Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4434 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Full Screen, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 348 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Originally shown in 1998, Big Train was the eagerly awaited follow-up to Father Ted from writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews. Resisting the pressure to make another sitcom, Big Train is, instead, a sketch show in the best Monty Python tradition, updated with influences from arch-surrealist Chris Morris as well as the contemporary The Fast Show. The sketches can be joyously odd--Pythonesque firefighting showjumpers, the evil hypnotist, and the outrageous onanistic office workers, for example--but the show never neglects to keep the punchlines coming thick and fast (though the animated staring contest does rather drag after a while). The cast comprises some of the best new names in comedy, including Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore (who went on to become Alan Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend).

Series 2 didn't pull into the platform until 2002, by which time Graham Linehan was absent writing Black Books. But Arthur Matthews maintains the quality of the first series on the whole--the man with oversized hands, the creepy cult questionnaire, the zookeeper's recruitment agency--adding some spot-on French art house cinema spoofs and other movie-style take offs somewhat in the manner of Spaced, which Pegg and Heap had gone on to make. That duo return here for more silliness along with new cast members Rebecca Front (The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You) and Tracey-Ann Oberman (better known now as Chrissie Watts in Eastenders).

On the DVD: Big Train belatedly arrives on DVD in a two-disc set which includes a plethora of deleted scenes for both Series 1 and 2. There are cast biogs plus three of the sketches as performed on a German TV sketch show. Commentary on the first series is by both writers, though happily Pegg, Heap and Eldon gatecrash halfway through. Matthews and Eldon join director and producer for the somewhat more straight-faced commentary on the second disc. Menu options thankfully include the treasurable "Play all" facility. --Mark Walker

Synopsis
From the creators of Father Ted, this rather surreal sketch show features the recurring themes of jockeys, surgery and offices. There's a man with a spoon phobia, some show-jumpers in Hunting Pink who yearn to be firemen, and the first-series' animated Stare-Out with BBC Sport's own Barry Davies commentating. The second series features a foul-mouthed mermaid and a look at the life of a Beefeater. Jump aboard the lunatic subversion of the Big Train.

From the Studio
Big Train steams out of the comedy tunnel as realism meets utter stupidity in a cavalcade of daft sketches performed by some of Britain's top-notch comedy actors including Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Spaced), Julia Davis (Nighty Night, Human Remains) and Catherine Tate (The Catherine Tate Show; Wild West). Written by Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, the acclaimed writers of Father Ted, this brilliant comedy sketch series was the winner of the Bronze Rose at Montreux after the first series was transmitted in 1998. The much anticipated second series transmitted in 2002 to critical acclaim and the fans delight. The show twists everyday occurrences and mundane situations into daft sketches and improbable scenarios such as the world premiere of the influential film classic, Alfred Hitchock's The Working Class – the stuff of nightmares; the pros and cons of having huge hands when using today’s micro technology; shy policemen, confused Ministers, ducks in danger and hens in armed combat. This hugely popular series makes its debut onto DVD and the extras on this double disc set feature a commentary (on both discs) with Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews, Kevin Eldon, Mark Heap, Simon Pegg, Phil Clarke (Producer), Jonathan Gershfield (Director) and Jo Hunter (Production Manager). There are also deleted scenes and some Easter Egg surprises.

Customer Reviews

Big Train - comedy classic
Big Train only ran for two series but established itself as one of the funniest shows ever made in a very short space of time. A classic post Python sketch show, that was competing with serious heavyweight comedies like the The Fast Show and Little Britain, and the end, in my view, was better than both.

The surreal nature of some of the sketches is what makes the show so great. One sketch that always stuck in my mind was the wildlife film with the couple getting on to the roof of their Land Rover as a stampeding 'herd' of Jockey's swept past.. But there were many others just as good and some even more surreal. They were all beautifully acted by a stellar cast. Remember this is a series that had Simon Pegg and Catherine Tate to name but two.

Then of course there was the World Stare Out championships. A truly inspired idea, and to get Barry Davies in to do the commentary with one of the cast was the icing on the cake. How the writers thought that two animated characters staring at each other, in a psuedo sports arena, could be funny is completely beyond me. The fact that they were right, and produced one of the most original pieces of modern comedy is even more to their credit. I wonder how many takes they had to do each time?

If you missed these shows the first or second time round then this double DVD set is worth getting (theres some nice extras), and if you did see the show the first time round you'll know you have to get it!

Abstract, funny, Genius


I remembered this series containing some of my favourite sketches of all time...

...Whilst watching the DVD, the main thing that struck me is how many of the sketches aren't actually that funny. *BUT* you still enjoy the genius behind them! The Flamenco Dancer in the Bomb Squad is one of the first sketches, I didn't laugh at it - but I couldn't help but appreciate what was being done.

The long French-cinema-style sketch about a man and a woman who fall out of love but find "something" else was too long to be laugh out loud hilarious - but it was still fab!

I find series 2 to contain more laugh out loud material, but overall, this 2 series set contains some of my favourite sketches of all time. The "Hot Cakes" sketch really creases me up, and the guys in the laboratory where Simon Pegg is looking through the Microscope at some sort of plague had me crying with laughter.

The amount of talent in this is mind-blowing. The creators of Father Ted writing, and some of the best (maybe THE best) comedians/comedy actors of the current time, performing.

For me, Simon Pegg and Kevin Eldon are perfect on screen. Eldon has such an expressive face. Between them, they can portray anyone doing anything - they aren't only great comedians, they are fantastic actors.

The rest of the cast are also top notch - and all of them are familiar having appearing in each others' work at some point before or since (Spaced, Black Books, etc).

If you want to see a sketch show which isn't just reliant on catchphrases, them stick this in yer (DVD) slot.

I will without doubt watch this again, and again, and who knows? Maybe again!

Some misses, but still a must own dvd!
First things first, a lot of people have dubbed the second series as somewhat inferior to the first. I think series is just as good as the first in all honesty. A few sketches in both series miss the mark, particularly in the last two episodes of each series - but still this is sketch comedy at its best.

Highlights include: Chaka Khan vs The BeeGees, Hot Cakes, Not married and ,the deleted scene, weights.

Pegg and Heap are, unarguably, the funniest comedians on the show - but that is not to diminish the greatness of all the others on the show. In short, despite the odd unfunny sketch, this dvd is a must own especially considering the cheap price it is these days!