Directors Commentary (sic) DVD

[benthalo]

Bought this yesterday and as it's quite an unusual release I thought I should report back on it. I'll give a partial review as I didn't have the chance to assess the first disc, which I fear is an edit of the six  or seven shows* with the nasty uniform ITV credits tagged on at the end. I'm normally averse to that sort of behaviour, but I can see the logic behind this.

So, this is a two-disc affair which is a real curio for anyone with a mild liking for the series, a fan of Brydon or someone who found the format iinteresting and wants to delve behind the scenes. It's not an outstanding release, but well worth it for a couple of featured items.

* Six or seven? I think he's including the pilot there, to follow up on past speculation. Certainly, six went out in the London area.

THE EXTRAS

Rob Brydon's Commentary c.22mins

Accompanying episode 6, although not as an alternate soundtrack, this appears on disc two and covers the Flambards and Bonanza segments in question. Before the release hit the shelves, I couldn't begin to imagine how he'd commentate over two hours of material, as it's a programme entirely dependent on speech and to discuss that would automatically mean drowning it out. Also, would there be enough to say about a fairly straightforward production, save for bitching about actors who wouldn't give clearance?

Brydon seems stifled by his past experience of doing commentaries, given that the premise of the series is that they often represent long-harboured bitternesses creeping out and are often painful to hear back if they're your own work. (Personally, I had no problem with the Marion & Geoff commentary at all.) Effectively Brydon's argued himself into a corner and fidgets a little, saying a few things of interest about the pilot and commissioning process, but then starts whinging and falling silent. He also argues against the possessive apostrophe in the title, having had that criticism thrown at him, suggesting that it represents several directors, which is (a) bollocks, and (b) there'd still be one after the 's' anyway. Before you ask, I'm not convinced he's joking.

Behind The Scenes c.27mins

This is just great. Paul Duddridge (writer) and Miles Ross (producer) sit in a recording studio and invent a voice-over with Brydon in the booth. Here we have a huge chunk of their creative process in action and - get this, to quote Laurie Pike - up until the 25'00" mark it's a continuous piece of footage. Recorded with some shakiness on a camcorder, it's either a specially commissioned feature on a rock bottom budget or, in effect, 'rushes' for later reference. Either way, it's unfussy, unpretentious and very revealing as to how critical they were towards the material. We also witness Brydon's (ill-advised) suggestion of having 'Directors Commentary' at the bottom of the screen. Interesting that it was a creative choice rather than one enforced by the network.

Photo Gallery c.10mins

Peter De Lane sweeps over two pages of a photo album, telling stories of his father, brother and various wives and producers. Quite a nice monologue, with the first signs of jokes about the format. "That's what DVD extras are all about - padding."

Peter's Party c.5mins

A wave monitor of Peter De Lane's voice as he voices a bit of club music. A private joke with a couple of moments to redeem it, so I'll forgive its inclusion.

Deleted Scenes

Divided according to series title on a sub-menu, I had a quick skim of these and they seemed rather short.

Pilot Episode c.12mins

This is great to have here, and my principal reason for buying it. The reasons for its exclusion from the series proper must come down to broadcasting rights as opposed to commercial release, of which Upstairs Downstairs has enjoyed a steady stream in recent years. In fact, they seem to have used a particularly well worn VHS for this try out, which at least gives it a pleasing DIY feel, not to mention the fact that it's unDOGged. It's nicely self-conscious - I swear he corpses at one point - and his grumble at the lack of a director's credit is a smart touch. His claiming to have directed the classic LWT ident cheered me no end.

It's not an outstanding piece of comedy but it's easy to see why the programme was commissioned off the back of it. As Brydon explains in his commentary for the final show, much of this material was adapted for the transmitted programmes.

Seeds Of Genius - audio apparently

Not listened to this yet.

Books

Stills of the imagined covers for his autobiography, A Trip Down Memory De Lane, That's Me! and the other one. These are on the inner sleeve anyway so an utterly pointless extra.

All in all, a very generous release on the evidence so far.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

What's your theory on the reasons for there not being a watch-it-with-the-original-sound option? It's such an obvious idea for an extra...

[benthalo]

I can't imagine, but Brydon does point out that the Bonanza segment in show 6 is edited around considerably. Perhaps it's just a condition of clearances?

