"Actor: Chris Barrie"

• Red Dwarf - Series 1 | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Notoriously, and entirely appropriately, the original outline for Doug Naylor and Rob Grant's comedy SF series Red Dwarf was sketched on the back of a beer mat. When it finally appeared on our television screens in 1988 the show had clearly stayed true to its roots, mixing jokes about excessive curry consumption with affectionate parodies of classic SF. Indeed, one of the show's most endearing and enduring features is its obvious respect for the conventions of SF, even as it gleefully subverts them. The scenario owes something to Douglas Adams's satirical Hitch-Hiker's Guide, something to The Odd Couple and a lot more to the slacker SF of John Carpenter's Dark Star. Behind the crew's constant bickering there lurks an impending sense that life, the universe and everything are all someone's idea of a terrible joke. Later series broadened the show's horizons until at last its premise was so diluted as to be unrecognisable, but in the six episodes of the first series the comedy is witty and intimate, focusing on characters and not special effects. Slob Dave Lister (Craig Charles) is the last human alive after a radiation leak wipes out the crew of the vast mining vessel Red Dwarf (episode 1, "The End"). He bums around the spaceship with the perpetually uptight and annoyed hologram of his dead bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie, the show's greatest comedy asset) and a creature evolved from a cat (dapper Danny John Jules). They are guided rather haphazardly by Holly, the worryingly thick ship's computer (lugubrious Norman Lovett). On the DVD: Red Dwarf I arrives in a two-disc set, with all six episodes on the first disc accompanied by an excellent group commentary from Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John Jules and Norman Lovett. (There's also a bonus commentary on "The End" with the two writers and director Ed Bye.) The 4:3 picture is unimpressive, but sound is decent stereo. The second disc has an entertaining 25-minute documentary on the genesis of the series with contributions from the cast, writer Doug Naylor and producer Paul Jackson. Navigate the animated menus to find a gallery of extra features, including isolated music cues, deleted scenes, outtakes ("Smeg Ups"), a fun "Drunk" music montage, model effects shots, Web links, audiobook clips, the original BBC trailer and even the entire first episode in Japanese. --Mark Walker

• Red Dwarf - Back To Earth | Blu Ray | (31/08/2009) from £11.30   |  Saving you £8.69 (76.90%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Back to Earth takes place after 'series ten'. Kochanski is dead and the crew are hurled through a portal and discover they are just characters from a TV series. Knowing they will die in the final episode the Dwarfers in best Blade Runner traditions decide to track down their creators to discover how long they have left to live. First the crew attempt to track down the actors who play them in the series and their metaphysical odyssey begins... Features both a Director's Cut version of Back to Earth and the original televised version.

• Red Dwarf - Complete Collection | DVD | (10/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £38.99

  Red Dwarf: 20th Anniversary - All The Shows

• Lara Croft - Tomb Raider / Tomb Raider 2: The Cradle Of Life | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £26.99

  Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life may be an improvement on its 2001 predecessor, but its appeal is mostly aimed at fans of the video games that inspired both movies. That pretty much leaves you with some fun but familiar action sequences, and the ever-alluring sight of Angelina Jolie (reprising her title role) as she swims, swings, kicks, shoots, flies, jet-skis, motorcycles, and free-falls her way toward saving the world, this time by making sure that a grimacing villain (Ciaran Hinds) doesn't open Pandora's Box (yes, the actual mythological object) and unleash a deadly plague that will "weed out" the global population. Exotic locations add to Jolie's own coolly erotic appeal, but we're left wondering if this franchise has anywhere else to go. --Jeff Shannon

• Astronauts - The Complete Series | DVD | (09/07/2012) from £7.99   |  Saving you £12.00 (150.19%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Two men, one woman and a dog are cooped up together in darkest space. Occupying a two-room 'sky-lab' on Britain's first manned space mission, they are under constant surveillance as they orbit the Earth - even on their visits to the lavatory. Tensions simmer, resentment builds and relationships become strained... and it's not long before they're ganging up on their earthbound American contact at Mission Control.Written by Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, this hilarious comedy was inspired by and based upon actual conflicts documented by the astronauts of the NASA Skylab programme. Christopher Godwin is Mission Commander Malcolm Mattocks, Barrie Rutter is his truculent partner David Ackroyd, and Carmen du Sautoy is no-nonsense Science Officer Gentian Foster; Bruce Boa stars as their much-abused mission controller, Beadle.Astronauts was produced by Tony Charles and Douglas Argent (whose combined credits include Fawlty Towers and The New Statesman), with Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais acting as script editors. This set contains both series, first aired between 1981 and 1983.

