Bottom-Series 1 (1991) |
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Bottom-Series 1 (1991) |
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| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Comedy | Outtakes-Bottom Fluff | |
| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1991 | ||
| Running Time | ? | ||
| RSDL / Flipper | RSDL | Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Jon Plowman Bob Spiers Ed Bye |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Roadshow Home Entertainment |
Starring |
Adrian Edmondson Rik Mayall |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | $29.95 | Music | None Given |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) | |
| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English for the Hearing Impaired Danish |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
In 1982 a new British comedy, The Young Ones, burst onto the scene, successfully bringing a whole new level of crass comedy to television. Nine years later, Bottom was introduced to audiences, also via the ABC in Australia. Unfortunately, the humour is gone but the crassness remains. With Adrian Edmondson (Edward ‘Eddie’ Elizabeth Hitler) and Rik Mayall (Richard ‘Richie’ Richard) starring in Bottom as well as the earlier Young Ones, comparisons are bound to be made, with The Young Ones coming out the clear winner. The two actors basically reprise their Young Ones characters, with Mayall as the slimy virginal loser, and Edmonson as the violent, carefree nut-job. What there is by way of plot for the series involves these two characters eking out their dodgy lives in a squalid London apartment, and the trials and tribulations they go through.
Where The Young Ones was new and fresh Bottom is old and stale, much like Richie and Eddie’s apartment. Edmonson and Mayall struggle to carry the show by themselves (whereas The Young Ones had four regular cast members with frequent guest stars) and by the end of the first episode I was wondering what else they could do for the remaining five. The answer was - not a lot. The same set (I’m sure it’s the same set where The Young Ones was filmed), and the same jokes, by the same actors.
But if words like tits, botty, rectum and knacker bags make you giggle then this could be the show for you.
This is one of those TV shows you remember being a lot funnier than it actually was. I remember staying up late to catch it on the ABC, but on viewing this DVD I can’t see why I would have bothered. There isn’t a lot of diversity amongst episodes or plot, with most of them being set entirely in Richie and Eddie’s dingy apartment (occasionally they venture out to the pub), and the plot revolving around their pursuit of sex, alcohol, beating on one another, or similar.
I have to admit the violence in the show really startled me – I remember it being quite violent, but the scene in Episode 2 (Gas) where they absolutely bludgeon a hapless gas man to death with a frying pan (and then sink the boots in too) just goes beyond the point of slapstick black comedy and becomes a bit sickening. Or maybe I’m just getting squeamish in my old age.
As KC points out, the jokes that don’t revolve around people hitting one another are of the typical British ‘naughty’ variety. It's amazing that Mayall and Edmonson got not only three seasons of a TV show, but also a Bottom stage show and movie (Guest House Paradiso) from this material. But with episode titles like Smells and Gas (tee hee, how naughty) you can’t say you know what you are in for – there are people who still love this stuff, know all the lines and will no doubt buy this DVD. To be fair, there are a few laughs here and there but this is really one for the fans.
Smells (28:27)
In their never-ending, yet completely futile, quest for some hot lovin’, Richie and Eddie try out some pheromone perfume that is supposed to drive women crazy. Needless to say, it doesn’t work no matter how many litres of the stuff Richie sprays all over himself (I’m sure you can guess some of the jokes already).
Gas (28:31)
Possibly the most notorious episode of the series, mainly for the savage beating that is applied to the gas man who foolishly tries to read Richie and Eddie’s meter (they have been diverting gas from next door).
Contest (28:16)
Eddie and Richie have a massive row revolving around whether they should or shouldn’t watch the Miss World contest on their TV. And you thought Seinfeld was the show about nothing…
Apocalypse (28:06)
Richie and Eddie are in desperate need of money (again), and plan to ring Richie’s rich Aunt. Upon finding her dead, Richie is ecstatic to find he has inherited 600 pounds and so it's off to the local fair or circus. It's here that Richie is told his fortune by a fortune teller and discovers he will die before the moon rises three times …
S’UP (28:30)
Richie is up Sunday morning, looking forward to getting the most out of his day. Eddie is camped in front of the television and settling in to watch three dirty movies. The day takes a dramatic turn for the better when Mr Harrison asks the boys to mind his shop for the afternoon …
Accident (28:26)
It's Richie’s birthday, and while putting up some birthday decorations he suffers a bad fall and breaks his leg. Eddie does his best to rustle up a birthday crowd and arranges for Spudgun and Hedgehog (Christopher Ryan, who plays Mike in The Young Ones) to drop over.
In general, the disc looks like what it is - standard early 1990s low–budget television: 1.33:1, a high level of grain, pale colour tones and with some seriously dark scenes in the dull studio-based settings. But BBC shows tend to have a fairly reasonable DVD transfer and this disc offers the best that can be expected from the source material.
The DVD is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.29:1, with the original aspect ratio being 1.33:1. It is not 16x9 enhanced.
Detail was acceptably sharp across the series, but episode 3 (Contest) was noticeably more grainy than others. This episode appears as though it may have been filmed first, with the hair styles and appearance of the characters slightly different to the rest of the series. Possibly it was filmed as a pilot on cheaper equipment, as the difference in quality seems more related to the source material rather than the DVD transfer.
Colour is not especially vibrant, but it needs to be taken into account that the studio settings, be it Eddie and Richie’s grimy apartment or the dimly lit local pub, do not lend themselves to particularly bright, lively colours.
Artefacts are not a source of distraction across the series. There is some minor aliasing such as at 4:49 in Episode 1 Smells, but this is never a big enough problem to be noticeable if you aren’t looking for it.
The movie features both English and Danish subtitles, although for some reason the Danish titles are not selectable via the subtitle menu.
Bottom is a single layer disc only.
| Sharpness |  |
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The general sound level is very quiet and we found we had to turn the amp up to a much higher level than you normally would with a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 disc. Probably this is more a result of a sub-par audio transfer than with the original source. The soundtrack is primarily dialogue driven, and was easy to understand once the volume was set to a sufficient level.
The film features just one audio track, English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s).
There were no audio sync problems noticeable.
There is some incidental music throughout Bottom, usually around scene changes, but it never lasts long enough to raise interest. The track which closes each episode, with Richie and Eddie dancing in between beatings, is the most prominent use of music in the show and is quite a catchy little track.
There is no surround sound.
There is no LFE channel.
| Dialogue | |
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| Surround Channel Use |  |
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NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
A Region 1 edition titled Bottom - Not Another Half-Arsed DVD Set is available which combines all three series of the show, plus some extras not featured on this release. These are listed as:
From a value for money perspective alone, this Region 1 collection seems to be the best option, given that it includes all three seasons and is available for around US$27.00.
But for our money, its hard to maintain interest over 6 episodes let alone any more...
Fans of The Young Ones, Bottom or Mayall and Edmondson will find value in this disc. Others may want to stick to more recent and sophisticated British comedy, like The Office.
The video transfer is acceptable considering the source material.
Sound was clear and passable, with the exception of being quite low in volume.
The extras are fairly light but how much of this stuff do you really want?
| Video | |
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| Extras |  |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-533K, using S-Video output |
| Display | Panasonic TX-51P15H rear projection TV (136cm). |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to Amplifier. |
| Amplification | Onkyo TX-DS494 |
| Speakers | Krix Lyrix front speakers, Krix KDX-C centre speaker, Krix Equinox rear speakers, BIC D-121OR 12' 200 watt powered sub-woofer. |