The Royle Family Series 1 on DVD

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Dom Robinson reviews

CoverThe Complete 1st Series
Distributed by
Granada Media

    Cover

  • Cert:
  • Cat.no: GVD 001
  • Running time: 170 minutes
  • Year: 1998
  • Pressing: 2000
  • Region(s): 2, PAL
  • Chapters: 6
  • 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:

      Mark Mylod

Producer:

    Glen Wilhide

Written by:

    Craig Cash, Caroline Aherne & Henry Normal

Theme Music:

    Oasis: Half The World Away

Cast:

    Denise Royle: Caroline Aherne
    Barbara Royle: Sue Johnston
    Jim Royle: Ricky Tomlinson
    Anthony Royle: Ralf Little
    Dave Best: Craig Cash
    Norma Speakman: Liz Smith
    Mary Carroll: Doreen Keogh
    Joe Carroll: Peter Martin
    Cheryl Carroll: Jessica Stevenson
    Twiggy: Geoffrey Hughes

In 1990 and 1991,while Mariella Frostrup was the sexiest voice on TV, so wasCaroline Aherne the sexiest voice on radio appearing on KFM Radio,a local radio station in Stockport before it was taken over by Signal Radio.Also with his own excellent programme, playing the best of indie musicsuch as The Cranes and the AC Marias and comtemporary classics fromMichael Penn and Don Henley, was Craig Cash, his sarcastic commentscomplementing the output perfectly.

Other stints into TV include the excellent Mrs Merton and Malcolm– well I thought it was! – and a documentary, Back Passage To India.

So, what do the Royle Family get up to? They sit about the house and watch TV.That’s it. But.. it’s exceptional observational comedy and many of us willknow a family like the Royles, even if we don’t like to admit it.

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.

In this first series, with all six episodes present, Barbara’s getting averuca and preparing to work in a supermarket, Anthony has a girlfriend(“his hand”, says Denise), the phone bill is playing on Jim’s mind,Dave has printed up cards for his mobile disco and Denise is preparing forher wedding.

When Anthony complains about his chips being soggy,
Jim states:“Oh, just get them ate, they all go to make a turd!”.

Shot in 4:3 fullscreen, that’s how the whole series is presented, but there’san odd level of grain present through the first three episodes which makesno sense as I certainly don’t recall that being there when it wasoriginally broadcast. The last three look a lot better.The average bitrate is approximately 7.1Mb/s for the first three episodes and4.99Mb/s for the last three. I wonder why there’s such a big difference whenthe last three look better?

The sound only gets half-marks too, but not because there’s anything wrongwith it, it’s just because it’s only used for basic dialogue which is clear,with the TV occasionally blaring away in the background. Oasis‘sHalf the World Away plays loud and proud at the start and end of eachepisode.

Denise on how she looks for her wedding:
“Yeah, but does me ‘air look like shite?”.

Extras :

There are none. The chapterings also a shoddy affair too – there are noneof those either! You only get the chance to select the start of each episode.

There are no subtitles and the menus are static, although there are a fewseconds of the Oasis track playing acoustically over the top.

Jim on being nervous:
“I’m just going for a quick tom-tit!”

So, no extras and an iffy picture during the first three episodes, but shouldyou still buy it? Damn right. It’s one of the best sitcoms made in the lastfew years and still has me laughing out loud no matter how many times I watchit.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


0OVERALL
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.

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