"Actor: Sid James"

• Tom's Midnight Garden | DVD | (02/04/2001) from £10.90   |  Saving you £5.09 (46.70%)   |  RRP £15.99

  An enchanting adaptation of the classic children's book by Philippa Pearce about Tom Long who has to spend the summer at his aunt's house.

• Comedy Classics - Orders are Orders | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £13.48   |  Saving you £-3.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Long Lost Comedy Classics is a collection of films from a golden age of British Cinema remembered stars and some unique movies that have stood the test of time. So why not take a trip down memory lane and see how cinema used to be? A Sleepy army barracks is about to be overrun by a film company planning to shoot a science fiction caper. And it's not long before the enticing female stars persuade the boys of the brigade to take part - much to the annoyance of the Divisional Commander who decides to make a surprise inspection. This wonderful comedy is packed with character and features some of the finest British talent of the age - including Tony Hancock Peter Sellers and Sid James.

• Too Many Crooks | DVD | (27/05/2002) from £4.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (100.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Too Many Crooks (1958) boasts an intricate plot in which Terry Thomas is being blackmailed for the hoards he's stashed away as a renowned tax dodger. Driving around in a Jaguar XK 150, a desirable sports car of the period, his intricate private life unravels as his put-upon wife, Brenda de Banzie, draws on her expertise as a wartime PT instructress to turn the tables on him by marshalling the support of a band of crooks (George Cole, Sidney James, Bernard Bresslaw and Joe Melia). Look out for the very funny court scene, where TT makes three appearances on separate charges before a bemused magistrate, John Le Mesurier. On the DVD: Too Many Crooks is in 4:3 ratio and has a mono soundtrack. The only extra feature is a trailer. More TT tomfoolery can be found in the three-disc Terry Thomas Collection. --Adrian Edwards

• Carry On Cleo | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £5.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (183.64%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Ninth entry in the Carry On series. Ancient British slaves save Caesar (Kenneth Williams) from assassination in Rome 50 B.C. Meanwhile Mark Antony (Sid James) romances Egyptian Empress Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie). Revolting Britons include Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey while Warren Mitchell plays a partner in the slave-trading firm Markus & Spencius.

• Carry On Up The Jungle | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £4.88   |  Saving you £8.11 (166.19%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Up the Jungle has worn less well than some of the others in the series, simply because the African exploration genre it parodies--with its cannibals, great white hunters and lost Amazon tribes--is so entirely out of fashion. Still, Frankie Howerd made so comparatively few films that in one which has him as an ornithologist searching for rare birds in the company of Joan Sims and Sid James is not going to be entirely without interest. He has few great moments here, but runs through his usual repertoire of groans and horse-faced sorrowful expressions with brio. The idea of Terry Scott playing Tarzan is in itself such a good joke that it hardly matters that most of what follows is him swinging, on ropes, into obstacles. --Roz Kaveney

• Last Holiday | Blu Ray | (09/03/2020) from £14.95   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  LAST HOLIDAY is a 1950 black comedy starring Alec Guinness in fine form as George Bird, a mild-mannered salesman, who's been told by his Doctor that he only has a short time left to live. Determined not to waste his final days, he decides to go on one last holiday to live the rest of his life to the full. Written by renowned novelist and playwright J.B. Priestley, LAST HOLIDAY is a timeless parable on the notion that life is not just about how long you live, but how well. Extras: NEW: Interview With Cultural Historian Matthew Sweet Personalities: J.B. Priestley (1944) Behind The Scenes Stills Gallery

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Season 2 | DVD | (28/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £84.99

  The second series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine must have caused mixed feelings for those involved. There was a sense of optimism behind the scenes that stemmed from having gained a loyal following--made up of plenty of new fans--in its relatively short first year. The show had genuinely succeeded in being different from its predecessors. Better still, The Next Generation would be bowing out gracefully halfway through this year. So it was that, with several more series guaranteed, the writers changed tack from standalone tales and into long-running story arcs. This was immediately evident in the format-testing three-part opening. Through the actions of Kira and her old pals, we saw that the Bajorans would only ever work toward their own agenda, whereas the Cardassians easily switched sides to suit their various agendas. The Federation was hardly innocent of political machinations either, especially with the discovery of the Maquis terrorists a few episodes later. This three-way dynamic would underpin the entire run of the show. Expanding upon it was the handover of the Klingon saga from The Original Series and TNG, in which old warhorses Kor, Kang and Koloth first appeared. That left the Ferengi to maintain an element of fun with their Rules of Acquisition (Number 112: "Never have sex with the boss's sister"), exploration of their sexist culture and, naturally, through everything touched by the scene-stealing Quark (who was rewarded with a cameo for his real life wife). What seemed like standalone stories--Odo meeting his mentor, a trip into The Original Series' parallel universe and the culminating encounter with some super-soldiers (the Jem'Hadar)--later turned out to be more optimistic seed-sowing. Unfortunately, this second series also began with some concern about a competitor franchise, which started at exactly the same time as TNG ended. The impact of Babylon 5 on DS9 and TV SF in general by the end of the year could never have been envisioned at the start. --Paul Tonks

