Spaced is a little known (although it is gradually gaining a significant cult following) British semi-sitcom. I say 'semi' sitcom because, despite showing all the usual signs of being a sitcom, it is definitely a little unusual. Sure, it is about a group of friends and how their group interact, their loves, sorrows and losses, but you would be hard pressed to compare it to Seinfeld beyond these basic components.

Each show is characterised by strange events, unusual characters, flash (but not flashy) editing, and a host a geeky fan-boy in-jokes, referencing everything from The Matrix to the old Kiora adverts (it's too orangy for crows!). Spaced could easily be described as surreal, being as it is, populated by a very unusual array of characters. Tim and Daisy live together. They are not a couple, but had to pretend to be in order to get the flat they wanted. Tim is an out of work comic-artist, and Daisy is an out of work writer. Their land-lady is the sex mad alcoholic Marsha, and they all share the building with Brian, a misunderstood emotional artist. Rounding out the group is Mike, a gun-toting military nutcase, and Twist, a conceted Fashion victim.

Suffice to say that series 2 matches series 1 on virtually all accounts. The storylines are perhaps improved, as Tim (who works in a comic book store) is fired after an argument with an 8 year old boy over Star Wars Episode 1, Brian loses his touch because *shock* he is actually happy (a happy artist is not a productive one), and Colin the dog is inticed away by the old lady that lives next door. Other episodes see Tim and Daisy having a very strange night out in Camden, and Daisy having trouble signing on. There are seven episodes in total.

Special Features

Being pretty serious geeks themselves, Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson have made quite an effort with the DVD. It is unusual to see TV shows recieving such attention in this medium, and also quite refreshing. I do
n't think I can really suggest any additions to this package beyond what they have chosen to include themselves. The menu screen are, as with the first disc, very cool, and consist of animated cartoony versions of the gang, and soundbites from the series.

The audio commentarys, featuring Pegg, Stevenson, the director Edgar Wright along with assorted additional cast members, is as strong as it was on the first series disc. Although they occassionally speak over each other, resulting in possibly interesting subjects being dropped (then the moment has passed, and the point or anecdote is no longer relevent), the episode commentaries remain informative and quite funny.

An unusual feature called the 'homage-o-meter' tells us whenever a film, tv show or comic is being referenced in the show. It is not as cool as I thought it would be (i was expecting an actual meter with a little arrow on it), and is just plain text at the bottom of the scene whenever a reference is made. It is interesting though, and there were plenty of little references that slipped me by (I was particularly suprised by a little reference to Preacher, a fantastic series of comics).

The out-takes are funny as hell, and often quite touching. The same goes for the raw footage, which proves to be an interesting watch. The deleted scenes are interesting, and are accompanied by a useful commentary. A couple of them are very funny indeed, but most were cut for obvious reasons.

The rest is just archive stuff. The photo gallery is nice. It is cool to see the actors hanging around, and I noted that Simon Pegg was reading the Harry Potter books throughout the filming. The trailers are, well, trailers. They are classier than most tv trailers, and will be nice to look back on. The biographies are fairly amusing also.

So there you have it. As you can see, quite a tasty little package. This series is one of the most unique and consistantly hilarious shows
to break free of our British shores in quite a while. It is contempory, intelligent and witty, and never fails to make me laugh (or indeed, on occasion, cry). After two series of the show, I am quite attached to the characters, and am looking forward to what it has been suggested will be the third and final series.