Randall And Hopkirk Deceased - The Complete Series 1 [2000]

Director

Steve Bendelack; Mark Mylod

This is the entire first series of Reeves and Mortimer's long-awaited take on the cult classic Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and it's surely the most re-watchable of television series, not least because of its improbable plots. The anticipation which preceded the show was a drama in itself. How will it compare with the original? Would Reeves and Mortimer be able to cut it in acting roles? Will the cast be upstaged by her wardrobe? The answers were, of course, "perfectly", "no problem" and "probably not, but the BBC wardrobe department certainly excelled themselves for this series". In fact, the premise of this humorous supernatural detective fantasy (a genre which probably contains nothing other than this series and the original)--a dead private detective comes back as a ghost to assist his partner, who is the only mortal who can see him--could easily have occurred as one of those surreal narratives from the duo's comedy shows. A must-see.

On the DVD: the DVD includes a lively behind-the-scenes documentary (broadcast at the beginning of the series), an unfunny collection of outtakes and a rather better music video which comes on like Blue Velvet "re-imagined" by Cubby Broccoli.--Roger Thomas