I was going through my library of F1 videos / DVDs and have come to the realisation that I have a season review for each of the last 40 F1 seasons! Those in the know will realise that FOCA produced the first F1 season review after the 1981 season and have produced reviews on an annual basis ever since, though FOCA are long gone and FOM have produced these (and F1's TV coverage) for some years now. As you may have figured, these only account for the last 29 seasons, the previous 11 seasons (1970 - 1980 inclusive) were reviewed as a retrospective DVD box set which made superb use the Brunswick film archive which catalogues many races from the pre-FOCA/FOM TV era of F1.

The quality of these reviews has varied wildly over the years, particularly bad reviews that stick out for me are 1983 (a vain attempt to add humour with a "co-commentator" doesn't work), 2000 (sounds like Barry Scott from the Cillit Bang advert spouting a load of cliches as commentary) and 1988 where the main problem is that Stirling Moss and Tony Jardine have not rehearsed the script properly, all of which are a big shame as they were all good seasons blighted by a sub-par reviews. Personal favourites of mine are 1982, 1984 & 1986, all narrated by Clive James who adds his dry whit to the proceedings and his enthusiasm for the sport really shines through too. In modern times the extensive use of the full array of FOM's coverage has really added to the experience too, giving insights into the races which were not immediately apparent when watching the races live.

A final mention needs to go to the 1970-1980 reviews derived from the Brunswick archive, they give an invaluable insight into the rapid growth and increasing professionalism of the sport throughout the 1970s. They are also very well presented and produced and are a valuable addition to anyone's motor racing dvd collection.

So what are your favourite annual reviews and why?