Coupling: Complete BBC Series 1-4 Box Set

This is the best comedy series of its type, even better than friends, enjoyed every episode.Outstanding high quality scripts keeps it funny and fresh even many years on.Great bunch of actors who are perfect for their parts.

Brilliant series, very funny it is so sad that Jeff is not in series 4 . Wrong actor on cover, where is Richard Coyle?

Forgot how good this series was until I watched it again still as funny as the first time I watched it.

There is one main reason Coupling should be watched. And that is because it fulfils its purpose as a British comedy.It is sharp, unique, light hearted, frequently enjoyable, doesn't take itself seriously and has an array of likeable characters that anyone who has ever been in a relationship can associate with.Written by new Who man Steven Moffat, Coupling began at the turn of this still young century and straight away we were instantly engaged into a world of coupling, dating and daring fanatical situations amongst friends, colleagues and associates. Whilst there are numerous comedies out there that tackle such concepts, Friends etc, this for me was the first I viewed to really know how to generate a profound use of exquisite appreciation of realism. What Moffat has managed to achieve over the 4 years was a collection of stories taking into account difficulties of men and women in relationships and singleton and convey it in a manor which any audience could compare with.Stories revolving around troubled relationships, awkward workplaces, family traumas and unusual acts of perversion are all bluntly managed and are more often than not, brilliantly hilarious. The wonderful double meaning humour never out shadows the physical comedy (the handcuff scene is memorable amongst many others)All the while there is never a compensation for overshadowing drama over comedy or vice versa, it all flows smoothly in the story's context which makes it better for all involved.Jack Davenport and Sarah Alexander lead the way with some wonderful worrying and smart remark humour, Jack certainly nailing the worried and stubborn male stereotype spot on. Jeff is the character to not be knocked. Richard Coyle created something wonderful with the middle aged worldly man. His ability to make up any nonsense from anything ordinary is unbelievable. The "Giggle loop" was fantastic amongst other random quirks and it his absence was certainly noticeable in the last series which was replaced by Oliver, whose presence felt like a poor rip off, even if he did have his moments.The unusual encodes of fantasy and story overlaps can be appreciated as true TV magic that certainly is going to benefit any Dr Who fanatic this year.Apart from the odd feeling of repetition and the slight down grade of the last series, this collection is a true must have for anyone who likes to laugh, especially when in a relationship as its appreciation of anything couple style, is always spot on.9/10

There are not enough words available to describe how much I enjoy this series. From the very first episode (unflushable) "When did you ask her out Steve, before or after you dumped Jane" "During" and pretty much every scene after that coupling is just brilliantly funny. Compared to the American series Friends, Coupling is the funnier, raunchier and at times semi biographical adventures of 6 friends, Susan, Sally and Jane and Steve, Patrick and the Brilliant Geoff. If you have heard stories of the unflushable, the melty man, the giggleloop, captain subtext, porn buddy and brilliant rants on porn, cushions, masturbation and epidural,or even just using the word apparently when annoyed, then the chances are they learnt it from here.The writing of Moffat is spot on, very observant, the paranoia of Sallys neck and backside, the rantings of Steve, the pervs of Geoff,the madness of Jane, and the organisation (and sex drive) of Susan and the one track mind of Patrick all delivered by a brilliant cast and whilst it is true that season 4 was not quite as good, more due to the the departure of Jeff. The innovation of the scripts can't be over estimated, Split, Remember this and 91/2 minutes are brilliantly creative in each case seeing the same scenario from various perspectives. Split in particular is also very moving episode. The problem with recommending comedy is that tastes vary so much but all i can say is I would recommend this to anyone that loves Jack Davenports acting or Steven Moffat's writing, enjoys bawdy but funny conversation and in all honesty just enjoys watching men and women being, well men and women.

Works fine at a good price

This box-set collects series 1-4 of Coupling, plus several outtakes, episode commentaries and a couple of documentaries about the making of the series which all the main players contribute to.This was one of the best written pieces of British television, not just comedy, of the last ten years. It is well acted as well with all 6 of the main characters shining, as well as the late Lou Gish and Richard Mylan who had the unenviable task of taking over from Richard Coyle's superb characterisation of Jeff.The humour is well crafted and writer Steven Moffat can take most of the credit for that. In particular as some of the best episodes show the same scenes from different viewpoints, each one topping the previous one as you see how the same scene is seen from a different aspect. Two memorable episodes are Jeff's chatting up a stunning Israeli woman in "The Girl with Two Breasts" in series 1 and the brilliantly complex "9 1/2 minutes" from series 4 where the same scene is played out 3 times. Great acting is nothing without a classy script and you get both here.It's not just funny it is also moving at times. All of the characters have their faults, some really blatant (Patrick), but you do feel for them throughout the series as a whole.