"Actor: Freddie Jones"

• Doctor In Trouble | DVD | (14/04/2003) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The madcap doctor team are at it again! This time Dr. Burke stows away on a cruise ship when his girlfriend is assigned a modelling job aboard the vessel and ends up as a ship's doctor.

• Dune--Special TV Edition | DVD | (23/10/2000) from £15.05   |  Saving you £4.94 (32.82%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Dune: Special TV Edition is an extended US network television version prepared in 1988 from David Lynch's 1984 film of Frank Herbert's classic science fiction novel, Dune. The original cinema release of this complex tale of interplanetary intrigue was heavily shortened and this 176-minute TV edition should not to be confused with Lynch's still unreleased three-hour-plus "Director's Cut". In fact Lynch disowned this TV version, replacing his director's credit with the infamous pseudonym Alan Smithee and his screenplay credit with the name Judas Booth (a combination of two notorious traitors). What the network did was add 35 minutes, about 15 minutes in the first two thirds, which in the cinema cut is in any case superbly paced, and around 20 into the final 40. This latter material does help balance the frenetic rush of the cinema cut, restoring important scenes such as Paul Atreides' fight with Jamis, a Fremen funeral and Jessica Atreides' taking the "Water of Life". What primarily alienated Lynch was the imposition of a folksy, sometimes laughable narration, as well as the replacement of the original prologue with a far longer sequence explaining the Dune universe via pre-production paintings. This TV edit is a travesty of what, in the "Director's Cut" at least, is probably a great film, and is really only worth seeing to get a glimpse of the material Lynch was forced to remove. The unconnected mini-series, Frank Herbert's Dune (2000) does a far better job of telling a more complete version of the story. On the DVD: There is a fold-out colour booklet which contains a wealth of stills, a reproduction of the original cinema poster and a worthwhile essay on the original film that avoids any discussion of the TV version it accompanies. On the disc there is only the original theatrical trailer. The superb cinematography is ruined by the panned and scanned 4:3 image, which is grainy and has poor colour fidelity. It is also soft, lacking detail and washed-out, probably a result of being converted from American NTSC TV format video rather than coming directly from an original film print. Certainly the DVD of the cinema version looks far better. The audio is thin mono, completely failing to do justice to how fantastic a post-Star Wars 40-million-dollar science fiction epic should sound. --Gary S Dalkin

• Dune -- Two-disc Special Edition | DVD | (04/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This two-disc special edition release of David Lynch's 1984 film Dune presents the same cut as originally shown theatrically, but with an improved transfer compared to the previous DVD edition and with the addition of new and archive documentary material. In case of confusion, it should be noted that this is not any of the following versions: the re-edited TV movie adaptation of Lynch's film, the long-sought-after extended version Lynch screened for cast and crew in January 1984, a new Director's Cut, or the Sci-Fi Channel mini series. The first disc contains a new anamorphically enhanced 2.35:1 transfer taken from a High Definition archive copy of the 1984 film, further restored to remove dirt and scratches, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix as well as the original stereo soundtrack. The film looks superb and sounds almost as good, though a DTS soundtrack would have been welcome. The main extras are a well illustrated 32-page booklet written by Paul Sammon, author of the excellent Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner and The Making of Starship Troopers and a new 38-minute anamorphic widescreen documentary, Impressions of Dune. This is much superior to the average making-of, featuring significant new contributions from Kyle MacLachlan, producer Raffaella De Laurentiis, cinematographer Freddie Francis and others--though David Lynch is conspicuous by his absence. Destination Dune is a six-minute promotional featurette made by Sammon at the time of the film's release and the 4:3 image is fairly poor quality. An 83-second BBC interview with Frank Herbert is too short to be of more than passing interest, though the original trailer is a fine example of the 1980's way of selling movies. The set is completed with routine cast and crew profiles. Even with no involvement from Lynch and no commentaries, this is still the best Dune on DVD. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Krull | DVD | (05/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  There's something inescapably appealing about Krull, a camp Star Wars-meets-The Lord of the Rings knock-off, that encourages the viewer to overlook it's very many silly shortcomings and simply enjoy the fun. James Horner's rollicking music score--written soon after his similarly memorable contribution to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan--certainly helps, as does the epic-scale CinemaScope photography of the breathtaking Italian landscapes. The costumes and extravagant production design are also great to look at, and much of Derek Meddings' visual effects work still looks striking if not exactly state-of-the-art. Of the cast, Freddie Jones stands head and shoulders above all others as the Obi Wan Kenobi-meets-Gandalf character Ynyr: his trip to the centre of the spider's web is both genuinely scary and genuinely touching. The two romantic leads, Ken Marshall as the Luke Skywalker-meets-King Arthur clone Prince Colwyn and Lysette Anthony (with an overdubbed American voice) as his Leia-Guinevere Princess Lyssa, are mere formalities on which to hang the plot. Ironic fun can be had with the all-British supporting cast, which includes Todd Carty of Eastenders fame and Carry On's Bernard Bresslaw, as well as Robbie Coltrane, Liam Neeson and the gorgeous Francesca Annis. On the DVD: Krull comes to DVD in an anamorphic widescreen print, preserving the luscious CinemaScope look of the theatrical release. The Dolby 5.1 sound lives up to the picture. There are two commentary tracks: on the first, director Peter Yates talks through the movie, with contributions from other crew members and leads Ken Marshall and Lysette Anthony. Oddly, the second audio track is just a reading of an article that originally appeared in the November 1982 issue of Cinefantastique magazine. There's also a half-hour "making-of" featurette originally produced to promote the movie at the time, the usual trailer, stills gallery and three talent profiles. --Mark Walker

• Nearest And Dearest - Series 2 | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Comedy greats Jimmy Jewel and Hilda Baker star as Eli Pledge and his sister Nellie in the classic award-winning comedy Nearest and Dearest. Eli - an aging lothario - and Nellie - virtuous to the last but in possession of a wonderfully flexible grip on the English language - inherit clapped out condiment company Pledge's Purer Pickles from their father. Much hilarity ensues amongst the malaproprisms bolshie workforce and none-too-subtle double entendres as the siblin

• All Creatures Great And Small | DVD | (24/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Claude Whatham's 1974 film All Creatures Great and Small is a modest and charming cornucopia of nostalgia, cuddly calves, romance and acerbic-yet-warm-hearted Yorkshire folk. It's based of course on James Herriot's phenomenally popular tales of a vet's life in the Dales and spawned a long-running BBC series with a different cast. Here, we have a fresh-faced Simon Ward as James, joining Siegfried Farnon's small town practice. As the benignly despotic Farnon, a pre-Hannibal Lecter Anthony Hopkins already exudes plenty of brooding charisma. Lisa Harrow, fetching in 1930s slacks, is Helen, the farmer's daughter who catches James' eye. Their adventures with the local animal populace in the incredibly beautiful pre-Second World War Dales run the gamut, from arms up cows' bottoms to tender birthing scenes, over-indulged pooches, horses with torsions and one moment which will strike a poignant note with pet owners of all ages. It's taught and witty thanks to distinguished dramatist Hugh Whitemore's delightful script and as comforting as a warm blanket, a stodgy tea and a roaring fire on a winter's evening. On the DVD: with no extras apart from the chapter list, this is a basic package. Presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic aspect ratio and a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack, it's easy viewing, offering more than adequate picture and sound quality. --Piers Ford

• The Elephant Man | Blu Ray | (28/09/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  David Lynch creator of Twin Peaks and acclaimed director of 'Eraserhead' 'Blue Velvet' and 'Wild At Heart' directs this bizarre but true story of courage and human dignity. John Hurt gives the performance of a lifetime as John Merrick the worst freak known to Victorian medical science a man whose body is hideously distorted into a grotesque parody of an elephant. Rescued from a travelling freak show by Sir Frederick Treves Merrick gradually reveals himself to be a strangely sweet and gentle man remarkably unembittered by the degradation and torment he suffered at the circus. Beautifully shot by Freddie Francis and with an excellent supporting cast including Sir John Gielgud Anne Bancroft and Dame Wendy Hiller The Elephant Man is a compelling moving and enchanting story. The film was nominated for eight Oscars including Best Picture Best Director and Best Actor.

• David Copperfield | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Born to a weak but loving mother soon after his father dies David Copperfield is nine years old when his mother Clara marries Mr Murdstone. A cruel man who believes in extreme discipline he has no hesitation in sending David away to school. Shortly after he is sent away Clara dies and Murdstone seizes the opportunity to send him away for good this time into menial labour at a London wine merchants. It is here that David meets the genial Micawber family and his aunt Betsey arrange

• Children Of The Stones | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £44.99   |  Saving you £-25.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The long awaited release of this cult supernatural serial the complete 7 part series unedited for the first time...! What is the powerful force that seems to have taken hold of the village of Milbury? Why are the people acting so strangely and why do they greet each other with a trancelike ""happy day""? These are the questions facing Matthew and his father soon after their arrival. The answers lie in the giant ancient stones that surround the village - a circle which from which

• The District Nurse - The Complete Series 1 | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The District Nurse the hit BBC drama arrives on DVD for the first time. In the 1920s District Nurse Megan Roberts (Nerys Hughes) is assigned to a poor Welsh mining village where life has hardly changed since Victorian times. Solace is found in booze and religion. Viewed with deep suspicion by many of the locals she soon finds herself battling against powerful farmers local officials and mine owners who care nothing about the villagers' welfare. Digitally remastered for e

• Far From The Madding Crowd | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £17.98   |  Saving you £-4.99 (-38.40%)   |  RRP £12.99

  John Schlesinger's solid adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel sees three rival suitors vying for the affections of the beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie decked out in a variety of bonnets and frilly dresses), who has just inherited a farm. The men in her life are stout, whiskered yeoman Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), an impoverished local farmer; neurotic, repressed squire William Boldwood (Peter Finch); and handsome rascal Sgt Troy (Terrence Stamp), who dresses as if he's Flashman and breaks women's hearts for a hobby.Thanks to cameraman Nic Roeg and production designer Richard MacDonald (who also worked for Joseph Losey), 19th-century Dorset looks as pretty and as picturesque as a John Constable reproduction on top of a biscuit tin. Not that Schlesinger or screenwriter Frederic Raphael underplay the duress of rural life. We see the hardship of the farm workers' lives as the seasons turn. The film opens with a spectacular sequence in which Gabriel Oak's dog drives his flock of sheep over a cliff, thereby forcing him into penury. Whether hunger or heartbreak, every character here suffers. Bathsheba (like the model Christie plays in Darling) is a free-spirit in a society in which women's rights are severely restricted. --Geoffrey Macnab

• Come on Eileen | DVD | (07/11/2011) from £3.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (150.38%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Eileen is a mother of two children, who are both about to fly the nest. A new relationship suddenly comes into her life, and briefly she blooms. However Bill the new boyfriend, a pot smoking ex-cricketer has his own problems.Their fling opens the door to insecurity and paranoia for Eileen and she lapses back to her troubled past and starts to unravel.This touching film treads between darkness, humour and pathos as it follows Eileen attempts to reunite her family and get her life back on track.

• Randall And Hopkirk Deceased - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The second chapter to the terrific remake of the cult classic 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)' stars Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer as the dead detective and his hapless but very much alive partner. Mad ghosts mummified bodies experiments that mysteriously change a person's gender; nothing it seems is beyond the perlexing world inhabited by super-sleuth characters Jeff Randle and Marty Hopkirk aided and abetted by ghost-busting glamour girl Jeannie (Emilia Fox) and Hopkirk's mentor Wyvern (Tom Baker). This release features the complete second series of 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)'. Episodes comprise: Whatever Possessed You?: Jeff and Jeannie are hired to investigate goings on at a hotel that is supposed to be haunted. Jeff has a disbelief in ghosts until Marty re-appears and gives Jeff back his memories of Marty being a ghost. Revenge Of The Bog People: Jeff's ex-fianc''e Freya Cargill asks him to re-open investigations into the death of her Egyptologist father. Jeff and Jeannie head for the museum where he worked and meet some of the strange staff who work there. O Happy Isle: Jeff and Jeannie are hired to investigate the apparent suicide of a young gay man on the remote island of Strait Isle in Scotland the inhabitants of which are starting to show some bizarre character traits. Painkillers: At the request of Bulstrode and Lacey Jeff and Jeannie pose as doctors to investigate activities at a secret underground pain-research laboratory. Marshall & Snellgrove: Jeff and Jeannie are hired to investigate what is happening at the home of an eccentric family. But so are their arch-rivals Marshall & Snellgrove another firm of private detectives... The Glorious Butranekh: When the baby of their secretary Felia is kidnapped by the sinister Butranekh Cult Jeff and Jeannie investigate some unpleasant goings on in Latvia. Two Can Play That Game: Jeff and Jeannie investigate an empty department store where a crook's love of playing games has reached lethal extremes. But Jeff and Marty's relationship has reached such a nadir that Marty is cast adrift in Rhadamanthus-On-Sea.

• Clint Eastwood The Legend Volume 2 | DVD | (24/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £50.99

  Includes the following five great Clint Eastwood movies: Tightrope: By day Wes Block is a conscientious cop raising his two daughters alone. By night he indulges his bizarre sexaul tastes in the sleazy New Orleans twilight world. When a psychopathic sex murderer invades his dark domain Block's profession and personal lives violently conflict... The Rookie: Undercover cop David Ackerman is delighted with his promotion; that is until he meets his partner Nick Pulov

• Dead Zone / Firestarter | DVD | (20/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Dead Zone: Christopher Walken stars as high school teacher Johnny Smith a car crash victim who emerges from a 5 year coma with the ability to see into people's future. Consequently this extra sensory perception enables Johnny to avert several potential disasters and earns him a degree of local celebrity. After his 5 missing years however Johnny has lost both his job and his fiance and he longs for his former existence minus his new 'gift'. That is until he meets with local politicians and would-be Presidential candidate Greg Still son (Martin Sheen) and sees future-events of genuinely cataclysmic proportions. It is only then that Johnny must come to terms with his powers his conscience and his destiny... Firestarter: Firestarter the best-seller by top writer Stephen King came blazing to the screen in a million saga produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Eight year-old Drew Barrymore who won America's heart in E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial stars as the child who has the amazing ability to start fires with just a glance. But can this power and the love of her father save her from the sinister government agency.. 'The Shop'? The top-notch story an all-star cast that includes George C. Scott Martin Sheen Louise Fletcher Art Carney David Keith and Heather Locklear plus amazing special effects and stunts from the masters who worked on Star Wars E.T.-The Extra-Terrestrial and Raiders Of The Lost Ark make Firestarter the classic 80s horror movie.