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 6 | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The complete sixth series of mirthful mismanagement mishaps from the hapless Gordon Brittas! After being crushed to death at the end of the last series Gordon Brittas spent a short time in Heaven which only served to annoy St Peter so much that he sent him back to earth to finish his mission. Gordon has spent the last six months being rebuilt in a Swiss clinic and returns to Whitbury Leisure Centre fighting fit after training runs in the Alps. Unfortunately in true Brittas fashio

• Red Dwarf Interactive Quiz - Beat The Geek | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Join Holly's fragmented personalities (exclusive new footage of Norman Lovett and Hattie Heyridge) on an eight-level journey around Red Dwarf! Travel the length and breadth of Red Dwarf visiting major locations from the series: play alone against a friend or in teams! Never seen Red Dwarf? Compete against fans as a General Knowledge player! Also includes five mini-games: can you unlock them all?

• Red Dwarf - Series 7 | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £8.84   |  Saving you £14.15 (61.50%)   |  RRP £22.99

  The generator and the back-up system fail in the middle of the night and the crew has to crawl through the mile-long labyrinth of service ducts to restart their engines. On the way they learn a few peculiar things about each other. When two realities converge, the Dwarfers then have to face their most terrifying ordeal yet - they meet a real, live human woman.

• Red Dwarf: Series 6 | DVD | (21/02/2005) from £7.35   |  Saving you £12.64 (171.97%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Series 6 is possibly the most eagerly awaited of the Red Dwarf DVD sets, due to its acclaimed third episode, "Gunmen of the Apocalypse", which earned the program an International Emmy Award in 1994. However, the five other episodes in the series have their own share of absurd laughs, and the two-disc set features enough supplemental features to keep even the most demanding RD fan happy. The crux of series 6 is that the Red Dwarf has been stolen (no thanks to Lister, who can't remember where he left it), and the crew must recover it; their pursuit brings them in contact with brain-consuming aliens ("Psirens", with guest star Jenny Agutter), a polymorph that turns Rimmer and Cat into their alternate identities from Series V ("Emohawk--Polymorph II"), the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse tricked out as gunslingers ("Gunmen of the Apocalypse"), an army of Rimmer clones ("Rimmerworld"), and finally, their own future selves, who turn out to be particularly awful (worse than the present-day ones, that is), and cause a cliffhanger ending that just might spell the end for the Red Dwarf crew.... In short, series 6 more than earns its popular status among Red Dwarf's fanbase, thanks to its sharp writing (sadly, it would be the last series to feature scripts by co-creator Rob Grant) and energetic performances. And the double-disc set matches the quality of the programs with some terrific extras, including commentaries by the RD crew and fans (the latter on "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" only), and featurettes on composer Howard Goodall and series director Andy de Emmony; these are rounded out by the usual collections of "smeg-ups" (bloopers), deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, and another episode of the "Dave Hollins, Space Cadet" radio sketch that inspired the show. And again, the most patient of viewers will find Easter eggs on the menus (happy hunting). --Paul Gaita

• Red Dwarf: Series 5 | DVD | (08/11/2004) from £7.80   |  Saving you £12.19 (156.28%)   |  RRP £19.99

