The Comic Strip Presents - Complete [1982]

Amazon.co.uk Review

It hardly needs spelling out that The Comic Strip Presents… kick-started the careers of the bulk of our `alternative' comedians. Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, French and Saunders, Peter Richardson, Keith Allen--all started here.

The series is the very definition of a `mixed bag'. Each show was a separate story in its own right, and each one couldn't be more different from the last--from the sixties pastiche `The Bullshitters' to the arty `Les Dogs' (starring Kate Bush, no less).

With 39 episodes to choose from, the overall quality of the episodes does vary somewhat. For every excellent `South Atlantic Raiders' and `The Supergrass', there's a woeful `Spaghetti Hoops'. But The Comic Strip Presents… deserves its place in comic history by virtue of being different, by trying to create new and interesting work, and in doing so being truly groundbreaking.

When you take risks, you end up with gems such as the double header of `Bad News Tour' and `More Bad News', which follow a chronically bad rock group on the road. These two episodes alone are worth your attention, the interplay of the four leading players (Edmondson, Planer, Mayall and Richardson) a marvel to watch and with scenes that will make you keel over--Vim Fuego's take on `Imagine/Imogen' is pure gold.

Other highlights include `Five Go Mad In Dorset', a wonderful take on Enid Blyton's skewed and irreverant view of teenagers in Britain; `Mr Jolly Lives Next Door', which sees Mayall and Edmondson, in a precursor to their days on `Bottom', getting themselves in a sticky situation with Mr Jolly, played brilliantly by the late Peter Cook; and Strike!', a Hollywood-esque take on the miners' strike of 1984.

The Comic Strip Presents… pushed comedic boundaries and was never afraid to do things a little differently and this collection is a fine record of its prolific, always interesting, and often hilarious output.--Mark Oakley

Customer Reviews:

Classic Stuff.......2008-02-07

I brought this collection when i was home in the UK in january.
Ive been a big fan of adrian edmondson,,rick mayal,, jennifer saunders, nigel planner and dawn french from the days of the youngones and girls on top.
I had been wanting to buy this collection for sometime but just could not justify it at the time as there was so much other stuff i wanted before for example Bottom,, young ones, the new statesman black adder to mention a few.
I grew up with these comic genius when i left school in 1981 and the youngones was ground breaking stuff.
I never got to see the entire collection of the comic strip presents but im glad to say now i can.
Being a big fan of the vicar of dibley i also was glad to see the genius of dawn french.

Peter richardson is a creative genius as you will see if you buy yourself this classic collection spanning from the early 80s to the year 2000.

I recomend this to all fans of bottom and the youngones.
My favorite episodes have to be five go mad in dorset fist full of travlers checks and the bad news tour .
Also have to mention now ive seen the entire collection i have to add that 4 men in a car and 4 men in a plane also are top notch.
Although there were a couple i just abandoned as i just could not get into them.
Great stuff for all you expats out there.
Go on treat yourself and travel back to the 80s-90s.

Extremely Good, With 2 Negatives!.......2008-02-06

I have now owned this box-set for just about 2 years, it's signed by Rik Mayall and French & Saunders (which I'm pleased about). I recieved the DVD on a bank holiday Monday morning. And when I started I bearly stopped, by the end of that night I had been on disc 5, so far I believed that this was the greatest DVD box-set in the world. Or should it be?
Sadly I didn't know that the box-set was edited in certain places and did discover, but I didn't make a fuss over that.
When I finally continued the box-set I found that the episodes were getting slightly weaker (ie. "The Yob", "The Funseekers"). I believed at one point that the episodes would get better as I went on to the BBC series, maybe I was slightly wrong. I feel that only a brief amount of the BBC episodes are good, possibly the best episodes are "South Atlantic Raiders", "Gregory - Diary Of A Nutcase", "Spaghetti Hoops", "Red Nose Of Courage", it's clearly seen that the team are struggling and have to come back to old ideas (ie. "The Beat Generation" - "Spaghetti Hoops", "The Strike" - "GLC"). Looking through the BBC series, it became hard to watch certain episodes and I was left having abandon them.
If you forget these 2 negatives then the box-set is fine and is constantly watched for certain episodes ("A Fistful Of Travellers Cheques", "Eddie Monsoon - A Life").
Because the Channel 4 episodes are so good I would give the box-set a total of 4 out of 5.

Very mixed bag indeed.......2008-01-08

I took the first two discs of this collection out for rental. I thoroughly enjoyed the first disc, especially the "Five go mad in Dorset" episode. However after watching the first one and a half episodes of disc 2 I gave up and returned the DVD without watching all of it, something I hardly ever do.

Very patchy.......2007-12-25

I've never owned any of the Comic Strip on VHS so I've no idea about the stuff that has been edited out.

I also never managed to catch at least half of the episodes when they were shown on telly, which is the main reason I bought this.

Anyway, apart from the 'Five Go Mad' episodes, 'Summer School', 'Beat Generation', the 'Bad News' episodes and the peerless 'Strike', I really wasn't impressed with most of the collection.

Some of the episodes were just rubbish (I won't bother naming them) and self-indulgent rubbish at that.

Oh, and despite what another reviewer said, I don't think either of the 'Bad News' episodes are a patch on 'Spinal Tap'.

I know I will NEVER watch most of the other episodes again, but I'll be keeping the collection as the good stuff really is good.

Anyway, sorry if I've upset anyone with this review but I'm just being honest. I really wanted to love every episode, but I don't.

1982 OH MY HOW TIME FLYS.......2007-08-18

Five go mad in Dorset is probably the very best of an incomparable collection of alternative humour, every single episode is a gem in its own right and to sit and watch is a pleasure that no one should miss. As the series progresses, one can see the changes in the individuals as they mature in style and capability. The Red Nose of Courage has to be my second favorite but there again so is a Fist Full of Travellers Cheques and Detectives on the Edge and so is every episode so I just watch over and over and never get bored.

Average customer rating:
HORRIBLE HISTORIES - Groovy Greeks / Extraordinary Explorers / Battlin' Bolivar [2005]
Horrible Histories
Manufacturer: delta home entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

All Children's DVD | Children's DVD | Categories | DVD | Video
DVD | Format (binding_browse-bin) | Refinements | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0009RQQ6Q
Release Date: 2005-12-05

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