Review of Dame Edna Experience, The: The Complete First Series

Introduction

Hello Possums

It is time to experience Dame Edna, someone I find difficult to explain to an 11-year old or indeed anybody. Before Lily Savage took it firmly downmarket there was Edna, the housewife superstar. A comic creation by Barry Humphries who had been around since the 1960`s, his version of a Melbourne housewife, her popularity took off in the UK in the 1980`s and London Weekend television gave her a series of chat shows and filmed `An Audience with Dame Edna Everage` with the celebrities of the day.

Dame Edna whilst showing off tremendously, kept it clean and was able to invite Mary Whitehouse on the show which must prove something. It is remarkable that this is something that your children can watch without fear of embarrassment, especially given the popularity these days of the much cruder form of chat in the person of Graham Norton which attracts a completely different audience.

This series was shown in the last century,1987 to be exact, and has a range of guests who are occasionally allowed to interrupt the grande dame of chat shows including Jeffrey Archer, the late Mary Whitehouse, Jane Seymour, Joan Rivers and Sean Connery. There are musical interludes by (Sir) Cliff Richard, Demis Roussos and others.

There are six shows in total with four on the first disc and two on the second which is also where the extras are mostly found.


Lately Dame Edna has found more fame by appearing in the final series of Ally McBeal.

Video

This was originally made for television and is therefore full-screen format. The colours in certain places have a tendency to bleed. Dame Edna`s costumes suffer from this. Speaking of costumes-these are stunning as is the hair-purple it may be but it bears a resemblance to the Margaret Thatcher thatch of the era. There is plenty of big hair and also big shoulders as the 80`s suffered a style bypass.

Audio

Singing- did I mention that Dame Edna sings? It is not for the fainthearted and may bring you to your knees.

It is probably best to skip over the singing which includes some very 80`s camera work and soft focus for Cliff Richard and Demis Roussos.

Features

The interactive menu is nicely (good word) laid out with a lot of intervention from Edna herself It put me in mind of the Finding Nemo menu, which is spooky or perhaps not as Barry Humphries was Bruce the shark in Finding Nemo.

"Niceness" Video

Aagh this involves singing again, again best not to say too much about that.

Introduction by Dame Edna

An Audience with Dame Edna Everage

This TV show was filmed in front of a live audience and with the willing participation fo several, presumably paid celebrities of the period and I mean period. Includes such celebs as Rula Lenska, John Conteh and Marge Proops -yes many of you alive today will have to look them up in `Who Was Who`.

Dame Edna interviews Barry Humphries

This surreal experience was shown on the late show to promote Barry Humphries Autobiography-how to be publicly humiliated by your own creation.

Alan Titchmarsh interviews Barry Humphries

A short interview filmed for Pebble Mill in 1992 before Alan became a megastar himself. Barry Humphries is a very quiet interviewee with non of the flamboyance of his creation other than his tendency to talk directly to camera rather than to his interviewer. Alan Titchmarch comes across as a very competent and interested interviewer-Parky`s replacement maybe?

Not forgetting the Madge button where you can see Madge doing her bit for Comic Relief.

Conclusion

This is not so such much a chat show, as a lively performance by Dame Edna using her guests like a pinball machine as she ricochets into your living room. Hard to remember but this was a novelty when it was originally transmitted before the novelty interviewer was done to death and indeed flogged after death.

I think this show went down better in the UK than the US but thankfully ratings never stopped a DVD release. It probably is a love or hate thing though with this act. Many people prefer Humphries other comic creations and feel Edna has taken over too much.

The format is straightforward enough, Dame Edna invites current celebrities; please bear in mind that these are from the mid-eighties and some have passed on to their reward, in Heaven, or in one case, prison. She uses them uses them unmercifully and comes up with nuggets of knowledge, if you want to know about Cliff`s medical problems watch this DVD, and her `interviewing` technique is spot on. The best thing about Dame Edna is that no pomposity or self-congratulation is allowed and very little plugging either.

There are probably enough people who member the show fondly to want to own this and the complete series has a good selection of bonus features included for the price. The selection of guests will be unfamiliar to the young except Sean Connery, Cliff Richard and possibly Joan Rivers. It is worth seeing the Jeffrey Archer interview just to wallow in the moment as Edna hits the ejector button when he starts talking about his play. Oh if we knew then what we know now!

I was quite suprised that I enjoyed it as I feared that it would too much like nostalgia but it still made me laugh corny as it undoubtably is.

More good news is that Series 2 is being released on October the 5th this year.