Toast of London (Series 1 & 2) - 2-DVD Box Set ( Toast of London - Series One and Two ) [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

This is a very clever series starring Matt Berry as a London actor not exactly know for his acting. Some of the funniest scenes are the voiceover ones at Scramble where he's given sometimes bizarre projects. It's hard to fully describe the series, but there are hints of The Mighty Boosh and Dark Place...a bit surreal at times with strange characters and musical numbers thrown into the mix. I love that, and my household anxiously awaits the release of series 3. Toast's exploits and the cast of characters keep the laughs coming, and you'll find yourself quoting many lines, not the least of which is the title of my review. 😊 Outstanding show, and I highly recommend it. *Note that this requires a region free DVD player.*

Excellent show ! Dvd was great quality

Unable to play in U.S. bluray or DVD players.

Love this show, great set :)

You're probably here because you love Douglas, the eccentric millionaire from The IT Crowd sitcom. Who could forget his entrance to that show, turning up late at his crooked father's funeral amid some slapstick with the coffin and some strange, quasi-Shakespearean bellowing??TV classics are made of such moments and once Matt "Douglas" Berry enters your life, you never want him to leave. Too caddish to be a hero, but too clumsy to be a villain, the Douglas character was so outsize and colourful he had “spinoff” written all over him.With Toast of London, we have the next best thing. Starring and even co-written by Matt Berry with Arthur Mathews, this is a sitcom following the adventures of ham actor Steven Toast, a legend in his own mind, thru the mad world of the British theatre.Much of the comedy revolves around Toast trying to maintain his dignity amidst some frequently humiliating if not downright bizarre acting roles (Such as playing in a production of Hamlet, with the entire company comprised of dogs. Yep. Dogs).What’s great is how Berry’s acting here goes significantly deeper than the rich, vainglorious Douglas. As down-on-his-luck Steven Toast, he combines caddishness and vulnerability like nobody I’ve seen since W. C. Fields (I suspect it’s deliberate, the way Toast frequently says “Yeeaaasss!” in the exact same quasi-contemplative, self-congratulating, drawn-out way as Fields did).Sitcoms about ham actors usually aren’t memorable. Remember The Harvey Korman Show? (That's right. You don't.) What makes Toast of London stand out are such running gags as the voiceovers he does for the sublimely vacant studio engineer Clem “Can you hear me?” Fandango (played by Shazad Latif) where he is given such weird assignments as voicing sound effects (“Bang.”) or being directed to say “Yes” in a negative way. I’m a sucker for vigorously-stupid-but-deadpan comedy like this, and so these scenes had me truly laughing so hard my sides hurt.Also fun are his arch-rival, actor Ray Purchase (Harry Peacock), the Lex Luthor to his Superman; his older, sympathetic flat mate Ed (Robert Bathurst), but best of all is his defensive, impossible agent Jane Plough, a performance of perfectly mixed silkiness and ferocity by Doon Mackichan.Individual episodes of Toast are often brilliant. His date with a compulsive hoarder is a comedy classic by itself the way it builds from one absurdity to the next.But, aye, there's the rub, as Hamlet said (not the dog): despite the sincerity, pathos, and great comic timing of Berry's performance (ultimately it's those sad eyes of his that keep the delusional windbag Toast from becoming a cartoon) the series as a whole is mired in a heavy absurdism that keeps the audience at arms’ length (such as Toast breaking into song at odd moments to comment on the action, in Matt Berry’s alternate, cool-guy pop singing voice).I'm OK with plots taking bizarre turns, but it may be that Toast of London lacks a rational moral centre - think Polly on Fawlty Towers, Alan on Two and a Half Men, or even Moss on IT Crowd - all the great sitcoms seem to have this.It might be that Ed is the moral centre, but if this is so, it's underdeveloped. (And, it might stay that way. As of 2017 Berry in interviews was noncommittal about doing more episodes)Does morality matter here? Isn’t it enough to just be funny? For sketches and jokes, sure. But a story by necessity depends on ups and downs and surprises to make an emotional connection. So to have a moral centre in a zany sitcom might seem boring and old fashioned, but it does reflect how everyone actually processes things: from our morals and values.It may be a matter of subtlety. Maybe the really good sitcoms slip the values in within a jokey context, so we're not being spoon-fed. Possibly.This is not to burn Toast, so to speak, but to praise it, with discretion.It is definitely watchable for the sheer unpredictability of storylines and writer-star Matt Berry's complete immersion in the ludicrously self-important skin of Steven Toast (or "Toost", as they all seem to call him, in that infectious Queen’s English).It's in fact perfectly delicious comedy…just not the delightful full-course meal effect you get from The IT Crowd.

Funny and witty show from the UK, but be aware this set won't work in North American DVD players unless you have a multi-region player or some type of conversion software. Also takes ages to arrive in the mail. Now, assuming those things don't put you off first, the show is hilarious!

Some of the best comedic doggy-style shagging I've ever seen...not that I've seen that many, come to think of it. Though certainly on a par with Joe Caputo in the last few episodes of Orange is the New Black making Natalie Figueroa yelp.But Toast is a wonderfully English semi-surrealist comedy in the comparable vein of true English madness that runs from Gurney Slade to Monty Python to League of Gentlemen. It's never hilarious, riotous or overtly slapstick: much more subtle than that, and it's this indefinable edge that it possesses which brings one the reward of empathetic viewing. I mean you watch, you feel happy to watch, and it leaves you happy to want to watch more.As an aside Astrid Starkass is a name worth the epithet of genius, and that body...I'm afraid you'll just have to watch the episode in which she appears to know what I mean.The whole show is terrific fun, terrific madcap-laughs kind of fun, and my funny bone has never been tickled more since my granny...well, you either know the saying or you don't. Ask Daly Thompson :-)

At times I suffered from uncontrollable laughter, Toast it may well be to annoying and cringe worthy for some but for practically everyone else it's a wonderful and bizarre ride with great characters played by wonderful actors some playing alternative versions of themselves John Nettles as a poacher fantastically odd cameo. Not a fan of some of Matt Barry's musical dream inspired numbers that crop up now and again.

Watched series 3 on t.v and enjoyed it I but don't think it had as much soft porn in it as these 2 have. Really not for children to watch, or for prudes either. It is good though, apart from the sexy stuff.

Seems to get better and more bizarre. I am pleased that Toasts career is going from strength to strength and is now recognised as the country's best "high winds actor" and congratulations on his success in the "celebrity/prostitutes" blow football tournament!Some of the character names are a treat, particularly Kikini Bamalam and Matt Berry's songs are great (particularly Bonus Ball).