Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3137 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-04-28
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 172 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The six 30-minute episodes of Coogan's Run, originally broadcast in 1995, serve as a reminder that there's more to Steve Coogan than just Alan Partridge. Most Partridge-like here is the horrendous Gareth Cheeseman, the Ford Probe-driving sales rep in "Dearth of a Salesman", whose empty life unravels as spectacularly as his Norwich-based counterpart. Familiar from Coogan's stage act are handyman Ernest Moss, here accompanied by John ("Eccles Cakes!") Thomson, and Paul and Pauline Calf, whose "Get Calf" is the series highlight.

Perhaps because the other instalments venture into less familiar territory they tend to feel less successful, though both the writing and the characterisations are always strong. Paired with cowriter Patrick Marber in "Natural Born Quizzers", Coogan is a quiz nerd bent on revenge; in "Thursday Night Fever" saddo DJ Mike Crystal finds empowerment in a brash alter ego; while "The Curator" heads towards the spoof-horror territory later served up so disappointingly in Dr Terrible's House of Horrible. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
The Steve Coogan catalogue contains a wealth of characters which we’ve grown to know and ....hate: Alan Partridge in Knowing Me, Knowing You (KMKY), Paul and Pauline Calf and Tony Ferrino. As if this wasn’t enough, there’s all the misfits that feature in this DVD.

In Death of a Salesman we meet Gareth Cheeseman, in the corporate jungle he is truly a tiger. With only 3 days left of the Microsell conference, Gareth will do anything to clinch the deal that will elevate him to super-salesman status. Natural Born Quizzers introduces us to trivia nerd half brothers Stuart and Guy Crump. The only aim for these top draw saddos is to right the wrong that was the 1975 Top of the Class quiz final, which they lost and it’s going to take kidnapping, explosives, 20 years in a psychiatric unit and a badminton racket to do it! As the Handyman for all Seasons, Ernest Moss is a one man stand against the unscrupulous property dealers that ride into Ottle town and their cowboy builder chums. The Curator is a sinister tale of the ginger-bearded museum man who loses everything. From then on, the cost of admission is murder! Mike Crystal is the entertainer going nowhere fast in Thursday Night Fever and it’s only when he invents himself the toughest agent in showbiz, Clint Stallone, that things start to turn around. The zenith of this collection of misfortune and oddity is Get Calf - Fat Bob, Mum, Julie, baby Petula Dusty and Grandma Calf are back too in Paul and Pauline’s red hot tale of blue robes, dark forces and shagging.

Special Features
Commentary by producers Geoff Posner and David Tyler
Photo galleries
English subtitles

Customer Reviews

forgettable
If you're a big fan of Coogan then it's worth having, but it's not belly laughs and in some instances feels somewhat unpolished, when you compare it to Partridge which is line for line funny! I guess the general feeling here is one of lightweightedness, even the Cheeseman episode (which when I saw [..]i thought was hilarious) seems half-hearted, no real jokes and the poignant moments don't work. All in all it's pretty mediocre stuff, but good to see Coogan trying something else. Coogan is best as Partridge and Calf.

A note on location
After attending a Buddhist retreat at Dobroyd Castle above Todmorden earlier this year, then watching "Get Calf" again tonight, with great surprise I recognised Dobroyd as the location for the cult scenes!

Even odder, in the Great Bear's room with its bar, ciggies, monitor screens watching the porn-creating room, pizza and all-round air of deception and debauchery, for some unaccountable reason there is a statue of Buddha Tara on top of one of the screens. You couldn't even imagine making it up.

The P & P Calf story is excellent, so are Gareth Cheeseman, Ernest Moss and Mike Crystal - and John Thomson is on top form in dozy sidekick roles. But I don't bother with Natural Born Quizzers & The Curator (see, can't even remember Steve's characters' names) - they are heartless murder stories whose comedy doesn't beat the darkness of the plot.

On the other hand, Mike Crystal's story is proof that Steve Coogan can play a nice, positive character and still entertain, in case you've ever wondered.

Fantastic classic Coogan - a must for all fans
This is a great series that has aged very well. It shows just how diverse Coogan is, certainly not a one trick pony. The episodes are diverse and in the main all very funny. Favourite picks would be Get Calf - Paul Calf in a less aggressive role than the usual stand-up, more the waster with a funny plot. Natural Born Quizzers, great cast, good writing and acting about a pair obsessed with a quiz show. But my pick is Gareth Cheeseman - the partridge-esque salesman. Absolutely brilliant, everything from the car he drives down to the suit he wears (that crops up in a different episode!), great from start to finish. Many of the characters crop up in the different episodes, which just goes to show how cleverly thought up the series was, and how neat Coogan manages to switch from character to character. Highly recommended.