Lightweights And Gentlemen - Lau

Advantages: Very funny, witty and clever. Superb characters well acted
Disadvantages: A bit too grotesque for some!

...*EDIT* Thanks to jesi for her questions. Just to clarify, this review is of the first series in the three series of League of Gentlemen. I have focused on the programme itself rather than the DVD as a whole. Each series contains 6 30 minute episodes and there are also Christmas specials and a live show available on DVD. All of the main characters are played by Shearsmith, Pemberton and Gatiss. WHAT IS IT: The League of Gentlemen is a British comedy series originally transmitted in 1999. The series is set in the fictional town of Royston Vasey with the strangest 'locals' you are ever likely to meet. It stars Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss and was written by the cast and Jeremy Dyson. It is a mixture of dark humour, homage to British horror and absurdity. It is difficult to sum up this series in a review but I will... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Dark dark humour, Well developed characters.
Disadvantages: None, unless you are humourless/unobservant and/or easily offended

...My boyfriend Chris first introduced me to this series a couple of years ago. As we hadn?t been together long I didn?t hold out too much hope for his recommendation that I watch the program because although he knew I liked dark comedy he didn?t know exactly the kind of things I found find funny. He had recorded both series 1 and 2 onto tape so we proceeded to watch the first episode. Right from the start I was absolutely hooked ? it was everything I wanted in a comedy show, something I never knew was permitted to be shown on TV! WHO ARE THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN? The League of Gentlemen consists of Jeremy Dyson, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith. Jeremy is the main writer and Steve, Mark and Reece co-write and perform the parts of all the characters in the show. The group started out in 1995 when they... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Great ending that makes you go back to see how you missed it
Disadvantages: A bit long, character perspective changes too quickly.

...Gentlemen & Players is a crime novel written by the very talented author Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat). Normally I am not a fan of Harris? crime writing, I prefer the magic that is involved in some of her other work. But after a few pages I found myself easily drawn in to this one, and struggled to put it down. The story is set in a fictional, boys-only private school named St Oswalds. As with many of Harris?s other books the book is written from two points of view, in this case from the point of view of the child of a former porter, named Snyde, and the Classics professor Rob Straitley. Straitly is a very old fashioned character, he is the last Classics teacher left in the school, hates computers and whiteboards and prefers to use his pigeon hole and a blackboard with chalk. He has been at the school for over 30 years and is... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful