"Actor: Peter Vaughan"

• Time Bandits | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £9.07   |  Saving you £13.91 (228.78%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With Time Bandits, only his second movie as director, Terry Gilliam's barbed humour and hyperactive visual imagination got themselves gloriously into full gear. Sketched out in a matter of weeks over Michael Palin's kitchen table while Gilliam struggled to get his dream project Brazil off the ground, this is a children's film made by a director who "hates kid films" and all the "mawkish sentimental crap" that goes with them. The 11-year-old hero, Kevin, finds himself lugged out of his suburban bedroom and off through a series of wormholes in time and space by a gang of rapacious, bickering midgets in search of loot, en route encountering (and casually despoiling) a gallery of eminent historical figures that include Agamemnon, Napoleon and Robin Hood, along with assorted ogres, giants and monsters. As co-screenwriters, Gilliam and Palin cheerfully filch ideas from everyone from Homer and Jonathan Swift to Lewis Carroll and Walt Disney, while the sets--as always with Gilliam--ingeniously work towering miracles on puny budgets. "The whole point of fairy tales", according to Gilliam, "is to frighten the kids" and Time Bandits taps into some archetypal nightmare imagery. But the whole farrago is much too good-humoured to be seriously scary. Not least of the movie's pleasures are a series of ripe cameos from the likes of Ian Holm as an irascible Bonaparte, Sean Connery good-humouredly spoofing his own image as Agamemnon, John Cleese's version of Robin Hood as inanely condescending minor royalty ("So you're a robber too! Jolly good!"), David Warner hamming it up gleefully as the Evil Genius, and the great Ralph Richardson playing the Supreme Being as a tetchy public-school headmaster. On the DVD: Time Bandits on disc comes with a generous wealth of extras. Along with the expected trailer--sent up Python-style by a disaffected voice-over--we get excerpts from Gilliam's storyboard and notated script, filmographies for Gilliam, Palin, Connery and David Rappaport (the leader of the vertically challenged gang), stills, production shots, a scrapbook with cast photos and drawings, notes on the film and plenty more background data, plus a cheerfully relaxed 27-minute interview with Gilliam and Palin. There's also an informative and appealingly unpretentious full-length commentary shared between Gilliam, Palin, Cleese, Warner and Craig Warnock, who played Kevin. The transfer, clean and crisp, is in the original full-width ratio, and there's a choice of Dolby Stereo or Dolby 5.1 sound. --Philip Kemp

• Straw Dogs | Blu Ray | (24/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Based on Gordon M. Williams's novel The Siege Of Trencher's Farm and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George Straw Dogs is an unflinching and uncompromising study of primal barbaric brutality that is generally regarded as one of the strongest statements about violence ever put on screen. Quiet American mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his British-born wife Amy (Susan George) relocate to Amy's rural English hometown in an attempt to flee the violent social unrest brewing in the US. When David hires some locals including a former boyfriend of Amy's to repair his barn the couple find themselves being subtly harassed and bullied by the workmen. The more the pacifist David ignores the problem the more the harassment intensifies leading to terrifying consequences as he ultimately finds himself forced to defend his home and his life discovering a frighteningly vicious side to himself as events escalate towards a bloody climax. Boasting outstanding performances from the two leads a brilliant support cast and Jerry Fielding's superb Oscar-nominated score Straw Dogs in the thirty-one years since its original release has lost none of its intense visceral power to thrill and shock in equal measure.

• Albatross | DVD | (06/02/2012) from £19.00   |  Saving you £-3.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Can Emelia and Beth escape the ties of small town existence and free themselves of the Albatross around their necks?

