Fawlty Towers - Boxset vs. Season releases

[DavidMcGowan]

I've just been looking through the old posts regarding Fawlty Towers and am trying to decide which is the better option. This is my perception of the pros and cons of them both -- please correct or add anything to this:

SEASON 1 & 2 SEPARATE RELEASES (2 x 2-disc sets)
- Released 8th October - over a month before the complete boxset.
- Contains the same extras as the boxset - spread over the second discs of Season 1 & 2.
- Packaged in Amaray casing.
- Higher RRP than boxset (2 x £19.99 = £39.98), although Play charging £14.99 each, WH Smith BOGOHP etc. will make it cheaper than the boxset RRP.

BOXSET (3-disc set)
- Not released until 19th November.
- All extras from the separate releases compiled together on the third disc of the set.
- Packaged in a Digipack :mad: (my own experiences of these are that they fall apart quite easily).
- RRP of £34.99 - less than separate releases, although fewer offers available (DVD Street currently have it for £29.99 though)

I currently have the boxset on order from DVD Street, from before they charged for postage and had a 10% discount link, but if all of what I have said above is true I'll probably cancel it and buy the separate releases in WHSmith on Monday - please advise.

[Joe91]

I've ordered the seperate season 1 & 2 releases from Amazon for £11.85 each delivered (using a £5 refer-a-friend coupon on each ;) ) :D

[Aardvark]

Has anybody actually seen these yet? What's the picture quality like?

Apart from Dr. Who (which benefits from the excellent Restoration Team) the BBC aren't exactly noted for their stunning DVD transfers. I have series 1 of Porridge and Yes, Minister and the picture is merely adequate for both. The encoding on the Hancock disc is apparently terrible.

I fear for Fawlty Towers...

[Adge]

I've watched the first 3 epsiodes on disc 1 and the quality is very good, no obvious sign of grain. Sound is good too.

I haven't gone over it with a fine toothcomb as I was really enjoying the content of the episodes, but I do think it's the best I've seen Fawlty Towers look and sound.

[dangermouse]

I'll just mention that I think play have the box set for 28.99.

Anyone know if the commentaries are interesting?

[stephen]

I've got the boxset on order from Ezydvd:

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/219388/id=BIZbc:mgsdC

Works out as about £26

[mythuk]

using a £5 voucher i've managed to get the box set for just under £23 from amazon.co.uk inc postage. not bad!

[DavidMcGowan]

Originally posted by dangermouse
Anyone know if the commentaries are interesting?

It doesn't look that great for the special features - posted by Ian Gilroy on uk.media.dvd:

* Painful commentary with *huge* gaps between off-the-cuff comments. It sounds totally unprepared.
* Pretty poor interviews. The John Cleese interview is fairly informative but the Andrew Sachs effort made my skin crawl. Sachs seems really nice but he's interviewed by kids TV presenter Joe Mace, who really should have prepared a bit more first.
* I was intrigued by the promised 'Torquay Tourist Video'. I foolishly hoped that it might be something shot at the same time as the series, maybe with Basil Fawlty appearing in spoof (or not) promotional video. Imagine my horror, then, when it transpired that it is a low-budget straight-faced 11-minute promotional advert for Torquay featuring wobbly sound, a dire script and terrible captions that look like they were done on an Amiga.
* The biography section has a voiceover that mentions that Richard Briers is best known for his appearance in "PBS' 'Good Neighbours'". It was about then that I realised that the whole thing is aimed at Americans.

Overall - it's nice to finally own Fawilty Towers but the quality is not impressive. The extras are almost uniformly rubbish and the AV quality of the 12 episodes isn't great either. Oh well...


I hope it's not quite as bad as that - I'll be picking up my copies tomorrow so I'll post my own comments once I've seen them. Still, my main reason to buy them was to replace my old VHS copies, so in this case any extras are really just a bonus..

[feverpitch96]

Disappointing indeed.

But...Richard Briers?? :confused:

[Deaks]

Weren't there supposed to be outtakes somewhere on these releases?

Deaks.

[Michael Brooke]

To be honest, the AV quality of the originals was none too great the last time BBC1 broadcast them - so I'm not expecting miracles!

[puddleduck]

must admit I can never really see the point of getting these sort of titles on DVD.

