"Actor: The Great British Public"

• Creature Comforts Series 1, Part 1 | DVD | (17/11/2003) from £5.95   |  Saving you £12.04 (202.35%)   |  RRP £17.99

  There's nothing not to like about Aardman Animations' new Creature Comforts series, belatedly inspired by their Oscar-winning short film and the subsequent spin-off TV ads that turned out to be far more memorable than the product itself ("It's got to be easily turn-off-and-onable"). But if you stop and think about it for a moment, Creature Comforts is an extraordinarily un-PC concept. First of all, identify some members of the public who are willing to drone on about trivia that's really of no interest to anyone but themselves. (Ideally they will be working class and perhaps a bit dim, although it helps if they're over-articulate in the way that dull people often are when someone suddenly feigns an interest in them.) If they have a strong regional accent or are elderly, so much the better. Then sync up their interviews with a bunch of claymation cartoon animals, linking any extraneous noises to improbable snippets of on-screen action. Finally, sit back and watch as the very people you're patronising laugh their heads off at your efforts, thus proving that they were every bit as dim as you thought. Cynicism aside, though, the ability of the British public to laugh at themselves is a national trait worth celebrating, and it's brilliantly exploited here by the company that brought you Wallace and Gromit. On this first volume you get six episodes, of which perhaps the funniest is "Working Animals", where we learn that egglaying is "very repetitive" and meet the greyhound who can never quite get his latest bit of portentous self-analysis out before the trap opens. On the DVD: The Creature Comforts Series 1, Part 1 DVD contains just the first six 10-minute episodes of the series. To add value, the disc also includes what is quite literally a making-of documentary, plus the original Creature Comforts short and sundry other items of interest. --Roger Thomas

• Creature Comforts, Series 1 Part 2 | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £4.98   |  Saving you £13.01 (261.24%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Humorously bringing to life the real and unscripted views of the great British public through animation the issues closest to the hearts of our finned furry and feathered friends are revealed in the episodes: The Pet Shop Iguanas dogs and other potential pets argue about popularity as they face their fear of being left on the shelf. What's It All About? As a grab bag of nature's finest speculate on where they come from a hamster observes that ""the difference betw

• Creature Comforts - Complete Series 1 | DVD | (22/10/2012) from £17.25   |  Saving you £-1.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Aardman, creators of the award winning Wallace and Gromit films and critically acclaimed movies 'Arthur Christmas' and 'The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists' are delighted to release their classic Creature Comforts series. Consisting of 13 10 minute episodes, and based on the original Oscar winning short by Nick Park, the series was directed by Richard Starzak (Shaun the Sheep), and has been created using interviews with the general public, whose unique voices and spontaneous responses to a wide range of interview topics (including The British Garden, Pets at the Vets, The Circus and Aliens), have formed the basis of over 100 hilarious animated animal characters. As a result, and with the largest cross section of clay animals the small screen has ever seen, Creature Comforts provides a unique documentary style insight into the lives of the wild animals and domestic pets of the British Isles. Our interviewers left no stone unturned, no tree unclimbed, no sea uncrossed in their quest to discover what our finned, furred and feathered friends really think about the issues that are closest to their hearts. Special Features: Making Of Documentary Commercials (Leonard Cheshire and Countryside Code) Episodes Comprise: The Circus Pets at the Vets Working Animals The Sea The Garden Feeding Time The Pet Shop What's It All About? Being A Bird Is Anyone Out There? Cats or Dogs? Merry Christmas The Beach