"Actor: J R Jones"

• The Christmas Star | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £5.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (150.25%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Disney gives families a gift full of the spirit of the season as Ed Asner plays Horace McNickle a counterfeiter who escapes prison through his extraordinary likeness to St. Nick. The Police are closing in but Christmas is near so there are redsuited ones everywhere. McNickle is desperate to recover loot from an earlier caper and can't make a move until he takes advantage of two neighborhood kids who really believe he is Santa. After the kids come through it dawns on him that he has always missed the true meaning of the holidays. rather than make good on his escape he tries to make good on his promises.

• A Stitch In Time | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Norman Wisdom returns as his famous "Pitkin" character, but also for the first time since his appearance in 1958's The Square Peg, Edward Chapman is also back to provide Norman with the excuse to reprise his immortal catch-phrase "Mr Grimsdale". Following on from the previous year's On the Beat, this is actually Wisdom's third adventure as Norman Pitkin, and he certainly has a thing about uniforms. In the previous pictures he was in the army then the police, while here he succeeds in causing chaos in a St. John's Ambulance unit, as well as donning drag to play a blonde nurse complete with suspender belt and silk stockings. Each Norman Wisdom movie usually sees him as the accidental Lord of Misrule in one institution or another, and this time its the NHS: after being banned from his local hospital, Norman resorts to subterfuge to visit a little orphan girl. There's an autobiographical touch here, as Wisdom himself was raised in an orphanage and centred the plot of One Good Turn (1954) around such an establishment. It's all good fun and clearly shows where such later British comedy as Michael Crawford's BBC TV series Some Mothers Do 'Av 'Em (1973-78) found its inspiration. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Frasier - Complete Series 4 | DVD | (18/07/2005) from £6.98   |  Saving you £28.01 (401.29%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Frasier's fourth season was mostly about relationships. Niles (David Hyde Pierce), now separated from Maris, is back on the market like his bachelor brother, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). That's great when the pair goes to a cabin with a pair of fetching women (Megan Mullaly, later of Will and Grace, and Lisa Darr), but Niles is never able to completely dispel his attachment to his suffocating wife... or to Daphne (Jane Leeves). His obsession with the latter gets an immediate burst in the season's first episode, in which he has to masquerade as Daphne's husband, then later comes to a head when she appears at his apartment door asking to stay the night. The boys have the usual disputes with their father (John Mahoney), including their disdain for the former cop's new girlfriend, Sherry (Marsha Mason), the boisterous, banjo-twangin', "gotcha"-playing bartender who would remain a regular cast member through the end of the series. Ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes her annual appearance, this time when she and Frasier try to get Frederick into an exclusive prep school. And the title character? As much as Frasier teases his producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) about her dating habits, he himself is lonely, leading him to a memorable airport encounter with guest star Linda Hamilton and a season finale that proves a kind of a harbinger to the series' final episode. This season made Frasier a perfect four-for-four at the Emmys, winning its fourth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Unlike previous seasons, this DVD set has no bonus features. --David Horiuchi

• The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (30/08/2021) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Produced by Motown and based on the best-selling 1973 novel of the same name by William Brashler considered to be one of the greatest sporting books ever written The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings is set amid the segregated African American baseball league of the 1930s, and follows one enterprising team's journey from humble beginnings to championship-winning success. Directed with flair by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever, Dracula), this classic feel-good comedy features a stellar cast including a pre-Star Wars pairing of Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones, and comedy legend Richard Pryor (Blue Collar) Special Features High Definition remaster Original mono audio Audio commentary with director John Badham (2007) Interview with actor Billy Dee Williams (2021) Original theatrical trailer John Badham trailer commentary (2013) Radio spots Image gallery: promotional and publicity material New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing Limited edition exclusive booklet with a new essay by Rebecca Nicole Williams, archival reports on a promotional baseball match between the casts of The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings and The Bad News Bears, an archival interview with star Billy Dee Williams, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and full film credits World premiere on Blu-ray Limited edition of 3,000 copies Extras subject to change

• Inspector Morse - Disc 7 And 8 - Last Bus To Woodstock / The Ghost In The Machine | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £6.62   |  Saving you £8.37 (126.44%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• The Little Princess | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £6.19   |  Saving you £-1.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Sara Crew (Shirley Temple) is sent to boarding school by her widowed father Captain Crewe (Ian Hunter) so he can go and fight in the Boer War. When he is reported killed Sara is treated like a servant by the spiteful headmistress and can only cling to the hope that her father will one day return.

• Studio Classic: Classic War Movies | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £5.99   |  Saving you £29.00 (484.14%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The Longest Day (Dir. Ken Annakin and Andrew Marton 1962): On June 6 1944 the Allied Invasion of France marked the beginning of the end of Nazi domination over Europe. The attack involved 3 000 000 men 11 000 planes and 4 000 ships comprising the largest armada the world has ever seen. Presented in the original black & white version The Longest Day is a vivid hour-by-hour re-creation of this historic event. Featuring a stellar international cast and told from the perspectives of both sides it is a fascinating look at the massive preparations mistakes and random events that determined the outcome of one of the biggest battles in history. Sink The Bismarck! (Dir. Lewis Gilbert 1960): In the Spring of 1941 Nazi Germany's greatest battleship - the Bismarck scourge of Atlantic shipping - is pinned down at her anchorage in Norway. Making a break for freedom and the safety of air cover from the Luftwaffe the great ship is chased by the Royal Navy. Eventually after heavy casualties including the loss of HMS Hood the Bismarck is finally trapped and sunk. Kenneth More stars as Captain Shepherd - the Admiralty's Director of Naval Operations - who embittered by the death of his wife in an air raid is assigned to this post just as the Bismarck makes its escape. The Desert Rats (Dir. Robert Wise 1953): Richard Burton stars in this exciting film about the courageous men who held off notorious German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel despite being hopelessly outnumbered. The year is 1941 and all that stands between Rommel and the Suez Canal is the fortress of Tobruk which is manned only by a small Australian battalion whom Captain MacRoberts (Burton) must whip into shape - fast! James Mason co-stars in a stunning portrayal as Rommel in this stirring action-packed story of the World War II heroes known as the Desert Rats. Twelve O'Clock High (Dir. Henry King 1949): Convinced an Air Force Commander is at breaking point Brigadier General Savage (Gregory Peck) takes over his struggling bomber group. At first resentful and rebellious the flyers gradually change as Savage guides them to amazing feats. But the stress of command soon takes its toll and the weary general reaches his own breaking point. Authentic aerial battle footage and numerous acclaimed performances make Twelve O'Clock High a credible stirring tale of courage and sacrifice. A Farewell To Arms (Dir. Charles Vidor 1957): This dense adaption of Ernest Hemingway's novel features Rock Hudson as American soldier Lt. Henry and his ill-fated love affair with British Nurse Catherine portrayed by Jennifer Jones during World War I. The two lovers will stop at nothing to be together but Lt. Henry's internal struggles ultimately threaten the relationship. Hemingway's theme of questioning the nature of war and fighting is fully recognised under Charles Vidor's direction.

• Danielle Steele's The Ring | DVD | (27/04/2015) from £13.85   |  Saving you £2.14 (15.45%)   |  RRP £15.99

  During WW II, a young German woman is separated from her family and imprisoned by the Nazis. After being freed she falls in love with and marries a German officer. When Berlin falls to the Russians, and her husband killed, she flees to America, carrying his unborn child, all the while not giving up hope that she will find her family, tied together by her mother's ring.

• Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - Peril At End House Parts 1 And 2 | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-3.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  While the little Belgian detective and his English sidekick are enjoying their holidays on the Cornish Riviera a chance meeting with Miss Buckley of nearby End House provides Poirot with the stimulation on which his little grey cells thrive.

• 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

• Event Horizon Collector's Edition | Blu Ray | (23/03/2021) from £27.61   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Stargate S.G -1: Season 3 (Vol. 10) | DVD | (26/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's pet primary unit SG-1 With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld--the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. The welcome notion of a continued plot thread sees offshoots that follow the reincarnation of Daniel's wife, Sam's father joining a renegade faction of the Goa'uld, and Jack in an unending quest to out-sarcasm everyone. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but amid a dearth of derivative look-a-likes, Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. --Paul TonksOn this DVD: This volume begins in confusion when the S.G.1 team discover a military camp training for "Rules of Engagement". All is not what it seems however. The same is true of "Forever in a Day", when Daniel's wife Sha're is killed by Teal'c. This episode begins an important storyline about her stolen child who is a "Harcesis", an illegal breeding between Goa'uld hosts. Then an earlier thread is picked up in "Past and Present" on planet Vyus whose people all suffer amnesia. Their leader Ke'ra (played by Megan Leitch who's portrayed Mulder's missing sister in The X-Files) is a link to the earlier "Prisoners" episode and the dangerous "destroyer of worlds". Closing the volume is a cliffhanger in which Sam must attempt to rescue her father, face Satan himself on a prison moon, and resurrect "Jolinar's Memories" from the Goa'uld she was briefly possessed by. Trapped in Hell, the team's escape seems impossible. As well as trailers for the next volume, the disc includes a 10-minute interview with Christopher Judge on his 97-year-old character Teal'c. He spends much of the time recalling plot points, but his philosophy of the show as a social allegory is refreshing. --Paul Tonks END

• New In Town | Blu Ray | (29/06/2009) from £10.75   |  Saving you £14.24 (132.47%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Renee Zellweger stars as the career woman who embarks on the challenge of her life, only to discover the love of her life waiting for her there!

• Poirot - Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Mysterious Affair At Styles | DVD | (16/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Another intriguing investigation for Agatha Christie's famed Belgian detective... The Mysterious Affair At Styles was Agatha Christie's debut novel and was first published in 1920. The story introduced Poirot her eccentric and fastidious creation to an enthusiastic public. Lieutenant Hastings is recovering from his war injuries when he receives an invitation to visit his old friends the Cavendish family at Styles St Mary. Staying nearby as guests of the Cavendishs' are a group of Belgian refugees including much to Hastings' surprise his old acquaintance from the Belgian Police Hercule Poirot. Before long the pair are pitting their little grey cells against family machinations and manipulation; murder and mayhem; money and mendacity.

• Demetrius And The Gladiators | DVD | (18/02/2002) from £324.98   |  Saving you £-310.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This enormously successful sequel to The Robe continues the story of Demetrius (Victor Mature) the Greek slave who after the death of his master is sentenced to train as a gladiator in the Roman arena. There his newfound Christian faith is put to the test when he has to contend not only with the swordsmen and wild beasts of the arena but also the evil and sensuous Messalina (Susan Hayward) and the mad emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson). Crammed with astonishing action and fight sequences this heroic epic is not to be missed!

• Kavanagh Q.C. - The Complete Series 3 - Episodes 1 To 6 | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £11.48   |  Saving you £8.51 (42.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From a northern working-class background James Kavanagh has climbed to the top of an elite profession through hard work and a love of the law. But his dedication to work the long hours and difficult cases have taken their toll on lfe at home with his wife and two teenage children. Episodes comprise: Mute Of Malice Blood Money Ancient History Diplomatic Baggage The Ties We Bind In God We Trust.

• Inspector Morse - Disc 29 And 30 - The Way Through The Woods / The Daughters Of Cain | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £4.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (201.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and storylines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep down, sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whately's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter said he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• Sgt. Bilko | DVD | (18/09/2017) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  The army is known for churning out lean mean fighting machines intent on protecting our great nation. But at Fort Baxter, there s one unit that can t even form a straight line... Steve Martin stars with Dan Aykroyd and Phil Hartman in an outrageous comedy from Imagine Entertainment. Martin is the inexplicable, the incorrigible, the invincible Sgt. Bilko, leader of a ragtag group of the sorriest soldiers ever to enlist in the armed forces. Instead of training his troops for battle, he passes on his legacy of gambling and shunning responsibility. Times get tough however, when the base is threatened with a shutdown, and a by-the-book adversary, Major Thorn (Hartman), is intent on taking Bilko s reputation down with it. Now, all bets are on Bilko to drum up his biggest scheme yet to save Fort Baxter...and clear his name!

• Joe Strummer - Story | DVD | (01/01/2020) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (-29.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This special edition of Joe Strummer The Clash And Beuyond seeks to explore and identify the music and the reasons behind the split of one of the most iconic punk rock groups of the day The Clash. The DVD features rare footage and exclusive interviews with Joe Strummer Mick Jones Paul Simonon Topper Headon and many others!

• Fantasia 2000 | DVD | (27/11/2000) from £4.88   |  Saving you £15.11 (309.63%)   |  RRP £19.99

  More ambitious in scope than any of its other animated films (before or to come), Disney's 1940 Fantasia was a dizzying, magical and highly enjoyable marriage of classical music and animated images. Fantasia 2000, originally made for the IMAX large-screen format, features some breathtaking animation and storytelling, and in a few spots soars to wonderful high points, but it still more often than not has the feel of walking in its predecessor's footsteps as opposed to creating its own path. A family of whales swimming and soaring to Respighi's The Pines of Rome is magical to watch, but ends all too soon; a forest sprite's dance of life, death and rebirth to Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring too clearly echoes the original Fantasia's Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence. But when it's on target, Fantasia 2000 is glorious enough to make you giddy. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" is a perfect narrative set to Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, and Donald Duck's guest appearance as the assistant to Noah (of the Ark fame) set to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance marches is a welcome companion piece (though not an equal) to The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the one original Fantasia piece included here. The high point of Fantasia 2000, though, is a fantastic day-in-the-life sequence of 1930s New York City set to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and animated in the style of cartoonist Al Hirschfeld; it's a perfect melding of music, story and animation style. Let's hope future Fantasias (reportedly in the works) take a cue from the best of this compilation. The music is provided by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by James Levine, interspersed with negligible intros by Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones and others. --Mark EnglehartFantasia and Fantasia 2000 are also available together in the three-disc DVD Fantasia Collection.