They are re-broadcast ad infinitum anyway, and given the age of the source material I doubt the picture will be much better than VHS or an off-air recording anyway.

[LooneyJetman]

Stupid, stupid BBC! I bought these discs last night...they've put all six episodes on disc one and the extra features on the second disc...

So thats about three hours of video on disc one and not much at all on disc two...

[Michael Brooke]

In which case, I'm definitely going for the box set - at least it'll be more efficient if nothing else!

I can't see why a whole series wouldn't fit comfortably onto one side, though - we're only talking not especially high quality video and mono sound.

[LooneyJetman]

Um, probably not - they'll probably keep the two discs of episodes the same and just stick all the extras together on one disc...

[Michael Brooke]

That's exactly what I thought they'd do - which is why I said it was more efficient.

[Werdna007]

Once again the BBC seem to managed to ruin a golden opportunity. Look at all the quality shows they have at their disposition but their appalling track record on their DVD releases (Black Adder for ex.) and the way they don't seem to give a damn about the UK market makes one wonder what the hell they are thinking about and if they are really serious in being proud of their products.

My Fawlty Towers discs are being shipped at this very moment from Amazon, and judging from these posts I am not looking forward to getting them. Judging by the description of the so called extras the BBC should go and hang its head in shame. :mad: :mad:

[Adge]

Personally I think the discs are pretty good, the picture and sound quality is good (especially as these were from 70’s TV series) it’s certainly the best I’ve seen Fawlty Towers look.

The extras are okay, the outtakes are very short but quiet funny, the interviews with Cleese, Scales and Sachs are quiet long and are interesting to listen too.

Granted the directors commentary is pretty dire, but it’s better than nothing. Also the splitting of the extras seems quite odd, but probably a marketing gimmick to sell a 2-Disc Set.

I’m certainly far from disappointed with these discs, they are good looking titles with some extras (not all great but better than the usual nothing like the Blackadder discs) at least there is not an American release with loads more extras (like Blackadder). I’m really glad to own these discs, it’s got such great content, I’ve watched nearly all of them (they’ve jumped straight to the top of my “too watch” pile).

I don’t think anyone who has them on order has anything to worry about (unless you were expecting DTS 5.1 sound and anamorphic widescreen prints) wait until you’ve got them before you judge them.

[feverpitch96]

Richard Briers?

In Fawlty Towers?

Richard Briers?

You sure?

[sbooth]

Originally posted by Aardvark
Has anybody actually seen these yet? What's the picture quality like?

Apart from Dr. Who (which benefits from the excellent Restoration Team) the BBC aren't exactly noted for their stunning DVD transfers. I have series 1 of Porridge and Yes, Minister and the picture is merely adequate for both. The encoding on the Hancock disc is apparently terrible.

I fear for Fawlty Towers...

Why does everyone go on about the picture quality on BBC discs? I have all the blackadders, dr whos, only fools, league of gentlemen and monty python dvds and apart from blackadder 1 i'm happy with them all. I'm fussy too. Half these shows two decades old!

Even as annoying as it is i'm not all that bothered by the lack of extras. I still look at it like this. £14.99 from play and you get an entire series on one dvd. Bargain.

I'm going for digipack (my experience of these has been ok) cos i can't afford the single discs at the moment.

[DavidMcGowan]

Originally posted by feverpitch96
Richard Briers?

In Fawlty Towers?

Richard Briers?

You sure?

Just checked it on my disc - the narrator mentions Prunella Scales working with Richard Briers on another show prior to Fawlty Towers.

[DavidMcGowan]

Having skimmed through both discs myself, I have to say that IMO the extras aren't as bad as the other person's opinion I posted might suggest. Here's a quick overview of my browsing around the extra features (I'll update this when I've had a more detailed look):

