Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26199 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-04-12
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Spaced is a sitcom like no other. The premise is simple enough: Daisy (Jessica Stevenson) and Tim (Simon Pegg) are out of luck and love, so pretend to be a couple in order to rent a flat together. Downstairs neighbour and eccentric painter Brian suspects someone's fibbing, and almost blows their cover with their lecherous lush of a landlady, Marsha. Fortunately he soon falls for Daisy's health-freak friend Twist, while Daisy herself goes ga-ga for pet dog Colin. Tim remains happily platonic with lifemate Mike; a sweet-at-heart guns 'n' ammo obsessive. The series is chock-full of pop culture references. In fact, each episode is themed after at least one movie, with nods to The Shining and Close Encounters of the Third Kind proving especially hilarious. Hardly five minutes goes by without a Star Wars reference, and every second of screen time from Bill Bailey as owner of the comic shop where Tim works is comedic gold. The look of the series is its other outstanding element, with slam-zooms, dizzying montages, and inspired lighting effects (often paying homage to the Evil Dead movies). It's an affectionate fantasy on the life of the twenty-something that's uncomfortably close to the truth.

The second series finds the gang at 23 Meteor Street a little older, but definitely none the wiser. Tim's career is hampered by severe hang-ups over The Phantom Menace. Daisy's career is just plain non-existent. There is still a spark of sexual tension between them, but it's overshadowed by Brian and Twist getting it on. Propelling the seven-episode series arc is the threat of Marsha discovering that none of the relationships are what they seem, Mike's increasing jealousy and a new love interest for Tim. That's the basis for a never-ending stream of in-jokes and references that easily match the quality of the first series. Tim has a Return of the Jedi flashback, then déjà vu in reliving the end of The Empire Strikes Back. There are spoofs of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Robocop, The Sixth Sense and comedy rival The Royle Family. There are guest spots from Bill Bailey, Peter (voice of Darth Maul) Serafinowicz and The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith. Every episode is packed with highlights, but this series' guaranteed geek pant-wetting moments have to be the mock gun battles, slagging off Babylon 5 and learning that "The second rule of Robot Club is: no smoking." Jessica Stevenson won a British Comedy Award for this year. It deserved a whole lot more. --Paul Tonks

On the DVD: Series 1 includes trailers, out-takes, deleted scenes with commentary, cast, crew, and character biographies and a full audio commentary by the director and cast. Series 2 features a chaotic but highly enthusiastic commentary from the director and cast, including of course Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, who also talk about some deleted scenes and why they were removed. There's an outtakes blooper reel, as well as a selection of raw location footage and a self-explanatory clip, "Daisy Does Elvis". The most useful feature, though, is the subtitle "Homage-o-Meter" facility, which displays all the movie references throughout the series. --Paul Tonks/Mark Walker

DVD Description
Series 1 – Episodes:

• Beginnings
  
• Gatherings
  
• Art
  
• Battles
  
• Chaos
  
• Epiphanies
  
• Ends

Series 2 – Episodes:

• Back
  
• Change
  
• Mettle
  
• Help
  
• Gone
  
• Dissolution
  
• Leaves

Special Features
Series 1:

• Audio commentary
  
• Deleted scenes
  
• Cast and crew biographies
  
• Outtakes
  
• Trailers

Series 2:

• Audio commentary from the director and cast for each of the seven episodes
  
• Deleted scenes (with optional commentary)
  
• Character biographies (written exclusively for the DVD by Simon Pegg and Jessica Stephenson)
  
• 'Homage-O-Meter' feature
  
• Raw footage
  
• Photo library

DVD Technical Information:

• Region Code: 2
  
• Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 16:9 Anamorphic
  
• Languages: English
  
• Subtitles: English for the hearing impaired
  
• Audio: Dolby Digital (2.0) Stereo
  
• Total running time: 7 hours (approx)

Customer Reviews

Spaced is the best sit com ever
Spaced series 1 and 2 in one box. If you've seen Shaun of The Dead thenyou'll like Spaced as it's co-written by Simon Pegg and directed by EdgarWright (the writers of Shaun Of The Dead). This is a superbly written sitcom... every shot, every line and every joke has been thought about a lotand honed to perfection. It's more of a work of art than a sit com.
Actually that's a bit over the top, but it really is well made and veryvery funny. It's funny because the characters feel like they could beyour mates - it's not just a load of one liners fitted around a situation,it's a bunch of funny guys and girls who are funny in their own right.
Also it's spectacularly well directed: shot like a film would be, which isunusual for a sit com but works very well.
So, it's excellent, and the extras on the DVDs make it even better. It'sworth re-watching the whole series with the comentary track turned on, asthis in itself is pretty funny. The two DVDs in the box set are the sameas the DVDs you can buy individually.
By this now!
Mark. (mixedcasesspaces)
PS: if you can't work out how to get the 'homage-o-meter' to work, thesecret is that you have to switch on subtitles track 2 (it's not very wellexplained on the DVD case)

The best British sitcom
This is the best British comedy DVD that you will ever buy and is clearly a work of genius. The first episode is a bit slow but by the second you will not stop laughing. I recommend this version you all the new extras and interviews to get a better understanding of the Wright-Pegg-Frost team.
After watching the whole series 4 times I still find new jokes, there one very couple of seconds.
And added bonus is the homage - o - meter on the subtitles menu.
My favorite moment is the paint ball fight / Platoon sequence.
If you liked Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the dead I am sure you will enjoy this.
I will give it six starts if I could.

A nice surprise for something that I missed first time.
I'd not seen this on TV and a work colleague prompted me to see it next time it was on. However, I spotted this box set so I took the plunge.

The box set is actually just a box for the two original DVDs which arrive in their own separate DVD cases!

As for the actual series - I liked it immensely. The crazy and sometimes touching antics of this group of oddballs hit just the right chord with me.

I'm not a sitcom lover really, although some (Scrubs for instance) are better than most. The Spaced team, however, kept my interest up mainly through the Sci-Fi aspect (of which I'm a fan). I always like those little references. If you're keen on that side of things then the DVD has a special feature just for you! I only discovered the feature on the second disk! Doh.
Basically, as well as the normal subtitles, there is a second subtitle selection that points out the pop-culture references as they appear on screen. It's a big help when you sometimes hear a reference and it leave you thinking 'There's a joke there somewhere but I've no idea where'.

I watched each episode again with the commentaries - all were worth listening to, more for the comedy than for the factual side of things I suppose.

All in all - I enjoyed both disks (I did think there'd be more easter eggs though) and will be tuning in for the third series (if or when it appears). Tivo is set ready!