Review of Black Books

Introduction

The third series of Black Books is currently airing on Channel 4, and since I have been watching avidly since the show started, naturally I have been tuning in every week. But something`s rotten in the state of Bloomsbury and this recent series is lacking a little. Don`t get me wrong as it`s still hilarious, but it just feels a little tame. For instance, the most recent episode had a charming travel writer visiting and instantly enchanting Fran and Manny, while the owner of the shop`s lease had died leaving everything to her cat, prompting Bernard to put out a contract on the moggy. Compared to what I remembered of the first series, this seemed positively mundane. One bargain bucket later and I got Black Books Series One just to make sure.

For the uninitiated, Black Books is the grotty little bookshop in which the series is set, the centre of a universe around which revolve three wholly unconventional characters. Bernard Black is the shop`s owner, cantankerous, moody, grubby, curmudgeonly and misanthropic, and of course particularly fond of the occasional tipple. Fran is Bernard`s best friend and owns the gift shop next door. She is a little scatty and unconventional but can keep Bernard on his toes, and she`s fond of the occasional tipple. Manny is Bernard`s assistant, and target for random acts of humiliation, minor violence and abuse. Manuel to Bernard`s Fawlty, Manny is … odd and has a beard. He doesn`t mind the occasional tipple either. Series One relates how it all began in the six episodes presented here on one disc.

1. Cooking The Books

A stressed Manny devours The Little Book Of Calm, trying to cope with his stressed accountancy job. Fran is trying to fathom her own stock and when Bernard`s accountant goes on the run, he`s left prevaricating in front of a pile of receipts. This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

2. Manny`s First Day

When Bernard hires Manny, Fran suggests he move into the spare room. But Manny commits the cardinal sin and actually sells some books.

3. Grapes Of Wrath

Bernard`s shop needs a clean, so Manny hires a cleaner who needs absolute solitude to work. As Fran has a date, Bernard and Manny agree to housesit for a wine aficionado, only they drink from the wrong bottle.

4. The Blackout

Manny`s got a gift set of the Sweeney and an espresso machine for his birthday. Bernard is trying to remember what he did at a dinner party, while Fran`s boyfriend has scorned her.

5. The Big Lock-out

After a break in, Black Books has some security installed. Inevitably Manny and Bernard end up trapped on two sides of a security door. Meanwhile Fran encounters an old arsehole with a dead sexy voice.

6. He`s Leaving Home

Manny`s getting to that rebellious age, and when Bernard gets too domineering, Manny flies the nest. However London has a seedy underground of beard fetishists.

Video

As befits a recent television programme, Black Books gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The image is clear and the colours are strong throughout. It is a solid worthy transfer, difficult to fault, that is perfectly suited to the job in question.

Audio

The sound is provided in the form of a DD 2.0 English track. It is a dialogue intensive show and the sound conveys that ideally. Again it`s hard to fault, and the show doesn`t really beg an excess of surround razzmatazz. There are English subtitles for all six episodes.

Features

A nice set of animated menus help present this disc well, and there are a few extras to boot.

There is a trailer for Season 2 promising more of the same.

10 minutes of outtakes share goofs and bloopers galore, as well as at least one deleted scene. Unfortunately there is no way of telling which is which.

There is a photo gallery with 23 behind the scenes pics.

Finally there are audio commentaries for all the episodes, with comments provided by Dylan Moran, Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig. It`s a madcap commentary that adds another layer of hilarity and maybe a little information. Dylan Moran`s fruity language does more than enough to justify the 15 rating on the disc.

Conclusion

Trying to describe Black Books is like Jilly Goolden trying to describe fine wine. I inevitably end up thinking of superlatives and descriptive terms that have little to do with the show itself in an effort to communicate my enthusiasm and appreciation for this comedy gem. What British television does best is the character based comedy, Black Books is the finest example currently being made, and Series One is by far the best of the three made up until now.

I think what`s noticeable is that the first series was co-written by Graham Linehan and Dylan Moran, and as such there is more of the anarchic and surreal about it, something that is less evident in the following series when Dylan Moran wrote alone. The characterisations are sheer genius, with Bernard, Manny and Fran all pitch perfect. Dylan Moran is mesmerising as the slovenly Bernard Black, an acerbic tongue and unique mannerisms build into a memorable character. Tamsin Greig is outstanding as Fran, and a character that could so easily have been a third wheel in the Manny-Bernard dynamic, holds her own with aplomb. Bill Bailey is one of my favourite comedians, and he has an amazing ability to paint with words, creating whole galaxies of left field mirth to entertain. As Manny he`s hilarious, faced with the prospect of working for a misanthrope like Black.

It`s a surreal odd little world they inhabit, but it all makes sense. The series starts off strongly, with an enjoyable first episode that builds up to one of the best punch lines I have ever seen. The subsequent five episodes carry on in the same vein, and it`s not so much the stories that entertain as do the sheer number of moments. The Little Book Of Calm is a peach, as is Manny`s mobile phone headache. There is a wonderful Frankenstein homage in The Grapes Of Wrath, and Manny`s coffee fuelled Sweeney rampage is a comedic delight.

I simply can`t do Black Books justice, you have to watch it to appreciate it, and this DVD is the perfect disc with which to bask in its genius. I cannot recommend it enough.