  It's brown alert time all over again for Red Dwarf fans with the fifth season of the much-loved sci-fi/comedy series. Episode-wise, it's business as usual for the crew of the Red Dwarf--that is, if one considers encountering an alien squid that squirts a despair-inducing hallucinogen ("Back to Reality", later voted the best episode of the series by viewers and Stephen Hawking!), evil (and not particularly bright) versions of the crew ("Demons and Angels"), a virus that causes insanity ("Quarantine"), and a trip to a moon created entirely from the mind of the insufferable hologram Rimmer ("Terrorform") business as usual. In short, it's six hilarious episodes, highlighted by the typically terrific writing of creators Rob Grant and Doug Naylor (who also direct two episodes). As with the previous deluxe DVD releases, Series V features a wealth of supplemental features, the most intriguing of which is a look at the failed attempt to recreate the show in America (with U.K. cast member Robert Llewellyn and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Terry Farrell as Cat). Also included are cast and fan commentaries, featurettes on the show's "science" and villains, special effects tests, blooper reels, and a sampling of Grant and Naylor's BBC 4 radio sketch "Dave Hollins, Space Cadet", which served as the inspiration for Red Dwarf. Dedicated DVD owners will also be rewarded by Easter eggs lurking throughout the menus. --Paul Gaita

• Red Dwarf - Just The Shows - Series 5 To 8 | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £9.98   |  Saving you £25.01 (250.60%)   |  RRP £34.99

  A compilation of Red Dwarf Series 5 to 8 featuring just the shows. Series 5 (1992): Classic moments such as Rimmer finally making it into the Space Corps not to mention Mr Flibble and the first appearance of Cat's alter-ego the dreaded Dwayne Dibley... Episodes Comprise: 1. Holoship 2. The Inquisitor 3. Terrorform 4. Quarantine 5. Demons And Angels 6. Back To Reality Series 6 (1993): Red Dwarf has been stolen and our intrepid heroes are hot on its

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 2 | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The ultimate depiction of workplace perdition has to be Whitbury Leisure Centre in The Brittas Empire, despite the later claim of The Office to the title. And while David Brent seems all too uncomfortably real, Chris Barrie's Gordon Brittas carried the gung-ho officiousness of mediocre middle-management to its surreal conclusion. The Brittas Empire could never quite make up its mind if it was a quasi-realistic sitcom or a fantasy comedy, and it's this uneasy mixture that invites you to question whether there's anything terribly funny about unplanned single parenthood, childcare problems, assault in the workplace and women who are addicted to prescription drugs (see also Waiting for God) because of their partners' behaviour. Then, just as you're pondering all this, Brittas comes out with another mouthful of managerial psychobabble that makes you realise that only this kind of tragi-comic exaggeration is robust enough to stand up to Barrie's monstrous creation. This second series treads a fine line between the merely bleak and the really rather nasty with exquisite precision. It opens with the news that Brittas has been killed abroad in an industrial accident, prompting his tranquillizer-addled wife to mourn him for less time than it takes her to remarry--except, of course, that Brittas is alive and well. Along the way, receptionist Carole attempts to murder Brittas with a JCB when she mistakenly thinks he's assaulted her baby, which she keeps in a cupboard under her desk. On the DVD: The Brittas Empire, Series 2 carries all seven episodes on two discs, together with several extras including a gallery, a profile and a Brittas Management Quiz (don't ask!). --Roger Thomas

• Red Dwarf - Series 1 BD | Blu Ray | (26/02/2018) from £23.59   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All six episodes from the first series of the popular sci-fi comedy. In 'The End' Dave Lister (Craig Charles) awakes from three million years in suspended animation to find he is the last living human being. 'Future Echoes' has the crew start getting glimpses of the future when Red Dwarf breaks the speed of light. 'Balance of Power' finds Rimmer (Chris Barrie) unsettled by the possibility that Lister might attain a higher rank than him. 'Waiting for God' sees Lister take on the mantle of a God, and discover that he is responsible for a huge war. 'Confidence and Paranoia' has Lister's pneumonia mutate in such a way that his hallucinations become solid. Finally, in 'Me 2', Rimmer creates a duplicate of himself - and although the honeymoon period is blissful, the relationship eventually takes a rather bitter turn.

