The Secret Policeman's Balls (DVD box set)

The Secret Policeman's Balls is a three-disc DVD box set released by Shout! Factory in the United States and Canada on 27 January 2009. The discs record comedic and musical performances given at a series of fund-raising events for Amnesty International known collectively as The Secret Policeman's Balls, the performances are from events between 1976 and 1989.^[1]

The box set includes five films: Pleasure at Her Majesty's (1976), The Secret Policeman’s Ball (1979), The Secret Policeman's Other Ball (1981), The Secret Policeman’s Third Ball (1987) and The Secret Policeman’s Biggest Ball (1989).

Performers featured include members of Monty Python, namely John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, performers from the early-1960s Satire Boom, such as Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, as well then up-and-coming performers such as Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and Jennifer Saunders.

The box set also contains performances by musicians, Pete Townshend, Sting, Phil Collins, Bob Geldof, Peter Gabriel, Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, Kate Bush and Joan Armatrading, plus duets from Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, and Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins.

Also included is a BBC documentary Remember The Secret Policeman’s Ball, and some performances from The Mermaid Frolics (1977) and introductions and commentaries from executive producer Martin Lewis, who also provided the sleeve notes.^[2]

References