Click here to return to the main site. DVD Review
A team of three world-weary male paramedics are forced to confront the dregs of society - not to mention their own inadequacies. Swept along by an endless tide of bodily fluids (rarely their own), the trio bicker, fight and shag their way through the darkly funny maelstrom of their lives. Behind the uniforms, the sirens and the fast driving, they are three ordinary blokes trying to make it through yet another shift. But once they’ve finished saving other people’s lives, will they be able to salvage their own...? Sirens is a comedy-drama series which was originally screened by Channel 4 in the summer of 2011. There are six, 45-minute episodes in this the first and unfortunately last series of the show. The series follows Stuart and his team of paramedics as they travel the streets of Leeds dealing with any emergency that they are sent to. Backing up Stuart are Ashley and Rachid (who is a trainee). The trio also occasionally bump into Sgt Maxine Fox, a close friend of Stuart who he went to university with. Highlights in this collection include the episodes: I.C.E.: Rachid is haunted by the ghost of a suicide victim he finds. The same suicide victim makes Stuart start to think about who to assign as his "in case of emergency" (I.C.E.) contact. King of the Jungle: Who should be in charge of the team? Who is the alpha male? The fight is on between the teammates to see who emerges as the king of the jungle. Cry: Stuart discovers he has a little brother he knew nothing about. As he hangs out with the boy, he begins to realise that he can break down those emotional barriers and rejoin the human race as a more compassionate individual. This episode opens with a great flashback to the late '70s / early '80s. Extras include Behind the Scenes (8 min, 42 sec); Race Relations (4 min, 21 sec home video made by the cast while they're waiting for the rain to break so they can resume filming. It shows Rhys Thomas at pains to point out that he's not racist - even though he looks a little like Jim Davidson); Radio Wind Up (Thomas makes a crank call to a local radio show); Bloopers (8 min, 24 sec); Aping About (5 min, 32 sec behind the scenes); Low Loader (Thomas explains what a low loader is and why he's having to film on Good Friday); Purple Phil (3 min, 49 sec look at the make up used to create Purple Phil from the episode I.C.E.); Car Crash (6 min, 14 sec look at the filming of the car crash scene that opens the episode Up, Horny, Down); and Read Through (8 min, 06 sec look at the read through - although it's mainly features a quick chat with Thomas who is nervous about his role.) Sadly, despite being an incredibly well produced and acted series, the powers that be have decided that there won't be a second series, so we will no longer be able to follow the further exploits of Stuart, Ashley, Rachid and Maxine. 9 Darren Rea |
---|