Actors & Directors
- Julie Walters
- Duncan Preston
- Celia Imrie
- Trevor Nunn
Run time: 121 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £6.77
Review Acorn Antiques - The Musical / Channel 4 DVD:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Kingdom - Series 1 [2006]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tP-FBLbrL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Paul Kaye
- Richard Wilson
- Stephen Fry
- Claire Skinner
- Robert Bathurst
Run time: 275 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £9.50
Review Kingdom - Series 1 [2006] / 2 Entertain Video:
Actors & Directors
- Dylan Walsh
- Julian McMahon
- Joely Richardson
RRP: £49.99
Price: £15.98
Review Nip/Tuck - Season 3 / Warner Home Video:Over-the-top yet well-written, Nip/Tuck was one of the most intriguing shows on television… until season three, when it took everything-everything-way too far. What once used to be a show about self-worth and society's perception of beauty as portrayed by plastic-surgery patients has become about the abject humiliation of women and rampant storylines. It alienated many fans, who found its love of excess ludicrous and at times, unforgivable. Maybe it was the storyline about Matt (John Hensley), who discovers the love of his life was actually a transsexual, shaves his head and starts dating a white supremacist (American Dreams' Brittany Snow). Or the disturbing new plastic-surgery cases (obese woman physically stuck to her couch, a 17-year-old petrified fetus). Or even the new surgeon Quentin Costa (Bruno Campos) who sleeps with male patients, romances Julia (Joely Richardson) and turns out to have a little "physical quirk" of his own? But the knife that truly stabbed the show's pace into the ground was the ongoing mystery of the Carver, a rapist/killer in a creepy porcelain mask who disfigures victims. Just when the show starts to jell, another character with their mouth cut Black Dahlia-style turns up and throws the show back into a whodunnit, and not even a well-crafted one at that: By the time they reveal the killer's identity, you just don't care anymore. Someone also made a mess of the characters, or at least turned them all manic-depressive; the moral flip-flopping between Sean (Dylan Walsh) and Christian (Julian McMahon) is inexplicable at best. One goes wild, the other grows a conscience-and then they switch sides. One is on the brink of divorce, the other gets engaged-and another switch. [+]It's headache-inducing how each of the main characters become nonsensical and not the least bit engaging. Here's hoping Nip/Tuck regains its mojo in season four. -Ellen A. Kim.
Actors & Directors
- Jemima Rooper
- Laura Pyper
- Christina Cole
- Michel Fassbender
- Julian Murphy
- Andy Goddard
- Anna Wilson-Jones
- Brian Grant
Run time: 594 min.
RRP: £39.99
Price: £8.98
Review Hex - Season 2 / Sony Pictures Home Entertainment:
![Review ITV DVD / Stingray - Complete Series [1964]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J4E87SFHL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Robert Easton
- Ray Barrett
- Don Mason
- David Graham
- Lois Maxwell
Run time: 999 min.
Creator: Sylvia Anderson
RRP: £59.99
Price: £17.92
Review Stingray - Complete Series [1964] / ITV DVD:Drums pound, building excitement; the music bursts into life with a cry of "Stingray! Stingray!" Who can resist? Especially when a dramatic voice announces, "Anything can happen in the next half hour!". Stingray (1964) was the show Gerry Anderson made just before he really hit the big time with Thunderbirds (1965), producing 39 episodes of the 21st-century adventures of Troy Tempest-tall, dark and handsome (his voice was based on James Garner) captain of the titular submarine. His mission: to protect the seas on behalf of WASP (World Aquanaut Security Patrol). With complex underwater model and puppet effects, this was ground-breaking television, especially as it was the first UK series to be made in colour, though for years it was only seen in black and white. Special effects director Derek Meddings later graduated to the James Bond movies, while Moneypenny herself (actress Lois Maxwell) voiced Atlanta Shore. Here, just as in the Bond movies, she played second fiddle in our hero's affections, the mute Marina becoming Stingray's sex-goddess. The end-credits even featured a song in her honour, "Aqua Maria", which became an international hit. As for the bad guys: half-man, half-fish Titan and his Terror Fish wage dastardly war against humanity and the peaceful underwater citizens of Pacifica. Four decades on the model and underwater sequences still impress, and surely much of the inspiration for the underwater city in The Phantom Menace came from locations in Stingray. Whether as bizarre 60s nostalgia, or winning a new generation of fans, Stingray remains eccentric cult family entertainment. [+]-Gary S Dalkin.
