If you like character based observational comedy then CTF is for you. The box set contains the four series of CTF as broadcast on BBC Scotland. (I think the last two received a UK wide showing.) The Hogmanay specials (broadcast only in Scotland) are not included, which is probably just as well as they have not met the standard of the full series in my opinion.

You don't need to be Scots to enjoy this sketch show. (Do you need to be American to enjoy Frasier??)

Come on in for the banter
Review date: 2005-01-09 Rating: 8 out of 10

Like others I can't understand why this series didn't take off outside of Scotland. it has something for everyone - youngsters, adults and the old fogies.
My nephews from Germany and only occasional visitors to Scotland are away with my copy (so I'll have to order again it's so worthwhile); they're apparently back home trying to say "Gonnae no dae that" and "Away ya dobber" in German accents and it's a big hit with their friends.
If your of a quiet well brought up disposition you'll probably find a lot that's offensive. If you like a good, earthy belly laugh and can follow the dialogue (the sketches of the happenings of the fishing vessel The Pearl Necklace with the captain up at the bell end can be particularly difficult until you get your understanding round the slang sexual references which comprise virtually all the dialogue) you'll love it.
I (and my German relatives) can heartily recommend this series.

Get it up Ye
Review date: 2004-05-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

I understand that, at the time, Chewin' the Fat was talked about as being a scottish version of the Fast Show. True, it's a sketch show, quite given to lampooning TV genre cliches - everything from tartan shorties ('boring mince, shot from queer angles') to US cop shows. True, a few of the sketches make you go 'what was that for?'. The 'it's never too early for a fusilier' one in series 3, for example. But that's where the similarity ends, for Chewin' the Fat is funny - much, much more funny.

The first two series are, of course, the slightly weakest of the collection. But series 3 and 4 are quite brilliant. There, the more aimless sketches are gone, and F and G trust the best of the recurring characters - Ronald Villiers, The Old Slapper , the Neds, the Lighthouse Boys ('Gonnay nae dee that...jist, gonnay naw!' became a phrase on everyone's lips in Scotland when CTF was originally broadcast), The Big Man - to do what they do best. It's a pity CTF it didn't win the audience it ought to have done in England. I hope fans will appreciate the overlap between CTF, Stil Game, and The Karen Dunbar Show - made by F n G productions, sharing a common pool of authors, situations, and observational humour. This isn't always obvious. I never knew that Sanjeev Kohli, who plays Navid in Still Game, wrote some of The Loneley Shopkeeper scenes in CTF, for instance.

Criticism of CTF, like that of the excellent Still Game, has tended to say that it's 'too Scottish'. An objection so foolish that it merits no answer. Although, for the sake of argument, I can't think of a more cosmopolitan comedy, frankly - they are almopst as many british and US accents and settings in the sketches as Scottish ones. You have no reasonable excuse for not buying these set of four DVD's - the price of 4 dvds is the same price that most places will charge you for a single one. Check out Still Game, as well - whose new and third series, at time of typing, has started on BBC1 scotland at 9:30 on Fridays(available on Sky if you don't live in Scotland.)

So cheap for 4 DVDs. easy to see why.
Review date: 2004-04-22 Rating: 2 out of 10

The reason that this 4 DVD set comes at such a low price is because thecontent is so god-awful. This is one of the worst comedy shows ever.Unfunny and irritating. Don't waste your money honestly.

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