Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7238 in DVD
• Released on: 2003-10-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 145 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The beginning of the second series of Phoenix Nights sees Brian Potter's beloved Phoenix Club lying in ashes and the staff scattered to the four winds. Even club compere Jerry St Clair is reduced to singing "Come get your black bin bags" to the tune of Men in Black in the local supermarket. But not even being barred from having a licence for the rest of his natural life can deter the northern Svengali from reopening the club and making it bigger and better than before--even if that means making Jerry the licensee and offering up-market Chinese nosh.

This second instalment of Peter Kay's cult sit-com is more upbeat than the first, with some genuine success coming to the characters and club, but it still has its hilariously subversive undertones: a botched hit job; an inflatable castle with an extra appendage; and Brian stuck on his stair lift for a day after a power cut, to take just three examples. The script remains brilliantly surreal and incredibly funny. All the favourite characters remain, with club bouncers Paddy and Max featuring in a couple of the meatier storylines (perhaps setting them up for their own spin-off series?) and Jerry continuing to wow the crowds with his original vocal stylings, the highlight being the grand Stars in Their Eyes final in which he offers his own unique clubland take on Eminem. It's brilliantly original stuff: roll on Series 3. --Kristen Bowditch

DVD Description
Brian Potter and his hapless band of staff and regulars of the Phoenix Club return for a second hilarious series. Life is not grand for Brian, he has lost everything - his licence, his friends and his beloved club in a mysterious fire. But as Brian says "there's only one way to go when you're on the bones of your arse and that's up". It's time to get the old gang back together and raise the Phoenix from the ashes once more! Contains all six episodes of the second series of the BAFTA nominated Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights.

Cast:

• Brian Potter/Max - Peter Kay
  
• Jerry St.Clair - Dave Spikey
  
• Ray Von - Neil Fitzmaurice
  
• Paddy - Patrick McGuinness
  
• Les - Toby Foster
  
• Alan - Steve Edge
  
• Kenny Senior - Archie Kelly
  
• Young Kenny - Justin Moorhouse
  
• Holy Mary - Janice Connolly
  
• Den Perry - Ted Robbins

Special Features

• It'll Be Alright on the Phoenix Night 2 featuring out-takes from the series
  
• Brian Potter on Comic Relief
  
• Deleted scenes
  
• Trailers
  
• Director and cast commentary
  
• Other special treats …

DVD Technical Information:

• Aspect Ratio (feature): 16:9 Anamorphic
  
• Main Soundtrack: English, Stereo
  
• Subtitles: English for the Hard of Hearing
  
• Disc Format: Single Sided, Dual Layer - DVD 9
  
• Running time (feature): 145 minutes approx.
  
• Colour
  
• PAL
  
• Region Code: 2

Customer Reviews

Pull off into paradise!
How Peter Kay could ever follow up the brilliantly original, laugh-a-minute first series of Phoenix Nights is a bit of a mystery; but follow it up he has, and Series 2 is as sidesplittingly funny, as close to the edge of bad taste as you can possibly get, and as compulsive as its predecessor. There's a general feeling of a slightly bigger budget, and the shaky docu-soap-style camerawork of the original has given way to a more conventional style of cinematography and storytelling; but the jokes are as razor-sharp as ever, and in this series we begin to discover the depth of character in the wonderful supporting cast as well.

The story starts with the Phoenix Club in ashes, courtesy of arch-villain Den Perry, and Peter Kay's wheelchair-bound impresario Brian Potter vainly trying to reassemble the Phoenix Club crew to rebuild his dream. By way of a family fun day, a guest appearance on "Crimewatch", and conning the hapless Gerry St. Clair into being the new licensee, the Phoenix rises from the ashes once more, and the villainous Den Perry gets his come-uppance thanks to one of the oldest tricks in the book. Meanwhile bouncers Max and Paddy breathe new life into the theme from "Minder" and have an abortive shot at a career change into contract killing; the ubiquitous Bernard Wrigley offloads his most dodgy merchandise yet; and a host of jokes about elderly Asians, malfunctioning stairlifts, illegal immigrants, vibrators and the inevitable Chorley FM ("where the listener always comes first") continue the Phoenix Nights tradition of pulling off bad-taste humour without, miraculously, offending anybody.

