"Actor: John Yardley"

• Regan - The Original Sweeney Pilot Movie | DVD | (12/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  This is the pilot episode that launched the television series The Sweeney. Jack Regan is a good copper but his tough intuitive style is becoming unfashionable in a Scotland Yard seeking a new technocratic image. When a policeman is mysteriously murdered Regan breaks all the rules to find the killer but he finds there are men in the Flying Squad equally prepared to break him...

• Learn To Paint - Watercolours In The Home And Garden | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  To begin painting in watercolour all you need is a few tubes or pans of paint a brush and a sheet of paper. Compared to many other media the process is relatively simple ie: 'just add water'. This simplicity can lead you to believe that painting in watercolour should be relatively easy but many people find it a difficult medium to get to grips with. Rather than being a relaxing creative pastime the learning process can be full of frustration. This journey of discovery and creation however can be a real pleasure if carried out in a structured and fun way gradually building up the skills and confidence necessary to create those magical atmospheric effects for which watercolour has no rival. The 'Learn To Paint' series will show you how to get there and at the same time enjoy your journey of discovery and creation.

• Regan - The Movie | DVD | (06/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Regan is classic TV drama that will have you saying, "they don't make 'em like that any more". This is the feature-length pilot to what became the long-running TV series The Sweeney, starring John Thaw and Dennis Waterman as the hard-as-nails Flying Squad double act. The story opens in a south London pub decorated in shades of brown so manifold that it forms a patina on the screen more normally associated with a painterly artist. It's the early 1970s, and Thaw's Inspector Regan is a lone ranger fighting on several fronts including the imminent modernisation of the police force, which he describes as a vision of "hundreds of little grey men working on top of each other, pots of tea and committees". The dialogue is clever, rich and funny. When Regan tries to persuade Carter to work with him on the case he growls: "Mary darling, I'm not trying to start an affair with you." The heroes have thinning hair and bad habits: Regan drinks whiskey in the middle of the day and constantly smokes, he's lost his wife, let down his daughter, and then loses his girlfriend (Maureen Lipman). The filming is wonderfully crafted--shots taken from odd angles, action that surprises and gritty London locations. "You're a copper. You belong like me out in the cold," Regan says to Carter in the last scene as they go off to get a drink out of licensed hours. Not the end, but the start of a beautiful relationship. --Joan Byrne