Actors & Directors
- Michael Schultz
- Chris Long
- Alyssa Milano
- Julian McMahon
- Noel Nosseck
- Mel Damski
- Holly Marie Combs
- Brian Krause
- Joel J. Feigenbaum
- Rose McGowan
Run time: 920 min.
RRP: £59.99
Price: £17.92
Review Charmed - Series 4 / Paramount Home Entertainment:Charmed: The Complete Fourth Season is a captivating story of big changes in the world of the Halliwell sisters. San Francisco witches Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) and Piper (Holly Marie Combs) grieve the loss of Prue (Shannen Doherty) at the same time they discover the existence of a fourth Halliwell sibling: Paige (Rose McGowan ), offspring of the girls' late mother and a Whitelighter (thus making Paige part witch and part angel). Paige was raised as an adopted child, but has been aware of her sisters for awhile. Still, she's ambivalent about joining forces with them (despite having two powers instead of the usual one), and Piper-now the oldest of the surviving sisters, reluctantly taking over Prue's position as leader-is in no hurry to welcome Paige into the fold. Blood and loyalty prevail, however, and soon Paige takes over Phoebe's old role as screw-up rookie, mangling potions and causing havoc (such as switching bodies with Phoebe at an inopportune time). But her strong survival sense, compassion, and ability to read people (she's studying to become a social worker) add a powerful new weapon to the Halliwell arsenal. Meanwhile, several key storylines from the third season carry over to this new year, notably the running drama concerning demon-with-a-soul Cole (Julian McMahon) and his ongoing battle to stay free of hell's wrath while maintaining dark powers. His romance with Phoebe leads them to become ruler and queen of the Underworld, where Phoebe's loyalty is tested and a demonic baby enters the picture. Piper and her husband, Whitelighter Leo (Brian Krause), deal with sorrow over Prue and frustration over not being able to have a child, and the sisters' police ally, Inspector Morris (Dorian Gregory), has to contend with an out-of-control boss bent on charging the Halliwells with a crime. All that and a witch-hunter and appearance by the angel of destiny, who offers to relieve the witches of their magical burden. [+]The most impressive aspect of the fourth season is the way Doherty's loss isn't treated as a mere vacuum to be filled with a new body, but is taken as an opportunity to reinvent the show in several crucial ways. -Tom Keogh.
![Review Playback / Poldark - Series 2 - Part 2 [1975]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/416M30YYQ3L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Roger Jenkins
- Christopher Barry (III)
- David Garfield (II)
- Eric Dodson
- Tilly Tremayne
- Nicholas Selby
- Philip Dudley
- John Blythe
- Kenneth Ives
Run time: 325 min.
RRP: £17.99
Price: £8.49
Review Poldark - Series 2 - Part 2 [1975] / Playback:
Actors & Directors
- Elizabeth Montgomery
- Agnes Moorehead
- Dick York
- David White
Run time: 803 min.
RRP: £34.99
Price: £14.00
Review Bewitched - Season 4 / Sony Pictures Home Ent. UK:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Doctor Who - Four To Doomsday [1981]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51eqiFxyDcL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Janet Fielding
- Peter Davison
- Sarah Sutton
- John Black
- Stratford Johns
- Matthew Waterhouse
Run time: 97 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £9.99
Review Doctor Who - Four To Doomsday [1981] / 2 Entertain Video:An adventure starring Peter Davison in the title role, this latest classic Doctor Who release, Four To Doomsday, has plenty of interesting ideas up its sleeve, even if they aren't all fully realised by the time the credits run on the last episode. But there's still plenty to enjoy, nonetheless. The basis of Four To Doomsday is that the Doctor is trying to return Tegan back home, but instead finds himself on a strange spaceship, that almost inevitably is heading to Earth with unpleasantness very much on its agenda. The Doctor, accompanied by Nyssa, Adric and the aforementioned Tegan, naturally has to come to the rescue, aided by some very economic special effects (even for the time). Four To Doomsday, however, is certainly a story with its moments, and the appearance of Stratford Johns is very much responsible for many of them. It's also breezy enough, and easily pulls you through its four episodes. The plot doesn't bear too much scrutiny, though, with a narrative that jumps around and loses cohesion. But it's all engaging enough, with Davison very much finding his feet in the role. Few people would launch a campaign to have it lauded as an all-time classic, but it's good fun, warts and all, nonetheless. -Jon Foster.
