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The Complete League Of Gentlemen
RRP: £39.99
Our Price: £26.00 (subject to change)
Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
The bizarre yet critically acclaimed BBC television series The League of Gentlemen is to sitcoms like The Good Life or even Friends what David Lynch's films are to Frank Capra movies. Instead of the usual one-family-in-suburbia or group-of-pals set-up, Gentlemen centres on the whole town of Royston Vasey. A Northern village of, to say the least, eccentric characters, the weird people of Royston Vasey (actually, the real name of lewd northern comic Roy Chubby Brown) look like they've been intermarrying for too long and are suffering from a particularly demented variety of xenophobia that drives them to extremes of tetchiness and psychosis. There are the local shopkeepers Edward and Tubbs, who go to murderous lengths to ensure their shop remains for local people only; the Denton family, toad-breeders obsessed with maintaining their household rituals at all costs; inept veterinary surgeon Dr Chinnery, who's never yet saved a patient; Barbara, the local transsexual taxi driver (one of the show's more well adjusted characters); Pauline the demonic Restart Officer at the local Job Centre; and Lance, the sadistic owner of Lance's Joke Shop which sells poisonous sweets and the ever-popular finger in a matchbox (with a real finger), among many others. Most of the characters are performed by the three core members of the group, sporting a disturbing variety of prosthetic demi-masks and latex make-up, who started the concept off with a stage show and then transferred it to radio before taking it on TV, which may explain why The League of Gentlemen seems blithely oblivious to normal sitcom conventions and has a stately air of surrealism that feels like The Archers as written by playwright Eugene Ionesco. Brilliant stuff. --Leslie Felperin
Godhead of DVD sets
Review date: 2008-06-21 Rating: 10 out of 10
If you're considering buying this, I'll just presume you already know what the show is all about (the weirdness of northern England fictitious town Royston Vasey citizenry as written and portrayed by the four gentlemen of the League). All you really need to know is that this box set is, to me, the epitome of how DVDs should be!
This box includes EVERY episode of the 3 series of the show, plus the fabulously constructed stories-within-a-frame Christmas special. EVERY SINGLE SHOW has commentary by all four members of the League, including rarely-seen Jeremy Dyson.
Each season, as well as the Christmas show, comes absolutely loaded with extras: deleted and extended scenes, behind the scenes featurettes, town member profiles, stills galleries, special effects footage and on and on.
If you enjoy this show, this is the best way to get it: all in one big chunk (save the movie and other bits and bobs) and piled on with additional goodies. If you don't like this show, well, you're clearly NOT local...and there's nothing for you here.
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Reviews
Brill!
Review date: 2008-01-13 Rating: 10 out of 10
Having owned the boxset myself for a couple of years I knew that this was a mega bargain (esp when everywhere else i looked were still selling it for pretty much the rrp). I ordered the DVD's as a gift for my friend who i know will love the show, and using the free super-saver delivery option, I was amazed when it was delivered to my house only 3 days after ordering. Highly reccommended!!
"You're Going To Be An Elephant!!!"
Review date: 2007-08-21 Rating: 10 out of 10
Though now they undoubtedly suffer comparison to weaker shows that have followed in their wake (and in a couple of instances have become infinitely more successful), the League of Gentlemen were a breath of indecent fresh air when they arrived onto BBC2 back in 1999 with their eponymous sketch series. A television series that paid as much attention and homage to classic English moments in cinema, TV and literature as it did to cult horror classics and serial killer trivia, the world of Royston Vasey and its bizarre inhabitants was one as chock full of witty irreverance as much as it was of disgusting toilet humour, with the odd un-PC characterisation thrown in for good measure. Like any uniformally terrific piece of TV heaven, the League would inspire a cult following that still laments/praises their efforts in provoking laughter and disturbance to this day, and remains especially unique in their daring to take their characters towards avenues darker and more surreal than most English comedies fear to tread.
The progenitors of this vividly weird world deserve every amount of praise bestowed upon them for bringing it to life so indelibly, as co-writer Jeremy Dyson and co-writers/lead cast members Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith imbue their characters with an honesty and commitment that most sketch shows rarely afford to do. Even when dragged up to the nines, fat-suited-and-booted or adopting all manner of over-the-top mannerisms, not only is their comedy rooted convincingly within the innumerable social neuroses of all isolated English communities, but the performances also serve to eak out some semblance of truth in the farce played onscreen, no matter how overblown, fanciful or downright disturbing it may be. The Tubbs and Edward storyline from series one is one concerned with the restrictions of home and the need to find something beyond the smalltown life whilst Hilary Briss's indiscretions in series two can be seen as an essay on corruption and blackmail amongst a smalltown's political figures. That both storylines happen to feature hair sandwiches, culinary excrements and bestiality makes their core themes more appealling. Aided substantially by exemplary costumes and makeup (particularly the former courtesy of Yves Barre), as well as an overtly naturalistic filming style that belies the staginess of past sketch shows, the League strike chords that unnerve as much as they induce laughter precisely because there is no wink at the audience to let them know when to laugh, which is as big a feat as you're unlikely to find in English comedy.
