A Blu-Ray Must buy

This a stunning programme, which even in standard definition is a must buy. The quality of programming is amazing and this has to be the finest Attenborough documentaries to date. This is another documentary series from the BBC that is simply outstanding, with fantastic photography unseen in other productions of this sort. Combined with the stories of fascinating struggles that are endured by some species, some illusive, some unknown by many, this is a series not to be missed.

All twelve episodes a treat

This is a unique combination of some fairly 'intellectual' and witty sayings with slapstick humour and it works brilliantly. Most comedies that are aired by the BBC are not usually repeatedly viewed as they are frankly not good enough but if they were viewed repeatedly then huge holes would appear in the plot.

I am not an expert on what makes a comedy work but these episodes contain a good story line, tension, brilliant timing, clever spatial arrangements, facial expressions, pauses and witty lines and the combination is hilarious.

It contains some allusions that would only have been picked up by a reasonably well educated audience in the 1970s e.g jokes about types of wine and the preparation of certain sorts of cuisine and references to historical events and foreign places.

Some memorable lines include:

..."What are we talking about Proust or E M Forster?" to the couple who also turned out to like Harold Robbins as well as Fawlty's wife.

..."Racket, It's Brahms!"

..."Look, this is not a proposition from Wittgenstein, you know"

..."it's not the Burma Railway..."

..."it's the Admiral Crichton!"

..."Sydney Opera House, Hanging Gardens of Babylon..."

This is combined with slapstick incidents such as pouring cream all over a difficult guest (the spoon salesman) as he was leaving the hotel.

Although one can spot very minor faults and illogicalities in the plots if one watches it again and again no other series could be repeatedly watched like this one and still seem funny. For example, Fawlty was extremely snobby about Harold Robbins but is seen reading"Jaws" in bed in another episode and this is just as bad as anything by Harold Robbins. The spoon salesman had only just beaten up Fawlty and was hardly likely to meekly walk away after being completely drenched in cream. If one ignores these minor inconsistencies in the plots, however, the illusion and the humour work brilliantly.

Absolutely splendid.

Ground Breaking?

While I agree with the majority of reviews here saying what a great series this is (it really is good) I can't agree with anyone saying its ground breaking. The book that The Wire is based on has been used to create a different cop series in Baltimore, Homicide: Life on the Street. The similarities are there as is the quality of plot and acting, its THE cop show for me, this is good news for some of you as it means that if you have enjoyed The Wire you can now start watching Homicide, THAT is the series that deserves the 5th star. Watch it and you'll see why.

More cunning than a sack full of weasels

Delighted to get this for Christmas - and brilliant to have all episodes, if only to see how Atkinson's character becomes more and more sophisticated through the generations.

Pure pleasure. From the strangely shaped turnips through to Baldrick's special capuccino.

£15? Don't think, just buy it!

This is just a no brainer. An excellent and engrossing tv series, with a great story, characters and production, this is just an essential buy.

I won't lie to you..There's much occurin' in this show

one of the Beebs most hilarious comedies in years,sketch shows killed the genre and Ruth Jones and James Corden have resurrected the genre.
i haven't been this enthralled with a comedy since The Vicar Of Dibley or the Catherine Tate Show...and now i think this is certainly one of the greatest shows of its kind and one of the best British shows ever to hit the lil' telly.
the characters here are so basic that everyone can relate to the clans from Bellarickay and Barry Island (not Barry's Island as it doesn't belong to a chap named Barry).
the humour is at the top of its game every single week right up to the recent Christmas special which will hopefully soon get its release.
this is a genuinly crowd pleasing show and is a heartwarming treat upon every view...i wish it all the success in its future,James Corden and Ruth Jones are extremely talented and well credited to come up with this masterpiece of comedy.
but the highlight of the show has to be Uncle Bryn wonderfully portrayed by Rob Brydon,he was made for the role.
i recommend Gavin and Stacey to everyone.

Not a very well chosen title; misliding actually.

I'll be short and get directly to the point. Yes, the documentary contains amazing videos. Things you probably never sow before, and didn't know they exist. The nicest things are the views from high above the scene that gives an entirely richer understanding.

