"Actor: Duggie Brown"

• Ken Loach at the BBC | DVD | (05/09/2011) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-0.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.00

  1965 saw Ken Loach working as one of the in house directors of the groundbreaking The Wednesday Play series at The BBC which included Three Clear Sundays Up the Junction and The End of Arthur's Marriage. Of these plays Up The Junction had the most impact telling the story of three young women factory workers in their work and home lives focusing on Rube as she meets her first boyfriend and chronicles the significant life changing events that follow including an illegal abortion. Not only controversial at the time Loach's inter-cutting of real life interviews mixed in with drama became a signpost for his future directing style striving for naturalism and realism. 1966 saw Ken Loach's breakthrough piece Cathy Come Home. The play follows the lives of young sweethearts Cathy (Carol White fresh from Up The Junction) and Reg (Ray Brooks) starting out as a newly married couple moving into a new place and having children. Reg then suffers an accident which means he is unable to work and they end up being evicted and separated. With Cathy homeless but still looking after the children she faces having her children taken away from her by Social Services. This is perhaps the play that has had more impact than any other on television highlighting the very real problem of homelessness. Even some forty years later the power of Cathy Come Home remains undiminished. In Two Minds charts the turbulent life of a young woman who endures a difficult family life and after throwing a kitchen knife at her mother is diagnosed as a schizophrenic. Much like Cathy Come Home the realistic documentary style helps provide veracity to the story. Written by Jim Allen The Big Flame is a story of striking Liverpool dock workers who decide that to safeguard their futures they must control the port themselves. This was the first of several Ken Loach / Jim Allen collaborations - many of which would be starkly political. The BAFTA nominated Days of Hope was Jim Allen's tale of a working-class family in the period from 1916 to 1926 taking in the First World War events in Ireland and the General Strike of 1926. Running to well over six hours the series tells an epic story particularly in the light of the parlous state of the economy and labour relations in Britain at the time. A radical series in every sense Jim Allen was able create real parallels in Days of Hope that resonated with the working class of the mid 1970's and the political climate at that time. Loach returned to the BBC with The Price of Coal (written by Kes author Barry Hines) a film which depicted the lives of those living in a coalfield community. The first part subtitled Meet The People is a comic tale surrounding the story of a colliery community in preparation for a visit by Prince Charles and the efforts being put on by the management to make the pit fit for a future king involving grassing over an unsightly coal slag heap and whitewashing everything in site. The second part Back To Reality is completely different in tone when the colliery suffers a sudden underground explosion trapping killing and injuring the miners and as the rescue team work frantically to rescue those trapped those above ground argue about who is to blame. The Rank and File which completes the collection again written by Jim Allen is a story based around the strike by the Pilkington Glass workers. This beautifully packaged collection displays some of Loach's very best work and gives a real insight into working class life in the 60's and 70's. The collection also features an interview with Ken Loach a documentary entitled Housing Problems and a commentary track for Cathy Come Home.

• The Comedians Live | DVD | (29/10/2012) from £13.50   |  Saving you £-3.51 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Comedians 40th Anniversary Show was recorded live at the Blackpool Grand Theatre in summer 2011 as a tribute to the original comedy heavyweights who paved the way for stand-up comedy as we know it today. Featuring hilarious live routines and interviews with Roy Walker, Stan Boardman, Mick Miller, Duggie Brown and all hosted by the legendary Johnnie Hamp. Also included are fascinating never seen before interviews with the late Frank Carson, Jim Bowen and the legendary Bernard Manning in one of his last ever interviews along with hysterical clips of Charlie Williams, Ken Goodiwn, George Roper plus many more from the original Comedians TV show.

• The Comedians - A Celebrity Evening With.... | DVD | (11/11/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Filmed at the Floral Pavilions in New Brighton in the summer of 2012, 'A Celebrity Evening with The Comedians' features the original members of the iconic hit TV show 'The Comedians'. Featuring live stand-up performances from Roy Walker, Stan Boardman, Mick Miller, Duggie Brown, and including the hilarious Jim Bowen being interviewed by legendary producer Johnnie Hamp. As well as archive footage from The Comedians TV show, the evening includes questions from a host of invited celebrities including Johnnie Vegas, Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor, Ron Atkinson, Dave Vitty, Ian St. John, Dean Sullivan, Pete Price, Billy Butler, Mike McCartney and many more. The show also contains the memorable and hilarious 'Fokker' and 'Oliver Reed' clips from the 80's Des O'Connor Show. 'A Celebrity Evening With The Comedians' is a truly unique and historic DVD that will keep the whole family entertained for hours.

• Between Two Women | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It was a forbidden love but they could not deny Both a surebly observed re-creation of working class life in 1950's industrial Northern England and a deeply moving romance the award-winning Between Two Women assembles an all-star British cast including Barbara Marten Andrina Carroll and Paul Shane. Against the backdrop of a bleak Northern England town in the 1950s an unlikely love story unfolds. Between Two Women is the intelligent and moving

• The Comedians: Volume 5 | DVD | (03/08/2009) from £11.98   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Comedians: Volume 5