DVD review: Mike Leigh at the BBC

For anyone who has come to the Salford director's oeuvre late, this is a wonderful six-disc look at the early days. Abigail's Party - as toe-curlingly embarrassing as anything from Larry David or Ricky Gervais - is the famous one, but Nuts in May and Grown-Ups run it very close in sharp, observational comedy. Alison Steadman and Roger Sloman's veggie duo in the former are as indelible as Steadman's famous monster, Beverly. A reminder, too, how many of these gems arrived via Play for Today or BBC2 Playhouse series. Nothing remotely like them exists in today's BBC.

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