• It Should Happen To You | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £12.60   |  Saving you £0.39 (3.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Judy Holliday stars as Gladys Glover a young woman who wants to make a name for herself so she rents a billboard on Columbus Circle and advertises her name. When a wealthy soap manufacturer tries to wrestle the billboard away from Gladys he finds himself falling in love with her. Can an aspiring model find happiness on a billboard?

• The Brittas Empire - The Complete Series 4 | DVD | (19/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A fourth series of leisure centre management mishaps with Gordon Brittas. Episodes comprise: 1. Not A Good Day... 2. The Christening 3. Biggles Tells A Lie 4. Mr Brittas Changes Trains 5. Playing With Fire 6. Shall We Dance? 7. The Chop 8. High Noon

• Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life | DVD | (02/02/2004) from £2.99   |  Saving you £17.00 (568.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Angelina Jolie returns as archaeologist and explorer extraordinaire Lara Croft who has to journey to a sunken underwater temple that leads to a sphere containing the mythical Pandora's Box.

• Red Dwarf - Series 5 BD | Blu Ray | (26/02/2018) from £23.49   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The entire fifth season of the popular BBC sci-fi comedy set on board the mining spaceship Red Dwarf. In 'Holoship', Rimmer (Chris Barrie) falls in love with Commander Nirvanah Crane (Jane Horrocks), captain of a computer-generated spaceship. In 'The Inquisitor', Lister (Craig Charles)'s body is taken over by a self-repairing stimulant, known as The Inquisitor, who flies back and forth through time judging the quality of people's lives - and obliterating them if they do not meet his exacting requirements. In 'Terrorform', the crew cross the Swamp of Despair to look for Rimmer who has been captured on a 'psy-moon': a moon that shapes itself to a person's psyche. In 'Quarantine', the crew contract a Luck Virus and a Sexual Magnetism Virus from a hologram in an abandoned research centre. 'Demons and Angels' sees Lister and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) playing with their new invention, a triplicator - but unfortunately the machine is having more than a few teething problems. Finally, in 'Back to Reality', the gang 'wake up' to find they have been playing a computer game called Red Dwarf for the last four years, and they are actually a bunch of sad geeks... apart from Lister, who is really a rich and successful yuppie called Sebastian.

• Red Dwarf - Series 4 BD | Blu Ray | (26/02/2018) from £24.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All six episodes from the fourth series of the sci-fi comedy. In 'Camille' Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) finds love, while the crew battle a DNA beast in 'DNA'. In 'Justice' Rimmer (Chris Barrie) is in deep trouble when the crew stumble across Justice World, where everyone is judged for their crimes. 'Dimension Jump' features an alternative universe where Rimmer is a hero, while in 'White Hole' Holly (Hattie Hayridge) powers down the ship leaving it drifting towards certain doom. In 'Meltdown' the crew visit Waxworld where old wax droids in the theme world have embarked on a fruitless war between different factions.

• Lara Croft Tomb Raider -- Special Collector's Edition | DVD | (26/11/2001) from £3.99   |  Saving you £16.00 (401.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Angelina Jolie brings the famous computer game archaeologist & adventurer to life in this action packed blockbuster.

• Red Dwarf - Series 2 BD | Blu Ray | (26/02/2018) from £33.73   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All six episodes from the second series of the popular sci-fi comedy. In 'Kryten' the crew of Red Dwarf answer a distress call from three woman survivors of a crashed spaceship, only to discover their long-dead bodies being waited on by android butler Kryten (David Ross). 'Better Than Life' finds the crew living out their fantasies with a virtual reality computer game. 'Thanks for the Memory' sees Lister (Craig Charles), Cat (Danny John-Jules) and Rimmer (Chris Barrie) lose all memory of the preceding four days. 'Stasis Leak' has the crew discover a doorway to the past, enabling Lister to romance Kochanski (C.P. Grogan) and Rimmer to warn himself about the future. 'Queeg' sees Holly (Norman Lovett) replaced by a much stricter back-up computer. Finally, in 'Parallel Universe', a faster-than-light drive propels the crew into a universe where they meet their female counterparts.