Outlaws - Series 1

It is unusual that TV series bother with DVD extras. If they do, it is almost certainly talking heads in constant agreement.

Outlaws has done better - the actors talk about the characters they play. This can be a pain in the backside, because you know what you feel youself and don't want to be told again by luvvies. Of course, this lot are not luvvies. They are - or, at least, appear to be - intelligent, articulate, interesting people. Also, the usual platitudes about how much they enjoyed working together and the mood on the set being so stimulating/friendly/fun doesn't seem to have been written by the public relations department. It sounds... genuine?

The Set Tour has Taf Batley, the production director, take us through Bagnall & Dunbar's office, the police custody area and the magistrate's court, all built specially for the series. He is so dry and delightfully matter-of-fact, you may miss the detail. It is a revelation into the art of set design. Batley would rather drown in liquid plaster of Paris than show off, but what he and his team have achieved here is remarkable. This extra should not be missed.

Deleted scenes are not outtakes of existing scenes, but fresh ones that were dropped for various reasons. All of them, without exception, are excellent and worthy of inclusion, but you can tell why they didn't make it, the pressure of time and space, or lack of it probably. In one, you actually see Theo's girlfriend. During the series, you are never quite sure whether she exists, or is being used by him to keep Sarah at arm's length. It's better not to see her, because the mystery adds to the confusion about Theo's character. Sarah thinks he's gay, because he's so nice and polite. Actually, what she means is that by rejecting her advances in the pub, he has to be bent, because who else would refuse such an offer?

Another gem of a Deleted is Theo and Dunbar's daughter in the office, talking about the pony her dad has given her and she says, in a rebellious teenage ranty voice, "I'm 14 and way too old to be messing around with horses," as if Theo would understand, or care.

Lovely stuff.