• Hell Drivers | DVD | (26/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hell Drivers sees James Bond (Sean Connery), Doctor Who (William Hartnell), one of the men from UNCLE (David McCallum), the Prisoner (Patrick McGoohan) and a Professional (Gordon Jackson), all supporting Stanley Baker in this hard-as-nails British action picture realistically set in a bleak late-1950s England. Baker plays Tom Yately, an ex-con who takes the only job he can get--truck driving at breakneck speeds for a corrupt manager (Hartnell) and brutal foreman (McGoohan). The constant short runs and competition between the drivers makes for an intense atmosphere which inevitably explodes into violence. Baker's only friend is an Italian ex-POW played sensitively by Herbert Lom, while Peggy Cummings is a remarkably free-spirited heroine for a British film of the time. Baker himself is superb, quietly tough, and broodingly charismatic, McGoohan is compellingly malevolent and Hartnell simply chilling. The film is consistently engrossing and often exciting, even when the plot spirals into melodrama towards the finale. One has to wonder where the police are during all this mayhem, but the fact that the screenplay, by John Kruse and Cy Endfield, received a BAFTA nomination suggests the scenario was at least reasonably realistic. Endfield also directed this, the second of six films he would helm for Baker, the most famous of which would be the all-time classic, Zulu (1964). On the DVD: Hell Drivers is presented in an anamorphically enhanced ratio of 1.77:1. This means a little of the original 1.96:1 VistaVision (70mm) image is cropped at the sides, which is just noticeable in a few shots. The print used is excellent, with only very minor damage, and the mono sound is fine. The disc also includes Look in on Hell Drivers, a 1957 TV programme that offers interviews with Stanley Baker, Cy Endfield and Alfie Bass, as well as comments from genuine truck drivers confirming the realism of the story, and a contemporary 15-minute television interview with Baker, which focuses on Hell Drivers, Sea Fury(1958) (also directed by Cy Endfield) and Violent Playground (1958). The original trailer rounds out an excellent package. --Gary S Dalkin

• Carry On Cowboy | DVD | (29/01/2007) from £5.69   |  Saving you £7.30 (56.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An hilarious romp through the bars and bedrooms of the Wild West with the Carry On gang! Sid James is on top form as the Rompo kid an outlaw who shakes up the sleepy residents of Stodge City. Kenneth Williams is the puritanical judge and Jim Dale plays Marshall P. Knutt a hapless plumber mistakenly sent to clean up the town.

• Idol On Parade | DVD | (07/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Rare 2012 UK release of this classic film.Anthony Newley found his career taking off after being cast as the singing idol 'Jeep Jackson', the 'King of Rock-A-Boogie', who is called up to National Service in this 1959 British musical comedy. Jeep does his best to fit in as a squaddie - but soon there are hordes of screaming pop fans at the barracks gates, the other recruits think he's after their girls - and the C.O.'s daughter (Anne Aubrey) decides that he is the boy of her dreams! Jeep's devious manager (Sid James) is determined that a little thing like National Service won't spoil his star's career. He smuggles him out of camp at every opportunity to perform pop concerts and to cut new hit records. But Jeep's Sergeant (William Bendix) is getting very suspicious of what's going on after lights out... Idol On Parade features no less than five songs from Anthony Newley, including Idle Rock-A-Boogie, Sat'Day Night Rock-A-Boogie, Won't Get No Promotion, Idle on Parade and I've Waited So Long - two of which were to become smash chart hits.

• Three Hats for Lisa | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £5.99   |  Saving you £4.00 (66.78%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Featuring a cast and production crew that reads like a Who's Who of British Sixties talent, Three Hats for Lisa is an exuberant, whimsical and utterly irresistible musical romp set in the heart of Swinging London; Sidney Hayers directs, while Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Leslie Bricusse supplies the songs. Three Hats for Lisa is available here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements. French movie pin-up Sophie Hardy is Lisa Milan, a gorgeous Continental film star who's ...

