Two Of A Kind - Complete Series

DVD Review from 2016

It took a long time to get here, but finally we have every ATV show from the greatest comedy duo ever. Not only that but we get some brilliant extras too.

This eight disc set takes us on a journey from early television work in 1962, with routines that are not always great, through the maturing process and delivers some excellent work throughout.

There are many early examples of sketches that later went on to be tweaked and re-worked, including Grieg’s Piano concerto and the ventriloquist routine used in their live shows. In fact it is fun to try and spot them, of bits of them that were later used in different sketches.

There are plenty of famous guest to including The Beatles, Joe Brown, Roy Castle and an early appearance of Janet Webb, the large lady who often appeared at the end of their BBC shows.

The video quality varies, mainly because this material has been sourced from different archives and some shows look worse than others. Some have quite visible scan lines, others look very good considering their age.

There are some truly great routines in the massive collection and everyone will find something they like. Eric and Ern grow with the shows and you can tell much of it was live, especially at the end where there is often time to fill, and the pair talk to the studio director.

The highlight for me was from Piccadilly Palace. If you are unaware of this show, then check out our feature. It was the last ATV show filmed in both colour (for the American audience) and black and white (for the UK). Sadly the UK never got to see the colour versions and many of them are now lost. This DVD includes what could be found, just two black and white shows!

A brilliant collection then. Definitely one to buy.

© morecambeandwise.com 2016