• The Bourne Identity | DVD | (02/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Not to be confused with the 2002 Matt Damon big-screen version, this adaptation of The Bourne Identity is a 1988 two-part TV miniseries based on the Robert Ludlum paperback bestseller. "How can I find out who I am if I've been turned into another person?", cries amnesiac Richard Chamberlain, fished out of the sea by drunken doc Denholm Elliott, who patches him up and discovers a Swiss bank account number sewn into his thigh. Coming to believe that he is Jason Bourne, international assassin, our hero is sought after by the CIA, several European police forces and the gang of an evil terrorist. He hooks up with unlikely economist Jaclyn Smith to get to the bottom of the mystery, stay alive and face the big baddie. Stretched over three hours, this has room for a lot of the complex plot dropped from the big-screen movie, but it also means that the thrills are often interrupted by soap opera scenes. Chamberlain is perhaps too aptly cast as a man without an identity, but Smith matches him for lack of expression without any excuse given in the script. Aside from Donald Moffatt and Shane Rimmer in the CIA, the supporting cast mostly consists of distinguished Brits delivering value-for-money ham, mostly with cod-French accents, especially Anthony Quayle as a DeGaulle-style General, Jacqueline Pearce as a dress-designing spy and Peter Vaughan as a heavy Swiss banker. On the DVD: The Bourne Identity, though made for TV, is presented in widescreen, which sometimes chops off the tops of actors' heads like breakfast eggs but mostly looks fine. There are optional English subtitles. --Kim Newman

• The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £10.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (27.30%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Geoffrey Rush plays the famous actor and founding member of The Goons in this brave and unusual biopic.

• Mountains Of The Moon | DVD | (08/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Bob Rafelson's Mountains Of The Moon based on William Harrison's biographical novel 'Burton and Speke' tells the story of 19th century explorers Captain R.F. Burton (Patrick Bergin) and Lt. John Hanning Speke's (Iain Glen) 1854 expedition to Africa to find the source of the river Nile. Shot in the actual locations where the events unfolded the protagonists sustain injuries and illness and encounter animosity from tribes as they struggle with the uncompromising African wilderness. T

• BBC Ghost Stories Volume Two: The Stalls of Barchester / A Warning to the Curious | DVD | (20/08/2012) from £14.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (33.36%)   |  RRP £19.99

  As a Christmas treat in the late 1960s and 70s, the BBC produced adaptations of ghost stories based on the works of MR James, the Cambridge academic and author of some of the most spine-tingling tales in the English language, which were broadcast to terrified viewers in the dead of winter. This was a tradition that was briefly revived by the BBC between 2007 and 2010.These adaptations, which have a subtlety and style all of their own, have been a major influence on many contemporary British horror filmmakers and have come to be some of the most sought after British TV titles of all time by their legions of eager fans.Volume Two of the BFI's BBC Ghost Stories collection includes the DVD premiere release of 1971's The Stalls of Barchester, starring Robin Hardy, and 1972's A Warning to the Curious (previously released on DVD by the BFI), starring Peter Vaughan.

• The Crucible | DVD | (19/04/2004) from £9.78   |  Saving you £3.21 (32.82%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The Salem witch hunts are given a new and nasty perspective when a vengeful teenage girl uses superstition and repression to her advantage, creating a killing machine that becomes a force unto itself. Pulsating with seductive energy, this provocative drama is as visually arresting as it is intellectually engrossing. Arthur Miller based his classic 1953 play on the actual Salem witch trials of 1692, creating what has since become a durable fixture of school drama courses. It may look like a historical drama but Miller also meant the work as a parable for the misery created by the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s. This searing version of his drama delves into matters of conscience with concise accuracy and emotional honesty. Three passionate cheers for Miller, director Nicholas Hytner and costars Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder. --Rochelle O'Gorman

• Zulu Dawn | DVD | (05/01/2004) from £9.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (40.04%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Cy Endfield cowrote the epic prequel Zulu Dawn 15 years after his enormously popular Zulu. Set in 1879, this film depicts the catastrophic Battle of Isandhlwana, which remains the worst defeat of the British army by natives--the British contingent was outnumbered 16-to-1 by the Zulu tribesmen. The film's opinion of events is made immediately clear in its title sequence: ebullient African village life presided over by King Cetshwayo is contrasted with aristocratic artifice under the arrogant eye of General Lord Chelmsford (Peter O'Toole). Chelmsford is at the heart of all that goes wrong, initiating the catastrophic battle with an ultimatum made seemingly for the sake of giving his troops something to do. His detached manner leads to one mistake after another and this is wryly illustrated in a moment when neither he nor his officers can be bothered to pronounce the name of the land they're in. That it's a beautiful land none the less is made clear by the superb cinematography, which drinks in the massive open spaces that shrink the British army to a line of red ants. Splendidly stiff-upper-lipped support comes from a heroic Burt Lancaster and a fluffy, yet gruff, Bob Hoskins. Although the story is less focused and inevitably more diffuse than the concentrated events of Rorke's Drift that followed soon after, Zulu Dawn is an unflinchingly honest depiction of British Imperial diplomacy. --Paul Tonks

