The Peter Serafinowicz Show   Starring: Peter Serafinowicz 4DVD RRP: £19.99 C4DVD10203 Certificate: 15 Available 01 February 2010

Over six episodes, The Peter Serafinowicz Show immerses viewers in a world where Poirot and Miss Marple team up to solve murder mysteries, Al Pacino teaches a group of actors how to cry on screen with the help of his pet ant 'Limpy’, Noel Edmonds unveils his scary new game show ‘Dead or Un-Dead’ and Darth Vader meets his ideal woman...

The seed for The Peter Serafinowicz Show was originally sown when Peter and his brother James recorded and posted a parody of E! News (which they retitled O! News) on YouTube. The TV series originally ran from October 2007 to December 2008 (when the Christmas Special was broadcast).

Each episode follows roughly the same format. There are satellite TV style show and commercial parodies mixed in with impressions and original sketches. However this is not the most original of ideas - in fact most teenagers with access to a camcorder will probably have done something similar.

For me, the most satisfying segments are the acting class sketches. Here, every week, a different actor provides invaluable lessons to a handful of students. For example, Michael Caine gives advice on how to make the audience remember you as well as how cigars don't look like cigars on camera; and Al Pacino shows us how easy it is to cry on camera.

Other enjoyable sketches include the series of The Guide to Modern Life sketches (each week we are subjected to another spoof '70s information film on things like getting married or having an orgy). Then there's spoof game shows including Heads or Tails (based on Who Want's to be a Millionaire?); Dead or Undead (based on Deal or No Deal); and Who Want's to win a £100? (an old black and white version of Who Want's to be a Millionaire?).

Also nestled in amongst the sketches are some homages to classic pop culture of the day. These are shot to resemble the source material as close as possible, and really do look spectacular. The most notable include the Star Wars, Sherlock Holmes and Laurel & Hardy spoofs.

Extras include audio commentaries on episodes three and six; Christmas Special; Deleted Scenes (17 min, 57 sec with optional commentary); and Documentary (12 min, 40 sec look behind the scenes).

On balance, if you take away some of the rather cliched spoofs, this series is well worth checking out.

7

Darren Rea