SERIES ONE:
Disc one
- Audio commentary from director John Howard Davies: I had a quick listen to his opening comments in the first episode, and it seemed a little dry, although there were a couple of interesting points. Annoyingly, the episode soundtrack is not played in the background, meaning that the (reasonably frequent) pauses leave complete silence.
Disc two:
- John Cleese Interview (Part one): Approx. 30 minutes in length - Cleese provides some interesting comments on the making of the series, and speaks about the creation and ideas between each character. This is well worth a look.
- Andrew Sachs interview: Approx. 30 minutes. This is slightly less successful than the Cleese interview, although it's still an interesting insight into Sachs' opinion of the series. The main problem is the interviewer, whose questions are fairly light and surprisingly muddled at times - a flaw which is heightened by the articulate and animated responses from Sachs. It is a shame that they have chosen to present the interview in this manner - although there are the occasional excerpts from the series included, the rest of the interview is presented unedited, complete with moments where Sachs is obviously trying to work out what the interviewer is attempting to ask. Not a disaster by any means, but it rarely goes any deeper than the sort of questions pop stars get asked on kids TV.
- Helpful Staff & Guest Registry - Filmographies of cast members and guest stars, with a brief biographical narration. Certainly better than the artist profiles on BBC discs such as Porridge and Yes, Minister, but nothing particularly spectacular.
- Torquay Tourist Guide - This is in fact a featurette (lasting approx. 10 minutes) looking at the Torquay area, and in particular the hotel visited by the Python team that inspired the Fawlty Towers episodes. As well as the often repeated stories about the hotel owner - he thought Eric Idle's bag had a bomb in it and threw it over the cliff - there are interviews with other previous guests and people that knew the owners well. I watched this all the way through and found it quite interesting, although I doubt I'll return to it that often.

SERIES TWO:
Disc one
- Audio commentary from director Bob Spiers (of 'That Darn Cat' fame): As with the previous series, there is no soundtrack playing with the comments, and there are once again a number of pauses.
Disc two:
- John Cleese Interview (Part two): Lasts approx. 20 minutes.
- Prunella Scales interview: Lasts approx. 8 minutes. (Incidentally, the interviewer refers to this as a "fabulous DVD")
- Helpful Staff & Guest Registry - Same format as Series one.
- Cheap Tatty Review - A one minute segment filmed as a response to the strike (presumably because the final episode Basil the Rat was delayed for some time because of this, but sadly no context is provided for this clip).
- Outtakes - A one-and-a-half minute compilation, which left me wanting more. Incidentally, the disc is rated PG, yet the 'f' word is muttered twice and the 's' word once during these outtakes, and subtitled fully. Surely these can't have been passed by the BBFC?
- Easter Egg - Extremely easy to find, and just a two minute montage of the builing used for the exterior shots of Fawlty Towers, boarded up and run-down, before it was demolished for a housing estate in 1991.

All in all, it's a much more reasonable collection of extras than I expected, especially as the interviews fill almost one and a half hours by themselves. Many of the other features are watch-once things, although still had a few interesting pieces of information. It's worth noting that all the video-based extras have been subtitled, which the BBC deserve to be commended for at least. Considering the RRP of these discs are the same as the extras-free Only Fools and Blackadder discs, plus the even cheaper price of the boxset, it's a pleasing enough collection.

[Mike]

I'm pretty sure the "cheap tatty revue" referred to is "Not The Nine O'Clock News" which was preceded in Autumn 1979 by a brief clip of Cleese as Fawlty.

[Aardvark]

Originally posted by sbooth


Why does everyone go on about the picture quality on BBC discs? I have all the blackadders, dr whos, only fools, league of gentlemen and monty python dvds and apart from blackadder 1 i'm happy with them all. I'm fussy too. Half these shows two decades old!

My! A whole two decades! Take a look at some of the ITC stuff from the sixties, particularly Randall & Hopkirk. Knocks the Beeb into division three. Plus The Twilight Zone and the Gerry Anderson shows all look miles better (and Stingray was made FOUR decades ago!).

And it's not just old material. I was going to get Attenborough's Life Of Birds but then I read the review at michaeldvd.com.au and decided to keep my money.

I don't know whether it's because the BBC use(d) cheap video tape and/or film, or whether it's poor encoding, or both, but their stuff tends to look a bit shoddy. Which is a crying shame as they have one of the best back-catalogues in the world.

[Nirvana]

.

[feverpitch96]

Originally posted by DavidMcGowan
Incidentally, the disc is rated PG, yet the 'f' word is muttered twice and the 's' word once during these outtakes, and subtitled fully. Surely these can't have been passed by the BBFC?