![Review Network / Morecambe And Wise: The Thames Years - Series 1 [1978]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51tbaj2eKCL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2008-03-24
Run time: 150 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £8.72
Review Morecambe And Wise: The Thames Years - Series 1 [1978] / Network:
![Review Sue Barker / A Question Of Sport (BBC) - All New 2008 Edition [Interactive DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Hhbzvl7uL._SL160_.jpg)
Release date: 2007-11-12
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.97
Review A Question Of Sport (BBC) - All New 2008 Edition [Interactive DVD] / Sue Barker:
Release date: 2008-09-15
Run time: 430 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £16.98
Review Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection Special Edition & Documentary (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) / Acorn Media:
Actors & Directors
- Stephen Lewis
- Reg Varney
- Stuart Allen
- Doris Hare
- Michael Robbins
- Anna Karen
Run time: 325 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £7.93
Review On The Buses - Series 3 / Network:
Actors & Directors
- Larry Charles
- Mel Brooks
- Barry Gordon
- Larry David
- Ben Stiller
- Cheryl Hines
- Jeff Garlin
- Robert B. Weide
Run time: 330 min.
RRP: £25.99
Price: £9.98
Review Curb Your Enthusiasm: Complete HBO Season 4 / Warner Home Video:He never learns. In the fourth season of his award-winning HBO comedy series, the quasi-fictional character of Larry David continues to say-and do-whatever he wants whenever he wants. In the first episode alone ("Mel's Offer"), in which Mel Brooks offers him the role of Max Bialystock in The Producers, David offends a doctor, a lesbian couple, a wheelchair user, and Ben Stiller (by not shaking his hand after he sneezes). Then, in the second ("Ben's Birthday Party"), he offends a blind man-by telling him his girlfriend's not as hot as she claims-and pokes Stiller in the eye with a skewer while attempting to show agent Jeff Greene (Jeff Garlin) his new golf move. Larry continues to offend Stiller until he drops out of The Producers and, in the fifth episode ("The 5 Wood"), David Schwimmer steps in. The following episode ("The Car Pool Lane"), in which David attends a Dodgers game-with a prostitute, so he can use the carpool lane-made history when it set an innocent man free. Unused footage from the show, entered into evidence by the defense attorney, confirmed his client's alibi that he couldn't have committed a murder because he was at the game (alas, the Braves still trounced the Dodgers). Other guests include Ted Danson ("The Weatherman"), Russell Means ("Wandering Bear"), and Gina Gershon ("The Survivor") as a Hasidic hottie. In addition, the hour-long season finale ("Opening Night") boasts a bevy of stars, including David's old colleague Jerry Seinfeld, Nathan Lane (Broadway's original Bialystock), and fellow Tony Award winner Anne Bancroft. As they've done since the early days, Cheryl Hines (Cheryl David), Susie Essman (Susie Greene), and Richard Lewis and Wanda Sykes (as themselves) do what they can to keep one-man demolition derby David in check. [+]-Kathleen C. Fennessy, Amazon. com.
Actors & Directors
- Julian Glover
- Richard Armitage
- Amanda Root
Run time: 170 min.
RRP: £16.99
Price: £5.93
Review The Impressionists / Acorn Media:
![Review Network / The Goodies ... At Last (BBC) [1970]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JVD8FXTCL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Bob Spiers
- Jim Franklin (III)
- John Howard Davies
- Tim Brooke-Taylor
- Graeme Garden
- Bill Oddie
Run time: 77 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £11.30
Review The Goodies ... At Last (BBC) [1970] / Network:
Release date: 2007-02-05
Run time: 245 min.
RRP: £19.99
Price: £8.67
Review Balls Of Steel - Complete Season 1 / Balls of Steel:
![Review 2 Entertain Video / Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V2XM62VPL._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Catherine Tate
- Phil Cornwell
- Barry Davies
- Amelia Bullmore
- Julia Davis
Run time: 348 min.
