Customer Reviews

The Royle Family - The Complete First Season

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've een waiting for this show to become available in the US for a long time (it aired once on BBCAmerica). It's a great show with kind, realistic (i.e., not slapstick) humor about a lower-class family in England. It was very popular in the UK. I was so desperate for it that I even pre-ordered. That's how good the show is.

But I'm sorry to say I was sorely disappointed with the quality of the DVD transfer. First, it's not widescreen (letterbox). This is a recent show, so I'm fairly certain it was shot in the wider aspect ratio that's the UK adopted much earlier than the US. (I could be wrong about this. There's no easy way to tell.)

Second, the quality of the image is surprisingly bad. There's far too much noise to be considered DVD quality. Happily, it isn't compression artifacts, but it still is a very noisy image -- lots of graininess in the darker areas. I shudder to think what this DVD would look like on a hi-def television. On my old-school TV it's noticably bad. The bad image quality brings it down to 4 stars.

Still, this is the only way to legitimately get this series in the US. I was really looking forward to the second and third seasons, but I won't buy them unless the picture quality is better. There's simply no excuse for this poor quality.

Oh my, this sit com is so funny. It reminds me so much of my childhood it's scary. We have been waiting and waiting for this to come out over here in the US. It really is so funny.

A classic BAFTA award winning British comedy that may not be for everyone's taste, especially if toilet humour is not for you, but what makes this satire show so funny is how close it is to the reality of many of the working class of England.

Performances of Craig Cash (Dave Best) & Ricky Tomlinson (Jim Royle) are pure genius.

Whenever a comedy becomes a hit, a big hit, in the UK, there will be Britons who say. "It'll never work in America. They just won't 'get it'". The Classic example was Monty Python's Flying Circus, which had a devoted following in the UK, but which everyone agreed - especially the Month Python team themselves- could never succeed in the US. Of course, they were wrong. With a quirky comedy like that, there will be, on both sides of the Atlantic, people who will find it hilarious, and others who will stare blankly at it and wonder what the fuss is all about.

The Royle Family is like that. You'll likely either find it hysterically funny - as I did - or you will be entirely bemused. I suppose it helps if you come from a working class background.

Americans will probably find the accents difficult. Carolin Aherne is Mancunian and the series is set near Manchester, so Ricky Tomlinson's Liverpudlian accent was a bit of a surprise. Anyway, you may want the subtitles on. I assume the occasional rhyming slang ("I'm going for an Eartha Kitt") will be understood well enough.

The show has a reality feel to it, being filmed in 16mm film using a single camera and mostly normal lighting. This, together with the fact that there is no laugh track, gives it a wonderful intimacy. Try it, and see if it's your cuppa tea.
[PeterReeve]

The couch comedy form can probably get no smaller -- or no more perfect -- than "The Royle Family". This minimalist, keenly observed comedy is terrific precisely due to the fact that it's "not for everyone". The first season is in some ways stronger than the second if only for its unrelenting, single-minded focus on one small space, shot (almost) entirely with available light and written with a complete absence of sitcom cliché, dramedy affectation or any inkling of any sort of denouement. It would be hard to find a better written comedy (including even The Gervais/Merchant "The Office"). The scripts are always working on at least three levels: the humor that the characters share with each other; the humor the characters don't recognize themselves that is delivered solely to the viewer; and the often subtle and wry interplay between the character dialogue and whatever happens to be playing on the ever present television, the television that implicitly controls the sitting room and by extension, large chunks of the characters' lives.

Not to mention the nagging feeling that we might just be watching ourselves watching television.

As casual as the enterprise may seem, the acting is immaculately detailed, especially given the intimate scale of the program. The writers, cast and directors must be given credit for invoking such a genuine sense of place and character. Like the excellent character work in "Saxondale" and the even more cramped quarters of the monologue-driven, short-form "Marion & Geoff" (thanks in all cases, including TRF, to the talent of Henry Normal), "The Royle Family" is more innovative than it first appears, letting you laugh in unexpected ways. Even at the typestyle used for the credits -- it's called "Windsor".

When will the remaining seasons be released on DVD in the USA! This show is brilliant! HELLO AMAZON PEOPLE!! We want more!!!

This is a great show for anyone who is addicted to BBC. At first blush, it seems to be nothing more than a crude British family sitting around watching TV - almost like a faux reality show. And on one level - it is. It's not much for production values; I think I counted a total of 3 sets for the whole series. And the action (if you can call it action) takes place in real time.

But after watching the series (which is, sadly, only 6 episodes long), I gained an appreciation for the characters - and the performances - that was totally unexpected. There is something about the show that really sucks you into their world. It's not a world I'd care to live in permanently, but when the last episode was over, I definitely felt that I would miss these characters.

Be advised that the accents are as thick as a whale omelet. But the DVD comes with helpful subtitles. I plan to use them the next time I watch, to catch the bits I missed.

Apparently there is a 2nd season, which has yet to be released in North American format. When it comes out, I will be first in line.

This was a gift from our daughter and is one of our favorite shows. The series is a little piece of nostalgia of working class family life in Northern England - my beginnings. I am avidly awaiting the other series in US format but hope that the quality of the DVD is better than this one. I want to be able to enjoy it fully. Please don't sell the programme short!! The star that is missing reflects poor quality DVD.

If you understand the culture, this is brilliantly observed and written comedy. If you don't, it will fly right over your head. For anyone who grew up in working class northern England, it cuts very close to the bone.

As a fan of good British comedy, I must be truthful here and tell you....this show is not funny!
It's a low class family who sits around in the living room and talks nonsense. The father is disgusting, picking his nose and other disgusting gestures. I waited and waited for even a smile..nothing..it is a great disappointment. I would not recommend this series to anyone!

If you want good British comedy humor try, Dad's Army (the best), Only Fools and Horses, Open All Night, On the Buses just to name a few.