The Fast Show-Series 1 (1994)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Main Menu Audio & Animation Interviews-Cast
Rating
Year Of Production	1994
Running Time	174:20 (Case: 180)
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (15:15)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	John Birkin Arch Dyson
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Paul Whitehouse Charlie Higson Arabella Weir Simon Day Caroline Aherne John Thomson Mark Williams
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$34.95	Music	Various

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	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    One of the most versatile and interesting genres of comedy is television sketch comedy, because of its short and fast manner, unencumbered by continuing storylines and complex character development which can sometimes burden television sit-coms. They also have the advantage of being able to be hyper-topical in regards to popular trends in media and advertising. Of course, this is a double edged sword, as what can give comedy its sharpness and wit can be severely diminished by time and transport to a non-native market. This disc shows that the sketch comedy form can translate to another similar market and survive the ravages of time (in this case, 8 years from air to disc).

    Initiated by actors/comedians Charlie Higson and Paul Whitehouse, this program is a fast (hence the title) series of short skits and scenes that (for the most part) really fire in laugh value. You have to be a fan of the British style of comedy to find this material relevant and accessible, but even the most passive of British comedy viewers would find something of value. Included are parodies of the long running English TV show The Bill, plus spoofs of shows such as The Untouchables, and European television and their unusual style and advertising. Of course there were things that I just didn't get (some of the soccer commentator references went over my head) but to any Australian familiar with British television, this will be a familiar thing. I still find myself being the only one laughing at various references on American television that those around me just don't get, but the thing with comedy (especially fast sketch comedy) is that even if one gag falls on its face, before too long we are up and on to the next. Thankfully, this is fairly rare with this collection and I found about 95%+ was quite accessible for a local audience.

    For anyone who might have missed this series on free-to-air, this is the time to catch up. There very well may be more on the way from this talented group with two series after this (as of late 2002) and a live performance which is already available in Region 2 on disc. Still, we do pretty well here with the entire first series (6 episodes of 1/2 hr. each) available in their entirety. If you liked the comedy of The Late Show and Fast Forward here in Australia and UK offerings such as Monty Python (which I would regard as the pinnacle of television sketch comedy bar nothing else) and French and Saunders you will probably find something worthwhile here. Good fun and worth a look. Recommended.

Video

    The video quality of the material here is reasonable given its origins and age. There are quite a few artefacts visible during the feature, but these do not detract from the value of the program.

    Despite what the disc's box may say, the aspect ratio is not 16:9. What we have here is the program material presented in its original aspect ration of 1.33:1, and as such, there is no 16x9 enhancement.

    What we have in the sharpness department is, for the most part, adequate. Because of the high levels of edge enhancement, some long distance shots can lose much of their resolution making it hard to make out some objects. This is usually not a major concern and a majority of the on-screen happenings are quite clear and visible. The material is mostly well-lit with few dark scenes shown, but the few that do display a workable level of shadow detail. Low level noise is not a real problem.

    The colour on offer is quite good and while not the most vibrant offering (it seemed just a tad faded) looked to be fairly natural and well presented.

    There were quite a few transfer quality problems with the material shown on this disc, as might probably be expected with material destined for free-to-air broadcast rather than commitment to DVD. The main offenders visible on this disc are our good friend (not) edge enhancement which is visible throughout the program such as at 1:28 and 7:50 (episode 1), 20:28 (episode 2), 9:27 (very bad on episode 3) and 0:22 (episode 6). This list was much longer, but you get the edge enhanced picture. Cross colouration is also a problem, and is quite visible at 18:11 and 27:40 (episode 1) and 22:17 (episode 4). Analogue tape tracking errors are visible at times with 20:39 being an example. There is also some chroma noise visible with an example at 1:34 (episode 4).

    There is only one subtitle option available here, that being English. While is does convey the very basic dialogue on screen, it is not anywhere near word-for-word. Still, handy if you find some of the accents a bit hard to make out.

    This disc is formatted RSDL with the layer change taking place during episode 4 at 15:15. This change is mid-scene and is far from the best place for a change. Still, modern DVD players will probably render this as only a slight pause in proceedings.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There is only one audio track available with this title, that being a Dolby Digital 2.0 surround encoded track.

    This being a sketch comedy program, the dialogue quality would almost have to be on par in terms of importance to the picture quality. With this disc, the audio isn't a problem, with all the goings on quite listenable and understandable. Once again, there were (for me, anyway) a few times when I had to reach for the subtitles on the remote when the accents go a bit thick, but this was a failing on my part rather that a problem with the disc. The disc offers the audio in a very even and clear manner.

    Audio sync was not a problem with this title.

    The music is from various sources and suits the material well. For much of the program, there is no background music or score as such.

    While the audio on this disc is surround encoded, don't expect huge amounts of audio from the rears as what little there is is of minor atmospheric value only.

    As is the case with the surrounds, so it is with the subwoofer, which for the most part is largely quiet with only a few 'woofs' to be heard. Again, mostly an atmospheric role for the sub which does its job backing up the mains.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Interviews - Cast  33:57

• Paul Whitehouse & Charlie Higson: 12:57
• Arabella Weir: 6:17
• Mark Williams: 7:30
• Simon Day: 7:13

    The video is okay with many video transfer flaws but a watchable image considering the program content.

    The audio is fine and serves the material well.
 
    The extras are light with only four interviews on offer.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall