"Actor: Edward Petherbridge"

• GHOST STORIES FOR CHRISTMAS VOL. 2 (3 x Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (20/11/2023) from £24.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s and spawned a long tradition of chilling tales, which terrified yuletide viewers for decades to come. After the best-selling release of Volume One last year, this much-requested follow-up gives five more festive landmarks their Blu-ray debut, having been newly remastered by the BFI from original film materials. As well as two MR James adaptations, the series includes the celebrated version of Charles Dicken's The Signalman starring Denholm Elliot, as well as specially written stories set in the contemporary 1970s. These influential films, all but one directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, were written by some of the best scriptwriters working in British TV in the 1970s: John Bowen, David Rudkin, Andrew Davies and Clive Exton. The Films: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974, 37 min) The Ash Tree (1975, 32 min) The Signalman (1976, 39 min) Stigma (1977, 32 min) The Ice House (1978, 34 min) Product Features A View From a Hill (2005, 39 mins): a young museum curator, Fanshawe finds himself in possession of a pair of binoculars that grant him a strange new ability. Ignoring all warnings about their necromantic creator, Fanshawe carries out his research, but the bloody past of the area is best left undisturbed... Number 13 (2006, 40 mins): infuriated by the ghoulish noises made nightly by his neighbour, Professor Anderson is soon driven to investigate the diabolical secrets of the old hotel and its mysteriously vanishing room 13. Newly recorded audio commentary on The Treasure of Abbot Thomas by TV historian Simon Farquhar Newly recorded audio commentary on The Ash Tree by author Johnny Mains Newly recorded audio commentary on The Signalman by TV historian Jon Dear Newly recorded audio commentaries on Stigma and The Ice House by Kim Newman and Sean Hogan Ghost Stories for Christmas With Christopher Lee (2000, 30 mins): Ronald Frame's adaptation is brought to life by horror maestro Christopher Lee Introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark (2012, 39 mins): the director introduces The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, The Ash Tree, The Signalman and Stigma Illustrated booklet with archival essays by Alex Davidson, Dick Fiddy, Matthew Sweet, and Helen Wheatley

• Dorothy L Sayers Mysteries | DVD | (03/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

• Wessex Tales | DVD | (12/04/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Wessex Tales

• M.R. James - Casting The Runes | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  M.R. James: Casting The Runes

• Dead of Night (DVD) | DVD | (28/10/2013) from £18.75   |  Saving you £1.24 (6.61%)   |  RRP £19.99

  After years of unavailability the three surviving episodes from the legendary BBC horror anthology series Dead of Night finally come to DVD. Originally screened on BBC2 in 1972 and rarely seen since Dead of Night have been highly sought by fans of the BBC and British Horror for decades. In The Exorcism – perhaps the most terrifying of the episodes – four wealthy middle-class friends (Clive Swift Edward Petherbridge Anna Cropper and Sylvia Kay) gather for a Christmas dinner in a country cottage only to find that the past will not rest while they feast. In Return Flight the professionalism of an experienced and respected airline pilot (Peter Barkworth) is placed under scrutiny when he encounters the ghostly apparition of a WWII Lancaster bomber. In A Woman Sobbing a middle-class wife (Anna Massey – Peeping Tom) becomes increasingly paranoid when her nights are interrupted by the terrifying and unexplained sound of a female crying in one the rooms in her new house. Contents: First time on DVD for this rare and classic BBC TV horror series All three remaining episodes on one disc Fully illustrated booklet with original essays

• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  This Nicholas Nickleby is not one of Hollywood's condensed versions, it's the Royal Shakespeare Company's epic eight-and-a-half-hour adaptation of the life and times of the eponymous school-teacher. The 1982 production (originally staged in two parts) won worldwide acclaim and was such a success that Britain's then-newest TV station, Channel 4, launched a joint venture with independent production company Primetime to bring Nicholas Nickleby to a television audience. The result is this wonderfully theatrical version, filmed at the Old Vic and starring much of the original stage cast. It manages to stay true to Trevor Nunn's original artistic vision of Dickens's damning incitement of England's educational system. The ensemble cast are superb: Roger Rees as Nicholas is a bright-eyed idealist, every inch the young romantic hero whose principles are often his downfall, but ultimately his salvation; Fulton Mackay's twisted, embittered Squeers is every inch the Dickensian villain; and David Threlfall is transformed as Smike, Squeers' piteously subjugated, crippled servant and gives the most moving performances of his career. This enthralling TV adaptation recreates the magic of the stage version for all those who were unable to catch it on its pitifully short run. It doesn't pull any punches as the humour and inspiring storyline are tempered with real dark and tragic episodes. Forget the Hollywood fluff, this is the version you should watch if you want a faithful retelling of Dickens's story. --Kristen Bowditch

• Gulliver's Travels | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £15.99   |  Saving you £-6.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Ebulliently imaginative and far more cleverly presented than you would expect from a TV miniseries, this adaptation of Gulliver's Travels succeeds by never pandering to the lowest common denominator. Closely based on Jonathan Swift's 1726 classic, it is enhanced by dazzling special effects from Jim Henson Productions and a superb, multi-ethnic cast. The biggest surprise is Ted Danson in the title role--one of his best performances, even if he is the only person in England with an American accent. He conveys amusement, amazement and intelligence as he travels from one strange country into another. Not that anyone back in Blighty believes Mr Gulliver's tales of little people or giants. The story is told in flashback from an insane asylum, where he is forcibly confined. This far outshines several previous adaptations of Swift's satirical novel. --Rochelle O'Gorman, Amazon.com

• BBC Ghost Stories Volume Three: Lost Hearts / The Treasure of Abbot Thomas / The Ash Tree (DVD) | DVD | (17/09/2012) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  As a Christmas treat in the late 1960s and 70s, the BBC produced adaptations of ghost stories based on the works of MR James, the Cambridge academic and author of some of the most spine tingling tales in the English language, which were broadcast to terrified viewers in the dead of winter. This was a tradition that was briefly revived by the BBC between 2007 and 2010. These adaptations, which have a subtlety and style all of their own, have been a major influence on many contemporary British horror filmmakers and have come to be some of the most sought after British TV titles of all time by their legions of eager fans. Volume three in the BFI's BBC Ghost Stories features the DVD premiere of three M.R. James stories directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark: 1973's Lost Hearts, 1974's The Treasure of Abbot Thomas and 1975's The Ash Tree.

• Lord Peter Wimsey - Have His Carcase | DVD | (10/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Edward Petherbridge stars as Lord Peter Wimsey. Harriet Vane decides it is time to take a break and heads to North Devon. On a walking tour the peace is shattered when she finds the body of a man on the beach with his throat slit.

• Lord Peter Wimsey - Gaudy Night | DVD | (10/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Edward Petherbridge stars as Lord Peter Wimsey in this classic adaptation of the novel by Dorothy L. Sayers. Harriet Vane is invited to return to Shrewsbury College but someone is terrorising the faculty and the students of the college by sending vicious anonymous letters.

• Lord Peter Wimsey - Strong Poison | DVD | (11/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Edward Petherbridge stars as the aristocratic detective Lord Peter Wimsey in this who-dun-nit from the pen of Dorothy L. Sayers. Mystery writer Harriet Vane is on trial for the murder of her lover. The evidence seems pretty conclusive. Not an hour after leaving her flat Philip Boyles was found dead in the back of a taxi cab - from arsenic posioning. Wimsey attends the trial and becomes beguiled by the writer. He also becomes convinced of her innocence of the crime. When the jury

• The New Avengers: The Complete Series - Episodes 1-26 | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  Sometimes dismissed as a pale descendant of a great original, The New Avengers deserves a second look and is perhaps best considered as a largely successful attempt to re-imagine its predecessor for 1970s audiences. Patrick McNee was never the most convincing of action heroes, and the decision to make his John Steed the supervisor and mentor of two younger agents was a sensible one--Steed's virtues are style, wisdom and fortitude rather than physical prowess. Gareth Hunt's Gambit has an unattractively smug side, but has also a louche charm. Joanna Lumley's Purdey is one of the most attractive heroines of genre television, astonishingly leggy and beautiful. Those who only know her later incarnation as Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous will understand now why such a fuss is made over her. The script team overlaps heavily with that of the original series; the new show has the same quirkiness, only occasionally varying it with a rather darker leCarrésque complexity or sudden outbreaks of Hammer Horror. If it lacks some of the sheer style of the original, that is a reflection of its period--the 1970s were less visually imaginative than the 60s. Tightly plotted, imaginatively cast with interesting guest stars, it is only with The Avengers that The New Avengers suffers by comparison. --Roz Kaveney

• King Lear | DVD | (14/07/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An aging King invites disaster when he abdicates to his corrupt toadying daughters and rejects his one loving but honest one... The most revered actor of the 20th century stars in 'King Lear' Shakespeare's greatest tragedy. Laurence Olivier gives an outstanding performance portraying drama's most celebrated octogenarian with spirit and pathos. This internationally acclaimed production boasts Olivier in his first appearance in a Shakespeare play filmed exclusively for television.