The only other content of this short DVD is the 45-minute Christmas Special, where Simon Nye contrasts the slushy idealism of a Victorian Yuletide with the realities of a MBB Xmas in suburban Ealing, or wherever it was set. On its original transmission, it was one of those shows that you made a point of watching. And we enjoyed it. But would I want to watch it many more times? Umm ...

There have been many fantastic MBB episodes, but this is not one of the funniest. The only advancement in the MBB story-line is that this is the episode where Tony is becoming "a bit clingy" and Debs decides to drop him. The main plot element is that Gary decides to cook the turkey, with predictable results, but the problem is that several other comedies have covered this ground before. Christmas is so often a dreary time, despite our child-like expectations, and this episode pretty much confirms that.

Overall, this is the most dispensable DVD in the MBB portfolio. On the other hand, I couldn't recommend the MBB 'Six Pack' more highly.

A real Christmas Cracker
Review date: 2003-08-14 Rating: 8 out of 10

This was the first extended episode of MBB ever transmitted, on Xmas Day, after the final episode of the final series had finished. Tony's going out with Debs, Gary and Dorothy are practically living together, but it's the surreal stuff in this story that grabs you. The story runs in two parallels - there's a modern Christmas Day going on, opening presents, putting up trimmings, cooking the turkey (all of which the gang screw up in in their own inimitable way), but there is also a Victorian, almost Dickensian, pantomime going on at the same time, with George as the butler, Anthea as a housemaid, and our four heroes acting as lords and ladies of the manor tucking into an enormous feast with their friends, snowballing with the village children, toboganning down a snowy hillside, singing carols round a grand piano and other simple pleasures that our great grandparents used to take part in.
They also manage to fit in a trip to the Crown (in fact Tony fits in two trips to the Crown, and gets accosted by a stripper on his second visit), so all in all this is a pretty good DVD. There's also a 25-minute collection of X-rated out-takes from all the episodes since Neil Morrisey took over from Harry Enfield.

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