Les règles de l'art

I have all the episodes but not in the right order. ( Yes Sad I know)This is a great series about a roguish but lovable antique dealer, a role that Ian McShane was born to play. Apart from Lovejoy my favourite has to be Tinker...What a character. The rest of the regular cast, especially Phyllis Logan is excellent

Excellent series full of humour and wit. Stories well written. Deals with the 'life and times' of an antiques dealer with a problem with commitment except to friends. Terrific supporting cast who play their roles with a joy and bring depth to their characters. Wonderfully interesting stories - I especially enjoyed seeing the 'J. Arthur Rank gong' again after an absence of many years - I hope that it has now found its way into a museum for safe keeping! I wish that a new series would be produced but, and here I compliment the BBC, the production company know when to end a series - that is, while it is still excellent!

I have very fond memories of this lovely, gentle, fun but exciting series. It was perfect Sunday evening viewing in my house, something all the family could watch. There was the occasional coarse word or double entendre, but that was alright because my parents thought we didn't understand!

It bore little resemblance, however, to the books on which it was based. The Lovejoy series, by author Jonathan Gash, portray a much darker, nastier world, with an appropriatley seedier Lovejoy. The TV series was the sanitised version, but no worse for that. I would, however, encourage any real fans of the series to also read the books, and see the dark side of the antiques world.

Very few series anymore give me a warm feeling. You know, the feeling you get when you're watching a show that 'feels like home'. Lovejoy was a show like that, it really made me feel comfortable.

Unfortunately, I don't think there will be shows like Lovejoy anymore. There are few newer series that have come close. One of them is Frasier, although they don't make it anymore either. Maybe I should just watch the older series over and over again, shows like Jeeves and Wooster, The Prisoner, Red Dwarf, etc.

Having moved from the UK to Asia approximately 10 years ago, I have found myself collecting quality British TV series on DVD, most of which I had grown up with during my school and college days. These are great to while away an hour or so on a Sunday evening when pangs of homesickness occur. Series like Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses, Men Behaving Badly, Auf Weidersehen Pet and of course ... Lovejoy!

These series bring a smile to the face, a fair number of laughs and that warm fuzzy feeling like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes.

I had almost given up hope that Lovejoy would be released on DVD and while back in the UK on a business trip last week, was overjoyed to find that the first three series were already on the shelves (and had been since Spring 2004). I bought all three!

On first impressions, I wasn't all that enamoured with the image quality, as it comes across as quite grainy. This is a shame and can be a little distracting at times (especially during night scenes). By comparison, I had a totally different experience when I purchased the first series of Cheers on DVD with an amazing remastering job done on the image that just takes your breath away. The sound is also a bit touch-and-go and it can be difficult to hear some of the lines being delivered, particularly if the character is facing away from the camera.

The three-part interview with Ian McShane comes across as a little amateurish, although the effort was appreciated.

The real winner though is the show itself. As the series is set in the English countryside, it is fairly devoid of fashion, technology and modern cars. The result is that there's very little to date it. Only the occasional blast of background music gives the game away. At the end of the first episode, I had a smile on my face and a satisfaction that Lovejoy is back in my life.