Thick as Thieves
July 2003 Reviewed by: Josh Barber Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

The DVD format has accomplished a revolution in the home-video market. Television shows are benefiting from the increased exposure; shows that previously would only have lived on videotape, made and traded by devoted fans, now have a second chance to entertain a potentially larger audience.

American exposure to British TV came, for the longest time, through PBS broadcasts, but now these BBC expatriates can be found in ever-increasing numbers on disc. The newest offering is Thick as Thieves, a real rarity.

When small-time crook George Dobbs (Bob Hoskins) is released from prison one day early, he finds his wife has sought comfort in the arms of his ex-partner Stan (John Thaw). When Annie (Pat Ashton) refuses to choose one man over the other, the three of them end up cohabiting in one tiny house that seems smaller every day.

The late John Thaw, perhaps best known for his role as the erudite Inspector Morse, portrayed many lawmen during his 35-year career, but only once played a crook -- the bumbling Stanley in Thick as Thieves. A prior commitment to another series kept Thieves to only eight episodes, making Thaw's turn as a heel a brief one.

Conversely, Bob Hoskins was a character-actor best known for playing crooks and mobsters when he took on his first starring role as George Dobbs. Hoskins made George a parody of all his previous two-bit toughs, giving him an appealing, luckless charm.

With George and Stanley vying for Annie's affections, trying to outdo each other while doing as little as possible, the series has some great comedic moments. True, it's not uproariously funny from title to credits, but is entertaining throughout.

The cinematography for this show is odd. At first I thought it was just amateurish, but then it occurred to me that rather than being shot like a comedy -- all long shots and quick cuts -- the show is filmed like a soap opera or drama. There are static shots, through which the characters wander, entering and exiting the frame as we watch, and close-ups that follow moving characters. It's quirky at first, but you get used to it as the episode progresses.

The picture and sound are about as good as can be expected when being transferred from 30-year-old film stock; though it doesn't have the intense digital clarity of The Matrix, it's still better than videotape. There are a few moments of distortion, and the colors sometimes bleed. The sound is listed as Dolby Digital, with no other distinctions, but there isn't any dynamic use; everything is flat. That is just a function of the age in which this show was made.

The eight episodes are split evenly between two discs, though I'm not sure why; the only special feature on either disc is a sparse cast-and-crew filmography on the first one. None of the menus has any sound, and while the episode-selection screens do have clips from the show, this is a minimalist production. With no extras, it should have been an easy task to fit all eight episodes onto one disc, especially considering the lackluster image and sound quality. I see no reason why this had to be a two-disc set.

There are several groups dedicated to bringing us the best in PBS-style releases, including newcomer Acorn Video. With headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, Acorn got its start with such series as Agatha Christie's Poirot, Cadfael, and The Red Green Show. The company is continuing to expand into new areas. Thick as Thieves is a good representation of the many fine titles offered, but I hope that their disc designers will soon step production values up a bit.

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