Product Details

• Actors: Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus, Serena Evans, David Haig
• Writers: Ben Elton
• Format: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Warner
• DVD Release Date: June 15, 2004
• Run Time: 420 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0001JXP8E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,840 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Thin Blue Line: The Complete Line-Up" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

THIN BLUE LINE - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It should be called the Incomplete Line-Up!, December 18, 2004

By 

B. Neff (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thin Blue Line: The Complete Line-Up (DVD)

The reason I give this three stars is not due to the quality of the show. That's easily five stars. To learn more about the show, please read some of the other reviews. My review (and my only complaint with this dvd set) is based on the startling omissions present on the dvd set!

My wife and I purchased season 1 and 2 on VHS about 4 years ago and we've nearly watched those tapes to the breaking point. When we saw that the dvd set was coming out, it went to the top of our Christmas list. Well, we couldn't wait until Christmas to watch it and after a few episodes, we began to feel very disappointed and more than just a bit cheated! In two episodes (that we've noticed so far) there are scenes missing on the dvd!

In Alternative Culture, Sgt. Dawkins asks Raymond to pick her up from her 're-birthing' class later that evening. Well, the dvd is missing the scene where she has her re-birth and Raymond is waiting for her with a bottle!

In The Green-Eyed Monster there is a scene outside the club where Boyle and Goody use their badges to gain entrance to the club and Raymond, rather than go against his ethics, says behind to wait in line. Yet again, this did not appear on the dvd.

Based on the fact that we watched two episodes and BOTH were missing scenes one can only imagine that there will be others.
If you've never seen The Thin Blue Line, you won't miss them. If, on the otherhand, you're a longtime fan, this is just frustrating (sort of like buying the Complete Mr. Bean dvd set only to find out there are scenes missing!).
So be forewarned! The Thin Blue Line 'The Complete Line-Up', as we shall see, is like a half-sucked sweet; Not what it used to be!

77 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "And perhaps a small selection of cupcakes?", September 19, 2004

By 

B-MAN "B" (Earth, occasionally. Until I get bored.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thin Blue Line: The Complete Line-Up (DVD)

Contained herein is the complete "line-up", the full series of Ben Elton's The Thin Blue Line in another essential DVD set from BBC video! The first 2 discs include the 14 episodes that make up series 1 & 2 (Nov 1995-Dec 1996) and the 3rd disc includes over an hour of documentary and interview footage of creator/writer Ben Elton. Elton is best known for his work on Black Adder and the Young Ones. Both of these are essential DVD sets in your Britcom library and TBL is another must own.

The brilliant Rowan Atkinson heads the cast as the "excessively" riggid and by the book (which includes his personal life!), Inspector Fowler, who prefers his constables are as he is "Keen of eye, swift of thought, and regular of bowel". Rowan's performance here is most similar to his character in the Black Adder as far as dialogue goes so if you like that series you'll more than likely love this. The Thin Blue Line, like Black Adder, is a dialogue driven show and Ben Elton uses every chance he can to let the characters (especially Fowler and Det. Inspetor Grim) go off into hilariously wordy tangents. The show is filled with unique characters, each funny in their own right: Sgt. Patricia Dawkins (Fowler's girlfriend of 10 years!), Constables: Habib, Gladstone, and Goody, Det. Constable Kray (Series 1), Det. Constable Boyle (Series 2), and of course the endlessly bafoonish Det. Inspector Derek Grim of CID. The show is mostly based in the police station and occasionally in the field or at Fowler & Dawkins' flat. I fell in love with the show from renting the one lone VHS tape a local video store carried which only contained two episodes. Those episodes were well played believe me, so seeing this released was quite exciting. It also completed my Rowan Atkinson DVD trilogy (Black Adder, Mr. Bean, & TBL)! Here's the contents:

Disc One: Series 1
01. Rag Week
02. The Queen's Birthday Present
03. Night Shift
04. Honey Trap
05. Fire & Terror
06. Kids Today
07. Yuletide Spirit

Disc Two: Series 2
08. Court in the act
09. Ism Ism Ism
10. Fly on the wall
11. Alternative Culture
12. Come on you blues
13. Road Rage
14. The Green Eyed Monster

Disc Three: Extras - "Best of British: Ben Elton" (45 minute documentary), "Smillie's People: Ben Elton"(15 minute interview), TBL Cast Bios, & trailers

Trivia:

*In the first series, Grim's right hand man Kray is played by Kevin Allen. In series 2 the character is replaced by Boyle (Mark Addy). You may recognize Addy from "The Full Monty" or from the U.S. sitcom "Still Standing" where he's married to Jamie Gertz and has a son and daughter. Addy uses an american accent on the show, but once in a while you can hear his british one come through.

*Police Constable Gladstone is played with perfection by Rudolph Walker. Mr. Bean fans may remember Walker from his small role in the first episode where he is the exam giver.

*David Haig (Det. Inspector Grim) also worked with Rowan in the popular British film "Four Weddings in a Funeral" where Rowan plays the nervous and fumbling Father Gerald who presides over his wedding. Haig plays "Bernard St. John Delaney". Priceless scene.

I can't complete this review without a few quotes. Here are three favorites from the man, Inspector Grim:

"Goody-goody, lotti-dotti, namby-hoity, wishy-pamby, toity-washy, dotti-lotti, know it all, public school, stiff upper lip, stiff upper house master, prim & proper, rule brittania...uhh!"

"When you run us up the flag pole, you'll find you're saluting a very different kettle of fish."

"It's my arse on the line and I'm right up to my neck in it."

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty sarcasm, classic characters & great acting, August 24, 2004

By 

W. Ashton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Thin Blue Line: The Complete Line-Up (DVD)

Just to let you know where I'm coming from, my taste in British Comedies lean toward those with A LOT of "in your face" sarcastic and/or vindictive wit such as Black Adder, Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones and Monty Python. With the exception of Seinfeld, I don't know of any other American comedy that has even come close to these for pure "laugh" value.

If you like any of the aforementioned britcoms, I highly recommend The Thin Blue Line. Granted the story lines are not as unique (after all, it's a police station) but the witty insults are unrelenting and the range, contrast and chemistry between a great set of unique characters makes this (IMO) a classic. Chief among these is Inspector Grim - a Kojak wanna-be who believes the entire population should be born in prison, lives to take off his shirt while wearing his shoulder holster and who would "just once in a while like to knick a criminal whose balls have dropped".