"Actor: Douglas Adams"

• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The original BBC radio adventures of Arthur Dent (an ape-descendant whose anger at the apparently inexplicable destruction of his home planet Earth, situated in an obscure corner of the outer spiral arm of the galaxy, is expressed in frequent irritation at friendly automatic doors and vending machines) and his travelling companions, Ford Prefect (an itinerant towel-carrying hitch-hiker originally from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse), Zaphod Beeblebrox (the notorious ex-Galactic President and patron of Eccentrica Galumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Six) and Marvin the Paranoid Android (who's still suffering from that terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side) proved to be such a success for the BBC that its transition to TV was (almost) inevitable. In 1981 several key members of the radio cast made the move to the small screen. Simon Jones' bewildered Arthur Dent remains the central character, shambling around in his dressing gown (a fact easy to forget on radio); Mark Wing-Davey's Zaphod Beeblebrox is the same as his boastful radio persona, even if the second head utterly fails to convince. Unfortunately, newcomers David Dixon (as Ford Prefect) and the irritating Sandra Dickinson (as Trillian) are no match for their radio predecessors.The problem here is not so much the low-budget look as the script itself, which is lovingly faithful to the radio series in a way that Douglas Adams' novels aren't. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a lucid, satirical, occasionally profound, utterly unique comic invention on radio. As such, it has nothing to gain from TV. The script needs no visual elaboration--that's best left to the listener's own imagination. Only the animated renditions of the Guide itself enhance Peter Jones' wonderfully dry narration; otherwise--paradoxically, perhaps--by supplying images the concept is oddly diminished here.On the DVD: A suitably eclectic not to say eccentric collection of extra features makes this a wholly satisfying two-disc set, neatly packaged in a fold-out slipcase. On the second disc there's an hour-long "making of" documentary from 1992 featuring contributions from the cast and crew, including Douglas Adams; and then there's even more in a 20-minute section entitled "Don't Panic!". A fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at filming as the clock runs out on studio time and a look at the recording of the original radio series complete the first part. Then navigate to the "Outer Planets" to find outtakes, a deleted scene, Zaphod's animatronic second head on Tomorrow's World and Peter Jones's witty and shambolic introduction to the first episode, plus more besides. The series itself is presented in standard 4:3 ratio and Dolby stereo. --Mark Walker

• Wonder Boys | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Michael Douglas stars as a feckless middle aged literary professor struggling to live up to his own successful past and sort out his chaotic present in this ensemble comedy that also stars Tobey Maguire, Frances McDormand and Robert Downey Jr.

• 3 Classic Bela Lugosi Films Of The Silver Screen - Invisible Ghost / Scared To Death / White Zombie | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £12.87   |  Saving you £-7.88 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Invisible Ghost: Actor Bela Lugosi born in Lugas Hungary on October 20 1882 was the screens most notorious personification of evil - at the peak of his career in the early 30's he helped usher in an era of new popularity for the horror genre. In this film a man carries out a series of grisly stranglings whilst under hypnosis by his insane and domineering wife... Scared To Death: The pieces of a puzzling murder are revealed to us one by one in this frightening story

• Creature From The Haunted Sea / The Devil Bat / Vampire Bat | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Creature From The Haunted Sea: A mobster hits on a plan while smuggling a deposed general and a fortune in gold out of Cuba on his yacht. He and his crew will scare the general and kill his guards by faking the attacks of a sea monster and thus keep the gold for themselves. Unfortunately a sea monster actually is attacking them leading to all sorts of complications. The Devil Bat: Driven by the thrill of vengeance a crazy scientist devises a particularly diabolical m

• Stephen Fry - Last Chance To See Complete Collection | DVD | (01/11/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Last Chance to See saw Britain's best-loved wit and raconteur Stephen Fry follow in his great friend Douglas Adams' footsteps with zoologist Mark Carwardine in search of some of the rarest and most threatened animals on earth. The Last Chance To See - Complete Collection is a 3 disc set featuring the original BBC series alongside a new unseen episode called Last Chance To See - Return Of The Rhino. The Return of the Rhino sees Stephen and Mark embark on a new adventure - to follow an attempt to take Rhino's from captivity and return them to Kenya. Last Chance to See is a unique and thought provoking insight into the disappearing world around us.

• The Weight Of Water / Basic Instinct / Light Sleeper | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Weight Of Water: A century old double murder haunts Jean a photographer who travels to the scene of the crime to investigate. The sole survivor of the slaughter was a woman whose unhappy marriage mirrors Jean's. Past and present collide when a cataclysmic storm burgeons into jealousy and suddenly it becomes clear to Jean who the real killer is... Basic Instinct: Michael Douglas stars as Nick Curran a tough but vulnerable detective. Sharon Stone co-stars as Catherine Tramell a cold calculating and beautiful novelist with an insatiable sexual appetite. Catherine becomes a prime suspect when her boyfriend is brutally murdered - a crime she had described in her latest novel. But would she be so obvious as to write about a crime she was going to commit? Or is she being set up by a jealous rival? Obsessed with cracking the case Nick descends into San Francisco's forbidden underground where suspicions mount bodies fall and he finds within himself an instinct more basic than survival... Light Sleeper: In Paul Schrader's compelling character study 'Light Sleeper' John Le Tour (Willem Dafoe) is loyal decent lumbering: A 40 year old drug runner who suffers from insomnia but seems to be sleepwalking through life. When John's boss the bubbly but sharp witted Ann (Susan Sarandon) decides to retire John must rethink his life's path. But breaking out of the life he's led will take some doing especially after coming into contact with his ex-girlfriend (Dana Delany) a recovering drug addict and becoming embroilled in a mysterious murder. With echoes of Schrader's script for 'Taxi Driver' 'Light Sleeper' is one of the director's most memorable explorations of the underbelly of American life.

• The Vampire Bat | DVD | (02/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Thousands of monstrous bats fill the night sky of a terrified village while residents are murdered in their beds drained of all their blood. As the killings increase rumors of a vampire in their midst sends the townspeople into a frenzy of panic as even the most respected scientist of the community seems convinced by the evidence. Only one investigator refuses to believe the superstitious tales and argues that a maniac must be at the root of the killings. A mob gathers to hunt down the suspected vampire and drive a stake through his heart yet the exorcism fails to end the horrific slayings. Shot on borrowed sets used in Universal's seminal horror films and starring some of the genre's greatest supporting players The Vampire Bat stands with White Zombie as a low budget terror classic.