Reviews

Over a decade after it first appeared on our television screens, Black Books continues to ride its wave of success in New Zealand with the re-release of The Complete Black Books, in a super-duper ultimate edition gift set.

Set in a cluttered, filthy old second-hand bookstore, Black Books follows the story of its proprietor, the misanthropic, alcoholic Bernard Black (Dylan Moran); his idealistic, sweet, and scatter-brained whipping boy employee Manny (Bill Bailey); and best friend Fran (Tamsin Greig). Unlucky in life, love, and business, their conversations are peppered by bizarre observations by Black, enabled by liberal doses of wine and liberal abuse of cigarettes.

Black Books was at the head of a wave of crackpot, pseudo-absurdist comedy that emerged from the United Kingdom over the past decade, such as The IT Crowd, Green Wing, The League of Gentlemen, and The Mighty Boosh; albeit perhaps somewhat more conventional than these shows (shot multi-camera with a live audience and laugh track). Though clearly not the progenitor of such comedy, it mixed it beautifully with solid narratives, well-drawn characters, and superb performers to create a setting audiences were eager to return to week after week. Its popularity was well-deserved, the writers ably juggling the ludicrous and the pessimistic, keeping viewers laughing all along. Highlights include season one's "Grapes of Wrath", in which things go awry for Bernard and Manny as they housesit for a wealthy friend and inadvertently poison the Pope; "The Big Lock-out", in which Bernard gets locked out of the shop and ends up (naturally) working at a burger shop; season two's "Fever", in which Bernard goes on a quest to secure a "summer girl", Fran discovers the walls of her flat are literally closing in on her, and Manny suffers from the ominous-sounding "Dave's Syndrome"; "Blood", in which Bernard and Manny attempt to introduce first a café and then a restaurant into the bookshop; and season three's "Elephants and Hens" in which Bernard and Manny attempt what they expect will be an easy task: writing a children's book. While season three didn't quite live up to the first two outings, it's still a solid set of episodes and leaves you awaiting that long-rumoured (but unlikely to eventuate) fourth season.

The DVD showcases the episodes decently with good picture and audio quality (neither of which needs to be amazing with a show such as this), and some adequate extras in the forms of outtakes and photo galleries. The audio commentaries on the first two seasons are a highlight of the set; cast members Moran, Bailey, and Greig discussing each episode. Challenging as the task may be, they're often more amusing than what's happening onscreen, and there's a great rapport between them. The only disappointment is that there are no commentaries on the third season.

Fans who own earlier DVD releases of the show won't find anything new on the discs themselves - they're exactly the same as the other sets - but they are treated to a Black Books-branded corkscrew and wine stopper (largely obsolete in the age of the screw-cap wine bottle, but still nice to have), all presented in a case designed to look like a nice hardcover book. It's a good buy for the diehard Black Books fan or for somebody yet to experience the show (and if that's you, you really are missing out), but if you're a casual fan who already has the show on DVD, you can probably give this one a miss.

- Black Books: The Complete Collectors' Edition is now available in stores, RRP $49.95, until December 31st