It's not too long ago that the 'mockumentary' style of comedy was right at the forefront of virtually everyone's imagination. With The Office a hit for critics and viewers alike, the style proved to be one that could lend itself to a wide variety of situations. One of these copycat products appeared in the guise of Operation Good Guys, which presents itself here across three DVDs encompassing the entire 3 series of the show's running time.

The 'Good Guys' are presented as a crack team of highly skilled police individuals, brought together to take down one of Britain's most powerful crime lords, 'Smiler' McCarthy. With head of operations D.I. Beach supremely confident of the group's immediate success, he gives a documentary crew free reign to film the glorious British police force performing their work.

Of course, things don't go as planned. In the very first episode, the Good Guys receive word of a possible bust, only to find themselves injuring footballer David Seamen (who appears as himself) with the screw up captured in its entirety by the documentary film crew. Throughout the whole of the first series mishap after mishap occurs, and it's all too obvious that this hand-picked group aren't exactly the cream of the British police force, as each displays some kind of odd touch that the viewer becomes more and more aware of as time progresses. The last episode, where Slyvia La Plage makes an appearance, proves that things can always take a little bit of an oddball twist, even when you're really not expecting it. But at least that part in particular proves that Beach's adoration for J. Edgar Hoover isn't solely due to his police work.

After the failure of the Good Guys in the first series, the second begins with the entire squad demoted back to uniform and in dire need of retraining to complete Operation Zorro, which takes place in Spain in the last episode. The running jokes that stretch throughout the entire series proving to have the biggest pay off, especially where D.I. Beach is concerned. The third series begins with the Good Guys enjoying the fame that the documentary has given them, and DI Beach in particular becomes much more eager to put on a good show rather than concentrate on real police work. The episode in particular where D.I. Beach is overeager to put on a good Christmas show, including 'fake snow' from their latest drug bust, proves to be one of those where these qualities certainly shine through. That episode in particular brings one of those immortal lines of dialogue, when D.I. Beach utters the line, "Get me a midget!" The boxing episode, where Beach goes deep undercover as the 'Raging Pig', is also a truly memorable episode, thanks to Mark Burdis' impression of that main man of the boxing world, Don King.

While the quality of the video and audio are both as solid as could be hoped for, and the music performed by the cast surviving not only fully intact, but also proving to be alarmingly memorable, the number of extras proves a little disappointing. Audio commentary (from David Gillespie and Ray Burdis who play D.I. Beach and his right hand man Sergeant Ash) is only available on a single episode, and the 'Where are they now?' featurette is all that you get, leaving you feeling quite disappointing indeed.

I've no qualms whatsoever in firmly recommending Operation Good Guys - Complete Series 1 to 3 to absolutely everyone who has in the past enjoyed these spoof documentary style comedies. While the ridiculous laughter track that's mysteriously been included in the second and third series is a slight annoyance, it simply can't detract from what is one of the most enjoyable comedies of recent times. Astonishingly well acted, especially considering that most of the dialogue was improvised (though obviously in-keeping with the outlined plot) you're bound to find at least one episode that will stick with you for a long long time. This really is comedy at it's funniest.

Reviewed for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).