Heavens Above!

This blu-ray, along with its sister Vintage Classics entry Two Way Stretch are being released to celebrate what would have been Peter Sellers' 100th birthday and will be followed by a box set of the comic actor's films in time for Christmas.

The audio commentary by authors, comedy historians and husband and wife team Robert and Gemma Ross are a bit 'take it or leave it'. There's an awful lot of describing what we can all see on screen rather than offering additional insight, especially from Gemma Ross, who from what she says, appears to be watching the film for the first time. Her job mainly seems to be to feed Robert set-up lines. That being said, they're a personable pair but those used to more academic-style background rich commentaries may be disappointed.

Sellers Takes Off In Heavens Above! and Heavens Above! The Mask Behind The Mask are both new to this release and pretty interesting even though they are brief. The interview footage, carved from Seller’s Best (1992, dir Paul Joyce), which was made for Channel 4, features a lot of his contemporaries, including Roy Boulting and Ian Carmichael, who come armed with anecodtes aplenty. I'd personally love to see the rest of it but it doesn't seem to be available anywhere at the moment, here's hoping Channel 4 decide on a re-release for the cetenary as well.

Also new here is Heavens Above! A Q&A, which features Eva Griffith – daughter of Kenneth Griffith, who plays a fire and brimstone preacher in the film – and the Daily Mash’s Tom Whitley, and is chaired by film academic Benedict Morrison. Filmed at the LOCO London Comedy Film Festival this year, Morrison is a knowledgeable guide – would have been interesting to hear a commentary track from him – and even though some of the anecdotes from Griffith prove to be quite leftfield, this is an amiable and discursive chat that covers interesting ground about the hard-edged nature of the satire in the film.

Obviously this is Sellers-centric because of his centenary but it would have been nice to include a little more on other members of the cast.

The package is rounded out by a lobby card gallery.

Reviewed on: 04 Aug 2025