• Carry On Vol.2 | DVD | (01/09/2008) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This Carry On collection includes the following films: Carry On Again Doctor: If you are seriously ill and need to go to hospital just make sure it isn't the Long Hampton Hospital as this is where the Carry On team have taken up malpractice. If it's laughter you're after join eminent surgeon Frederick Carver orderly Screwer and Doctors Stoppidge and Nookey for a prescription of smutty smiles. It's the perfect tonic you should take as regularly as your funny bone allows. Where there's a pill there's a way! Carry On Camping: Sid (Sidney James) and his reluctant mate Bernie (Bernard Bresslaw) hit on the idea of a nudist camping holiday to spice things up with their girlfriends! The arrival of Dr Soaper (Kenneth Williams) headmaster of the Chayste Place Finishing School his matron Miss Haggard (Hattie Jacques) in charge of eleven nubile girls including star pupil Babs (Barbara Windsor) set the scene for one of the funniest frolics in the Carry On repertoire. Carry On Up The Jungle: The Carry On Team go ape crazy in darkest Africa as Professor Inigo Tinkle (Frankie Howerd) and his clumsy sidekick Claude (Kenneth Connor) embark on a bird fancying expedition. Primitive passions are unleashed a forgotten tribe of gorgeous man-hungry females is encountered and a loin-clothed vine-swinging jungle boy (Terry Scott) is the unlikely hero in this riotous romp. Sid James as the fearless white hunter Bill Boosey Joan Sims as the naughty Lady Bagley and Charles Hawtry as Tonka - the father of countless happily go native for this classic Carry On. Carry On Henry: The (almost) true story of the love-life of that much-married British monarch Henry VIII (Sid James). A right Royal Flush is guaranteed when flirty Bettina (Barbara Windsor) becomes a favourite at court much to the displeasure of Queen Marie (Joan Sims). Discover the previously hidden details of Henry's private life such as his hatred of garlic and his love of hunting... wenches that is! Sid James turns in a majestic performance and is given noble support by Carry On greats Kenneth Williams Terry Scott Charles Hawtry and Kenneth Connor as his not-so-loyal courtiers.

• The Smallest Show On Earth | DVD | (08/07/2002) from £20.37   |  Saving you £-7.38 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An amiable knock-off of the Ealing comedy style, The Smallest Show on Earth starts with aspiring novelist Bill Travers and his "nice gel" wife Virginia McKenna inheriting a cinema from a hitherto unknown uncle and discovering that it isn't the sumptuous modern Grand, which specialises in those "smash 'em in the face, knock 'em over the waterfront" pictures, but the decrepit Bijou, known locally as "the fleapit". The initial plan, set up by lawyer Leslie Phillips, is to sell off the cinema to the owner of the Grand so he can knock it down to make a car park, but our heroes are put off by the arrogant bullying of the rival manager (Francis De Wolff) and succumb to the inept charms of the crazed, aged staff--drunken projectionist Peter Sellers, doddery commissionaire Bernard Miles and dotty ticket lady Margaret Rutherford (who joined the team as a piano accompanist). In the 1950s, there was a run of gentle British comedies in which outmoded and broken-down local institutions (steam trains, tugboats, vintage cars) were saved by collections of committed eccentrics who despised the new-fangled bus services or soulless council bureaucracies and were willing to resort to a little larceny (in this case, arson). The Smallest Show slots in perfectly with the cycle, getting laughs from the Bijou's already outmoded programme of scratchy Westerns and desert dramas (which increase ice cream sales) and sentiment over the staff's midnight screenings of silent movies that remind them of better days. It's likeable rather than hilarious, with Sellers and Miles buried under crepe hair and fake wrinkles competing to out-dodder each other and losing the picture to the inimitable Rutherford, who doesn't have to fake her eccentricity. Pin-up, June Cunningham, is the glamorous usherette and Sid James plays her annoyed Dad. On the DVD: The Smallest Show on Earth is presented in a decent print, but with no extras. The film is also available as part of the four-disc Peter Sellers Collection. --Kim Newman

• The Shaggy Dog | DVD | (17/07/2006) from £28.00   |  Saving you £-10.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The first live action movie ever produced by Walt Disney. Fred MacMurray heads an all-star cast that includes Jean Hagen Tim Considine Kevin Corcoran and Annette Funicello in her big screen debut. After years of on-the-job clashes with cranky canines mail carrier Wilson Daniels (MacMurray) sees man's best friend as his worst enemy. This makes for one hairy situation when a magical ring accidentally transforms his teenage son Wilby (Kirk) into a lumbering sheepdog! Can Wilby break

• Silent Movie | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The film Silent Movie is director Mel Brooks's comic tribute to the golden days of the silent screen. A movie within a movie 'Silent Movie' stars Brooks as Mel Funn a filmmaker who has seen better days for one thing he's just come out of a bout with the bottle. When his best friends (Marty Feldman and Dom DeLuise) rescue him from despair and convince him to make another attempt at moviemaking Mel comes up with an idea a silent picture. Alas this is the 1970s and in

• Hancock's Half Hour - Vol. 2 - The Best Of | DVD | (08/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Tony Hancock stars with Sid James as the irrepressible tenant of 23 Railway Cuttings East Cheam. Hancock's Half-Hour is the yardstick against which all subsequent British sitcoms have been measured the vast majority failing to size up to its extremely high standards. Based on his famous radio show of the same name the TV run consolidated Tony Hancock's standing as Britain's leading comic of the day; the entertainer providing ample proof that his wonderfully flexible

