"Actor: Mieko Takamine"

• Monkey! - Episodes 1-3 | DVD | (23/09/2002) from £8.35   |  Saving you £11.64 (139.40%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A loose (very loose) Japanese TV adaptation of Wu Ch'eng-en's 16th-century collection of Chinese fables, Monkey! was re-dubbed into English in the early 1980s and became required viewing for a whole generation of school children. The titular monkey (played with great enthusiasm, not to mention athleticism by Japanese comic actor and former rock star Masaaki Sakai) accompanies boy-monk Tripitaka (confusingly, a pretty actress called Masako Natsume) on his/her quest for the Indian Sutras. They pick up Sandy (Shiro Kishibe), Pigsy (Toshiyuki Nishida) and a dragon that becomes a horse along the way. The appeal of Monkey! is easier to experience than explain. It's an occasionally surreal blend of Oriental fable, knock-about martial arts, pop Buddhism and slapstick comedy. The frequent comic fight scenes are accompanied by a 70s disco-fusion soundtrack, and a narrator (English voice: Frank Duncan) uses gaps in the action to deliver inscrutable snippets of wisdom ("Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse", "Does love mean labour even for the carp-hearted?"). Best of all, though, is the dialogue: without regard to any lip-synch niceties the English script (by David Weir) is full of idiomatic delights, jokes and double entendres. All are delivered by British actors in hilarious cod-Japanese accents (distinguished thesp Miriam Margolyes is the voice of Tripitaka). Bad special effects crown the show's cheesy, retro appeal. On the DVD: Monkey! volume 1 on DVD features the same first three episodes as the VHS incarnation--"Monkey Goes Wild About Heaven", "Monkey Turns Nursemaid" and "The Great Journey Begins"--but also a bonus previously unseen episode from the second season, "You Win Some You Lose Some", which is subtitled not dubbed, so if nothing else is an opportunity to hear the actors' real voices. Extra features are a stills gallery, text pieces on the principal cast, characters and episodes, Weblinks, trailers for The Water Margin and Blake's Seven and a pop-video version of the show's irrepressible main title song.----Mark Walker

• Monkey! - Episodes 1 To 13 | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £20.99   |  Saving you £19.00 (90.52%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Monkey! is a loose (very loose) Japanese TV adaptation of Wu Ch'eng-en's 16th-century collection of Chinese fables, which was re-dubbed into English in the early 1980s and became required viewing for a whole generation of schoolchildren. The titular monkey (played with great enthusiasm, not to mention athleticism by Japanese comic actor and former rock star Masaaki Sakai) accompanies boy-monk Tripitaka (confusingly, a pretty actress called Masako Natsume) on his/her quest for the Indian Sutras. They pick up Sandy (Shiro Kishibe), Pigsy (Toshiyuki Nishida) and a dragon that becomes a horse along the way. The appeal of Monkey! is easier to experience than explain. It's an occasionally surreal blend of Oriental fable, knock-about martial arts, pop Buddhism and slapstick comedy. The frequent comic fight scenes are accompanied by a 70s disco-fusion soundtrack, and a narrator (English voice: Frank Duncan) uses gaps in the action to deliver inscrutable snippets of wisdom ("Even a starving camel is still bigger than a horse", "Does love mean labour even for the carp-hearted?"). Best of all, though, is the dialogue: without regard to any lip-synch niceties, the English script (by David Weir) is full of idiomatic delights, jokes and double entendres ("I can use it as well", boasts Monkey of his staff that grows from a tiny stick into a big pole. "Ooh, I never doubted it, passionate primate", purrs the Dragon Princess into his ear, "go on, make it bigger"). All are delivered by British actors in hilariously cod-Japanese accents (distinguished thesp Miriam Margolyes is the voice of Tripitaka). Bad special effects crown the show's cheesy, retro appeal. ----Mark Walker

• Monkey! - Episodes 27 To 39 | DVD | (27/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  `In the worlds before Monkey Primal Chaos reigned. Heaven sought order. But the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown. The four world's formed again and yet again as endless aeons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essences of heaven the moisture of the Earth the powers of the sun and the moon worked upon a certain rock old as creation. And it became magically fertile. That first egg was named ""Thought"". Tathagata Buddha the Father Buddha said ""With our thoughts w

• Monkey! - Episodes 25-27 | DVD | (24/02/2003) from £4.90   |  Saving you £10.09 (205.92%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Country Of Nightmares: On their way to India the pilgrims must pass through the Land of Nightmares inhabited by all the legions of Hell bad demons and wicked spirits. All humans who go there are eaten and all others must take a magic test upon entry to the land. To allow Tripitaka to travel through safely Monkey disguises him as a beautiful longhaired female demon and teaches him some basic magic. Will the King of Bad Dreams see through Tripitaka's disguise? The

• Monkey! - Episodes 14 To 26 | DVD | (31/05/2004) from £23.99   |  Saving you £16.00 (40.00%)   |  RRP £39.99

  `In the worlds before Monkey Primal Chaos reigned. Heaven sought order. But the Phoenix can fly only when its feathers are grown. The four world's formed again and yet again as endless aeons wheeled and passed. Time and the pure essences of heaven the moisture of the Earth the powers of the sun and the moon worked upon a certain rock old as creation. And it became magically fertile. That first egg was named ""Thought"". Tathagata Buddha the Father Buddha said ""With our thoughts w