TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Home

Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998]

RRP: £24.99
Our Price: £11.99 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Originally shown in 1998, Big Train was the eagerly awaited follow-up to Father Ted from writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews. Resisting the pressure to make another sitcom, Big Train is, instead, a sketch show in the best Monty Python tradition, updated with influences from arch-surrealist Chris Morris as well as the contemporary The Fast Show. The sketches can be joyously odd--Pythonesque firefighting showjumpers, the evil hypnotist, and the outrageous onanistic office workers, for example--but the show never neglects to keep the punchlines coming thick and fast (though the animated staring contest does rather drag after a while). The cast comprises some of the best new names in comedy, including Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore (who went on to become Alan Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend).

Series 2 didn't pull into the platform until 2002, by which time Graham Linehan was absent writing Black Books. But Arthur Matthews maintains the quality of the first series on the whole--the man with oversized hands, the creepy cult questionnaire, the zookeeper's recruitment agency--adding some spot-on French art house cinema spoofs and other movie-style take offs somewhat in the manner of Spaced, which Pegg and Heap had gone on to make. That duo return here for more silliness along with new cast members Rebecca Front (The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You) and Tracey-Ann Oberman (better known now as Chrissie Watts in Eastenders).

On the DVD: Big Train belatedly arrives on DVD in a two-disc set which includes a plethora of deleted scenes for both Series 1 and 2. There are cast biogs plus three of the sketches as performed on a German TV sketch show. Commentary on the first series is by both writers, though happily Pegg, Heap and Eldon gatecrash halfway through. Matthews and Eldon join director and producer for the somewhat more straight-faced commentary on the second disc. Menu options thankfully include the treasurable "Play all" facility. --Mark Walker

Big Train - comedy classic
Review date: 2007-11-24 Rating: 10 out of 10

Big Train only ran for two series but established itself as one of the funniest shows ever made in a very short space of time. A classic post Python sketch show, that was competing with serious heavyweight comedies like the The Fast Show and Little Britain, and the end, in my view, was better than both.

The surreal nature of some of the sketches is what makes the show so great. One sketch that always stuck in my mind was the wildlife film with the couple getting on to the roof of their Land Rover as a stampeding 'herd' of Jockey's swept past.. But there were many others just as good and some even more surreal. They were all beautifully acted by a stellar cast. Remember this is a series that had Simon Pegg and Catherine Tate to name but two.

Then of course there was the World Stare Out championships. A truly inspired idea, and to get Barry Davies in to do the commentary with one of the cast was the icing on the cake. How the writers thought that two animated characters staring at each other, in a psuedo sports arena, could be funny is completely beyond me. The fact that they were right, and produced one of the most original pieces of modern comedy is even more to their credit. I wonder how many takes they had to do each time?

If you missed these shows the first or second time round then this double DVD set is worth getting (theres some nice extras), and if you did see the show the first time round you'll know you have to get it!

Reviews

Abstract, funny, Genius
Review date: 2007-07-02 Rating: 8 out of 10

I remembered this series containing some of my favourite sketches of all time...

...Whilst watching the DVD, the main thing that struck me is how many of the sketches aren't actually that funny. *BUT* you still enjoy the genius behind them! The Flamenco Dancer in the Bomb Squad is one of the first sketches, I didn't laugh at it - but I couldn't help but appreciate what was being done.

The long French-cinema-style sketch about a man and a woman who fall out of love but find "something" else was too long to be laugh out loud hilarious - but it was still fab!

I find series 2 to contain more laugh out loud material, but overall, this 2 series set contains some of my favourite sketches of all time. The "Hot Cakes" sketch really creases me up, and the guys in the laboratory where Simon Pegg is looking through the Microscope at some sort of plague had me crying with laughter.

The amount of talent in this is mind-blowing. The creators of Father Ted writing, and some of the best (maybe THE best) comedians/comedy actors of the current time, performing.

For me, Simon Pegg and Kevin Eldon are perfect on screen. Eldon has such an expressive face. Between them, they can portray anyone doing anything - they aren't only great comedians, they are fantastic actors.

The rest of the cast are also top notch - and all of them are familiar having appearing in each others' work at some point before or since (Spaced, Black Books, etc).

If you want to see a sketch show which isn't just reliant on catchphrases, them stick this in yer (DVD) slot.

I will without doubt watch this again, and again, and who knows? Maybe again!

Some misses, but still a must own dvd!
Review date: 2007-03-29 Rating: 8 out of 10

First things first, a lot of people have dubbed the second series as somewhat inferior to the first. I think series is just as good as the first in all honesty. A few sketches in both series miss the mark, particularly in the last two episodes of each series - but still this is sketch comedy at its best.

Highlights include: Chaka Khan vs The BeeGees, Hot Cakes, Not married and ,the deleted scene, weights.

Pegg and Heap are, unarguably, the funniest comedians on the show - but that is not to diminish the greatness of all the others on the show. In short, despite the odd unfunny sketch, this dvd is a must own especially considering the cheap price it is these days!

hmm not sure
Review date: 2007-01-23 Rating: 6 out of 10

First series didn't really have a lot of laugh out loud moments for me, second series however got better and the sketches became more witty. You can see a lot of jokes in Big Train that the comedians in the show then have developed on and use to this day.. Worth a purchase if your interested

Hit and Miss Cult Comedy - But the Hits are Hilarious!
Review date: 2007-01-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

Remember when you were young and watched the original Monty Python's Flying Circus every week. Not every sketch hit its target (in fact in hindsight most didn't!), but when they did, they were sublime and next day at school you and your mates would recite them infinitum! I don't know of any comedy sketch show that ever came close to getting a 100% hit rate (some 'Fast Show' episodes came close, but even the tremendous 'League of Gentlemen' faltered at times - especially with the third series) and 'Big Train' is obviously no exception. However within these 2 DVDs are some sketches that are so side-splittingly funny that repeated viewing only seems to enhance them. It is these moments that make a purchase of this DVD set more than worthwhile for anyone who likes their surreal comedy in bursts and can spot the clever satirical film, TV and book references and cliches. Simon Pegg and the rest of the cast are very funny (even to look at!) and I think if you have only discovered them with their more recent work, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I agree that the first series is stronger than the second one, but both have so many great sketches that only the most pedantic would quibble about the overall quality. Personal favourites include: "Hot Cakes/Too Many Cooks", "Showjumping Firefighters", "Evil Hypnotist", "...Very Tart", "Ming", "Tin Man", "Distracting Boss", several of the Office-based sketches, most of the "Staring Competition" sketches, "Spooked Jockeys", "Monks", "Cat & Mouse", "...I'm Not Married", and I'll stop there as too many are jumping into my memory as I write! In fact, for once there is no reliance on catch-phrases or re-worked sketches that you find in the likes of 'Little Britain' and 'Catherine Tate'.

I recommend you give it a go if you liked any of the recent sketch-based surreal comedy shows - I'm sure you'll find enough comedy gems to fill a quiet night in very successfully. They make such a refreshing change from those perfectly scripted but predictable US comedies - A true British classic that has already achieved cult status by those in the know and closer to the innovative and surreal spirit of Monty Python than anything I can recall in recent years.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Julia Davis
Phil Cornwell
Amelia Bullmore
Barry Davies
Catherine Tate

Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503152123
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2004-10-25
Number of discs: 2
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 348 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2000-02-25
Language: English (Original Language)

TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998]

Similar Products

Reviews

Product Details/Specifications

Categories

Search

Links