BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Theatrical Trailer(s)	None
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	1992	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	140:26 (not 135 as stated in packaging)	Other Extras	Main Menu Animation & Audio  Trivia  Outtakes
RSDL/Flipper	Dual Layer	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region	1,2,3,4,5,6	Director	Martin Dennis
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Neil Morrissey  Martin Clunes  Leslie Ash  Caroline Quentin
Case	Transparent Amaray
RPI	$39.95	Music	Alan Lisk

    This particular compilation of episodes comprises the entire Series 2 of Men Behaving Badly and is notable in that Dermot (Harry Enfield) was replaced with Tony (Neil Morrissey). Oddly enough, the packaging of the DVD does not reflect this, still proudly proclaiming Harry Enfield as being one of the stars. Tony's character takes a while to get going, and so the first few episodes of this particular series are a tad on the shaky side as Tony establishes himself. Fortunately, he hits his stride towards the end of the episodes.

    The episodes that comprise this particular series are;

    1. Dermot's Left (23:51). This episode introduces us to the character of Tony. It is most definitely the weakest episode of the series, as Tony does not make an appearance until half-way through the episode. Along the way, Gary interviews more than a few nutty potential room-mates, including a catatonic cameo by the writer of the series, Simon Nye. Once Tony makes an appearance, the episode picks up as he quickly establishes himself as a kindred spirit to Gary.

    2. Rent Boy (24:22). Gary comes to the mistaken conclusion that Tony is gay, and overreacts in the typical male fashion. It takes the bluntness of Dorothy to put things right between them, thoroughly embarrassing Gary in the process.

    3. How To Dump Your Girlfriend (22:04). Tony decides that he needs to dump his old girlfriend because he fancies Deborah so much. He has considerable difficulty with his timing, so Gary decides to help out by fax, which, not surprisingly, doesn't go down all that well with Tony's soon-to-be-ex girlfriend. It doesn't go down too well with Deborah, either.

    4. Troublesome Twelve Inch (22:32). Gary finds an unexpectedly valuable record in Dorothy's record collection, and tries to keep his windfall all to himself. Unfortunately, Dorothy finds out about it and punishes him in her own unique way.

    5. Going Nowhere (23:58). Gary and Deborah get stuck in a lift, much to the disappointment of Deborah and delight of Gary. Tony and Dorothy are stuck in Tony's new van waiting for them.

    6. People Behaving Irritatingly (23:39). Relatives from hell of Tony's come to stay with Tony and Gary, causing incredible stress and irritation to Gary. The promise of a free holiday in Spain soon changes his attitude, at least on the surface.

Video

    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1. It is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The transfer is nice and clear, with plenty of fine detail on offer, certainly far more detail than was visible on the first series DVD. Shadow detail is a little lacking in the darker scenes, such as the scenes in Tony's van during Episode 5. There is no low level noise.

    The colours were nicely colourful without being spectacular. Unlike Series 1, there was no colour bleeding noted.

    There were no significant MPEG artefacts seen. There was some moderate aliasing at times, usually along sharp edges and venetian blinds, but none of it was overly intrusive. I noticed one or two subtle video drop-outs, but nothing of any real significance.

    This disc is Dual Layered, but no layer change was detected during any of the episodes, so it seems as if the layer change sensibly separates episodes from each other.

Audio

    The dialogue is always easy to hear, and there are no audio sync problems.

    There is no music in this series other than the opening and closing theme by Alan Lisk.

    There was no activity in the surround channels, and even the stereo presence of this soundtrack is limited to the opening and closing music and audience laughter. Otherwise, this is strictly a monaural experience. The subwoofer did nothing except laugh at the on-screen antics.

Menu

    You are able to select each individual episode from the main menu, which then leads to a chapter submenu for each episode. This is a tad cumbersome, and an option to play all 6 episodes sequentially would have been appreciated.

Trivia/Outtakes

    The video quality is reasonably good but lacking a little in shadow detail.

    The audio quality is utilitarian.

    The extras are limited in quantity but very good in quality and thematic appropriateness.
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Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Michael Demtschyna (read my bio)
30th August 2000