Search - The Royle Family - The Complete First Season on DVD

Excellent series, poor quality DVD

M. A. Martin | Chicago, IL | 01/27/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I've een waiting for this show to become available in the US for a long time (it aired once on BBCAmerica). It's a great show with kind, realistic (i.e., not slapstick) humor about a lower-class family in England. It was very popular in the UK. I was so desperate for it that I even pre-ordered. That's how good the show is.



But I'm sorry to say I was sorely disappointed with the quality of the DVD transfer. First, it's not widescreen (letterbox). This is a recent show, so I'm fairly certain it was shot in the wider aspect ratio that's the UK adopted much earlier than the US. (I could be wrong about this. There's no easy way to tell.)



Second, the quality of the image is surprisingly bad. There's far too much noise to be considered DVD quality. Happily, it isn't compression artifacts, but it still is a very noisy image -- lots of graininess in the darker areas. I shudder to think what this DVD would look like on a hi-def television. On my old-school TV it's noticably bad. The bad image quality brings it down to 4 stars.



Still, this is the only way to legitimately get this series in the US. I was really looking forward to the second and third seasons, but I won't buy them unless the picture quality is better. There's simply no excuse for this poor quality."

This reminds me of home

J. Raitt | Iowa,USA | 01/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Oh my, this sit com is so funny. It reminds me so much of my childhood it's scary. We have been waiting and waiting for this to come out over here in the US. It really is so funny."

Great show for Anglophiles

D. Larson | Denver | 01/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great show for anyone who is addicted to BBC. At first blush, it seems to be nothing more than a crude British family sitting around watching TV - almost like a faux reality show. And on one level - it is. It's not much for production values; I think I counted a total of 3 sets for the whole series. And the action (if you can call it action) takes place in real time.



But after watching the series (which is, sadly, only 6 episodes long), I gained an appreciation for the characters - and the performances - that was totally unexpected. There is something about the show that really sucks you into their world. It's not a world I'd care to live in permanently, but when the last episode was over, I definitely felt that I would miss these characters.



Be advised that the accents are as thick as a whale omelet. But the DVD comes with helpful subtitles. I plan to use them the next time I watch, to catch the bits I missed.



Apparently there is a 2nd season, which has yet to be released in North American format. When it comes out, I will be first in line."

Classic British Comedy

I. DAY | East Coast, USA | 03/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A classic BAFTA award winning British comedy that may not be for everyone's taste, especially if toilet humour is not for you, but what makes this satire show so funny is how close it is to the reality of many of the working class of England.



Performances of Craig Cash (Dave Best) & Ricky Tomlinson (Jim Royle) are pure genius."