• The Blockhouse (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (17/01/2022) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Based upon harrowing real events which were turned in to a 1955 novel by Jean-Paul Clébert, The Blockhouse starts explosively with an Allied air raid on a Nazi prison camp. Six escaped prisoners take shelter in an underground blockhouse, which is soon destroyed by heavy shelling. Trapped underground, with an almost endless supply of food, wine and candles, the men must endure confinement with no prospect of escape or rescue. Featuring a stunning ensemble cast that includes Peter Sellers (Hoffman), Charles Aznavour (Shoot the Pianist), Peter Vaughan (Symptoms), Jeremy Kemp (The Strange Affair), Per Oscarsson (A Dandy in Aspic) and Leon Lissek (Marat/Sade), The Blockhouse was filmed on the Channel Islands in a horribly dank and dark underground bunker, giving the film a suffocating sense of claustrophobia. This new restoration edition marks the film's worldwide Blu-ray premiere.

• The Avengers : The Definitive Dossier 1968 (Box Set 1) | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Invasion of the Earthmen: Steed has a close escape and Tara has a close encounter. Investigating the disappearance of a fellow agent Steed and Tara find the Alpha Academy brought to their attention: what's the secret behind this sinister school where spacemen walk and boa-constrictors provide security? Our heroes must see themselves clear to keeping an eye on the pupils... The Curious Case of the Countless Clues: Steed helps a friend and Tara has a break. Has a friend of Steed's really committed murder? The evidence against him is strong and only the flimsiest of alibis stands between the man and prison. A gang of extortionists have been using a cunning scheme to get valuable works of art: if Steed's not careful he'll find it's not just the paintings which are being framed... Split! Steed studies handwriting and Tara is nearly in two minds. People are being assassinated by foreign agent Kartovski who is somehow able to reach his victims without them suspecting anything. But this isn't the only neat trick the killer is managing - for John Steed shot him in 1963! Tara and Steed begin the search for a dead man... Get-a-Way! Steed drinks a spy's health and Tara looks at lizards. An assassination campaign by three Russian agents is thought to have been nipped in the bud when they're captured and imprisoned in an inescapable facility. From which they promptly escape. Having learned he's on the hitlist Steed sets out to find the merciless killers who can seemingly vanish at will... Have Guns - Will Haggle: Steed hunts for a special gun and Tara hunts with one. Trampolining raiders steal a consignment of secret rifle the FF70 and an investigating Steed discovers an upcoming auction and a very interested party. Meanwhile Tara has been captured by murderous people who want her to help them with their sight tests... Wildest Dream

• The Remains of the Day | DVD | (11/06/2012) from £7.40   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Stevens is the perfect English butler. Now employed by Mr Lewis, the new American owner of Darlington Hall, Stevens has spent the best part of his working life serving Lord Darlington, the host of many prestigious international conferences in the 1930s. It was only when war broke out in 1939, that Lord Darlington's involvement with the Nazi party was uncovered. Now, twenty years later, Stevens realizes that his unquestioning faith and dedication to duty were misplaced, and cost him dearly in his own personal life. Over several years, he carried on an intense relationship with the Estate's attractive young housekeeper, Miss Kenton. But his unwavering sense of duty led Stevens to deny his emotions and eventually drive away the one woman he loved. Now he wants to make amends...An extraordinary story of blind emotion and repressed love, The Remains Of The Day achieved an astounding 8 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actress. Anthony Hopkins received the BAFTA Award for the Best Performance by an actor in a leading role.

