"Actor: David Mallinson"

• This Life - Series 1 And 2 | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £39.99   |  Saving you £10.00 (25.01%)   |  RRP £49.99

  First aired on British television in 1996 This Life chronicles the lives of a group of house-sharing twentysomething professionals as they try to make sense of life love and each other. This Life - Series 1: Providing a timely shake-up of TV drama conventions This Life's refusal to conform was its key to success. While critics deemed it 'immoral' for its graphic depictions of homosexuality and blas attitude to drug-taking fans revelled in its

• The One Game | DVD | (26/09/2016) from £7.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (87.61%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The 1988 Carlton mini-movie The One Game is the perfect definition of cult TV. Originally shown as four Saturday night instalments, it was a success with audiences and critics alike at the time and remains an extremely original piece of television. On the surface, the story is as simple: an ex-business partner exacts a very personal revenge. The game being played by Magnus (an almost unrecognisable Patrick Malahide) upon the arrogant Nick (Stephen Dillon) makes the tale far more interesting, however. If the premise sounds a little familiar, that's because the 1997 Michael Douglas movie The Game has striking similarities. The show captured society's interest in games at exactly the right time. First there's the Arthurian context, which visually struck a chord with a decade of Dungeons and Dragons fans. Then there's the constant reference to the new dawn of computer games, which everyone was excited about going into the 90s. But Nick is embroiled in a theory of Reality Gaming that turns everything on its head. He doesn't know who of his friends or colleagues may be in on the game, and since it begins with the sting of a £2 million theft, he's prepared to make sacrifices along the way. Changes in fashion and technology can't detract from what remains a cracking good yarn, well told and well played. On the DVD: The One Game arrives on disc superbly packaged. The attractive box contains an informative booklet relating the show's place in TV history. Unfortunately there's nothing at all in the way of extras on the disc itself--a disappointment, which, like the 4:3 ratio and stereo sound, is only to be expected for an all-but forgotten gem. --Paul Tonks

• This Life - The Complete Series One | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Few would have guessed from its initial headline-grabbing shock tactics, but the BBC's This Life went on to become one of the most influential television dramas of the 1990s. The show's creators certainly went for the jugular with liberal smatterings of sex, drugs and general debauchery--not many television shows then or now come with an 18 certificate. But beneath all the surface gloss lay a drama of real substance. The first 11 episodes begin with the five individuals coming together in London's legal world and then take us through their shared experiences. This Life's great strength was that there was enough drama between the main protagonists to maintain the show's momentum, while introducing just the right amount of secondary characters (Delilah, Ferdy)--a trick that Queer as Folk, perhaps the show's natural successor, was also to employ. The chemistry between the leading players has rarely been bettered since and, all in all, This Life has aged not a jot. On the DVD: while there is little in the way of extra features, the DVD format suits This Life perfectly. And where 430 minutes of VHS would be too unwieldy, this two-disc collection is sharp and snappy. The menu layout is excellent, enabling easy access to those classic moments, and the hip soundtrack (The Prodigy, Iggy Pop, Dubstar) sounds crisp and clear. --Phil Udell

• This Life - Series 2 | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £49.88   |  Saving you £-9.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Miles Anna Egg Milly Warren and Ferdy return for the second series of the groundbreaking BBC drama This Life. This time around life is even more complicated: Egg is having serious problems with money and direction; Milly enters an affair with her boss O'Donnell; Anna is still in love with Miles but having a hard time accepting it; meanwhile Miles gets engaged despite his feelings for Anna; Warren gets arrested for 'cruising' in the local park and decides to le

• The One Game - The Complete Series | DVD | (28/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The 1988 Carlton mini-movie The One Game is the perfect definition of cult TV. Originally shown as four Saturday night instalments, it was a success with audiences and critics alike at the time and remains an extremely original piece of television. On the surface, the story is as simple: an ex-business partner exacts a very personal revenge. The game being played by Magnus (an almost unrecognisable Patrick Malahide) upon the arrogant Nick (Stephen Dillon) makes the tale far more interesting, however. If the premise sounds a little familiar, that's because the 1997 Michael Douglas movie The Game has striking similarities. The show captured society's interest in games at exactly the right time. First there's the Arthurian context, which visually struck a chord with a decade of Dungeons and Dragons fans. Then there's the constant reference to the new dawn of computer games, which everyone was excited about going into the 90s. But Nick is embroiled in a theory of Reality Gaming that turns everything on its head. He doesn't know who of his friends or colleagues may be in on the game, and since it begins with the sting of a £2 million theft, he's prepared to make sacrifices along the way. Changes in fashion and technology can't detract from what remains a cracking good yarn, well told and well played. On the DVD: The One Game arrives on disc superbly packaged. The attractive box contains an informative booklet relating the show's place in TV history. Unfortunately there's nothing at all in the way of extras on the disc itself--a disappointment, which, like the 4:3 ratio and stereo sound, is only to be expected for an all-but forgotten gem. --Paul Tonks