Comedy

• Ricky Tomlinson - Live Laughter My Arse! | DVD | (25/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Recorded in 2001, Laughter My Arse is a celebration of Ricky Tomlinson’s ascendancy to the top table of British comic actors. The role which really established Tomlinson’s popularity was through three series of Caroline Aherne’s acclaimed Royle Family sitcom. In this DVD he cashes in on the catch phrase of couch potato Jim Royle and takes us back to his roots in the working men’s clubs of Liverpool. Much of the programme consists of his one-man show. Royle Family fans will appreciate the humour which obviously informs Tomlinson’s characterisation of Jim. But this act only tells half the story. He has also proved himself an accomplished and formidable performer in television drama and independent British films and with a bit more imagination, the producers could have come up with a more rounded portrait. The most poignant moments come outside the club when Tomlinson reminisces with friends and colleagues about the good old days when they were starting out on the club circuit. Anecdotes abound and Tomlinson’s ability to make some pretty grim episodes funny says much about the fundamental warmth of the man. Even so, this is probably one for old fans rather than the idle curious. On the DVD: the sound and picture quality are fine. If the producers had wanted to be truly authentic, they could have taken a grainier option for the comedy act sequences and harked back to the days of Granada’s Wheel Tappers and Shunters Club show which was a staple of ITV schedules in the 1970s. If the comedy isn’t your bag, the chapter selection option allows you to skip straight to the nostalgic reminiscence sequences and by way of extras, there’s a small handful of mildly amusing outtakes. But essentially, this is a basic package rather than a comprehensive portrait.--Piers Ford

• The Last Yellow | DVD | (13/03/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  You wouldn't describe Leicester as a fast town, but that suits Frank (MARK ADDY) just fine. Content to carry on living with his mum, Frank exists in a fantasy world with himself cast as vigilante for hire.

• Team America: World Police | Blu Ray | (06/10/2014) from £21.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Popular Broadway actor Gary Johnston is recruited by the elite counter-terrorism organization Team America: World Police. As the world begins to crumble around him, he must battle with terrorists, celebrities and falling in love.

• Ich bin dein Mensch | Blu Ray | (23/09/2021) from £11.08   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The Marx Brothers Collection | DVD | (13/06/2005) from £39.99   |  Saving you £-20.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Here at long last is a verbal and visual feast fit for fans of Groucho Chico Harpo Zeppo and Gummo! 'The Marx Brothers Collection' is a comedic stroll down memory lane. Rare television and film footage from one of America's first comedy teams is included. Includes: 1. Inside The Marx Brothers 2. You Bet Your Life 3. Papa Romani 4. Person To Person 5. The Marx Brothers: Radio Days 6. Mixed Nuts.

• Carry On Emmannuelle | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £9.66   |  Saving you £0.33 (3.42%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Made in 1978, Carry On Emmannuelle was really the last gasp of the most fondly regarded series of British comedy films. In most respects, it hardly does justice to the many truly funny and brilliantly played previous scripts. But it does feature a curiously vulnerable, even touching, performance from Kenneth Williams as a French diplomat with a wife of insatiable physical appetites. In theory, of course, it aims to be a pastiche of the hugely popular Emmanuelle, which had marked the transition of soft-core erotic cinema into the art house. But it's too crudely scripted and lacking in the belly laugh inducing innuendo of the best Carry On films to succeed on that level. "Are you hungry, Loins?" Emmannuelle asks the chauffeur. "I think I could manage a little nibble," he replies. You get the idea. In the title role, Suzanne Danielle, who would go on to be the best of the Princess Diana impersonators, isn't a good enough comic actress to raise such lines above the ordinary. And the few stalwarts who returned for this outing--Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor and Peter Butterworth--just about emerge with their dignity intact. This was a Carry On too far. But fans will want it for their collection because it shows Kenneth Williams at his most professionally committed--his diaries reveal his real thoughts on the matter--and to remind themselves of the high quality of so much of the work which had gone before.On the DVD: presented in 4:3 format and with a standard mono soundtrack, this release of Carry On Emmannuelle starts off with a print of such ropey quality that you seem to be watching through a dust storm. The sound quality is little better, although on both counts things improve as the film progresses. The lack of extras is disappointing, adding to the rather sad, low-budget feel of the film itself. --Piers Ford

• Holy Smoke / Hideous Kinky | DVD | (03/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Holy Smoke: An Australian family try to rescue their daughter Ruth who has embraced the teachings of an Indian guru called Baba. They enlist the help of an American Counsellor who specialises in reconditioning the minds of members of religious cults. Hideous Kinky In the early 70's Julia escapes grey London and a failed relationship with her two daughters aged six and eight and heading to Morocco in search of adventure. The two girls enjoy the colour and life of Marrakech but the city has less to offer a pennilesss mum. It's only when Julia meets the charming Bilal that her life is transformed.

