Review of Ted & Ralph

Introduction

The saying goes that `familiarity breeds contempt` and `The Fast Show` worked on the principle that the speed of the show would avoid this, with each sketch lasting a maximum of a few minutes and only appearing a few times within a given episode. `The Fast Show` was dependant on the memorable catchphrases: `Which was nice`, `Jazz...great!`, `This week I have been mostly eating...`, `Brilliant!`, `Scorchio!`, `Small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts...`, `I`m afraid I was very, very drunk.`, `Oh! Suit you, sir!` - the list goes on. The only sketch that didn`t rely on a catchphrase (although it had one) but instead on the character dynamics, was `Ted and Ralph`.

Ralph (Charlie Higson), a bumbling upper-class landowner and his groundsman Ted (Paul Whitehouse) shared an unspoken relationship that, thanks to the quick-fire nature of `The Fast Show`, never developed into anything. This DVD contains the 1998 `Ted and Ralph` TV feature, in which Ralph must find a wife or lose his estate to his mad Aunt Cecilia.

Video

A nice clean transfer with good colour definition and no signs of blurring or grain.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is fine for this type of material and is clear and well presented.

Features

The deleted scenes from `The Fast Show`, the `Comic Relief Special` and the `Christmas Night With the Stars` can be watched individually or together using the `play all` function and run for over 13 minutes. The deleted scenes are nowhere near as funny as those that made it onto TV yet are worth a watch, the `Comic Relief` sketch shows something else that Robbie Williams can`t do, but is still funny, and the Christmas special is funny and charming in equal measures.

Conclusion

Spin-off shows are notoriously hit and miss affairs and it`s to Higson and Whitehouse`s credit that this was a one-off, and they didn`t attempt to make it into a long running series, as enough had been said (or left unsaid) in `The Fast Show` to make a further foray into the lives of Ted and Ralph irrelevant. This feature, in which Ralph`s courting skills are put to the test and his relationship with Ted is strained, is touching and funny with a terrific cast including Kathy Burke, Miranda Richardson, Richard Griffiths and Richard Wilson together with `Fast Show` members Simon Day, Arabella Weir and Mark Williams.

In addition to the main feature are all the `Ted and Ralph` sketches from `The Fast Show`, which run at nearly 53 minutes and, although great to watch, show why they worked best in bite-sized chunks with other sketches in-between.

Overall, this is a nice package for the most well-rounded `Fast Show` sketch characters and with just over two hours of material on the disc, makes this an ideal stocking-filler for the `Fast Show` fan in your family or circle of friends, if not yourself.