As with any cult success, the League's fanbase is one that can often be found arguing over the merits or detriments of each series, though rather unfortunately a lot have isolated series three as the nadir of their work with the BBC. Granted, with its ambitious storytelling technique and marrying disparate characters from other sketches to tell even weirder and out-of-leftfield stories, series three had the power to alienate even hardcore fans that had grown accustomed to the more traditional sketch show structures and catchphrase-reliant punchlines of the first two seasons. Series one and two were still held together by a thinly-etched storyline to help provide continuity between the six episodes as well as provide a soap-opera style level of intrigue and investment to the proceedings, and each group of characters was given either moments to shine or at the best of times character arcs and plot twists that provided further shading and depth. Series three was limited in its scope by focusing on a single set of characters in each episode for so long, but it still can't deter from the sheer subversive delights found within or some joyously silly stand-alone sketches. However, most are unanimous in their praise of the Christmas Special, which no doubt helped to inspire the multi-layered structure of series three, and it remains their highlight even outside of their work with the BBC.
The more horrific aspects of their characters and actions can be attributed to the League's fascination with the horror genre, specifically the Gothic qualities of the Hammer horrors and the Amicus horror compilations. Plot points, shots and episode titles pay homage to the likes of Nosferatu, Don't Look Now, The Wicker Man, The Shining, The Exorcist... the list goes on. Though thankfully, the level of technique from the behind-the-scenes crew helps to ensure that each reference is made tastefully and with the utmost care, of particular note being The Divine Comedy's Joby Talbot supplying a rousing underscore to the events onscreen, especially the Christmas special which includes a beautiful pastiche of Jocelyn Pook and her score for Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. It's not all doom and horror though, even if the lighter moments are tainted quite indelibly with some incredibly dark humour, notably the Chinnery sketches (the Kes pisstake is priceless), a couple of ceaselessly creepy monologues (one set in a cave system, the other in a morgue) and a wonderful Jehovah's Witness pitch that goes from bad to worse in less than two lines. In short, its the most fun you're likely to have laughing at the sort of stuff you really ought to not be laughing at.
However, the best part of this DVD collection is the fact that the League, being the geeks that they are, have taken great pride in providing bountiful extra material for each disc in this package. Those who have bought each TV outing individually will feel shortchanged by its slashed price and the lack of any new material specifically for this release stops it from being an essential purchase for the die-hard fan (unlike, say, Channel 4's seminal Spaced DVD collection), it would be the perfect gift for someone who enjoys intelligent, raucous comedy who hasn't discovered them yet. The most amusing features on each disc containing the episodes have to be the "Local Gossip" audio commentary tracks made by the League, which sees them become more and more embittered as they detail sketches that don't work, discrepencies in the plots, various on-set travails and, most tellingly, orders from on high that limit what they can say and do (Shearsmith in particular gets incredibly rancourous). Other features include deleted sequences, behind-the-scenes documentaries, isolated score cues, music videos, trailers and character biographies. Not including series one (which probably had to suffer having all of its material posited on one disc), each menus is also beautifully designed with all kinds of animations, quirks and easter eggs, standout amongst equals being the Christmas Special (again!)
So, with its smackingly delicious blend of comedy, horror, referentialism and drama, the League of Gentlemen gave us a genuinely refreshing hit TV show that ducked easy categorisation at every turn to become of the BBC's finest comedy programs in recent years. That they proceeded to march to their own beat and treat hard-won fans with further flights of fancy as opposed to relying on cliches and catchphrases to keep the merchandise boards happy also makes them one of the more legitimate comedy troupes working today (excluding the panto tour, obviously!) Let's not forget, this is the outfit that turned a character with a raspy voice and a minstrel face into a national phenomenon, despite his having black urine and stealing women away from their homes to stuff them inside animals. Give credit where it's due, guys; Vicky Pollard would be ripped apart in seconds if she ventured into Royston Vasey, and it would probably be at least half as good as anything on these six discs of dark pleasure.
very good but.........
Review date: 2007-07-28 Rating: 8 out of 10
Here we have the law of diminishing returns. Series 1 excellent. series 2 very good on the whole. series 3 pretty poor. Xmas special not bad. Worth buying for season 1 and 2 and xmas special at a good bargain price. Thank god they didn't put the apocalypse film in here.
Classic and Cutting-Edge British Comedy
Review date: 2007-07-05 Rating: 10 out of 10
This is a kind of love or hate comedy pheomenon, much like 'Brass Eye', though no-where near as risque as that.
But a lot of the humour is quite risque in 'League Of Gentlmen', which is basically a Northern soap opera set in the fictional town of Royston Vasey. Just like classic soap operas such as Coronation Street, excellent characterisation draws the viewer in, and before they know it, they are horribly addicted, immediately moving onto the next episode to see more outrageous goings-on and striking visual humour.
Kudos has to be given to Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith for creating some truly convincing costumes, make-up, and characters, as well as referencing a slew of celluloid classics from 'The Shining', to 'Kes', to 'The Exorcist', all with a liberal dose of 'kitchen sink' thrown in for good measure. Indeed, much of this is very near the bone and gritty, particularly a lot of the job centre scenes.
The plot basically centres around the lives of various people who live round and about Royston Vasey, including Pauline, the Job Centre 'restart officer', Hilary Briss the butcher, a vet called Mr. Chinnery whose patients all meet a nasty end, and a pre-op transexual named Barbara. Through excellent characterisation, the viewers interest in the characters is piqued and we become involved. Besides which, there are so many classic lines and soundbites in this programme it would be difficult to count them all.
Put simply, 'League Of Gentlemen' is rife with imagination, wit, sarcasm, northern black humour, originality, excellent characterisation, and some humour which is extremely cutting edge. This DVD is excellent value for money and also includes the notorious Christmas special featuring the derranged 'Papa Lazarou'. If you buy this DVD, you may love or hate it, but you'll never be bored by it.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Mark Gatiss
Steve Pemberton
Reece Shearsmith
Director(s):
Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503173029
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 6
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2005-05-30
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 595 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)