Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #374 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-10-27
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 672 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
How do you keep a medical show, entering its fourth series, fresh for another round of episodes? If you?re House, it?s easy: get rid of the main team, and have a new bunch come along and audition to be doctors. It?s a very House thing to do, and it makes the first half of season four an absolute blast.

Much of the reason for that of course is Hugh Laurie, in the title role. As House, he manages to turn himself into the medical Simon Cowell, chucking out outrageously sarcastic asides, while also giving space to the intriguing collection of supporting players. It?s a stunning performance. On top of that is the usual assortment of medical mysteries, including a brilliantly constructed remote diagnosis of a patient stuck in the South Pole.

Even when the audition phase is over, House has plenty to offer, not least a terrific concluding two-parter that continually pulls the proverbial rug. And the ingenuity of the scriptwriters shouldn?t go without praise, continually delivering a series of brilliant medical whodunits for Laurie and his team to solve.

If there?s a problem with House season four, it?s that it tries to cram too many characters in there, but it?s not a serious concern. For it?s a show that knuckles down and gets on with things quickly, continually managing to surprise and entertain. You may never want to be treated by Dr House, but it?s enormous fun watching him treat others? --Simon Brew

Synopsis
Celebrated for its withering wit and complex medical mysteries, HOUSE stars Hugh Laurie (BLACKADDER) as a moody, wise-cracking diagnostician with a predilection for painkillers and impossible cases. Having just lost his trio of long-suffering assistants, Dr. House begins season four on his own, and is reluctant to consider new hires. At the prodding of oncologist Dr. Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard), and ever-overbearing administrator Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein), he eventually takes on 40 new recruits, forcing them to compete for the three open positions via irreverent, game show-style contests. As the pool of potential employees gradually diminishes, House confronts some of his strangest cases yet, including an astronaut who can 'see' everything she hears, a woman who believes she can communicate with the dead, and a patient who mirrors the personality of everyone he meets. House's original underlings, Drs. Chase (Jesse Spencer, NEIGHBOURS), Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) and Foreman (Omar Epps), have taken positions elsewhere at the hospital, but remain near-by to help the new kids save patients and survive the surly genius' maddening whims. Mira Sorvino, Frank Whaley, and ER's Michael Michele guest star.

Customer Reviews

House ( Do I Need To Say More?)
To tell you the truth, I wasn't expecting much from this forth season. Sure I'm a big fan of House, but season three ended in such a way that left me somewhat disappointed, and I wasn't sure how the show was going to recover from that rather unexpected final. I also wasn't sure what direction House was heading in, and if they could improve on the otherwise brilliant previous three seasons. Thankfully it didn't take long for my fears to pass and I was proven wrong in the best possible way as House Season Four is exceptionally good.

Hugh Laurie (as usual) is remarkable as Gregory House, a doctor who describes himself in the final episode as a "...lonely misanthropic drug addict." He is supported by Lisa Edelstein (Cuddy), Robert Sean Leonard (Wilson), Jesse Spencer (Chase), Jennifer Morrison (Cameron), Omar Epps (Foreman), as well as the new members of his team (I won't spoil it by telling you who he finally hires in case you haven't yet seen it.) But all of these actors and actress are absolutely stellar in their roles. Doctor Wilson especially is unbelievably good though out the season. Whether he's kidnapping House's twelfth thousand dollar 1967 "Flying V" guitar or helping to diagnose a patient that's trapped at the South Pole, you can count on him to be fantastic. Everything about the series is pretty much perfect. The medical cases and patients are terrific, House's mind-games with Cuddy and Wilson are still brilliant, and the humour is well suited. Each episode really is superb and a masterpiece of creation, perfectly scripted, and planned out.

I thought that the last two episodes in the series were the best. Simply because the cast members are all at their personal best creating a very emotionally charged rollercoaster ride. The series final was the most moving forty five minutes I have ever seen on TV.

I did find the beginning of the series somewhat confusing, with people being fired left, right, and center, it was slightly difficult to keep up and remember who's who. But once the dust had settled and House's new team emerged out of the chaos things became clear (while still throwing up plenty of unexpected twists.) Plus we get to know the new characters pretty quickly thanks again to the wonderful writing and acting. It's a real shame that the season was reduced to only sixteen episodes due to the writer's strike, but those same sixteen episodes are well worth it.