[neveragain]

'The Secret Army' and 'The Duchess of Duke Street' segments have been taken out for copyright/unhappiness reasons. This is a shame as these pieces include some of the funniest material, and also a rather crap joke about Carol Vorderman. It is also in the 'Duke Street' bits that Brydon is at his most barbed about the acting - this may have been why they were unhappy. The face of the old butler bloke is still there on the opening credits, however, despite not appearing anywhere in the finished package. Another thing to mention is that the last two 'episodes' (Bonanza and Flambards) have been switched around from their original order so that the DVD can end on a better line. 'The secret to directing a touching, moving scene like this is - oh, that's it, sorry, we're out of time.' This still means that if you watch the whole thing in full De Lane says 'We come to end of our series' fifteen minutes before we actually do. Rewatching it, it is more enjoyable but I have to say I notice some discrepencies of continuity for the sake of gags. One moment Peter won't know which series George Cole and Dennis Waterman starred in (will say 'The Sweeney' instead) and then in another segment he'll say that 'the ironic thing was that after George Cole attacked me I had to hire a minder'. A similar thing happens with Finding Nemo, sort of. Anyhoo- don't matter.

What is 'Seeds of Genius'? More to the point, where is it?

[benthalo]

Ta for the write up. I noticed after posting the initial message that Duchess was missing. Had the intention of checking original broadcasts, but never got round to it.

Seeds Of Genius is mentioned on the Play entry. No idea where it is.

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Seeds of Genius is an Easter Egg.  On extras menu, go to the option second from bottom and hit right and enter when the DVD spins round to reveal a question mark.  Its just another Peters Party, of fluffs and random mind ramblings when Brydon goes off topic...

[theantileague]

I never got round to watching this when it was shown on ITV. Could someone perhaps give me a brief idea of what kind of thing it is/what the humour is like so i can get an idea if i'd like it or not...i like some of Brydon's other stuff but this looks rather different.

[neveragain]

The humour is rather hard to explain but, to someone with prior Robknowledge, it should be slightly easier. Think... 'Marion and Geoff' without as likeable a leading character... and you can't see him... and, erm... well, it isn't really up to the same standard as M&G although I do still believe it's bloody great, the character isn't really as good either although he's alright as far as pretentious, womanising, manic depressive television directors who treat all their work as astounding pieces of cinema go. The humour comes mainly from bizarre tangents, no change there, or remarking on something/someone on screen. There are shifts from subtle references and subtext-involving jokes to the more obvious 'and the warm-up man was a very young Michael Barrymore, I always liked him, and he went on to make a very big splash!' You have to take it that the character is consciously making a funny joke, something that would never happen if Keith Barrett was involved. Once you've got past that, it's fine. Really quite funny, some genuinely hilarious moments. There's always a fantastic punchline to every episode! I particularly like the second Mr and Mrs deleted scene. 'I don't want to kill... I just want to maim. That's why they put up the sound-proof booth! I really am so desperately unhappy.' As previously stated, the behind-the-scenes bit is class. It's just marvellous to sit in on the creative process like that for twenty-five minutes uninterrupted. I listened to Seeds of Genius by the way and that's quite good too, I actually prefer it to Peter's Party.

Anyway, antileague, I'd say that you should buy the DVD regardless... bask in the talent of Brydon... then, if you don't like it, take it back and say the disk's scratched or it was an unwanted present (for or from you, it works either way) and either get the money back or trade it for something else. Daktari.

[theantileague]

The humour is rather hard to explain but, to someone with prior Robknowledge, it should be slightly easier. Think... 'Marion and Geoff' without as likeable a leading character... and you can't see him... and, erm... well, it isn't really up to the same standard as M&G although I do still believe it's bloody great, the character isn't really as good either although he's alright as far as pretentious, womanising, manic depressive television directors who treat all their work as astounding pieces of cinema go. The humour comes mainly from bizarre tangents, no change there, or remarking on something/someone on screen. There are shifts from subtle references and subtext-involving jokes to the more obvious 'and the warm-up man was a very young Michael Barrymore, I always liked him, and he went on to make a very big splash!' You have to take it that the character is consciously making a funny joke, something that would never happen if Keith Barrett was involved. Once you've got past that, it's fine. Really quite funny, some genuinely hilarious moments. There's always a fantastic punchline to every episode! I particularly like the second Mr and Mrs deleted scene. 'I don't want to kill... I just want to maim. That's why they put up the sound-proof booth! I really am so desperately unhappy.' As previously stated, the behind-the-scenes bit is class. It's just marvellous to sit in on the creative process like that for twenty-five minutes uninterrupted. I listened to Seeds of Genius by the way and that's quite good too, I actually prefer it to Peter's Party.

Anyway, antileague, I'd say that you should buy the DVD regardless... bask in the talent of Brydon... then, if you don't like it, take it back and say the disk's scratched or it was an unwanted present (for or from you, it works either way) and either get the money back or trade it for something else. Daktari.

Heh, cheers mate, sounds like an okay buy to me :)