"Actor: Garfield Morgan"

• The Sweeney - Vol. 2 - Car Chases | DVD | (06/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  If you were watching TV in the mid-1970s chances are The Sweeney was one of the weekly highlights and these re-mastered collections will have you pining for a time when the only choice was brown or beige, and a monkey would buy you a lot more than a nice whistle. If, however, these episodes are your first taste of Detective Inspector Jack Regan (John Thaw) and Detective Sergeant George Carter (Dennis Waterman) of the Flying Squad, be warned that you will soon be telling friends to "Shut it!" and scouring the pages of Exchange and Mart for a mint-condition Ford Granada in "Tawny Metallic". (Ironically the choice ride for slags in the show was the Jaguar MK2 later to become so closely associated with Thaw's more cerebral take on police work, Inspector Morse.) First aired as 1974's pilot Regan, the show was produced by Thames Television subsidiary Euston Films and ran over four series and 53 episodes. Despite being given strict guidelines on speaking parts, locations and structure, writers were expected to produce scripts very quickly and individual episodes were filmed within 10 working days. Based on this frenetic schedule, the result was a choice parade of slags, blags and assorted lowlife, played out across fantastic London locations with a gritty humour that set the agenda for many of the small-screen cop shows to follow. Regan and Carter manage to fit up a few collars between pints, and even occasionally shed their nylon shirts and flares for a distinctly unromantic interlude between the sheets--brown of course. In "Stoppo Driver", when a gang of villains lose their own driver in a high-speed chase the logical replacement for their next blag is Cooney (Billy Murray), the squad's latest chauffeur who learnt everything he knew from Evel Knievel. Led by Barney ("a tough monkey, plenty of form") the thieves kidnap Cooney's bride on their honeymoon night and blackmail him to help them rob a bent card game. Colin Welland provides the hired muscle in the second episode, "Faces", as renegade ex-marine Tober, visiting the Smoke from Manchester to help a terrorist gang take down four quickfire scores to fund their operations. The Sweeney boys know a hard man when they see one ("he did Smoky Evans with a hatchet") and relish the opportunity for some fisticuffs between styrofoam cups of tea (like "liquid concrete"). Things get messy when a stuck-up intelligence officer tells them the final blag is being faked to rustle out his undercover grass and Regan is forced to stand down, despite having acted on their own pint-sized informant's tip-off: "but it was the dwarf"! --Steve Napleton

• Cubix - The Unfixable Robot | DVD | (13/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The complete first series of this hugely successful television series starring John Thaw as the legendary Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as sidekick George Carter. This is first of four box sets featuring all 13 episodes from series 1. Most of these episodes are new to DVD and 2 episodes have never been previously released on any format. Episodes comprise: 1. Ringer 2. Jackpot 3. Thin Ice 4. Queen's Pawn 5. Jigsaw 6. Night Out 7. The Placer 8. Cover Story 9. Golden Boy 10. Stoppo Driver 11. Big Spender 12. Contact Breaker 13. Abduction

• Hallelujah | DVD | (19/04/2010) from £13.09   |  Saving you £-0.10 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Thora Hird stars as indefatigable Salvation Army Captain Emily Ridley in this popular sitcom which reunites her with In Loving Memory creator and writer Dick Sharples. Also starring Patsy Rowlands (Carry On...) and Geoffrey Bayldon (Catweazle) with guest appearances from Thora Hird's Last of the Summer Wine co-star Michael Aldridge and Countdown legend Richard Whitely Hallelujah! ran from 1981 to 1984; this release comprises the complete first series. For over forty years Emily Ridley has fought the Devil and all his works with a vigour and sincerity second to none. Unfortunately latter-day sinners seem reluctant to respond to the old hellfire-and-brimstone brand of evangelism and Emily's superiors decide it's time for her to lay down her arms and retire from the battlefield. She's posted to the quiet little Yorkshire town of Brigthorpe which she is convinced is in urgent need of salvation...

• Hallelujah - Series 2 - Complete | DVD | (05/07/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Dame Thora Hird stars in one of her own personal favourite roles as the balmiest woman in the Salvation Army! The Sally Army are in need of some salvation themselves - salvation that is from their own dotty Captain Emily Ridley (Thora Hird). For over forty-two years Captain Emily has been in the forefront of the Army's battle against sin and sinners in that modern Sodom and Gomorrah - Yorkshire. She's all fired up with a wild enthusiasm that regular members finda little embarrassing. Now the top brass at the Salvation Army want her to retire but Captain Emily isn't quite ready to hang up her tambourine just yet!