Dave from Ottawa Ben Elton, one of the creators of Blackadder, got back together with Rowan Atkinson for two seasons and twelve episodes of this unexpectedly low key situation comedy about life at a police station in a sleepy section of the U.K. Beyond arresting the occasional shoplifter or student prankster, they have next to nothing to do. This does not sit well with the action-starved CID man Grimm (whose insane tirades on the state of Great Britain are an every episode treat) but does not seem to worry anybody else. The emphasis here is, for once, not on the outrageous or the farcical, but at finding the humor in small everyday happenings.Atkinson's comedy skills are as impeccable as ever, although after playing the Machiavellian Blackadder for years, followed by apocalyptic silent cinema throwback Bean, Atkinson had to grope around a little for the first couple of episodes to get the right subtle note with his middle aged public servant Insp. Fowler. The racially and gender mixed ensemble worked right away, and this is one of the show's strengths, along with Elton's scripts. It was as if Elton and Atkinson decided to show the world that although they had spent years redefining the boundaries of TV comedy, they could do traditional forms too, so there. This is a small gem of a series and worth discovering, especially since it is so little known beside Atkinson's other series.

bossofbigtown I was introduced to TBL with a VHS double-feature tape that included the episodes "ISM ISM ISM" and "ALTERNATE CULTURE". I thought both episodes were fantastic (10 out of 10) and purchased the DVD set as soon as it was available in the US. I was shocked (not to mention disappointed) to discover that both the episodes were heavily edited on the DVD. I mean CHUNKS of footage and dialog were removed when compared to the VHS tape versions. Not being familiar with the other episodes (which is why I purchased the DVD set) I must assume that they all have been edited. Has anyone else noticed this? Is there an explanation for this hack-job? I can't imagine why the creators of this great show would allow such a thing. Still, I suppose a hacked up TBL is better than no TBL.

richard.fuller1 Can't add anything else to what anyone else has said. The show is hilarious. None of the cast fail.The only flaw that I can see is when Mark Addy replaced Kray. I liked Kray better. I had seen so many of these episodes over and over, but clearly there was one or two that I had missed."The Green Eyed Monster" was clearly one of them. I finally managed to see it and I have given myself a headache laughing at Fowler's proposal and Grim's concept of marriage. I have never heard anything like either one of these in American television. Atkinson has been funny before in other episodes, but Haig has been an absolute riot here. I've got a headache from laughing so much. It may be regarded as the lowest of Atkinson's comedies (Blackadder, Bean and Thin Blue Line) but truthfully, I love listening to him deliver his dialogue and he does it more here than he does in the other two, and he displays a grand sense of seriousness at times on this show as well, playing the straight man to the other characters. I suppose Atkinson did that with those two cohorts in Blackadder, but he has to interact with these characters more than he did with those in Blackadder, who were just completely brainless.

Sulla-2 I agree with another writer who states that Fowler is not incompetent, it's just his staff that make him appears so. He is, however, a bit eccentric. I have seen all the episodes several times and unfortunately it was axed after 2 series. It is one of my top 10 UK comedies. My favourite character has to be Detective Inspector Grimm and I just love his 'Oity Toity' rants. Other highlights are PC Gladstone doing his elephant impression and PC Goody later thinking Fowler was going to repeat it. My favourite episode is probably the football one, closely followed by the one where they have to deal with the protesters in the Woods.All the cast are still breathing. Please do another series.