The Piglet Files – Case Files Sex, Spies & Videotapes (Set Three)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

BFS Entertainment has finally issued a third set of the funny Spy send-up series The Piglet Files, a fun, smart show that is always a pleasure to watch.  I wish it would even get crazier, but the makers were playing it close to the chest.  That means much of it is witty, thanks to the teleplays and great cast, followed by some great bursts of physical comedy.

 

To explain yet again, Nicholas Lyndhurst is the title agent, Peter Champan, who gets his job through The Peter Principle.  He’s a good guy, but not the brightest agent MI-5 ever had.  Since he is just qualified enough to keep his job and with no one available quick enough to replace him, off he goes on high priority missions.  You can see more initial details in the first review, though he is does not dip into being sillier.

 

The episodes this time are:

 

Guerillas In The Mist

Sweet & Sour Piglet

Sex, Spies & Videotape

In Which We Serve

The Plane Truth

Under New Management

With Friends Like These

 

 

Though the Soviet Union had fallen by 1991, the show still operates as if it were going on.  Oddly, this does not date the show as much.  It is just simply funny and since the Spy genre has been reborn since the mid-1990s in feature films, many of the gags strike again.  The funny bone, that is.

 

The full frame, color image is shot on analog PAL video and once again looks good for its age.  The shooting and editing also continues to be funny.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is clear and also good for its age, including appropriate music for the shows by Rod Argent and Peter Van-Hook.  The extras this time include a fun outtakes reel that runs 12:39, more tales & trivia, cast profiles and stills gallery not unlike the previous sets, all on DVD 2 in this case.  It is the best of the sets to date.

 

The bloopers are funny, but are best seen after looking through the previous DVD sets of the show.  Many people keep thinking this has something to do with Winnie The Pooh, but forget that.  The Piglet Files is another solid British comedy series, one far too few have seen yet.  Start at the beginning with the previous two sets, covered elsewhere on this site.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo