Every episode of the classic BBC BAFTA-winning sitcom in high definition for the first time ever. Basil Fawlty is a much put-upon, hard-working hotel manager whose life is plagued by dead guests, hotel inspectors and riff-raff. Of course his biggest headache is his little nest of vipers' - his nagging wife Sibyl. Together they run their hotel, Fawlty Towers, with a little help from the unflappable Polly, and Manuel, the trainee waiter from Barcelona with marginally more intelligence than a monkey.
This Special Edition marks the 30th Anniversary of one of the greatest situation comedies British television has ever seen. Every episode of the BAFTA winning sitcom has been fantastically remastered and for the first time ever John Cleese provides audio commentaries on all 12 episodes. Episodes Comprise: 1. A Touch of Class 2. The Builders 3. The Wedding Party 4. The Hotel Inspectors 5. Gourmet Night 6. The Germans 7. Communication Problems 8. The Psychiatrist 9. Waldorf Salad 10. The Kipper and the Corpse 11. The Anniversary 12. Basil the Rat
Henry Horatio Hobson (Academy Award -Winner Charles Laughton) is the owner of a well-established boot shop in nineteenth century Salford Lancashire and the father of three daughters. The oldest Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) shoulders both home and business responsibilities while Hobson whiles the time away at the local pub. The younger sisters are both being courted by neighbours but Hobson refuses to give the couples settlements. Maggie becomes tired of his oafish behaviour and decides to take matters into her hands by seeking a husband. Much to the hilarity and consternation of her father aged spinster Maggie sets her sights on shy Will Mossop (John Mills) Hobson's master boot-maker. Mossop is at first stunned by the suggestion but eventually agrees to Maggie's authoritative persuasion and together they set up a rival boot shop. A timeless masterpiece that marked a temporary return to David Lean's period adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations Oliver Twist). The film went on to win multiple awards. This film has been digitally restored to its former glory. Special Features: New and exclusive interviews with Prunella Scales and screenwriter Norman Spencer
Often hailed as the greatest ever British sitcom, Fawlty Towers is closer to the more elaborate tradition of farce. Comprising two series made in 1975 and 1979, the total of just 12 episodes were painstakingly constructed by writers John Cleese and Connie Booth. Unlike most British farce, however, Fawlty Towers deals with the big themes--death, psychology, xenophobia and even sex-o-phobia (Basil's marriage to Sybil is the most sterile ever depicted in a sitcom).Basil's contempt for his guests is, of course, legendary. It takes little from patrons to unleash his sledgehammer sarcasm: "Rosewood, mahogany, teak? Sorry, I was wondering what you'd like your breakfast tray made out of," he sneers at a guest who dares request breakfast in bed. Like every Englishman, he wants to be king of his own castle and resents having to take in lodgers to maintain the place, especially the open-necked younger generation, whom he regards as sub-human. Mostly, though, Fawlty Towers is comedy of exasperation--who can forget the "damn good thrashing" Basil gives his clapped-out car, or the nervous breakdowns he almost suffers trying to make himself understood to Manuel? It's also comedy of embarrassment. The very fear of losing his dignity generally leads Basil into the most spectacularly undignified of predicaments. His inevitable misery is our sheer delight.--David StubbsSeries 2: Communication Problems The Psychiatrist Waldorf Salad The Kipper and the Corpse The Anniversary Basil the Rat
Fawlty Towers remains a timeless example of comic writing acting and characterisation at its very best. This fantastic complete collection set features all 12 episodes from this classic series. Episodes titles: 1. A Touch of Class 2. The Builders 3. The Wedding Party 4. The Hotel Inspectors 5. Gourmet Night 6. The Germans 7. Communication Problems 8. The Psychiatrist 9. Waldorf Salad 10. The Kipper and the Corpse 11. The Anniversary 12. Basil the Rat
Henry Horatio Hobson (Academy Award -Winner Charles Laughton) is the owner of a well-established boot shop in nineteenth century Salford Lancashire and the father of three daughters. The oldest Maggie (Brenda De Banzie) shoulders both home and business responsibilities while Hobson whiles the time away at the local pub. The younger sisters are both being courted by neighbours but Hobson refuses to give the couples settlements. Maggie becomes tired of his oafish behaviour and decides to take matters into her hands by seeking a husband. Much to the hilarity and consternation of her father aged spinster Maggie sets her sights on shy Will Mossop (John Mills) Hobson's master boot-maker. Mossop is at first stunned by the suggestion but eventually agrees to Maggie's authoritative persuasion and together they set up a rival boot shop. A timeless masterpiece that marked a temporary return to David Lean's period adaptations of Dickens (Great Expectations Oliver Twist). The film went on to win multiple awards. This film has been digitally restored to its former glory. Special Features: New and exclusive interviews with Prunella Scales and screenwriter Norman Spencer
After going against the wishes of his family to join the Catholic Church twenty years earlier Monsignor Renard returns to the town where he was born. He finds confusion mainly caused by an ineffectual Mayor who is at pains to reassure the anxious populace that threats of occupation are premature. Renard is given a cool reception by his brother Yves resentful that Renard escaped the running of the family business and is accused of scaremongering when he disagrees with the Mayor.
Paul Weller Live At Hyde Park Tracklist: Introduction Sunflower Bull Rush Magic Bus Friday Street Hung Up A Bullet For Everyone Whirlpools’ End Leafy Mysteries Up In Suze’s Room All Good Books Can You Heal Us (Holy Man) This Is No Time Foot Of The Mountain Broken Stones Picking Up Sticks You Do Something To Me Stanley Road Out Of The Sinking Peacock Suit Into Tomorrow The Changingman Standing Out In The Universe Wild Wood Call Me No. 5 Woodc
The adventures of the fast-drivin' rubber-burnin' Duke boys of Hazzard County. Welcome to Hazzard County where cousins Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) spend their days eluding the crooked Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his dimwit Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best). Living with their uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) Bo and Luke somehow find themselves entangled in mess after mess in this well-loved television series. Episodes
Often hailed as the greatest ever British sitcom, Fawlty Towers is closer to the more elaborate tradition of farce. Comprising two series made in 1975 and 1979, the total of just 12 episodes were painstakingly constructed by writers John Cleese and Connie Booth. Unlike most British farce, however, Fawlty Towers deals with the big themes--death, psychology, xenophobia and even sex-o-phobia (Basil's marriage to Sybil is the most sterile ever depicted in a sitcom). Basil's contempt for his guests is, of course, legendary. It takes little from patrons to unleash his sledgehammer sarcasm: "Rosewood, mahogany, teak? Sorry, I was wondering what you'd like your breakfast tray made out of", he sneers at a guest who dares to request breakfast in bed. Like every Englishman, he wants to be king of his own castle and resents having to take in lodgers to maintain the place, especially the open-necked younger generation, whom he regards as sub-human. Mostly, though, Fawlty Towers is comedy of exasperation--who can forget the "damn good thrashing" Basil gives his clapped-out car, or the nervous breakdowns he almost suffers trying to make himself understood to Manuel? It's also comedy of embarrassment. The very fear of losing his dignity generally leads Basil into the most spectacularly undignified of predicaments. His inevitable misery is our sheer delight. -- David Stubbs On the DVD: each six-episode season is given its own disc with a commentary track from John Howard Davies and Bob Spiers, directors of Season 1 and Season 2 respectively. The third disc has all the additional material, the best of which are new interviews with John Cleese, Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales. Also included are text biographies of all the leads and the guest stars, a short background featurette on Torquay and the hotel owner who is said to have inspired Basil, a very short blooper reel of outtakes and a brief teaser with Cleese in character entitled "Cheap Tatty Review". Much of this extra material was comfortably fitted onto the individually available Season 1 and 2 discs, so it's a bit of a mystery why a third disc was deemed necessary for the box set. --Mark Walker
A story of feminism in 19th Century Salford Hobson's Choice deals with the empowering of female characters. Henry Hobson is a widower with a weakness for the pub and the owner of a successful bootmakers. In order to save his finances he denies his three daughters the right to marry. So in rebellion against her father eldest daughter Maggie starts up a relationship and rival bootmakers with Henry's star employee Will.
Based on the best-selling novel, this adaptation about an Australian who has a baby with her aristocratic cad of a boyfriend is written and directed by newcomer Sara Suggarman, who has injected her own particular style into the film.
Unavailable at all for nearly three decades, then issued in a VHS edition in 1996, the Rolling Stones' legendary Rock and Roll Circus finally gets the full treatment with this DVD release documenting the 1968 event. The Stones were reportedly unhappy with their performance (hence the long delay), and it isn't their finest moment; performing "Jumping Jack Flash" and a variety of songs from their then-new Beggars Banquet album, Keith Richards is game, but Jagger's preening (especially on "Sympathy for the Devil") is over the top, and guitarist Brian Jones looks dissolute and well on his way to his death the following year. A certain weirdness permeates some of the other musical acts as well: Jethro Tull lip-syncs unconvincingly, Taj Mahal and band were obliged to perform before the circus set was completed and the audience had arrived, and John Lennon's outing with impromptu supergroup the Dirty Mac (with Richards, Eric Clapton, and drummer Mitch Mitchell) is hampered by Yoko Ono's caterwauling, although their version of the Beatles' "Yer Blues" is cool. Still, the Who are brilliant, Marianne Faithfull is beautiful, the various circus acts are fun, and the crowd clearly loves it. The DVD comes with some fascinating bonus features, including three extra songs by Mahal, some lovely classical piano by Julius Katchen, and a "quad split-screen" version of "Yer Blues". Best of all are a new interview with the Who's Pete Townshend and the various commentary tracks added for the DVD--especially those by Tull's Ian Anderson, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Stones Jagger, Richards, and Bill Wyman (who dryly attributes Jagger's reluctance to issue the show to his dissatisfaction with his own performance, not the band's). Flaws notwithstanding, this is a treat. --Sam Graham
The complete fourth season of the fast drivin' rubber burnin' adventures of the Duke boys of Hazzard County. Welcome to Hazzard County where cousins Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) spend their days eluding the crooked Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his dimwit Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best). Living with their uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) Bo and Luke somehow find themselves entangled in mess after mess in this well-loved te
Hobson's Choice (1953) and The Sound Barrier (1952) is a double bill of cleverly juxtaposed films from David Lean's early canon, demonstrating that even without the landmark epics to come, British cinema would have been an infinitely poorer place without his tremendous contribution. Both films reflect his endlessly penetrating view of human behaviour and its perseverance through obstacles great and small. And both are effectively prisms that reflect all the aspects of that view, keeping the audience's sympathies constantly on the move. Hobson's Choice, based on Harold Brighouse's eternally popular 1916 comedy, boasts fine turns from Charles Laughton--at his brilliant, physical best--as the boot-shop owner with three troublesome daughters, and John Mills as the lowly boot maker, elevated and improved by the eldest daughter Maggie in a neat inversion of the Pygmalion fable. But both are kept in their place by Brenda de Banzie's portrayal of Maggie, a performance that glows with intelligence, truth and increasing warmth. The Sound Barrier is a drama about the race for a supersonic aeroplane. Superficially, its setting is quintessential post-World War II Britain: stiff upper lips, twin beds and clipped Rattigan dialogue. But it's prescient stuff. Ralph Richardson's aircraft manufacturer, sinister in his obsession, is an ominously skilful film performance. And Lean's take on the unthinkable cost of human achievement, interwoven with some spectacular cinematography, absorbs and unsettles. It's especially poignant now that the supersonic age has been summarily ended by Concorde's retirement. On the DVD: Hobson's Choice and The Sound Barrier are both black-and-white films presented in 4:3 picture format, from reasonable prints, and with a mono soundtrack of suitably robust quality for Malcolm Arnold's inventive scores. There are no extras, apart from scene indexes. --Piers Ford
""Just the good ole' boysNever meanin' no harmBeats all you never saw been in trouble with the law since the day they was bornStraightenin' the curvesFlattenin' the hillsSomeday the mountain might get 'em but the law never willMakin' their way the only way they know howThat's just a little bit more than the law will allowJust the good ole' boysWouldn't change if they couldFightin' the system like a true-modern day Robin Hood."" - The Ball
This DVD captures great performances from 1993 to 2003 history in the making as young British rock n' roll flexes its muscles. 1. Ash - Shining Light 2. Blur - Tender 3. British Sea Power - Remember Me 4. Catatonia - Bleed 5. Coldplay - In My Place 6. Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha 7. Doves - The Cedar Room 8. Echo And The Bunnymen - Nothing Lasts Forever 9. Elastica - Connection 10. Elbow - Fugitive Model 11. Embrace - All You Good Good People 12. Feeder - Just The Way I
John Nettles stars as Chief Inspector Barnaby in this feature-length episode of the acclaimed crime series. When a portrait of Jonathan Lowrie a wealthy royalist who was killed by a Roundhead musketeer is slashed at the Aspern Tallow museum Barnaby and Sergeant Troy are called in to investigate. A series of strange events follows and soon the detectives are investigating much more than an act of vandalism.
The complete third season of the fast drivin' rubber burnin' adventures of the Duke boys of Hazzard County. Welcome to Hazzard County where cousins Bo and Luke Duke (John Schneider and Tom Wopat) spend their days eluding the crooked Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his dimwit Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (James Best). Living with their uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and sexy cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) Bo and Luke somehow find themselves entangled in mess after mess in this well-loved tel
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