There are so many highlights that it's hard to pick out the best moments. My personal favourites have to include Young Kenny's star turn as Meat Loaf (complete with motorbike) during "Stars in Their Eyes", Stuart Maconie's improbable cameo appearance presenting "Crimewatch", and the wonderful Max and Paddy rendition of "Is This the Way to Amarillo?" (trust me when I say that the moment they turn round to cue in the chorus will have you laughing for weeks...). The DVD out-takes show only too clearly how infectious the humour is; normally a sequence of corpsing actors doesn't make for my kind of television but Max and Paddy's attempts to describe the fate of the hapless Tommy Dick-Fingers are still hysterical on the thirtieth failed attempt.

We need more of this!

Not quite as good as the first series
One of my fellow reviewers says he never watches this DVD because of the sycophantic comments made by the fellow cast members whenever Peter Kay says anything. Well, here's a message for him - turn the commentary off!
In short, this is all six episodes from the second series of one of the funniest TV comedies ever made. Yes, the extras on the DVD include a commentary by Peter Kay, Paddy McGuinness, Archie somebody (who plays Kenny Senior) and Steve Edge (who plays Alan, the keyboard player). The commentary on this DVD is not as good as the commentary on the first series (where Peter and Paddy were joined by Dave Spikey - Jerry St Clair - and Neil Fitzmaurice - Ray Von), but that isn't all that surprising. The first series was the four people who actually wrote Phoenix Nights, the second series included a cast member who only spoke about four lines during all six episodes.
However, ignoring the commentary issue, there are other extras, including loads and loads of deleted scenes, bloopers, and the like, plus two extra songs sung by Paddy and Max while they are driving the minibus around. And "You Spin Me Round" has never been sung better, believe you me.
Just in case you don't know, the second series starts with Brian Potter trying to restore the Phoenix Club, after Den Perry burnt it down with a carefully discarded cigar butt at the end of series one.
The first episode has Brian tracking down all his old staff, including Jery and Alan who are now encouraging people in Asda to buy black bin bags and corned beef with really bad songs. The second episode concentrates on the grand re-opening, including a gala/fete to encourage punters, but ends up with an exploding inflatable "love length", and Young Kenny having his face permanently painted to look like a tiger. The third episode is a parody of Crimewatch, with Brian and team doing their best to gain free advertising for the Phoenix Club, and to point the finger at Den Perry as the arsonist. The fourth episode, the best in my opinion, is quiz night, plus Jerry overdosing on drugs and Saki for during his Free And Easy Night. The fifth episode is ladies night, with an Ann Summers style party, Paddy performing as a stripogram for the ladies, and Max accepting a job to kill one of the punters' husbands. And the final episode continues the story started in the fifth, with the angry punter coming back to Max because her husband isn't dead, and Den Perry landing himself in it by admitting over a radio-microphone that it was indeed he who burnt down the club.
A great programme, some superb jokes, a stellar cast (except Daniel Kitson - just ask Peter Kay). Only series one is better...

A disappointment
I just loved Phoenix Nights 1 and 2 on video and so bought the DVD as I was promised commentary on the series. Unfortunately it was an absolute disappointment. Each time Peter Kay tries to give a snippit of information about the filming etc., Paddy or one of the other cast members start laughing and swearing and creeping around Peter Kay. The only good thing about the DVD is the deleted scenes which are in the main hilarious. I dont watch the DVD now as it has spoiled it for me and my family. Such a pity as Peter Kay is a true genius and the star of the show for me was and still is the fantastic Dave Spikey (aka 'Jerry')