I’m the first to admit that I’m a bloody useless handyman. In fact, I’m useless all-round the house. So much so, that every one of those mere-male articles that appear regularly in trashy women’s magazines seem to be exclusively based on me. And so I say thank god for Bob the Builder. While those lifestyle renovation shows that saturate commercial Australian television dumb it down for the layman, they don’t quite dumb it down enough for me. But Bob’s how-to guides on topics such as erecting fences, screeing gravel, pouring concrete and laying bricks, now they have come in handy with my little projects around the place. And not only that – now I have a two year-old daughter who is every bit as competent as me!
This second Bob the Builder DVD release in our region, Pilchard Steals the Show, sees Bob, Wendy and all their friends – mechanical, feline and hay-filled – return for more DIY fun. Can they fix it? Of course they can! And these episodes (from what looks like a second series of the hugely popular show) see the gang attempting everything from training cats, to bird watching, and caching googly-eyed dragons!
Pilchard Steals the Show
There’s a dog show in town and Scoop wants to enter Pilchard. But cats aren’t renowned for doing what they’re told and besides, it’s a flippin’ dog show innit? But when scoop gets tied up in the show’s bunting, Pilchard gets a chance to show his quality...
Bob’s Auntie
An accident at the museum postpones Wendy’s planned picnic, but no sooner are they on the job than Bob learns that his Aunt Dora is expected that very afternoon. But she’s very particular, and the yard is such a mess! Can the machines get things cleaned up in time?
Spud the Dragon
While Bob and Wendy install some insulation in Mrs Potts' roof, Spud stumbles on some costumes intended for the school play and, disguised as Spud the Magic Dragon, wreaks havoc all over town. Meanwhile Bob is embarrassed when he slips on a joist dancing a jig and puts his foot through the ceiling…
Bob’s Hide
Bob’s an active member of the local bird watching club and, in preparation for the migration of the Lesser Spotted Greeb-Warbler, he set’s about building a hide on the local nature reserve. Spud wants in too, but when your job description is ‘bird scarer’, you’re bound to get yourself into mischief!
Bob and the Big Freeze
It’s snowed overnight, and the machines are really excited! But some trees have blown over at farmer Pickles' farm and they need chopping up. Meanwhile, Spud attempts some ice skating on the not-quite-frozen pond and a family of hedgehogs wakes up from hibernation a little too early…
Clumsy Roley
Wendy and machines head over the Mr Beazley’s garden to erect some decking, but Roley – distracted singing his favourite rockin’ song - isn’t paying attention to what he’s squishing. Unhappy at his clumsiness, his unique abilities finally come in handy..
If your little ones are fans of the hard-hatted one and his diesel powered workmates then Bob the Builder - Pilchard Steals the Show is certainly worth a look. With six episodes compared to the five episodes provided on the first DVD release Skateboard Spud, it's certainly the release of choice. Having said this, both of Bob's DVD releases provide enjoyable and educational watching for your pre-schoolers. Highly recommended.
Like its predecessor, Pilchard Steals the Show looks stunning in its digital incarnation; clean, sharp and vividly coloured. A non-anamorphic, widescreen presentation (1.85:1), it provides a satisfying level of detail from the various characters and models making up the show, and comes without associated aliasing or related artefacts. Likewise, no nasty MPEG artefacts have been added to sully the job, with only a little background video grain, and the odd soft moment (both apparent legacies in the source material) to mar what is otherwise another great job from Roadshow.
Again in terms of audio it's a serviceable Dolby Digital stereo presentation that is dominated by clear dialogue from the centre channel; expanding to encompass the front channels only during the odd foley effect such as power tools or the hum of Bob's machine friends, and to create the odd stereo effect - such as vehicles driving across the screen. The surround and subwoofer channels are silent throughout, with the exception of the theme song which is mixed very nicely between the front and rear channel.
In terms of extras, like the first release, there’s nothing at all on offer.
