Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7920 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-07-27
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 175 minutes

Synopsis
Features the first series of TV cult comedy THE LARKINS. The show focussed on the everyday life of a peculiar Cockney family.

Customer Reviews

Better than perfick. Oh, much better.
Say "Larkin" and immedeately the mind thinks of Pam Ferris and David Jason, lush colour settings....
Well, these ain't them. This is treasure trove, TV (Associated TV, Alpha Studios, Birmingham) comedy from 1958, 3 years after the start of commercial TV and written for an audience that still had the attention span to appreciate complex wordplay. Each show has three parts; the sets though manifestly artificial conjure up the north London house of my boyhood in great detail, parlour, hall, bedroom and the powerhouse of the home, the kitchen.
What a family! Ada Larkin (Peggy Mount) is the boss despite what Alf (David Kossoff, sadly underrepresented in recordings these days) might like to believe. The scripts are wordy, there is a lot of interaction between characters but the humour rings very true even now. The scripts are also very clever; this is evident from the very first programme, when son Eddie gets demobbed and Ada throws a homecoming party has some very good twists and a final gag that is a real kicker.
Up to now the only evidence of the Larkin's quality was the film spin off "Inn For Trouble" (buy that too!!)
I have long wanted to see more of the original TV series and now that I have it does not disappoint. The transfers are good, the quality is good.... overall this is a set worth getting, if only to see what was done in TV comedy before producers and networks began to realise how low they could go and still get away with it.

Peggy Mount in full sail...
It is interesting to see from this situation comedy of the late 1950's just how little things have really changed, There is the kitchen with the sink and the cooker and of course the kitchen table where our wonderful Peggy mount rules over the cooking, the family and of course the inhabitants of the house next door.Jump a decade and a bit and watch 'Bless this house' same format..
there is the living room where more domestic non bliss takes place and then we must have a stair case and a front door..jump again to 'My Family' all the ingredients are there..

And it is really very funny.. there are lots of cameo roles played by Actors who became very well known much later, the vicar form 'Dads Army' for example,

I happen to love this era of film and Television so it will not be earth shattering to find that i enjoyed this DVD of series one, if you are looking for clarity and a still camera this is not for you, and the slightly rough charm will be lost , however if black and white comedy from the 50's is on your list of likes, buy it and enjoy it, For Peggy Mount is certainly in her best 'Sailor beware' mode.

There is a film of the series called 'Inn for Trouble' it is a little weak in places but worth watching if you have got this far..

Still funny today
First episode was a little disapointing mainly owing to the sound quality but it improved throughout and we enjoyed them. Family working class life when the Home was the HUB of families.