"Actor: Bill Ellis"

• Ring Of Bright Water | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £13.99   |  Saving you £-8.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Coincidence throws Mij the otter and Graham Merrill (Bill Travers) the computer worker together on a busy London street in Ring of Bright Water. What transpires from this chance meeting is an epiphany that leads to the complete upheaval of Graham's life. Evicted from his city flat thanks to the antics of his newly acquired, mischievous otter, Graham embarks on a train journey to the Scottish Highlands. Suffice it to say that trying to smuggle Mij onboard as a "diving terrier" is not successful. When the pair finally arrives in Scotland, they fall in love with the countryside and a dilapidated cottage by the sea. Fate introduces Graham to the town's animal-loving doctor (Virginia McKenna), and an enduring friendship and romance are forged. The photography of both the Scottish Highlands and the antics of Mij the otter in this 1969 movie are truly wonderful--it might just make you reconsider your current digs and friendships. The story (based on Gavin Maxwell's book of the same name) is somewhat formulaic and dated by its romanticism, but enjoyable nonetheless. Slip into an ideal world of simple happiness and celebrate the cyclical nature of life, if only for 106 minutes. --Tami Horiuchi, Amazon.com

• Simon Schama - A History of Britain : The Complete Series | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Stretching from the Stone Age to the year 2000, Simon Schama's Complete History of Britain does not pretend to be a definitive chronicle of the turbulent events which buffeted and shaped the British Isles. What Schama does do, however, is tell the story in vivid and gripping narrative terms, free of the fustiness of traditional academe, personalising key historical events by examining the major characters at the centre of them. Not all historians would approve of the history depicted here as shaped principally by the actions of great men and women rather than by more abstract developments, but Schama's way of telling it is a good deal more enthralling as a result. Schama successfully gives lie to the idea that the history of Britain has been moderate and temperate, passing down the generations as stately as a galleon, taking on board sensible ideas but steering clear of sillier, revolutionary ones. Nonsense. Schama retells British history the way it was--as bloody, convulsive, precarious, hot-blooded and several times within an inch of haring off onto an entirely different course. Schama seems almost to delight in the goriness of history. Themes returned to repeatedly include the wars between the Scots and the Irish and the Catholic/Protestant conflicts--only the Irish question remains unresolved by the new millennium. As Britain becomes a constitutional monarchy, Schama talks less of Kings and Queens but of poets and idea-makers like Orwell. Still, with his pungent, direct manner and against an evocative visual and aural backdrop, Schama makes history seem as though it happened yesterday, the bloodstains not yet dry. On the DVD: The Complete History of Britain extras are generously packaged on a separate disc and include the original score and a Simon Schama biography. There's an interesting "promotional message" to camera in which Schama explains the role of a cab driver, Wally, in inspiring the series, along with an interview with Mark Lawson in which Schama stresses the deliberate subjectivity of these programmes and an inaugural BBC History lecture in which he defends TV's ability to transpose history to camera. --David Stubbs

• Complicity | DVD | (10/07/2000) from £17.29   |  Saving you £2.70 (15.62%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Based on the Iain Banks novel this gripping thriller is set in Scotland with a strong cast including the brilliant Johnny Lee Miller. Cameron Colley is a journalist who writes articles that takes the underdog's viewpoint. His motives are shared by a serial killer who commits murder on behalf of the underdog. The two stories then begin to fuse together...

• UFO - Series 1 | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £28.99   |  Saving you £21.00 (72.44%)   |  RRP £49.99

  UFO was Gerry Anderson's first live-action TV series after a decade of producing such children's animated classics as Stingray (1963) and Thunderbirds (1964). The premise of UFO, which ran for a single season of 26 episodes, was like a more serious version of Anderson's Captain Scarlet (1967)--in the near future of 1980 a hi-tech secret organisation, SHADO, waged covert war against mysterious alien attackers. Ed Bishop played the American head of SHADO--he had had previously featured in Captain Scarlet and Anderson's Doppelganger (1969)--though in all other respects this was a thoroughly British production. As with all Anderson series UFO evidenced remarkable technological inventiveness and groundbreaking production values, coupled with startling lapses in fundamental logic too numerous to list. Much more adult in story and content than earlier Anderson productions, and surprisingly dark with its pragmatic view of human nature and downbeat endings, the show now seems like a forerunner of The X Files and the equally short-lived Dark Skies (1996). Barry Gray's memorable theme and atmospheric music greatly enhanced the overall impact. Stylishly made, though terribly sexist by current standards and featuring eye-catching costumes more fitted for a camp fancy dress party than the front line of a futuristic war, this cult classic eventually evolved into Space 1999 (1975). On the DVD: this four-disc deluxe box features the first 13 episodes. The box set has five free postcards and a booklet offering interesting background on the programme. The first disc includes an alternate, more violent opening scene, while later discs feature text transcriptions and photographs from scenes cut due to TV running time restrictions. All discs provide extensive galleries of publicity and behind the scenes photos, as well as character profiles or a history of SHADO. The opening episode, "Identified", features a commentary by Gerry Anderson, in which he talks in general about the production of the series and Ed Bishop does the same for the episode "Sub Smash". From the animated menus onwards these DVDs have been beautifully designed and produced. The mono sound is exceptionally strong and the restored and remastered picture is almost unbelievably good for a 1970 TV show. With barely a flaw anywhere the episodes look so clear, colourful and detailed that they could have been filmed last week. --Gary S Dalkin

• UFO - Vols. 5 To 8 | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £27.99   |  Saving you £22.00 (78.60%)   |  RRP £49.99

