Review of Outside Edge: Series 3

Introduction

`Outside Edge` is fine, and so it should be, considering that`s the series` name. But happen this show come up in conversation, you`re far more likely to get someone`s little gray cells firing if you simply call it `The ITV comedy with all the cricket`. Most folks will know what you`re on about then.

Cricket seems an odd `sit` for a `sitcom`, and considering it ran during the peak years of the mighty `Men Behaving Badly` and its riffing on the rising popularity of the vulgar `lad culture`, you really wouldn`t think there was a place in the hearts of British audiences (at least in the demographic that counted) back in the mid-nineties for a genteel comedy about cricket - seen by a large number of Brits as constantly jostling for the title of `World`s Most Boring Sport™` with golf. But `Outside Edge`, based around cricket mad, middle-aged men and the women who love them, may well go down in the history books as ITV`s last popular, and decent, sitcom. This is the final series, consisting of 7 x 24-minute episodes, originally broadcast in January and February of 1996, and the Christmas special which preceded it on December 25th 1995.

Video

Presented in the transmission ratio of 1.33:1 full frame, `Outside Edge` shows mild signs of compression artefacting thanks to everything being squeezed onto a single dual-layer disc. It was shot on film, and has an inherent softness, but shows very little in the way of coloured noise, if any at all, although there are instances rainbowing and dot crawl in the background on trees, rooftops and the like. But this isn`t the pinnacle of DVD splendor, and most of the transfer`s shortcomings will go unnoticed by the majority.

To its credit, `Outside Edge` was a lovely looking show; it always seems to be bright and sunny with good colours - although it begs to question just what Britain they were supposed to be living in.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0, which is crisp and clear with no issues to speak of.

Features

Bupkis, nothing, nada, zilch, zero.

Conclusion

`Outside Edge` worked because it didn`t try too hard. It didn`t go out of its way to hit the big laughs, instead opting for good, constant writing and gentle ribbing. Forget the fact that it`s based around cricket - it really could be any sport at all, but this particular one is perfect for a rather endearing portrait of middle-England and its foibles. Jumping in on a TV ship three ports after it`s sailed and not having seen a single episode since it was originally broadcast should ensure difficulty on getting to grips with the bearings; structure, relationships, history and how the show swings in general. But as a character-focused piece with a great showing from a host of familiar British acting talent, it doesn`t take long for the charms of the show and its writing to hook you in. It`s funny, warm-hearted in a freshly baked scones sort of way, and refreshingly, has nothing of the bitter edge sitcoms of the time were gunning for, making it perfectly comfy viewing.

In a cast of household names, including Timothy Spall (Auf Wiedersehen , Pet) and Josie Lawrence (Whose Line Is It Anyway?), it`s Brenda Blethyn who steals the show, as the put-upon Mim, a Stepford wife in training, and her struggle not to be completely walked over by her ridiculously ambitious, yet seemingly insecure husband Roger, played with relish by Robert Daws. It`s this relationship, and those that surround it, that highlight that this is a show that could have gone beyond the cricket that binds it and stood on its own feet as a show about the peculiar relationships of the middle-class. A fondly remembered little gem.