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Dom Robinson reviews
The Complete 2nd SeriesGranada Media
- Cert:
- Cat.no: GVD 002
- Running time: 214 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 7
- Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby ProLogic)
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Fullscreen: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: None
Director:
- Steve Bendelack
Producer:
- Kenton Allen
Written by:
- Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne & Carmel Morgan
Theme Music:
- Oasis: Half The World Away
Cast:
- Denise Best: Caroline Aherne
Dave Best: Craig Cash
Barbara Royle: Sue Johnston
Jim Royle: Ricky Tomlinson
Anthony Royle: Ralf Little
Norma Speakman: Liz Smith
Mary Carroll: Doreen Keogh
Joe Carroll: Peter Martin
Cheryl Carroll: Jessica Stevenson
Twiggy: Geoffrey Hughes
Emma: Sheridan Smith
Darren: Andrew Whyment
When the Royle Family entered its second series,I was wondering if it would run out of steam, but thankfully it never did andis just as funny as the first.
Again, all the action, so to speak, mainly takes place in the front room inthe presence of the goggle box. The observational comedy is, again, enoughto bring tears of laughter to the eyes.
Jim: “It’s just the same shit, but WIDER!”
The head of the household is Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson), frequentlycommenting negatively with “My arse!” and his ex-Brookside screenwife Sue Johnston as chain-smoking Barbara Royle. Caroline Ahernetakes the role of their lazy wife-to-be daughter Denise, engaged to dippymobile disco DJ Dave Best (Craig Cash).
Runt of the litter is teenage son Anthony (Ralf Little), always beingforced to answer the door or make a brew, while the eldest is Nana, akaNorma Speakman (Liz Smith), always a favourite of Jim’s (NOT!) as she’shis mother-in-law.
Their next-door neighbours are the Carrolls, Mary (Doreen Keogh),Joe (Peter Martin) and their overweight daughter Cheryl (JessicaStevenson, recently seen in Channel 4’s Spaced). Finally,ex-Coronation Street actor Geoffrey Hughes appears as wheeler-dealerTwiggy, always with a bargain knock-off to hand and there’s also thelocal slapper Beverly Macca who we never see but hear plenty about.
Nana (looking worried): “Oh, I am sorry for you.”
For the second series,Nana has her cataracts removed and might stay with the Royles for sometime, Denise is expecting her baby son, Barbara’s “on the change” accordingto Jim, Denise finally cooks a meal (well, ‘Dairylea on toast’), the womengang up on the men (“Cor-rect, Dave!”), Denise complains that she nevergoes round to see Dave’s parents because all they do all night is sit aboutand watch TV all night “and that’s boring!”, they spend half of thefifth episode watching and commenting on “Who Wants to Be AMillionaire”, which incidentally is going head-to-head in the ratings warwith the third series of our Royles.
Also, the last two episodes swapped round so it went out with a high duringAnthony’s 18th birthday party in which we meet his girlfriend Emma (SheridanSmith) for the first time and see another appearance for Anthony’sjailbird best friend Darren (Andrew Whyment), who’s rather slow on theuptake.
Exclusive to the DVD is the Xmas 1999 episode, ending with Denise being rushedoff to the hospital as her waters break, preceeded by a tender moment betweenher and Jim, in the bathroom of all places.
“I wouldn’t. That’s why the springs have gone on your mother’s”.
Barbara: “Jim! I haven’t got bad boobs for a woman of my age.”
Jim: “Behave, Barb, they’re like bloody Spaniel’s ears!”
Shot in 4:3 fullscreen, for this series only the first two episodes havemuch in the way of grain, while the rest escape it. There’s always a slightlygritty look to it, but that’s down to the way it was filmed.The average bitrate is approximately 4.6Mb/s for most episodes, while othersrate a bit higher.
There’s no change with the sound. Again, dialogue is clear, with the TVblaring away in the background. Oasis‘s Half the World Awaytops and tails each episode.
Denise: “She might walk out in the road and get run over by a lorry”
Jim: “Well, we can always put a claim in (!)”
Extras :
There are no extras again to speak of, although the Xmas episode is exclusiveto the DVD. Chapters are again limited to one per episode.
There are no subtitles and the menus are static, although there are a fewseconds of the Oasis track playing acoustically over the top.
“I can still smell shit in ‘ere!”
After the first series release, you’ll know exactly what to expect here,but it’s still a must-buy.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
0OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.