Three Men in a Boat (1975)   Starring: Tim Curry, Michael Palin and Stephen Moore BBC DVD RRP: £15.65 BBCDVD2689 Certificate: U Available 24 August 2009

One hot June day, three friends decide there is nothing they would like to do more than to get away from London. A boating holiday with lots of fresh air and exercise would be the very thing, or so their doctors tell them. So after debating the merits of hotel or camp beds and what to pack, they set off on their voyage - a trip up the Thames from Henley to Oxford...

Three Men in a Boat is based on Jerome K Jerome's classic 1889 novel of the same name, and stars Tim Curry, Michael Palin and Stephen Moore. This 1975 made for TV movie was directed by Stephen Frears and was scripted for the BBC by playwright Tom Stoppard.

The movie starts with three rather bored, middle-class friends discussing how frightfully ill they all are - each trying to out do his friends. They're also rather incredibly bored and come up with a plan to have something of an adventure. The end result is a train trip out of London with a plan to pick up a boat and row their way back home.

The riverboat trip is broken up with amusing tales that each of the friends have engaged in - like Harris's maze experience. And their journey is full of humorous happenings - like forgetting to back not only the mustard, but also a tin opener.

By far the most interesting character is Palin's Harris. This is mainly down to his ongoing attempts to stop at every church on the way to indulge in his hobby of tomb spotting as well as his maze story.

While this is an enjoyable film you have to ask yourself whether you want to spend nearly £16 on a DVD that has the same production values as a freebie DVD given away with the Daily Mail. A more realistic price would have been £7.99... £9.99 at a push. You're probably best advised to wait six months, by which time you'll probably be able to pick this up new online for under £5.

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Darren Rea