"Actor: John Salthouse"

• Abigail's Party | DVD | (26/05/2003) from £5.49   |  Saving you £10.50 (191.26%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Originally screened as part of BBC's Play for Today series in 1977, Abigail's Party is among Mike Leigh's most celebrated pieces, with his then-wife Alison Steadman appallingly brilliant as what Alan Bennett described as the "brutal hostess" at a ghastly suburban soiree. The Abigail of the title never appears--rather, the dull thud of her lively teenage party forms a distant backdrop (and contrast) to an excruciating evening of chilled red wine, olives and the music of Demis Roussos. Steadman plays the overbearing Beverley, an Amazonian mass of frustrated sensuality in a low-cut party frock. Tim Stern is her small, stressed estate-agent husband. The guests are Janice Duvitski as Angela, a nurse whose quite spectacular gormlessness shields her from the stilted social awkwardness quietly raging around her, John Salthouse as Tony, her taciturn husband and Harriet Reynolds as Sue, the gangly and miserably nervous mother of Abigail. Rather than play for gags, Leigh and his actors mercilessly turn the screw of embarrassment through a series of too-true-to-life exchanges of dialogue, the stuff of all our collective worst memories of encounters with neighbours, aunts and office colleagues. Often misread as a satirical parade of suburban grotesques, Abigail's Party probes deeper than that, touching on nerves of anxiety and repression that throb behind the net curtains of modern England, culminating not in farce but tragedy. Decades on, Abigail's Party is as psychologically true and close to home as ever--hard to bear but utterly brilliant. On the DVD: Abigail's Party is perfectly reproduced here in all its 1970s garishness. The one extra is a short featurette, focussing on Alison Steadman's playing of Beverley, with comments from the original actors in the TV series and Peter York marvelling at her "paint-scraping" voice. --David Stubbs

• The Bill - The Complete Series 1 | DVD | (06/06/2005) from £34.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The old lady of UK crime-drama finally makes its way to DVD with this box set of series. Bringing hard-hitting storylines and gritty acting The Bill was something of a revolution when it first hit our screen courtesy of ITV. Now in it's 21 year the Bill continues to march on to TV legend status. Episodes comprise: 1. Funny Ol' Business - Cops & Robbers 2. A Friend In Need 3. Clutching At Straws 4. Long Odds 5. It's Not Such A Bad Job After All 6. The Drugs Raid 7. A Dange

• Prick Up Your Ears | DVD | (10/10/2005) from £7.97   |  Saving you £0.02 (0.25%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Based on John Lahr's biography of the same name and co-written by Alan Bennett, Prick Up Your Ears charts the 16-year relationship between the monstrously talented but deeply selfish playwright Joe Orton (Gary Oldman), author of West End farces such as Loot and What the Butler Saw, and his neurotic but nevertheless wronged lover and collaborator Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina). Halliwell introduced Orton to art, literature and gay sex only to see his protégeacute; outstrip his mentor with innate and rampant talent for sexual conquest. By turns hilarious and excoriatingly painful, it's as much a tribute to an anti-hero of our times-Orton's ruthless frankness and anarchic mindset helped form the basis of what's called the "queer" sensibility today--as it is a portrait of the Swinging 60s just after the reform of anti-homosexuality laws irrevocably changed society. The modern-day framing device has Lahr (Wallace Shawn) researching his book through interviews with Peggy Ramsay (Vanessa Redgrave), Orton's agent and the diary he wrote, a nimble device which ends up drawing a provocative parallel between Orton and Halliwell's relationship and that of Lahr and his wife (Lindsay Duncan). Director Stephen Frears, fresh off the back of the also-gay-themed My Beautiful Laundrette, nimbly balances our sympathies for both the protagonists while the leads give what may in retrospect look like the standout performances of their careers: Oldman was never more feral and charming, while Molina, foppishingly fretting over his wig and decrying that his lover "even sleeps better than I do" is simply heartbreaking. --Leslie Felperin

• Sharman - The Complete Series | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Sharman: The Complete Series (3 Discs)

• Goal! 3 - Taking On The World | DVD | (15/03/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Goal! 3: Taking On The World is the third part of the football film trilogy Goal! and is directed by legendary music video Director (Andy Morahan). Taking place during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany it sees Mexican footballer Santiago Munez (Kuno Becker) pitted against his Real Madrid team-mates and England players Charlie Braithwaite (Leo Gregory) and Liam Adams (JJ Feild) in a mutual quest to lift sport's ultimate prize. Also starring are (Nick Moran) and (Tamer Hassan). Santi is motivated to try and win the trophy for his late father and family back in Los Angeles and Madrid. Meanwhile Charile and Liam just want to try and end the Three Lions' '40 years of pain'. For all three charismatic footballers the path to potential success is one fraught with temptations and torments - and all three have to deal with personal issues off the pitch that affects their roles on it. Gracing the screen with a splash of glamour are two beautiful WAG'S: Italian actress Sophia Tardelli (Kasia Smutniak) and one of our heroes' ex-girlfriends June (Anya Lahiri). Also following the tournament around Germany in their St George's Cross festooned camper van are the 'Geordie Boys' whom we first met back in Goal!. Providing the often hilarious fan's perspective of the matches are Gordon (Mike Elliott) Foghorn (Christopher Fairbank) Walter (Jack McBride) and Phil (Craig Heaney). The film includes incredible football action shot at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals in Germany which was shot by legendary Director (Michael Apted)