However, the title"Planet Earth" is misleading. The documentary is NOT about The Planet but is the animal life of the planet and more exactly about the Other animal life of the planet (I hope you understand here that this totally excludes HUMANS). The humans are somehow in a basic untold way the BAD animal that we should not talk about. Anyway this is not the problem here. The problem is that the title should have mentioned that the focus is not on the planet but on the animal life of it.
Another word of advise: if you are disturbed by seeing animal cruelty on other animals then you shouldn't watch it, or at least be warned: there are many ugly scenes.

For the beauty of most of the images, especially those showing rare species, this is a nice documentary, very good for your collection.

family guy at its best

wow! Family guy has gone crazy! Talk about stewie killing lois. The idiot!
WHERE DO THEY COME UP WITH THESE IDEAS!

Flawed But Still Great TV

Without out doubt The West Wing is one of the best TV series of all time. It is uneven with the earlier shows having the edge over the later ones and it does at times sink into sentimentailty but this sould not put you off watching. The cast is headed by Martin Sheen as President Josiah Barchlet, a liberal Democrat from New Hampshire. As President he is surrrounded by able aids and advisors who more that the President form the core of the show's action. These include Alison Janney as Press Secretary CJ Cregg, Richard Schiff as Toby Ziegler, the Communications Director. All the actors are perfect for their parts, but my prize goes to John Spencer as White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry. McGarry is the man who gets things done and has a ruthless side which is needed because it is clear that the President at times is to soft. Sadley John Spencer died towards the end of the last series.

In the West Wing the Democrats, who are clearly the good guys, do not always beat the bad guys, who are not quite so clearly the Republicans.
The show as well as being great drama is also very funny.

You may need to be interested in politics to get the best out of the West Wing but it is not essiantial. If it was not let down by it's tendency to sentimentailty the West Wing would by up there with the Wire and the Sopranos as the greatest TV Drama of all time on either side of the Atlantic. It does not quite reach those heights but it is still great viewing.

the wire rocks

i come accross this series by chance and never looked back,brilliant story line, very entertaining, highly recomended

Storyline should have been shorter and snappier..

Lost was originally only meant to last for a maximum of 3 series with a very clear storyline set out. However as with most successful TV programmes in the USA, the suits wanted to extend the run of their golden goose for much longer.

I know lots of people love this show but I lost interest half way through series 3 and have not returned as I now feel the storylines have become more and more weird and incoherent. I now have the impression that Lost will become like the X Files (which also started with a very clearly set out storyline)and will end up not making any sense whatsoever - my biggest fear is that we will have a 'Bobby Ewing moment' with one of the major characters realising its all been a dream !!

It is still well written and well acted but it just doesn't hold my attention now and I suspect I am not the only one.

So why am I reviewing series 4? Well, I bought it in the hope of restarting my interest but I think its done the opposite and been the final nail in the coffin.

The most intelligent comedy of all-time!

Derek Fowlds, Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne gave three career-best performances to turn the scripts of Jay & Lynn into one of the funniest comedy programmes of all-time. Sir Nigel's performance, in particular, was just legendary and so convincing that it said that Her Majesty thought him a real civil servant when they met. With Fowld's Bernard trying to keep the peace and Eddington's Hacker wondering how he can get anything it's just a masterpiece of British comedy. However, it doesn't appeal to everyone. The reason for this is that it was written by people capable of using words with more than four letters in them and so it does make you both laugh and think at what Humpy is talking about. Loved by politicians for it's accuracy and the British public for it's superb comic performances and excellent scripts, it ranks in the top 5 Brit coms ever!

Hahahaha!

Wickedly funny, the three characters play each other off so well. I admit it took me a while to"get" a few of the episodes, whereas some I took to instantly. I'd hazard a guess and say the series doesn't really take of until episode 3 of the 1st series, which doesn't mean the first two episodes aren't funny (there are at least a couple of BIG laugh out loud moments for each one) it's just that they're kind of doing the groundwork as it were. After that it just ascends to another level!

One of the great indicators of a good comedy for me is that you can watch it over and over again....easily done with this series, and you'll always pick up on something you missed the first time...be it a joke or even a simple look.

3 series ... not enough in my (Black) book...but best end on a high I guess!

"That crack is really moreish"

Best show on television. Easily surpasses any mediocre sitcoms or comedy shows of the past decade.

You will wonder what all the fuss was about with The Office, The Mighty Boosh, etc.