It's almost unbelievable to think that I discovered House entirely by accident one night early last year while channel surfing. Now I can't imagine my life without it. House is truly unmissable. Ignore any critics that say otherwise. I highly recommend it as a must-see-at-all-costs show and I can't wait for the next season.

A renovated format sees House's value go through the roof
House is first and foremost a show about the character of Dr Gregory House and how he interacts with others. Yes it's a medical mystery / drama series too, but take House away and that would be it - no more show. Realising that in order to keep the show fresh and Hugh Laurie's character from getting repetitive or predictable, what the show really needed was 40ccs of fresh blood. Hence, the writers took the bold decision to cut the roles of his established team back considerably and allow House free reign over an entire roomful of wannabe assistants.

It was a brilliant and inspired idea, and it makes this fourth series possibly the best ever. House's reasons for firing the doctors to whittle them down and the ways he has of playing them off against each other never fail to surprise and provide priceless moments of entertainment. Best of all, the actors who play them are all extremely talented and they make you care, understand and wonder about the histories of their characters with very little lead in time.

Don't worry about Foreman, Cameron and Chase though - they're still there, and make enough appearances to justify the actors names remaining in the title sequence. In fact, their periods of absence actually allow them to grow a little as characters, and you can see the way that being distant from House has allowed them to change.

There are some unexpected moments too, especially come the last couple of episodes, but I won't give anything away - suffice to say that you should be prepared for one of the most moving scenes you have ever seen in a drama series.

I Still Love This
At the end of season 3 we were given the shocking conclusion of losing the team we have loved for three years. Foreman quit because he didn't want to become House, Cameron quit because it was time for a change and Chase was fired. I know a lot of dedicated fans felt this was a big mistake, as these were characters that we had fallen in love with and didn't want to say goodbye to. Season 3 left us with a message that it was time for a change. Let me tell you that this change was awesome. Starting with episode 1 of season 4, House is alone in his office and hasn't worked since he lost his team. Determined to get House to hire new staff, Cuddy sets him a challenge. Cure his patient alone and he doesn't have to hire a team, otherwise if he can't figure out what's wrong on his own, he must hire a team. House loses the bet and episode one ends with House in a room of 40 doctors hoping to be on the team.

Season 3, in a way was one of the more emotional seasons when testing his friendship with Wilson and testing his previous teams loyalty. Season 4 was more of a relief from that drama, with which some people may not like, but I truly loved. The first few episodes became a reality TV type show in which House would test his 40 possible employees and fire the ones that failed. Over this time we started to become aware of who the team would eventually be and what their quirks and personalities were.

With the comic relief of the first few episodes, the finale presents us with a real tear jerker and possibly the most emotional episodes we have ever seen from the show. Wilson falls in love with one of House's former possible employees, but the finale tests their love as his girlfriend is taken critically ill. Robert Sean Leonard really shines in the finale and next to the sensible man we've come to know and love, he gives us a real emotional side. The two part finale is something brilliantly made that no fan will be disappointed with. I find that even with the writers strike, we were still given the most triumphant season finale from the entire show.

Along with that I can't help but think that they had plans to have the old team re-unite at the end of season four. Unfortunately we wouldn't get to see that at the end of season four. I hope we really do get to see this situation arise in season five, although the team aren't completely gone. Cameron is in E.R., Chase is now a surgeon and Foreman is back and working for House already. In this season we were given a further development between the relationship of Cuddy and House. I'm hoping that in season 5 we are given a definitive answer on where this relationship is going. This season, as usual was filled with the classic lines that it's famous for and below are some of my favourites.

From Episode 4: Guardian Angels:

House: "I can't ask the black guy or one of the chicks to do it; it'd be insensitive."

From Episode 10: It's A Wonderful Life:

House: "You talk to your kid about sex so she'll think you're open about everything. Keeps her from asking questions about the things you don't wanna talk about."

From Episode 13: No More Mr. Nice Guy:

House: "Run him for everything you can think of: lepto, schisto, hemo and the fourth Marx Brother nobody ever heard of. "