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Coupling: Complete BBC Series 1-4 Box Set (Special Collectors Edition) [2000]


RRP: £49.99
Our Price: £14.67 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

This witty, instantly addictive British series could also be called Chaps or Squelchy in the City. Coupling charts the tangled sex lives of a close-knit group comprising "exes and best friends": womanizer Jack, hapless nice guy Steve, "strange and disturbing" Jeff, uninhibited Susan, neurotic Sally, and manipulative Jane. Coupling may inspire feelings of déjà-vu. The obvious frame of reference is Friends (Steve and Susan are the Ross-Rachel equivalent), but this series also echoes Seinfeld in its coinage of catch-phrases (although it's doubtful that "the boyfriend zone" will replace "master of your domain") and plotlines (in episode one, Steve tries to dump Jane, who refuses to accept). But Coupling has its own fresh and provocative takes on relationships. At one point, a furious Susan discovers that Patrick not only had a videotape of the former couple having sex, but that he also taped over her.

In Steven Moffat's second season, there’s a brilliant consolidation of all the neuroses, small deceits, obsessions, and personality ticks that struck such a resonant chord when Steve, Susan, and their four friends were first unleashed on us. The success of this is due to the magical combination of Moffat's very funny scripts and the talents of six extremely likeable actors, including Jack Davenport (Steve) and Sarah Alexander (Susan). But it's Richard Coyle's Jeff whose sexual fantasies exert a compelling fascination that will really keep you watching in disbelief. Breasts, bottoms and pants are the basis for most of the conversational analysis when these friends get together as a group, as couples, as girlfriends, or as mates, invariably becoming metaphors for the state of a relationship or situation. Individual viewpoints and terrors are explored through respective memories of the same event and what-if scenarios. Chain reactions inevitably ensue, fuelling comedy that is based almost entirely on misunderstanding.

The third series, first aired in 2002, takes fans into new realms of engaging surrealism. The men are constantly in pursuit of a basic grasp of the "emotional things" that make women behave the way they do. The women analyze everything to death. But again thanks to Steve Moffat's scripts, tighter and quirkier than ever, these characters are living, breathing human beings rather than cynical ciphers for comedy stereotypes. The performances are as strong as you'd expect from an established team, with actors such as Jack Davenport, Ben Miles (unreconstructed chauvinist Patrick), Sarah Alexander, and Kate Isitt (neurotic Sally) wearing their roles like second skins. But in the surreal stakes, it's Richard Coyle as Jeff, wondering aloud what happens to jelly after women have finished wrestling in it, and Gina Bellman as Jane, musing on the importance of a first snog in identifying what men like to eat, who really raise the laughter levels. All things considered, this is superior comedy for all thirtysomethings--genuine and putative.

Then we get to series four - feel free to insert your own "four-play" joke, or for that matter, your own "insert" jokes! Sex is still topic one for the intertwined group of "exes and best friends," but in this pivotal season there are momentous "relationship issues" that will upend all their lives (insert your own "upend" joke while you're at it). Susan is pregnant, inspiring nightmares in Steve about his own execution and unflattering comparisons of the birth process to John Hurt's iconic gut-busting scene in Alien. Missing in action is the Kramer-esque Jeff (although he makes something of a return in the season finale). Joining the ensemble is Oliver, who is more in the Chandler mode as a lovable loser with the ladies. These inevitable comparisons to "Sein-Friends" are no doubt heresy to Coupling's most devoted viewers. Indeed, this series does benefit from creator and sole writer Steven Moffat's comic voice and vision. He provides his ever-game cast some witty, funny-'cause-it's-true dialogue, as in Oliver's observation that "Tea isn't compatible with porn." A bonus disc takes viewers behind the scenes with segments devoted to bloopers and interviews with cast and crew.

This Britcom is less inhibited in language and sexual situations than its American counterparts. In the cleverly-constructed opening episode, in which the same "9-1/2 Minutes" are witnessed from three different perspectives, Sally and Jane can do what was left to the imagination when Monica and Rachel offered to make out in front of Joey and Chandler. The birth of Susan and Steven's baby ends the six-episode fourth season on a satisfying and surprisingly moving grace note.