• Hot Property | DVD | (07/08/2017) from £6.25   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hot Property is an anarchic satire for 'generation rent'. An un-romantic comedy about love, greed and psychotic estate agents. Set amid London's deranged property market and self-parodying hipster culture. STARRING MyAnna Buring (Kill List/Ripper Street/Downton Abbey)

• Minder - Specials - Vol. 1 Of 2 | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Join Arthur and Terry in a couple of special episodes of Minder. Featuring Minder's 'Christmas Bonus'(1983) and 'Around the Corner'(1984).

• Diamond Dog Caper | DVD | (25/04/2011) from £5.38   |  Saving you £0.61 (11.34%)   |  RRP £5.99

  When Owen and his distracted older sister are alone and their parents are away Owen delivers the paper dodges a school bully and spends afternoons in a forest hideaway making tall tales and making inventions. When he encounters three thugs and a mistreated dog his life changes. Owen frees the dog and bonds with the golden retriever. When he reads a newspaper account of a diamond heist he realizes that the thugs are the chief suspects and he suspects that the thugs hid the diamonds on her collar. Owen changes the dog's name to Diamond. He takes her to the police and the police think that the story is not true. The thugs are in pursuit of the diamonds.

• More Ripping Yarns | DVD | (27/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Three more rollicking good tales starring Michael Palin in various guises. Written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones. 'The Testing Of Eric Olthwaite' 'Whinfrey's Last Case' and 'The Curse of The Claw'. The Testing of Eric Olthwaite: A Ripping Northern Yarn set in the dark days of the depression before Last of the Summer Wine started bringing jobs to the area. Eric's tough mining parents find their son so boring that they run away from home. Eric torn between love for his parents and lack of brain cells becomes involved with a hardened criminal. The rest is history. Whinfrey's Last Case: Dashing Gerald Whinfrey saves his country twice a week but in 1913 a German plot to start the First World War without telling anybody coincides with his holiday. Where do Whinfrey's priorities lie? Has he got any? A knockout tale of international intrigue. If only Dickens could write like this - Mrs Reg Dickens Eltham. The Curse of the Claw: Gothic terror comes to Maidenhead. A timely reminder of what happens when men dabble in the dark world of oriental superstition. Michael Palin aided by inexpensive plastic surgery plays old and young Kevin as well as Kevin's childhood hero Uncle Jack - an enormously cheerful physical disaster area who has every disease known to man usually at the same time.

• PIASCOM613 Jeff Dunham - Minding The Monsters & All Over the Map Blu-ray Collection | Blu Ray | (30/11/2015) from £11.20   |  Saving you £15.05 (151.41%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Jeff Dunham's Minding the Monsters brings together Walter, Peanut, Bubba J, Jose Jalapeno and Achmed the Dead Terrorist as you've never seen them before! All Over the Map sees Jeff Dunham and his iconic creations embark on an unprecedented world tour where Dunham performs across five continents, and stars in arenas where few American comedians have dared to perform!

• Michael McIntyre Live 2009: Hello Wembley! | Blu Ray | (15/11/2010) from £20.97   |  Saving you £7.01 (38.99%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Michael McIntyre's meteoric rise to fame took the comedy world by storm last year. He sold out over 100 tour dates around the UK and his first DVD release Michael McIntyre: Live & Laughing became the fastest selling debut stand up DVD of all time. Last autumn Michael set off on his biggest tour to date taking his new show to arena's around the UK. Recorded at Wembley Arena later in the year Michael McIntyre - Hello Wembley! features 90 minutes of brand new material from the man who has been hailed by both audiences and critics as the best new stand up to emerge in a decade.

• A Fine Romance - The Complete Fourth Series | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (17.00%)   |  RRP £12.99

  From the vaults of British television comes a comedy gem starring two consummate actors who were also a couple in real life: Dame Judi Dench and her husband Michael Williams. They play a pair of middle-aged dating-game dropouts as wary of romance as they are perfect for each other. Laura a brainy translator and Mike a shy landscape gardener are introduced by Laura's glamorous younger sister who is intent on finding a mate for her spinsterish sibling. Awkward and rumpled Mike drives an old wreck and fails to impress the prickly Laura. Still Mike senses an opportunity if only he can find the courage to pursue it. From this unpromising beginning the pair lurch and swerve their way to companionship friendship and finally love. Featuring all the episodes from series 4. Episodes Comprise: 1. The Telephone Call 2. In Hiding 3. Mike's New Girlfriend 4. A Weekend Away 5. Problems 6. A Romantic Meal 7. Happy Ever After?

• Bigger Than The Sky | DVD | (07/08/2006) from £6.27   |  Saving you £13.72 (218.82%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Life has a role for everyone. Mike (Corbett) only wants to perform in great productions. So when a clueless amateur (Marcus Thomas) is given the lead in Cyrano de Bergerac Mike decides he must personally train him. But when real life begins to mimic the play's love triangle and his protg falls for the girl Mike loves but can't commit to (Smart) suddenly it's Mike's turn to learn - not how to act but how to live!

• Robin's Nest - Series 3 - Complete | DVD | (26/05/2008) from £10.91   |  Saving you £4.08 (27.20%)   |  RRP £14.99

  There's a fresh helping of high jinx and mishaps for Robin and Vicky as they continue the struggle to run their bistro business occasionally helped (but mostly hindered) by Vicky's overbearing father and their disaster-prone one-armed dishwasher Albert Riddle. This complete third series contains all 13 episodes originally transmitted in 1978. Episodes Comprise: 1. You Need Hands 2. The Candidate 3. Just Desserts 4. Away from all What? 5. England Expects 6. Once Two is Three 7. Dinner Date 8. Everything You Wish Yourself 9. Be It Ever So Humble 10. Day Trippers 11. The Long Distance Runner 12. At Harm''-s Length 13. The Happy Hen

• My Last Five Girlfriends | DVD | (16/08/2010) from £5.23   |  Saving you £16.02 (403.53%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Duncan audits his love life by running through his last five relationships to see where he has gone wrong in this Brit comedy.

• Bob's Weekend | DVD | (05/03/2007) from £10.95   |  Saving you £-0.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Robert Askew (Bruce Jones) travels to Blackpool to prepare an extraordinary end to his ordinary life. But this is no typical weekend and a succession of magical events conspire to turn a journey of despair into a voyage of discovery. One Friday evening Bob's new partner Ste (Billy Boden) goads him into a football match. The Boss (Brian Glover) catches them and Bob is dismissed on the spot. Returning home early he discovers his wife Brenda (Anna Jaskolka) is having an affair. Devastat

• Hogan's Heroes: The Complete First Season | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Fall in line for the hilarious escapades of a ragtag band of World War II prisoners of war in Hogan's Heroes: The Complete First Season. Actor-comedian Bob Crane stars as Colonel Robert Hogan an American officer confined to Stalag 13 a German POQ camp. Along with a motley crew of fellow prisoners and with full use of hidden tunnels confiscated supplies and secret radios Hogan's mission is not so much one of escape - but to cause as much havoc and disruption to the Nazi war effort as possible. And with inept camp commandant Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) and the bumbling Sergeant Hans Schultz (John Banner) running things at Stalag 13 the gang known as Hogan's Heroes soon discovers that their laugh-provoking efforts at sabotage surveillance and subversion have never been easier! Episode Comprise: 1. The Informer 2. Hold That Tiger 3. Kommandant Of The Year 4. The Late Inspector General 5. The Flight Of The Valkyrie 6. The Prisoner's Prisoner 7. German Bridge Is Falling Down 8. Movies Are Your Best Escape 9. Go Light On The Heavy Water 10. Top Hat White Tie And Bomb Sight 11. Happiness Is A Warm Sergeant 12. The Scientist 13. Hogan's Hofbrau 14. Oil For The Lamps Of Hogan 15. Reservations Are Required 16. Anchors Aweigh Men Of Stalag 13 17. Happy Birthday Adolf 18. The Gold Rush 19. Hello Zolle 20. It Takes A Thief Sometimes 21. The Great Impersonation 22. The Pizza Parlor 23. The 43rd A Moving Story 24. How To Cook A German Goose By Radar 25. Psychic Kommandant 26. The Prince From The Phone Company 27. The Safecracker Suite 28. I Look Better In Basic Black 29. The Assassin 30. Cupid Comes To Stalag 13 31. The Flame Grows Higher 32. Request Permission To Escape

• Only An Excuse? | DVD | (08/11/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99