Rik Mayall Presents & New Statesman on DVD

[Ray Le Otter]

http://www.networkdvd.co.uk/new_releases.htm

Appears the complete series of both these are to be released in October. No news of extras though.

[Garam]

Nice. I can free my PC of some much-needed hard-drive space.

If I actually like them, that is. Still haven't bothered watching them. Anyway, I was sure New Statesman was already available.

[Jemble Fred]

Oh God, I love Rik Mayall Presents so much. Mickey Love is as good an hour of television as I've ever seen, and I still regret not doing a stage version of 'Briefest Encounter' when at Uni.

Thing is, it's no doubt a vanilla DVD, and I've got 'em already.

Not sure whether the TNS re-release has had anything added. I was hoping there'd be a recording of the live show as I missed it.

[Purple Tentacle]

edit: Read the thread first, Tentaclecunt.

[Pepotamo1985]

I was sure New Statesman was already available.

It got deleted some time ago. Available on ebay, though.

Anyway, I'd heard mutterings visa vis a TNS reissue, but never knew whether there was any weight to them. Lovely to see, I only have the poor final series featuring Alan as an MEP, and in shite qual.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

It's Network, so TNS should have the adcaps intact this time. Will it have the BBC special and the Comic Relief special though?

[Garam]

They should try and get a recording of the new tour on there. Unless Mayall wants to release that seperately...

[Narshty]

That's odd - Briefest Encounter was an 18 on VHS, yet the BBFC gave it a 15 thirteen years ago. It's illegal to alter the certificate, isn't it?

[23 Daves]

Strangely, I was rewatching "Rik Mayall Presents" on cable quite recently, and it was nothing like as good as I remember it... there's some quite clunky acting from Rik in places (you can spot the moments where he's bursting to be hyperactive), and even the supporting cast (Helena Bonham Carter in particular) can be incredibly poor.  Carter's northern accent is particularly unconvincing.

I dunno.  The whole thing is a wee bit too Sunday-teatime ITV drama to work with Rik Mayall's involvement - something about the whole thing is rather jarring to me.  It seemed to have been put together so people could treat Mayall as a "serious performer" or something.

[Manford Thirty-Sixborough]

I go to Scarborough two or three times a year, and can't walk along the Esplanade without being reminded of Dancing Queen, which is odd, as I can't really remember the plot, or anything, just  that Helena Bonham Carter dances on that bit with the chess-board tiles near to the spa, and the annoying (and incessant) trailers with the camera slowly panning 'round Rik's face.

[Ray Le Otter]

According to DVD Times:

The New Statesman: The Complete Series - £39.99 (yeah, right)

Using different video masters to the old Cinema Club release special features on this Network DVD release are:

60 minute special 'Who Shot Alan B'Stard?''

Audio commentaries with series creators Lawrence Marks and Maurice Gran on Three Line Whipping (Series 1 episode 6), The Haltemprice Bunker (Series 2 episode 4) and Labour of Love (series 3 episode 1)

This box set contains all twenty-six episodes made for ITV between 1987 and 1994 by Yorkshire Television.

No Comic Relief episode or BBC special though.

No extras apparently on the Rik Mayall set.

[TJ]

No Comic Relief episode or BBC special though.

Think I'll stick with the one I've got then. The Cinema Club masters aren't so bad that they're worth going through the hassle of getting a new set for, commentaries or no commentaries.

I do wish A B'Stard Exposed would hurry up and show up on UKNova or similar, though.

[Jemble Fred]

Phew, I thought you meant Rik Mayall commentaries for a minute there – now that would be something. Ach, I'm not buying any more media product for the rest of this year anyway (and when you consider that I had to make that decision right before the AI Shows DVD came out, then you can picture the miserable cunt face I now wear).

Has anyone heard the talking book version of Rik's autobiography? Is there even one? I know the book is almost universally hated, but an audio version would make a LOT more sense.

[Darrell]

I don't know why Network are putting the effort in myself. You can make a huge list of fantastic, hilarious and essential Rik Mayall stuff and none of it will have been made for ITV...

[Bean Is A Carrot]

I don't know why Network are putting the effort in myself. You can make a huge list of fantastic, hilarious and essential Rik Mayall stuff and none of it will have been made for ITV...

Apparently Network got the rights to release the Granada archive a while ago and have found that it's a hell of a lot easier (and in some cases more profitable) to release ITV stuff than BBC stuff. So there's a kind of answer.

[Darrell]

Indeed. So why they still haven't released Whoops Apocalypse is a question even God would be baffled by.

[Purple Tentacle]

Has this ever happened before? A whole complete TV box-set released, then having it released AGAIN?

I know it happens with stuff being released individually then as a box set, like... The New Statesman...

There's no way I'll buy this anyway, as it would mean I'll have bought the first series (and arguably the only really good one) three times.

[Bean Is A Carrot]

Indeed. So why they still haven't released Whoops Apocalypse is a question even God would be baffled by.

Hopefully they just haven't got around to it yet.

[benthalo]

Hopefully they just haven't got around to it yet.

We've been here before. The official word is no plans as yet but they may well do.