"We'll Never Have a Proper Democracy Here Unless We Shoot a Few People!"
This show, based on a pilot episode run as part of the series "BBC Comedy Playhouse", takes place in England in the late '60's/early 70's, with heavy references to the U.K. political system and the key political figures of the time. Alf refers often to events of World War II from a British perspective, which I just don't have the basis to identify with. There are obviously jokes there that I'm missing.but it doesn't take away from the show at all. If you are a fan of "Britcoms" at all, you will get much of the humor with no trouble whatsoever.
In my review of All In The Family, I started off by describing the BBC show it was based on:
"It was 1968, and Johnny Speight's BBS show Till Death Us Do Part had been stirring up controversy in the British Isles for two years: Alf Garnett, the show's lead character, was outspoken - always complaining about the Government, the Royal family, the Church, other religions, other races, and his very own family!"
It was a revelation to watch the original show. The basic family unit is the same: A conservative, bigoted, outspoken father (Alf Garnett), his housewife (Else), a daughter still living at home (Rita) with her liberal-viewed husband (Mike). Added in are "Gran" and the infant son of Rita and Mike (who is part of the focus of the 2nd episode on this disc). But the Garnett family is a lot less lovable than the Bunkers. Unlike Edith, who unconditionally loves Archie and her entire family (indeed, she rarely had a bad word for anybody), Else is not timid at all.she frequently tells Alf how little she thinks of him. As an example:
Alf: Oh, crimey.look! What's upset you today?
Else: It don't take nothin' special to upset me.just to be near you's enough!
Alf, like Archie Bunker, calls people of other races various demeaning names ("Coons" and "Pakies" come up early on in the first show). But this series is less focused on the lead character's prejudices than it is on his plain un-lovability. He calls his wife a "silly moo", and refers to his son-in-law's blond hair in terms of bleaching and peroxide. He advocates war as a way of reducing the overpopulation, offers whiskey to his infant grandchild, and has some interesting advice for the cast of the stage production of Jesus Christ Superstar on Christmas Eve, when the family runs into them at a pub after attending the show. Be warned that some aspects of the show may strain your sensibilities more than All In The Family did!
The DVD: "Dock Pilfering"
BFS Entertainment has collected three standard episodes (running time: 31 minutes each). There is no unifying theme here, just random episodes in no particular order:
#01Dock Pilfering: Alf's mates at work are quick to complain about the boxes off the ships being "light", but it doesn't stop them from helping themselves to a tomato or two.
#02Up The Hammers: Rita is upset because no one is helping with the baby. Could grandpa Alf help? Should he?
#03Alf's Broken Leg: Alf is in a wheelchair.and in everybody's way! A trio of schoolboys takes him out for some fresh air.with hilarious results!
A bonus Christmas Special (in every sense of the word: different opening credits, longer running time of 44 minutes) is also included.more about that in the "Extras" section below.
The Packaging:
The single-layer disc comes in a standard keepcase, with no chapter stop insert included.
Menu Design & Navigation:
This disc uses a straightforward menu design, showing each of the three chapter stops for the first episode, with a menu choice to change screens to show the chapters for the next episode. The Christmas Episode is a separate menu choice, as befits its "Bonus" status.
Thumbs up to BFS for allowing you to chapter skip past the opening credits and straight to the first part of the story. Thumbs down for not including a "Play All" feature on this disc, though.
Video
Video is 4x3 "Full Screen", preserving the Original Aspect Ratio of this show's BBS broadcasts. Despite the single-layer nature of the disc, there are no compression artifacts in sight. The opening and closing credits sequences, as well as a brief flashback-type sequence in the "Up The Hammers" episode, show various scratches and artifacts. The rest of these shows are miraculously blemish-free! The colors are bright and picture is sharp. I cannot imagine how this could look much better given its age.I think fans of All In The Family who pick this show up out of curiosity MIGHT end up feeling a tad cheated that this DVD looks better than Columbia's 3-disc set! THIS demonstrates how much better on DVD shows finished to film can look, compared to shows finished to tape.
Audio
This disc is presented in Mono, exactly as with it's Original Sound Presentation on the BBC, roughly 30 years ago. The sound comes through my center speaker strong and true, with no defects. It is about as perfect a soundtrack as one could expect on such a DVD.
As a bonus, BFS has included the Till Death Us Do Part Special Christmas Episode on this volume:
'Tis the season when the Garnetts would especially like to "deck" Alf! The only way they will enjoy a silent night is when he returns from the pub with sugarplums and a hangover dancing in his head!
This is not "hidden" by any stretch of the imagination; it is easily locatable on the bottom of the main menu. It is the ONLY "extra" on this disc, and easily could have been counted among the roster of episodes on this particular volume.
However, since this Christmas episode is, in many ways, even more enjoyable than the other three, I'll award it 2 ratings points.
Summary
This show will NOT be everyone's cup of tea. BFS has provided an excellent little disc that samples the world of Alf Garnett. The audio and video quality is rather good.better than I frankly expected. The extra episode is VERY nice.
The show is not for everyone, though. I can see a couple of scenes on this disc frankly being upsetting to some Americans, who aren't exposed to this on our television (here I'm mainly thinking of the scene I mentioned above where Alf "offers" whiskey to his infant grandchild). If you are the American parent of teenage or pre-teen youngsters who might watch this disc, you might want to watch along with the kids and be prepared to answer a couple of questions concerning British sensibilities and British humor.
Fans of Britcoms will definitely want to check this out, though, as will anyone who enjoys All In The Family and wants to know more about the show that inspired it. Although random episodes, it serves well as an introduction to the Garnett Family, and Alf's character. Or lack thereof.
