Take a Chance...

Introduction

If there's one thing that I've learned from reviewing DVDs for the last 10 years, it's that you should be very wary of looking at DVDs of things that you have fond childhood memories of. Sometimes your memories get trampled all over by that decision to revisit them, and you find that something you loved now makes you cringe.

So it was with trepidation that I approached this 26 year old Channel 4 sitcom.



Chance in a Million centres around Tom Chance (superbly played by Simon Callow) who is a man who is plagued by coincidence. These coincidences don't just happen once in a while. They happen all the time. Tom goes to a hotel to meet a blind date called Alison. Through one of these coincidences, he meets Alison Little (played with a deft touch by the wonderful Brenda Blethyn). Alison is in the same hotel to meet her long-lost cousin, who is called (you've guessed it) Tom. Eventually they work out what's been going on, but not before striking up a firm friendship which continues for another seventeen episodes.

The first six episodes that form series 1 are presented on this DVD:-

Plumstones
Honour Thy Father and Mother
Flowing with the Tide
The Birthday Party
Man of Iron
Stuff of Dreams

Video and Audio

A standard full frame transfer of a typical piece of 1980s (largely) studio-bound television. This is not something that has been lovingly restored, just brought up to scratch and released. It looks as you would expect TV of this era to look.

A DD2.0 stereo transfer, which is the original mono replayed over both channels. Nothing special, but nothing wrong with it.

The only thing that will probably annoy you is the cheese-stuffed swing-lite theme tune, 'Taking A Chance On Love'. It gets on my nerves. And when the DVD goes back to the menu and it plays over and over, it really annoys.

Extra Features

You would expect nothing given the age and relative obscurity of the title, but there is a little gem here.

As well as the photo gallery (never really seen the point of them), we have the pilot episode which has been recovered from the archives complete with timecode running across the screen. It's quite similar to the first episode, but there are a few little differences. I actually preferred it to the first episode, but obviously someone decided that some changes were needed.

Conclusion

Many sitcoms don't age well. But due to the surreal nature of this one, and the brilliant performances of the two main actors, this one has fared pretty well. Yes, some parts are a little dated, and the pace is a little slower than we are used to nowadays, but it's still good fun to watch this show.

Tom Chance has certain way of speaking. Cuts out unnecessary words. Eschewing articles and personal pronouns. Sentences shortened. Excess dialogue? No need. This is one of the main attractions of his character, the quirky, eccentric Englishman. And when faced with the quiet, warm, yet also slightly wild librarian Alison he knows that there will be something between them. And the way they are both portrayed brings them both to life. Ten years later, Brenda Blethyn played Miriam Dervish in Outside Edge (one of the few funny ITV sitcoms), and there was so much of Alison in that character it was scary!

If you have fond memories of this show, you'll be very happy to watch it again on DVD at last. And if you fancy an old-fashioned 1980s sitcom, this was one of the best, particularly recommended for any fans of Callow or Blethyn.