• The Man Who Haunted Himself | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £9.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (60.06%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Stalked by fear and terror - night and day! Based on an episode from TV's 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' The Man Who Haunted Himself was written and directed by Basil Dearden. After a horrific car crash where he almost dies Harold Pelham returns home to find his life has been overturned. People have seen him places where he cannot have possibly been and his business has been taken over a move which he had opposed before the accident. It soon becomes clear that there is another ""Ha

• And The Ship Sails On | DVD | (13/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Italian cinematic maestro Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita 8 1/2) shows that even in his mid-sixties he had lost none of his power to shock entertain and amaze with And The Ship Sails On his haunting and majestic `comedy of arias'. Made in 1983 the film is set on the eve of the first world war but this matters little to the peacock parade of opera celebrities who cast off on a luxury liner to scatter the ashes of the world's greatest diva near her native adriatic island.

• The Sherlock Holmes Catalogue - The Last Vampyre | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The Last Vampyre is an overblown two-hour adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire", and was perhaps the most ill-advised of Granada Television's Sherlock Holmes series. Entirely contrary to the tone and spirit of Doyle's tale--which finds Holmes victoriously pitting his well-grounded deductive powers against irrational fears of a rise in blood sucking--The Last Vampyre is something of an embarrassment to the largely wonderful legacy of Granada's earlier efforts. (For the record, most of the creative executives who, along with star Jeremy Brett, had made the beloved series what it was in the 1980s were replaced by 1992, the year of this film.) In this version, Holmes does battle with a Dracula-like fellow who may or may not be the real McCoy. There is a great deal of padding to fill out the story to feature length, and it is mostly silly. So, you ask, is there anything to recommend this? Well, there is the ailing Brett's ever-fascinating performance, which deviates from Doyle's vision of the detective hero toward something darker and more personal. Edward Hardwicke does his usual warm and capable work as Dr Watson. --Tom Keogh

• The Protectors - Series 1 Complete | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Harry Rule (Robert Vaughn) is an American lone wolf in London. Contessa di Contini (Nyree Dawn Porter) is a beautiful British aristo abroad. Paul Buchet (Tony Anholt) is a suave Parisian specialising in gadgetry. Together they are The Protectors - three intrepid international private detectives. Alongside other super agents from the world's best detective agencies they are organised into a global secret society their mission is to protect the innocent and apprehend the guilty. Gerry

• Fellini | DVD | (14/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Orchestra Rehearsal (1978): In this sly social and political allegory an orchestra assembles for a rehearsal under the inquisitive lenses of a TV crew. With their bullish union officials lingering on the sidelines the musicians introduce themselves one by one expounding with wit passion and rancour about the characteristics of their instruments. The rehearsal begins under the baton of an autocratic conductor and soon the musicians' bawdy humour turns to anarchy as he tries to impose his will on this diverse group of players... Featuring a superlative score from Nina Rota (The Godfather 1 & 2 expert cinematography from Guiseppe Rotunno (The Leopard) and ingenious production design from Dante Ferretti (Gangs of New York). And The Ship Sails On (1983): Italian cinematic maestro Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita 8 1/2) shows that even in his mid-sixties he had lost none of his power to shock entertain and amaze with And The Ship Sails On his haunting and majestic 'comedy of arias'. Made in 1983 the film is set on the eve of the first world war but this matters little to the peacock parade of opera celebrities who cast off on a luxury liner to scatter the ashes of the world's greatest diva near her native adriatic island. yet their gilded world is about to receive a chill blast of reality. The captain has rescued a group of serbian refugees and an enemy battleship looms on the horizon demanding their surrender. Unbeknown to the passengers their old order is about to be eradicated on a global scale and the ship sails on to a fate as inevitable as that of the Titanic. Ginger And Fred (1986: In this wonderfully affectionate and satirical 1986 film italian cinematic maestro Federico Fellini (La Dolce Vita 8 1/2) celebrates the legacy of Rogers and Astaire - and sends up tacky television - with this touching tale of two elderly dancers who model themselves on cinem's greatest dance duo and who reunite after 30 years for one final TV dance spectacular. starring two of Italy's greatest acting talents: Cannes `best actress' winner Giulietta Masina (Nights Of Cabiria Juliet Of The Spirits La Strada) and oscar nominee Marcello Mastroianni (La Dolce Vita Divorce Italian Style).