Starring Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus, Serena Evans, David Haig, Rudolph Walker, Mark Addy, Kevin Allen
Written By: Ben Elton
Directed By: John Birkin
Studio: BBC/ Warner Brothers
Buy on Amazon.com

Pretty much anything Rowan Atkinson stars in, I’ll try to go out of my way to watch it, well besides Mr Bean: the movie hehe. I never saw this show until the DVD came out but after watching a lot of the episodes, I’m glad I got this DVD because it’s a funny show!

The Thin Blue Line stars an ensemble cast including Mr Bean/ Black Adder himself Rowan Atkinson. Rounding out the great ensemble cast is James Dreyfus, Serana Evans, David Haig, Mina Anwar and Rudolph Walker. The show is about an English police station and all the wacky antics that happen there. There’s Inspector Raymond C. Fowler (Atkinson) who’s in charge and tries to be the polite, nice, good-going police officer, and his girlfriend of 10 years also works at the precinct, Sgt. Patricia Dawkins (Serena Evans), There’s Constable Goody (James Dreyfus) who’s a super flamboyant but straight dolt of a cop. He has a crush on Middle Eastern Constable Habib (Mina Anwar) and she doesn’t want anything to do with him. Also in Fowler’s department is Constable Gladstone who’s a Trinidadian, who often chimes in his 2 cents at the right moment and offers his wisdom among the others. Then There’s Detective Inspecter Grim who butts heads with Fowler and runs his detective team. He usually ends up in some rant about something that he doesn’t like and uses the phrase “lod-dee da-dee” or however you spell it. The first season had Kevin “I got a unibrow” Allen (Kray) be Grim’s right hand man and one line joke maker but then the second season had Mark Addy (Boyle) be his replacement.

Each episode shows off the brilliant writing from Ben Elton (Young Ones, Black Adder, Mr Bean, Filthy Rich & Catflap) and is a homage to old styled humor cop shows. I think once I started watching the first episode, I had to keep watching the show. I think I found Constable Goody the funniest on the show. Every time I saw him on screen and the stuff that comes out of his mouth is just hilarious. He’s just so flamboyant it’s too funny, especially when he’s trying to act all tough, like in the episode where the Fireman is “dating” Habib. Rowan Atkinson is the show though, and wouldn’t be as good without him. He balances out the other oddball characters in the show since his character tries to be a straight arrow. But he usually ends up being the biggest ass among the group. He usually pisses off his girlfriend every episode because he just wants to read books and not do the deed with her like some animal. Sometimes the episodes get serious for a little bit like when Goody punches the racist skinhead in the mouth, but then it usually ends up goofy. What makes the show good is the dialogue and the punch lines of the jokes. Occasional, there is a some outrage scene that makes the whole episode like a drunkard running into the back of the police station and puking in Fowler’s hat. Then Goody gives Fowler the hat later on and he puts it on. Its stuff like that makes me crack up.

The extras include a great exclusive 45 minute documentary chronicling the life and career of Ben Elton, the creator of the show and other hit shows like I mentioned up above. That features interviews with Ben Elton, various producers he had worked with, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, James Dreyfus and other actors and comedians Ben worked with. I didn’t really know anything about Ben Elton so this was very interesting to watch. There’s also a few other things on here like Smillie’s People:

There’s only 14 episodes of the series so this is it folks, nothing after it. But it’s worth buying if you liked the show, or a fan of Rowan Atkinson. You can catch some of these episodes on BBC America during the week so maybe watch an episode before buying the DVD. I guarantee once you see an episode you’ll be whistling the theme song and wanting to buy this DVD. I’m glad this DVD set is part of my ever-growing collection.

Features:
– The Best of British: Ben Elton – an Exclusive, 45-minute Documentary Chronicling the life and career of Ben Elton, creator of The Thin Blue Line
– Smillie’s People: Ben Elton – a revealing 15-minute interview with Ben Elton
– Cast Bios
– Trailers

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC

Video:
Standard 1.33:1 Color

Subtitles:

Favorite Scenes: The Queen’s Birthday Present, Night Shift, Fire & Terror, Yuletide Spirit, Alternative Culture
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 420 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: