Keeping Up Appearances: In Full Bloom (1994)

Fans of the relentless social climber and unapologetically prying neighbor get the full Hyacinth treatment in this boxed set of four DVDs with 20 episodes–including a double episode set aboard the QE2. Everyone is here: nervous coffee-spilling neighbor Margaret with her musician brother Emmet, who’s tormented by Hyacinth’s spontaneous tryouts; her ever-patient husband, Richard; and the unaccountably amorous Major. And no episode would be complete without the antics of her family, including the romance-addled Daisy and jobless husband Onslow, who favors the vest-without-a-shirt look. Packed into their grubby apartment is aging tart of a sister Daisy, who specializes in married men, and their befuddled elderly Daddy, who frequently escapes to elope or bicycle naked or both. Even the well-married (never-seen) sister Violet got a hysterical, cross-dressing husband along with the Mercedes. The marvelous Patricia Routledge pulls it all together with her amazing combination of matronly indignation and outrageous physical comedy. Extras include outtakes and Routledge’s Kitty monologues.