Plot Synopsis:

On average, men and women think about sex every six seconds. Shorten that to every second, and you've got Coupling. It's more than just a one night stand! When a couple gets together, it's never just the two of them - they also bring baggage - and Susan (Sarah Alexander) and Steve (Jack Davenport) are no exception. Their baggage is a crowd of best friends and exes who talk about all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest to find true love.

Coupling has been honoured with the prestigious Silver Rose of Montreux, Best TV Comedy Award, and was a winner at the 2003 British Comedy Awards.


I laughed so loud neighbours knocked on the door....
Review date: 2008-10-06 Rating: 10 out of 10

All I can say is - brilliant! Great script and acting. Not subtle humour and mainly of sexual nature but it is witty and the exaggeration of various male vs female psychological nuances makes it hilarious... and true! I would say it's an equally great viewing for both men and women. My personal favourite is "lost in translation" affair between Jeff and a stunning foreigner.

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Reviews


Get it now
Review date: 2008-09-09 Rating: 10 out of 10

I was late getting in to Coupling, it was my dad and brother that got me in to it. A lot of people have compared it to Friends. The only thing that is the same is. It is about a group of friends that's about it. After I sore the 1st episode, "Flushed". I was hooked. All of the cast are excellent , especially Jeff Murdock - played by Richard Coyle. He isn't in the last series because he was working on other things. Series 4 is good but you are allways missing him. Not to say that Oliver Morris - played by Richard Mylan isn't good, but I felt that Steven Moffat the maker of Coupling felt he had to make Oliver the same as Jeff and It just doesn't work. In the last episode Jeff is in it sort of, I woun't say how but It was a very fitting way to end.

Great!
Review date: 2008-05-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Coupling is one of the funniest british tv series I've seen. Even that I understand, the english language is not my mother tongue; does anyone know if this box has some kind of subtitles? Thanks.

Up near the top of British comedies
Review date: 2007-12-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

This box-set collects series 1-4 of Coupling, plus several outtakes, episode commentaries and a couple of documentaries about the making of the series which all the main players contribute to.
This was one of the best written pieces of British television, not just comedy, of the last ten years. It is well acted as well with all 6 of the main characters shining, as well as the late Lou Gish and Richard Mylan who had the unenviable task of taking over from Richard Coyle's superb characterisation of Jeff.
The humour is well crafted and writer Steven Moffat can take most of the credit for that. In particular as some of the best episodes show the same scenes from different viewpoints, each one topping the previous one as you see how the same scene is seen from a different aspect. Two memorable episodes are Jeff's chatting up a stunning Israeli woman in "The Girl with Two Breasts" in series 1 and the brilliantly complex "9 1/2 minutes" from series 4 where the same scene is played out 3 times. Great acting is nothing without a classy script and you get both here.
It's not just funny it is also moving at times. All of the characters have their faults, some really blatant (Patrick), but you do feel for them throughout the series as a whole.
Imagine what the Americans could do with a series based on 6 twenty-something characters who keep running into each other with hilarious results? What do you mean they have tried......

Outstanding, in all ways.
Review date: 2007-12-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

If you watch British sit-coms now, you'll wonder how Coupling was ever possible. The cast are superb, the writing excellent and without doubt, you will laugh more in ten minutes than after whole week of regular viewing now.
Yes, series one to three are the best. Series four suffers only on the point that it's impossible to place a new character into an cohesive cast and not lose ground. If Jeff, played by Richard Coyle, had stayed for the last series, it would have been just as good as any previous series.
But anyway, if you enjoy Friends, Frasier, Cheers, Seinfeld or any other of the fine US imports we've had, you'll enjoy this and then some. What I want to know is why can't we make programmes of this standard now and just how did Sarah Alexander become so beautiful? Seriously, to be that good looking she must've had lessons!

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Richard Coyle
Gina Bellman
Sarah Alexander
Jack Davenport
Kate Isitt

Creators:
Kate Isitt (Primary Contributor)
Gina Bellman (Primary Contributor)

Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014138071578
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 6
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2007-10-08
Audience rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
Region code: 2
Language: English (Original Language)

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