Review of League Of Gentlemen, The: Live At Drury Lane

Introduction

"Can I help you at all?"

Over the years, a massive number of top comedy shows have made the transition from radio to TV. More recent examples include The Mary Whitehouse Experience, Fist of Fun, Goodness Gracious Me and The League of Gentlemen. Many of these shows that come from radio backgrounds then go on to touring the country with a live show, and The League of Gentlemen are no exception, with these live shows "taking them back to their roots".

This show was recorded at Drury Lane during their sell-out tour, and they follow in the footsteps of the Monty Python team, who also performed there and released a recording of it (audio only though).

Video

A 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, which is what you would expect given the tender age of the source, but it`s always reassuring to see that it hasn`t been panned`n`scanned to save money. The image quality is good if not outstanding, but it`s certainly adequate for a recording of a stage show.

The set used for the first half of the show is very basic, and it`s not until the second half that you start to see some changes and some familiar sets wheeled out onto the stage.

Audio

A DD2.0 stereo soundtrack which is functional without setting the world on fire. Everything is clear and audible at all times and you won`t miss a joke. I doubt if a remix would have improved things much as the sound essentially consists of just three voices on a stage.

Features

We are treated to a few extras too.

There are 2 "deleted scenes" which are sketches not included in the main feature. They really should have been edited back in as it`s annoying to have to watch them on their own. There are also 2 sketches from the main show that you can watch recorded from four different angles.

There`s also the audio-only "big woman" sketch from the radio show, along with a web link and screen saver if you have a DVD ROM.

Conclusion

This one`s pretty simple. If you`re a fan and you caught the live show, you`re likely to want to buy this and watch it again. If you`re a fan and you missed the live show, you`re likely to want to buy this and see what you missed (and what your friends were probably laughing about for weeks after). There are a lot of real laugh out loud moments, and some great twists on sketches and characters that you`ve seen before. If you don`t like their humour then you won`t be buying this disc.

Technically the disc is fine with good picture and sound and a few little goodies in the extras section. Recommended for fans everywhere.