You should hear some of the...ahem, full and frank discussion in the documentary attached to the Pretenders Greatest Hits DVD...and that got a G-rating here...
:confused:

[feverpitch96]

Originally posted by DavidMcGowan


Just checked it on my disc - the narrator mentions Prunella Scales working with Richard Briers on another show prior to Fawlty Towers.

Ah. :)

[Samantha]

hiya

i was gonna get these yesterday on the buy one get one half price at whsmith, but they didnt have disc 2 in they tried to tell me that it wasnt out yet when i knew that it was..............

lucky i found out i found out that the 3 disc set was coming out next month costs less than the 2 currant sets and has apparently more features than them 2 put together( or so i was told in smiths today by an employee who was disgusted by the bbc for releasing 2 different versions within such space of time)

samantha

[Byron]

David - the conjugal expletives are definately not allowed, but "****" has been acceptable in PG films for years (lost count of how many times it was uttered in Men in Black).

Anal retentive points about our good friends the BBFC aside ... On paper (okay, screen) a highly impressive list of extras, and even if they're as dry as they're made out -- not the beeb's fault. They can't make the director more enigmatic after all! Not normally one to defend the BBC (God knows, the Blackadder screw-up is pretty dire), but it genuinely seems they've made an effort here.

Now if they can just get a decent set of Simon Shamara's History of Britain discs out ...(yeah, like that's gonna happen!)

[orac]

I have boxset on order from amazon with hotmail voucher for £24

Seems a bit disappointing, if i am low on £ then i will cancel it before release date in nov.

[Michael Brooke]

Sorry, I really don't see what all the fuss is about!

£24 works out at £2 per episode for one of the few genuinely legendary sitcoms produced in this country - which I think is an absolute bargain. I'd be happy to pay that amount even if there were no extras whatsoever!

[orac]

yeah if you put it that way, a bargain

well 24 quid is.

30 quid for planet of the apes boxset is a bargain also.

[DavidMcGowan]

lucky i found out i found out that the 3 disc set was coming out next month costs less than the 2 currant sets and has apparently more features than them 2 put together( or so i was told in smiths today by an employee who was disgusted by the bbc for releasing 2 different versions within such space of time)
From the press release listed on the DVD Times site today, it does not appear that this is the case - the extras seem to be identical for the separate sets and the boxset.

On paper (okay, screen) a highly impressive list of extras, and even if they're as dry as they're made out -- not the beeb's fault. They can't make the director more enigmatic after all! Not normally one to defend the BBC (God knows, the Blackadder screw-up is pretty dire), but it genuinely seems they've made an effort here.
Having looked at more of the special features in depth, I would possibly suggest that the statement I took from the newsgroup regarding the American-orientation of the extras is valid. There definitely seems to be an American influence - the subtitles for the Andrew Sachs interview state that Fawlty Towers broke the 'mold' (mould) of sitcoms, as well as referencing other classic comedies such as 'Some others do have them' and 'The Royal Family'. Equally, the biographies mention PBS and at one point state an actor will be familiar to US audiences, and the voice-over man is the sort of educated British voice that usually crops up with British characters in US sitcoms. I suppose it's just me wanting to blame the BBC at every opportunity, but I couldn't help feeling that the extras may not have been so plentiful had there not been a US release also in the pipeline.

£24 works out at £2 per episode for one of the few genuinely legendary sitcoms produced in this country - which I think is an absolute bargain. I'd be happy to pay that amount even if there were no extras whatsoever.
And I have to agree that this is the way you should look at it when deciding whether or not to buy this set - despite what I've said about the extras (and I've still enjoyed most of them, despite my slightly negative comments), I'm extremely pleased with the sets - I've really enjoyed rewatching this classic series yet again, after my VHS copies have worn out.

[Fidney]

My series 1 disc arrived today (posted by play247.com on the same date as series 2 which didn't!!).

Anyway - having put the DVD through it's paces I was disturbed to find that the second 3 episodes won't play at all - all I get is a little corrupted audio - it makes no diference if I try to access them by title number or via the main menu.

My player is a Bush DVD2002 (budget, but has handled everything else I'ver ever thrown at it including known "problem" discs). Same thing happens if I play on my PC using Power DVD.

Anyone else got a problem?

[DavidMcGowan]

I've watched episodes 4 and 5, which play absolutely fine on my Toshiba SD100E.

[Nick]

.