DVD

Following a rather hit-or-miss fourth season (or the 'gas-leak year' as it's referred to here), show creator Dan Harmon returned to the fold for this latest batch of 13 episodes, and in the process brought Community back to its geek-friendly best.

Having graduated last term and found the real world disappointing, the study group re-enrolls at Greendale Community College, with the exception of Pierce (Chevy Chase), who has passed away, and Jeff (Joel McHale), who accepts a job there teaching law. Cue another series of bizarre misadventures (such as a campus-spanning game of Hot Lava) and hilarious parodies (the David Fincher style investigation into the 'Ass Crack Bandit'). Best of all though is episode G.I. Jeff, which finds the former lawyer battling his personal demons in the retro '80s cartoon world of G.I. Joe (complete with spoof live-action toy ads).

Here's hoping that the cracking cult comedy can continue this spectacular run of form in the future now that Yahoo has saved it from cancellation.

Picture: The 13 anamorphic 1.78:1 transfers have been split across two DVD platters and look extremely robust, with no sign of artefacting or other compression issues. The one exception, of course, is G.I. Jeff, which opts for a retro cartoon look complete with speckles, scratches and even fake dirt trapped between the animation cells. Fabulous.
Picture rating: 4/5

Audio: The show has always delivered surprisingly effective Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and Season Five is no different. Dialogue is clean and pinned to the centre channel, while the surrounds get plenty of use during, with highlights including Episode Two's student riot and Episode Five's Mad Max-esque assault on 'Shirley Island'.
Audio rating: 4/5

Extras: Community has exactly the kind of geeky fanbase who relish the extra features included on the show's DVD releases. Which means that the UK arm of Sony Pictures has (to use the show's own vernacular) well and truly Britta'd the hell out of this Season Five DVD by making it a barebones affair.

By contrast, Sony Pictures' US release follows the usual route of including commentaries on every episode, outtakes and a couple of Making of… featurettes (Re-Animating the '80s and Advanced Television Production: 5 Days, 2 Scripts, No Sleep). As there's zero chance of Sony Pictures re-issuing the title over here with all of the extras, the only solution is that UK fans forego this release and import the US set instead.
Extras rating: 0/5

We say: Sony UK's decision to ditch the extras is simply unforgivable and will simply push fans to import the R1 DVD instead

Community: The Complete Fifth Season, Sony Pictures, R2 DVD, £25 Approx
HCC VERDICT: 3/5