  The complete second season of Gerry Anderson's classic sci-fi serial. The operatives of the secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (S.H.A.D.O.) defend the earth from extra-terrestrials who are abducting humans to obtain their organs which can be transplanted into their own bodies... Episodes include: Confetti Check A-O-K E.S.P. Kill Straker Sub-smash The Sound Of Silence The Cat With Ten Lives Destruction The Man Who Came Back The Psychobombs Reflections In The Water

• Rockliffe's Babies: The Complete Series | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £29.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A controversial police procedural from the late 1980s, this ratings-winning drama charts the progress of seven trainee CID officers learning the ropes in some of London's toughest areas. Ian Hogg gives a career best performance as the tough, irascible Alan Rockliffe an old-school supervisor whose job it is to sort the wheat from the chaff. Featuring guest appearances from Lonnie Donegan, Norman Beaton, Pauline Quirke, Kevin Lloyd, John Michie and John Woodvine, this set contains both hard-hitting series of Rockliffe's Babies, complete and uncut. It's a busy week for the young plain-clothes Crime Squad PCs. A mixed bunch, with decidedly mixed abilities, they're thrown in at the deep end with a hooded prowler, an armed robbery and a mugging on the notorious Dragon Estate. They need to think fast, but if anyone can sharpen their instincts it's surely the quick-tempered DS Rockliffe.

• Confessions From A Holiday Camp | DVD | (20/12/2004) from £24.00   |  Saving you £-18.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Available for the first time on DVD! Timmy and Sid are entertainment officers at a holiday camp. They must organise a beauty contest successfully or find themselves out of work!

• Rock Follies - Series 1 | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £32.95   |  Saving you £-7.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A totally original - and at the time extremely daring - blend of music drama comedy satire fantasy and dance Rock Follies owes as much to the American musicals of the thirties and forties as it does to glam rock and women's lib. A huge success both critically and commercially it won a BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series and spawned a Number One album. First transmitted in 1976 this release features all 6 episodes that made up the first series of Rock Follies.

• Miss Julie | DVD | (30/04/2001) from £6.26   |  Saving you £9.73 (155.43%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Miss Julie is a claustrophobic class study set within a 19th-century Count's kitchen. It chronicles the events of one midsummer night when the housemistress--an obstinate and confused Julie (Saffron Burrows)--is beaten in a round of sexual gaming with footman Peter Mullan. Based on the play by August Strindberg, the film maintains a constant sense of theatre by only having three speaking parts (the other coming from Maria Doyle Kennedy as Christine, the long-suffering cook and fiancée), just one set and a penchant for hand-held camerawork by director Mike Figgis. Known for his experimental approach to storytelling, this is technically a predecessor to Figgis' Timecode, since the all-important rape scene is conveyed through a disorientating split-screen technique. He'd worked with fellow Brit Burrows before on The Loss of Sexual Innocence and One Night Stand, but gives the gal with the outsized cheekbones top billing here and is rewarded with a thoroughly rounded performance. Backed by the director's own musical score, this melodrama has a very personal feel to it. --Paul Tonks

• Max.Q - Emergency Landing | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £5.38   |  Saving you £9.61 (178.62%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A routine Space Shuttle mission becomes a nightmare after disaster strikes...

• UFO - Vol. 5 - Episodes 14-16 | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £14.23   |  Saving you £4.75 (42.26%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gerry Anderson's classic sci-fi series. The operatives of the secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (S.H.A.D.O.) defend the earth from extra-terrestrials who are abducting humans to obtain their organs which can be transplanted into their own bodies... Episodes include: Confetti Check A-O-K E.S.P Kill Straker

• UFO - Vol. 4 - Episodes 11-13 | DVD | (13/05/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gerry Anderson's classic sci-fi series. The operatives of the secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (S.H.A.D.O.) defend the earth from extra-terrestrials who are abducting humans to obtain their organs which can be transplanted into their own bodies... Episodes include: The Sqyare Triangle Court Martial Close Up

• UFO - Vol. 1 - Episodes 1-4 | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £6.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (129.08%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gerry Anderson's classic sci-fi series. The operatives of the secret Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation (S.H.A.D.O.) defend the earth from extra-terrestrials who are abducting humans to obtain their organs which can be transplanted into their own bodies... Episodes include: Identified Computer Affair Flight Path Exposed

• UFO - Vol. 2 - Episodes 5-7 | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  UFO was Gerry Anderson's first live-action TV series after a decade of producing such children's animated classics as Stingray (1963) and Thunderbirds (1964). The premise of UFO, which ran for a single season of 26 episodes, was like a more serious version of Anderson's Captain Scarlet (1967)--in the near future of 1980 a hi-tech secret organisation, SHADO, waged covert war against mysterious alien attackers. Ed Bishop played the American head of SHADO--he had had previously featured in Captain Scarlet and Anderson's Doppelganger (1969)--though in all other respects this was a thoroughly British production. As with all Anderson series UFO evidenced remarkable technological inventiveness and groundbreaking production values, coupled with startling lapses in fundamental logic too numerous to list. Much more adult in story and content than earlier Anderson productions, and surprisingly dark with its pragmatic view of human nature and downbeat endings, the show now seems like a forerunner of The X Files and the equally short-lived Dark Skies (1996). Barry Gray's memorable theme and atmospheric music greatly enhanced the overall impact. Stylishly made, though terribly sexist by current standards and featuring eye-catching costumes more fitted for a camp fancy dress party than the front line of a futuristic war, this cult classic eventually evolved into Space 1999 (1975). On the DVD: from the animated menus onwards these DVDs have been beautifully designed and produced. The mono sound is exceptionally strong and the restored and remastered picture is almost unbelievably good for a 1970 TV show. With barely a flaw anywhere the episodes look so clear, colourful and detailed that they could have been filmed last week. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Beatles | DVD | (11/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  The Beatles Phenomenon looks back at the history of one of the most successful and critically acclaimed popular music bands in history The Beatles!