Roll on the sixth series.

Fantastic!

Though the box is extremely irritating - it takes forever to get a DVD out due to the bizarre packaging - the contents are certainly worth the wait.
Being under the impression that I'd actually seen all of the episodes, I have been joyously surprised to discover a few that I've never seen! Yey!
I think this box set is a must for SATC fans and has certainly been making me laugh out loud (again) as I sit through each marvellous episode with a large glass of wine.
Has there ever been a greater love story than Carrie and Big? And what about the taming of Miranda? The varied attempts at the Holy Grail (Marriage) for Charlotte? And the woman with the best one-liners ever - Samantha...C U Next Tuesday... I am LOVING it....

More Re-packaging of the Greatest trilogy.

There is no need to introduce or explain the original trilogy.
Wev'e all seen them, time and time again. Ground breaking SFX,
excellent morality story-telling and wonderful music.
Of course the the first two films are five stars and of course
the Ewoks did bring down the credibilty in 'JEDI' but all in all
these films are only really challenged by Jackson's epic LOTR trilogy.

Having said all of this i'm given this 'New'? boxset only 3 stars, not
because of the films but 3 stars to Lucasfilm. George knows what we want, the entire saga (six films) on HD or Blueray. But he keeps milking the fans time and time again. He will no-doubt bring out each film of HD/BR,
and then a year later each trilogy and then finally the entire saga.
I'm going to wait for the entire saga!

Why Catherine Tate WHY!?

I've been a huge fan of recent (and all) Doctor Who but this series just.........lacked. There were a few good episodes, usually written by Stephen Moffat or Russel Davis but on the whole it just never clicked the way the other"new who" did. Cathrine Tate is fantastically irritating, although I can't help feel that's because her"comedy" series has left an ashen taint in my mouth. After the last series finale (with the master) I did get an uncofortable feeling that Doctor Who had reached it's apex, and this series proves it. Sure there's a couple of good episodes here, but none better than anything previously done on the show. Nothing new here. Davros was massively disappointing too, he himself was brillaintly realised and played but he just felt pointless. As much as it pains me to say, I think David Tennant has made the right choice to leave after next year, it's getting a bit stale. Bruce Willis for Doctor in 2010!

Three really great films

The Phantom Menace - A good film. Great action scenes. It's really good how it starts off the saga. It can be a bit boring at some points but apart from that a great film. 7/10

Attack of the Clones - Another great Star Wars film. The only thing that slows this movie down is the relationship between Anakin and Padme, but the fights are really great, like the big battle at the end. 8.5/10

Revenge of the Sith - The best one on the DVD. Non stop action and intense lightsaber fights. Really good how it builds up to Episode IV. Hayden Christensen and Ewan Mcgregor are a great cast and George Lucas writes and directs a brlliant end to the saga. 10/10

A nice little taster

Ever wondered what MI5 really do? Well this is your chance to find out! Spooks is a new series which charts how MI5 and the Spooks in its employ deal with the everyday threats against Britain. In season one we're introduced to Harry, Tom, Danny & Zoe and get to see them in action as they face extremist anti-abortionists, race-riot ringleaders and Kurdish freedom fighters....to name but a few. Spooks has the suspense, intrigue and backstabbing that we would expect from an agency of spies and it all works together to hook you from episode one straight through to the end.

My biggest gripe about Season 1 of Spooks is that it's just too short. You're only getting into the swing of it when it ends and you wish you'd ordered season 2 at the same time as season 1!

BEST SO FAR BUT WAIT FOR SEASON SIX!!!!!!

I have to say after reading some of the other reviews they seem a bit harsh and maybe had they watched the show rather than doing other things they would get what was happening! For starters there where not three of them pining for Lucas just two.
Secondly the 'angry basketball player' is a very important to both season five and six and even if you are only bothered about the Scott family and the oh so cute Jamie, Q is a very important part to that family. In season six there is an episode about Q that made me cry the whole way through.
Season six is going to be the best ever having already seen the first seven episodes it'll make you laugh, cry, and scream at your t.v. The characters are brilliant, each in their own way showing how much they have grown up and overcome their problems and all with the drama we expect from the Tree Hill bunch.
This is such an important season it had everything I love about One Tree Hill and has a great cliffhanger for the finale. Watch it you wont be dissapointed.