Spare a thought for the humble bookshop, first in the firing line of the modern home-delivery megacompanies. Yes, they may have the convenience, but there’s nothing quite like being in a room filled with nothing but books – when you finish with one, just reach out and pluck another off the shelf, not to mention that wonderful old-book smell. This is why Bernard Black, proprietor of Black Books, is so sick of customers wandering in and interrupting this ongoing process. Here’s where to watch Black Books in the UK and US.
Black Books Synopsis
“…just sometimes, in between the first cigarette with coffee in the morning to that 400th glass of corner shop piss at 3 AM, you do sometimes look at yourself and think…‘this is fantastic. I’m in heaven’.”
Black Books has three seasons. Our surly, misanthropic protagonist Bernard (Dylan Moran) has accumulated his pals Manny and Fran (Bill Bailey and Tamsin Greig, respectively) in basically the same way as he’s accumulated all those books, and, indeed, all those empty wine bottles and cigarette-ends – and no matter how cheerful they might get, how much they try to get him out of his slump, nothing, but nothing, will penetrate his crusty hide.
Their sort of wacky adventures (a holiday abroad going off the rails, scrambling to replace a rare bottle of wine) are pitch-perfect for this grotty backdrop, but what truly elevates it is the dialogue. When informed of the bookshop’s dire financial inspiration, Bernard dismissively responds “Whores will have their trinkets.” It’s not overwrought – if anything, it’s wrought just right. The whole show is a series of these just-right barbs and bon mots, thrown about as promiscuously as the characters aren’t. Oh no, this is not a show full of beautiful people, and it’s infinitely better for it.
Watch Black Books In The UK
Black Books is available to stream in the UK for free on All4.
You can also buy physical copies on DVD from HMV. There’s no Blu-ray version at this time.
Watch Black Books In The US
Black Books is available to stream in the US on Netflix.
You can also buy physical copies on DVD from Amazon. There’s no Blu-ray version at this time.
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