Review of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased): The Complete First Series

Introduction

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is one of those television shows from the 1960s era that most people born in the 1970s will probably remember as being endlessly repeated on TV. My memories of the original show are hazy but I don`t ever remember it being any good.

This DVD contains the recent BBC "remake" of the series (although this is not a BBC disc). "Remake" is perhaps not the most accurate of descriptions as it implies that they`ve remade all of the old episodes. This is not the case, as they`ve simply used the basic premise of a detective and his ghostly partner and updated it for a 21st century audience.

The new series is the brainchild of Charlie Higson of The Fast Show and Harry Enfield fame, although he has also been a long time collaborator of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, who take the lead roles here. Higson has been very heavily involved in this "remake", writing all of the episodes (with some assistance), directing one himself, producing each episode and also starring in each episode in a different role each time.

Video

Oh dear. Oh dear, oh dear. Despite being made and broadcast in 1.85:1 anamorphic widscreen (or thereabouts) we are subject to an incredibly frustrating and annoying 4:3 full frame transfer. I say frustrating because there are so many examples of shots that were framed perfectly in the original broadcasts which now look odd as people have had the sides of their faces chopped off. I find this sort of behaviour inexcusable in these days of widescreen television.

Anyway, what we do get certainly looks very good indeed with plenty of detail, good colour and no blemishes. It`s just a shame that there`s so much missing from either side!

Audio

Despite being a TV show, and despite the unforgivable cropping of the picture, the audio comes up trumps with a DD5.1 soundtrack. Yes, really! A marked improvement over the original stereo broadcast obviously, and the soundtrack is used to good effect in various scenes across the six episodes of the series.

The DD5.1 remix might have brought one or two lip-synch issues with it along the way, but it was definitely worth the effort of doing it, as it adds a whole new dimension to the show.

The other audio note is that this series features Tom Baker as one of the regular cast. If you believe in any form of god, and you believe that your god has a voice, then Tom Baker has that voice. It is a joy to see and hear him on your TV screen.

Features

The series is presented as a 2 disc set, with 4 episodes on disc 1 and 2 episodes and some brief extras on the second disc.

First we get a 45 minute "making of" type documentary, with Vic & Bob larking around and introducing us to some behind the scenes footage, interviews, special effects information and some out-takes. It`s all very entertaining and definitely worth watching. Look out for a cast member from the original 1960s series too!

Next up we have a short section entitled "Randall and Hopkirk (deleted)" - this implies deleted scenes, and whilst there are some it`s more of a collection of out-takes and gaffes whilst filming. Amusing, although there is some repetition from the documentary.

Finally we have a music video, which is the vocal version of the theme tune, featuring Nina Persson from The Cardigans. This is actually rather poor (both in quality and in terms of the song itself). The instrumental version that is used as the theme tune to the show is much better.

Conclusion

An entertaining and amusing comedy/drama/sci-fi/fantasy series. Fans of Vic & Bob will enjoy this a lot, but you`ll also enjoy it even if you don`t like some of their earlier work. Imagine a bizarre cross between The X Files and Shooting Stars and you might be reasonably close to what the series is all about.

Vic & Bob give reasonably good performances in their first real "serious" roles, and they are backed up by an excellent guest cast including Charles Dance, Martin Clunes, Fiona Allen, Peter Bowles, Paul Whitehouse, Simon Day, Arabella Weir (spot the Fast Show connections) and Hugh Laurie. This all adds up to some good entertainment. And don`t forget the legend that is Tom Baker and his amazing voice.

A real shame then that someone decided to give us a cropped picture which is the main problem with the disc. The DD5.1 soundtrack is excellent, the extras are interesting, but the missing sides of the picture are frustrating.

Recommended for Vic & Bob fans, and for those without a widescreen TV who might not be quite so worried about the lack of a proper widescreen picture. I doubt that there`ll ever be anything better, but it`s a shame that we have to put up with it as it is.