• Time Bandits | DVD | (06/02/2006) from £13.98   |  Saving you £-7.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  All the dreams you've ever had.... and not just the good ones. The first of three Terry Gilliam films collectively referred to as his Trilogy of the Imagination (along with Brazil and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) Time Bandits is a wonderfully inventive fantasy with a massive cult following and universal appeal. A sleeper hit in 1981 the film grossed well over eight times its million budget. Co-written by Gilliam and fellow Monty Python veteran Michael Palin (who also appears in the film) Time Bandits tells the story of Kevin (Craig Warnock) a young imaginative boy kidnapped by a band of mischievous dwarves who have stolen a map of the universe detailing the locations of holes in the space-time continuum from the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson). The dwarves with Kevin in tow set off on a bizarre journey back and forth though time with the intention of looting the fortunes of history's rich and famous. Along the way they meet the likes of King Agamemnon (Sean Connery) Robin Hood (John Cleese) and Napoleon (Ian Holm) among others and even get to sail on the Titanic moments prior to its unfortunate encounter with an iceberg. Unknowingly the diminutive bandits are being watched by the spectre of Evil Genius (David Warner) who wants the map for his own typically wicked purposes...

• British Crime - Face/Mean Machine | DVD | (20/10/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Face: At thirty five Ray's learned the tricks and done the time. Now he's a face - a villain to be reckoned with and definitely not to be crossed - ready for the blag the big score that'll really set him and his team up. Although the job goes smooth and sweet the take doesn't scratch the three million the gang had it figured for. And when somebody starts thieving from the thieves and people start getting blown away Ray's got some serious thinking to do before the traitor -

• The Tomorrow People - Series 1 - The Slaves Of Jedikiah / Medusa Strain / The Vanishing Earth | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Their names are John Stephen Carol and Kenny... they seem to be just ordinary kids perhaps a bit quieter than most but they are The Tomorrow People forerunners of a new race... the homo superior. Gifted with superhuman powers they are nature's response to man's aggression: a new species wiser and more peace loving than homo sapiens and until more of their race evolve these four have intergalactic responsibility for the future of Planet Earth. Slaves Of Jedikiah 14-

• Beauty | DVD | (17/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Simon Nye's modern reworking of Beauty And The Beast stars Martin Clunes as Tom Fitzhenry an ugly reclusive aristoccrat who lives on his beautiful slightly decaying estate. He despairs of ever having a relationship with a woman. Tom never leaves his home unless venturing out to attend to his roses. Tom is forced to hire a plumber for an urgent job to the mansion. Along comes cathy a quirky vivacious barmaid from the council estate in the village who carries out the plumbing work

• Sins - Complete | DVD | (25/09/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Helene Junot is rich beautiful powerful and envied for her success but is surrounded by enemies who seek to destroy her. As a young girl Helene witnessed the murder of her mother was seperated from her brother and sister and was herself both beaten and raped by the Nazi's in Paris. Helene now a fully grown woman meets a photographer who puts her on the road to fame as the hottest model in Paris until she turns her hand to design and becomes a director of a top fashion house. Helene attracts many men both good and bad especially in the case of Count De Ville but she meets an American Officer on his way to Vietnam and falls madly in love but happiness eludes her as she is forced to borrow money to pay a famed Nazi hunter to track down her long lost brother who has spent 15 years in a mental institution. Helene's empire flourishes but the ruthlessness and calculative ambition in business and her quest for revenge costs her dear as she has to deal with her many enemies as her life enters a new dimension when she has to fight for her own survival and that of her empire.

• Smokescreen/Hi-Jackers | DVD | (22/03/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Hi-Jackers Terry a lorry driver meets Shirley at a roadside cafe and offers her a lift. His truck carrying a valuable shipment of whiskey is later hijacked but who tipped off the hijackers? Smokescreen A parsimonious insurance assessor is assigned the task of investigating the mysterious death of a businessman. Was it an accident? Suicide? Or something more sinister?

• A Warning To The Curious | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £28.78   |  Saving you £-12.79 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Dim the lights stoke up the fire and settle down for a classic chiller from the BBC's much loved A Ghost Story for Christmas series. Based on a story by the master of the supernatural tale M.R. James A Warning to the Curious tells the tale of three fabled crowns buried on the Norfolk coast which according to legend protect England from invasion. When an amateur archaeologist (Peter Vaughan) goes treasure hunting for the last remaining crown he digs up more than he bargained for.

• Look-Back on 70s Telly - Issue 4 | DVD | (01/05/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Back in the day when childrens' programmes were, by turns, fun, challenging, dramatic, spooky, hilarious and fantastic, tea-time programming was a staple part of the lives of millions of kids. Diverse and highly popular, it fired imaginations and was invariably an integral part of any worthwhile playground antics the next day.