Yes Minister Series One

[feverpitch96]

Just received my copy in the post.

The picture is pleasantly detailed with good depth, even if the colours are occasionally a little muted. A pleasant surprise, considering the comments made by many regarding the (admitted) very average picture standard of some BBC discs (the Pride and Prejudice set was apparently a grave disappointment...?).

The image is often a little soft, but it still looks a lot better than it has on TV for many years. And, for the sake of completeness if nothing else, the best thing about the collection on this disc is the original (pilot?) credits on Episode One, which I don't remember ever seeing in this country. They're nothing earth-shattering, but anyway...
:)

[DavidMcGowan]

I have to agree that I was pleasantly surprised with the picture quality of this disc. It was also surprising to see that they had included the original title sequence on the pilot episode of Yes, Minister - on their VHS & DVD Only Fools and Horses series one releases, the BBC have always replaced the original sequence with the newer version.

But apart from that, it's a slightly disappointing release from the BBC - none of the episodes are time-encoded, which is a bit of a pain. Also, as with the other budget-priced BBC comedy releases, the disc isn't subtitled - which considering the broad appeal of this BBC sitcom, as well as BBC's own TV trailers highlighting the importance of - and their commitment to - subtitling of broadcasts, seems quite a missed opportunity. The lack of extras is also a shame, especially as a number of the other classics discs have at least contained interviews. Nigel Hawthorne was back at the BBC filming Victoria and Albert recently, so it's a pity that they didn't get his recollections of the series - I've seen him speak about the series in person, and he did have a number of interesting comments to make.

However, the content of episodes more than makes up for all my moaning, and seeing as though the DVD can be picked up for £10 at Play, the superior video quality causes the disc to excel above the VHS release - incidentally, the double-video box set has an RRP of £16.99, so DVD owners are getting a better deal for once. :D