• Carry On Girls | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Carry On Girls was the last really successful film in the epic series of British film comedies. It's studded with gems of cameo performances and boasts a tremendously innuendo-laden Talbot Rothwell script which is easily the equal of any of its predecessors. The setting, a beauty contest to raise the profile of the dismal resort Fircombe-on-Sea, is ripe for politically incorrect activity of the sort that could only be conducted by Sid James at the height of his lecherous powers. Enter Bernard Bresslaw in a corset, Wendy Richard as Ida Downs, Barbara Windsor as Miss Easy Rider and a host of other semi-clad lovelies and watch as the whole thing rises to a slapstick climax of frisky old colonels, bikinis, bosoms and itching powder. In the smaller roles, Joan Hickson (BBC television's Miss Marple) is hilarious as an elderly woman who believes she is a man-magnet, and the always under-used Patsy Rowlands excels as the downtrodden mayor's wife, a worm who finally turns. But in many ways this is June Whitfield's film: as the terrifying reactionary councillor Mrs Prodworthy, with a butch lesbian sidekick, she plots the downfall of her male colleagues with classic lines. "Rosemary, get the candle", she orders as Patsy Rowlands requests initiation. --Piers Ford

• Comedy Capers: Trouble with Eve & Double Bunk | DVD | (18/02/2019) from £9.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two classic British comedies from the 1960s. Trouble with Eve: Scandal rips through a quiet British village after a woman converts her cottage into a tearoom. Double Bunk: When newlyweds Jack and Peggy face eviction, they are tricked into buying a rundown houseboat. After rebuilding the engine, they take their friends Sid and Sandra on a trip down the river to Folkestone, but somehow they end up in France. Starring Sid James and Liz Fraser.

• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Season 4 | DVD | (25/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £84.99

  The fourth series of Deep Space Nine can be summed up in one word: Klingons! The show's producers apparently felt beset from all sides. Babylon 5 was a huge hit, as was Star Trek: Voyager, the flagship of new channel UPN. Stepping up DS9's action quotient seemed to be the answer. Time would tell, however, whether doing so via Trek's tried-and-tested former bad guys was the best solution. Opening with a special two-hour extravaganza, the new year was immediately unfamiliar. Dennis McCarthy's original theme--despite winning an Emmy--was deemed too subdued. As its upbeat new rendition kicked off, the station was seen in battle and swarming with activity. Moments later, we met old/new crewmember Worf, whose sudden appearance was the result of a brewing invasive strategy by the Klingons. This initiated the first of many loyalty shifts, as the Cardassians became the victims. With plenty of re-appearances by Gowron, Kor and Kurn, it was clear that an ongoing space opera was being crafted. Dukat revealed a tragedy-ridden daughter; Odo's relationship with his people (and Kira) became increasingly melancholy; and even the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers were given a sympathetic angle by their drug addiction. Adding to the layers of ambiguity about Earth's (read: the Producers') position over being at war, was the "outing" of Eddington and Sisko's girlfriend as rebel activists. Lest we forget the homely/spiritual side of the Captain, time was spent with a future version of Jake, with his father (Brock Peters), and on the nature of his role as "The Emissary". Avery Brooks worked behind the camera a couple of times, but this year the surprise was LeVar Burton directing five shows. There was still time for comedy: the Ferengi warped back to Roswell in 1947 and Bashir played at James Bond. But the year will be recalled predominately for its violence. One of the episodes Burton directed had its fight scenes drastically cut, while the series as a whole won an Emmy for its space battle effects. On the DVD: Deep Space Nine, Series 4 contains more than two hours of extra features. Although they might all have been better compiled into one long documentary, the sections devoted to Aliens, Production Design and Artwork are, nevertheless, nicely contained. "Charting New Territory" is a 20-minute featurette on all the big changes attempted this year: Worf's introduction, arming the station and being daring with stand-alone episodes. There's also a terrific and candid dossier on Michael Dorn (Worf), ten mini-cameo cast tales, four seasons' worth of episode introductions, and a well-stocked Photo Gallery. All this can be found on the set's seventh disc; there's also the fourth CD-ROM disc, which allows you to build your own station at home. --Paul Tonks END

• Bless This House | DVD | (08/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The classic sitcom about the Abbotts a family with generation gap problems. Starring the unforgettable Sid James as Sidney Abbott the series revolves around his doomed efforts to get with it for his children whilst being constantly thwarted in pursuing his love of birds booze and football. This DVD contains the first five episodes in colour from the first series. Episodes: The Day Of Rest Make Love... Not War Charity Begins At Home If The Dog Collar Fits... Wear It The Morning After The Night Before.