitcom To the Manor Born. Scripted by Ben Elton, this series manages to satirise provincialism, institutionalised pig-headedness and dated moral values in one fell swoop, while also being chock-full of quick-fire, Blackadder-esque dialogue. --Roger Thomas
RRP: £9.99
Our Price: £4.89 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
Set in a fictitious suburb rather like, say, Pinner (only more so), The Thin Blue Line is the wickedly funny story of a rather down-at-heel police station headed by Inspector Raymond Fowler (Rowan Atkinson), a pompous, repressed but well-intentioned anachronism who wants to do the right thing but who is constantly hampered by his own shortcomings, not to mention his blundering CID colleagues. Atkinson expertly balances his character's inflated sense of self-importance with the insight born of old-school police values, for which his galumphing, shiny-suited CID counterpart, DI Grim (David Haig) has no time at all.
Not bad
Review date: 2008-06-17 Rating: 8 out of 10
The recipe for this is nothing special, and I must agree with some of the harsher reviews about the stock characters and lack of innovation. However, a lot of it is very funny. I would give 4.5 stars to Series 1, and significantly fewer to Series 2, but all in all I enjoyed it very much.
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Reviews
you wouldn't get it if it came in a large bag marked 'IT'......
Review date: 2008-05-07 Rating: 10 out of 10
...honestly, the lines don't come much better tha this. ben elton wrote the script, rowan atkinson pulls them off. this is like the police version of blackadder. amazing. inspector grim is hilarious, and alongside inspector fowler you ave two of the funniest charecters ever! my god i have seen this series over and over again, rowan atkinson is genus, ben elton is god. simple enough, if you loved blackadder you will love this. and look at the price! its sacrilege! buy buy buy!!!!
Could've been so much better...
Review date: 2008-04-13 Rating: 6 out of 10
"The Thin Blue Line" is a bit of an oddity. Written by 80s darling Ben Elton, it is suppoosedly his take on a "Dad's Army"-type sitcom. Unfortunately any comparison with said show is negative. Fundamentally the characters are cardboard cut-outs. Rudolph Walker as the Jones-like Gladstone is ok, but the character of Habib has 'tokenism' written all over her. Goody is too camp; and his crush on Habib quite implausible. Atkinson's character of Fowler is also poorly drawn. "Thin" is indeed thin where it matters, and not one of the people you see is really believeable. Contrast that with "Dad's Army" where virtually of the main characters have some ring of truth about them, and indeed many of the situations they face.
It is however, as other reviewers have noted, pleasant fun, and Rowan Atkinson is always watchable. Probably as well the plug was pulled after 2 series though!
Wet-your-pants funny!
Review date: 2008-02-04 Rating: 10 out of 10
Rowan Atkinson at his BEST. I swear this is Ben Eltons number 1 show, Blackadder was brilliant and a true credit to British commedy but i still dont think it can touch the character of Inspector Fowler in 'The Thin Blue Line'.
Quite obviously, Rowan Atkinson fans reading this would agree with me that he is at his best when he plays the role of a boring moral man, which is what his character was all about. a true shame there were so few episodes but the ones that are there will last a lifetime! Highly Recommended.
A good 90's sitcom
Review date: 2007-08-30 Rating: 8 out of 10
I wasn't able to get into The Thin Blue Line when it was first shown on TV, mainly because I really couldn't see Rowan Atkinson in any role other than that of Edmund Blackadder. What probably didn't help was that this show wasn't as funny as Blackadder, nor did it give me the same feeling that I was watching something particularly special or at all ground-breaking.
It's a shame I overlooked it back then because it had a great cast, a fresh and witty script and the usual undercurrent of madness that accompanies pretty much all of Ben Elton's sitcoms. There are numerous lines that crop up that still make me roar with laughter, even after having heard them a few dozen times. The cast, for the most part, are well-chosen and produce some at times memorable performances, although David Haig steals the show as the ineffectual DI Grim, closely followed by Mark Addy as his loutish subordinate, DC Boyle. Unfortunately neither of them seem to have been given the screen time they deserved, the show's producers electing to focus attention on other members of the cast, some of whom had the double curse of being both less funny and being given perhaps weaker roles to play.
The jokes stand up well even after 12 years, indeed some of them seem funnier with the passage of time. The only real complaints I could level at this show are that said jokes are thinner on the ground that I might have liked and some of the situations the cast are placed in are perhaps a little laboured. Nevertheless, this is a solid sitcom and a great example of 90's TV, probably worth the price for Ben Elton's script alone.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
David Haig
Rowan Atkinson
Serena Evans
James Dreyfus
Mina Anwar
Director(s):
Recording label: VVL
Manufacturer: VVL
EAN: 0044007807521
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Colour, Full Screen, PAL,
Release date: 2001-09-17
Universal product code (UPC): 044007807521
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 439 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1996-09-18
Language: English (Original Language)