Keeping Up Appearances: The Full Bouquet

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

“Keeping Up Appearances” is one of my favorite British comedies. I adore Patricia Routledge and Clive Swift dearly and they were perfectly cast in their roles. I used to own the “Full Bouquet” 8-disc set released in 2004 but lost it in a house fire. Replacing the set was a must-do because nothing is better in this life than a great laugh and this series most certainly delivers the laughs. The comedy doesn’t feel forced in the least and even someone who isn’t a huge fan of British comedy can find something to like in this series. Some episodes are epic in how great they are and every episode will make you laugh.

We all know a Hyacinth Bucket–“that’s Boo-Kay!”–and are perhaps even related to one. Relating to the various characters in this series is easy and you cannot help but like the entire cast. Every character, even the minor ones, has something special about them that makes you like them. You feel so sorry for poor Richard; no husband should have to suffer that much! We’ve all been in Liz’s shoes and felt uncomfortable around someone sometimes even to the point of being nervous and clumsy. Onslow is amazingly comfortable with who and what he is and you have to respect him for that. Our Rose is man-crazy and isn’t really that picky (she’s even got a crush on the dishy vicar!) while Our Daisy would just like her man to notice her beyond where his next beer or cuppa is coming from. And then there is the star of our show: Hyacinth. What people think means more to her than anything else. She’s married to a civil servant but acts as if she’s of the peerage. She lives beyond their means, name drops, ridicules others for things she does herself, brags about what her sister Violet has and forces her opinions and wishes on everyone around her with not even a second thought as to what they want or how they feel. In a way, Hyacinth is a very tragic character because she isn’t liked very much by those around her. Her family, friends and acquaintances would much rather avoid her than spend time with her, actually. Even the postman doesn’t want to deliver the mail and is willing to pay neighborhood children to do the job for him! Her behavior is so much who she is that she doesn’t understand, or even realize, how uncomfortable she makes everyone around her and how they truly feel about her. They talk about her behind her back, run from her, hide from her and exchange looks behind her back. She is oblivious to all of this and is convinced in her own mind that she is highly respected, that Liz’s brother Emmet is attracted to her and that society absolutely could not function without her.

Now that I’ve talked about what I love about this series, I must talk about what I do not like about this DVD set and why I only gave it a 3-star rating. While watching the first disc, two of the episodes skipped entire scenes to move to a place further along in the episode. A few minutes later, the episodes stopped and the next episode began playing. Discs 4 and 7 also gave me problems. My plan is to find individual discs to replace the faulty ones in this set rather than try buying the full set again as others have experienced the same issues.

-J. Gibson

Three stars not for the show but the particular collection. Love the show but this disc set appears to be edited. Endings are completely missing. Having watched the show on PBS I suspect they removed content that may be deemed insensitive to a modern audience. I had read another review that said his discs “skipped” but thought it was bad luck. During the brief time the program was on Netflix I noticed parts were missing on the streamed episodes. When I this set arrived I realized the manufacturer must have edited it. The same segments are missing from my set that were missing from Netflix. So, buyer beware. I can only conclude that manufacturer edited out bits.

-theprairiekid

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Clive Swift, Judy Cornwell, Patricia Routledge, Geoffrey Hughes
Directors: Harold Snoad
Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, Special Edition, Subtitled, Full Screen, NTSC
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 9
Rated: NR – Not Rated
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: September 9, 2008
Run Time: 1340 minutes
ASIN: B0019MFY36