RRP: £24.99
Price: £8.96
Review Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998] / 2 Entertain Video:Originally shown in 1998, Big Train was the eagerly awaited follow-up to Father Ted from writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews. Resisting the pressure to make another sitcom, Big Train is, instead, a sketch show in the best Monty Python tradition, updated with influences from arch-surrealist Chris Morris as well as the contemporary The Fast Show. The sketches can be joyously odd-Pythonesque firefighting showjumpers, the evil hypnotist, and the outrageous onanistic office workers, for example-but the show never neglects to keep the punchlines coming thick and fast (though the animated staring contest does rather drag after a while). The cast comprises some of the best new names in comedy, including Kevin Eldon, Simon Pegg, Mark Heap, Julia Davis and Amelia Bullmore (who went on to become Alan Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend). Series 2 didn't pull into the platform until 2002, by which time Graham Linehan was absent writing Black Books. But Arthur Matthews maintains the quality of the first series on the whole-the man with oversized hands, the creepy cult questionnaire, the zookeeper's recruitment agency-adding some spot-on French art house cinema spoofs and other movie-style take offs somewhat in the manner of Spaced, which Pegg and Heap had gone on to make. That duo return here for more silliness along with new cast members Rebecca Front (The Day Today, Knowing Me, Knowing You) and Tracey-Ann Oberman (better known now as Chrissie Watts in Eastenders). On the DVD: Big Train belatedly arrives on DVD in a two-disc set which includes a plethora of deleted scenes for both Series 1 and 2. There are cast biogs plus three of the sketches as performed on a German TV sketch show. Commentary on the first series is by both writers, though happily Pegg, Heap and Eldon gatecrash halfway through. [+]Matthews and Eldon join director and producer for the somewhat more straight-faced commentary on the second disc. Menu options thankfully include the treasurable "Play all" facility. -Mark Walker.
![Review Playback / Poldark - Series 1 - Part 2 [1975]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41BK05EBD8L._SL160_.jpg)
Actors & Directors
- Clive Francis
- Jill Townsend
- Angharad Rees
- Roger Jenkins
- Paul Annett
- Robin Ellis
- Christopher Barry
- Jacky Allouis
- Philip Dudley
- Kenneth Ives
Run time: 357 min.
Creator: John Wiles
RRP: £17.99
Price: £8.50
Review Poldark - Series 1 - Part 2 [1975] / Playback:
Release date: 2006-07-03
RRP: £34.99
Price: £17.45
Review Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg Box Set / Paramount Home Entertainment:While hardcore Trekkers may not find a lot of new material in Star Trek Collective: Borg, newcomers experiencing 16 action-packed, fan-selected episodes of the Federation's greatest villains may have to prepare to be assimilated. All the episodes have been previously released on DVD, but there are new text commentaries on three of the episodes, and the per-disc price is significantly less expensive than the full-season Trek sets. It's a great entry point for novices, or for budget-minded fans. The episodes are presented in Stardate order, which means starting with Enterprise, the latest series but also the earliest in chronological order. In "Regeneration," an exploration team finds a pair of apparently dead humanoid-mechanical hybrids that turn out to be members of the Borg, a nearly invincible race whose simple goal is to absorb-"assimilate"-every individual organism it encounters into its collective being. Because the Borg has the ability to adapt itself to resist any threat, resistance is futile. Shift ahead to The Next Generation and a visit by the quirky god Q turns out to have deadly implications when, in a pouty mood, he throws the Enterprise into their first encounter with the Borg. That's followed by the classic two-part cliffhanger (bridging seasons 3 and 4) "The Best of Both Worlds," in which Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) is assimilated into the Borg and a frustrated Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) has to make a fateful decision. "I, Borg" attempts to give the Borg a humanised aspect, and the two-parter "Descent" has some interesting developments for Data (Brent Spiner). Skip Deep Space Nine in favour of Voyager, the series in which Captain Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) ship is stranded far from home in the Delta Quadrant. [+]That happens to be home turf for the Borg, so they had a number of run-ins. The first two-parter (which bridged seasons 3 and 4) is "Scorpion," which introduces the Borg's nemesis, Species 8472. By the time of "Drone," the ship had its first Borg crew member, the sexy Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), but her loyalties are tempted by the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson) in the double-length "Dark Frontier. " In the "Unimatrix Zero" two-parter, which bridged seasons 6 and 7, Seven discovers an idyllic haven for members of the Collective that the Queen is determined to find and destroy. That eventually leads to an ultimate confrontation with the Queen (now played by Alice Krige, repeating her role from Star Trek: First Contact) in the series finale, "Endgame. " -David Horiuchi.
| Models & Brands:
Acorn Antiques - The Musical, Kingdom - Series 1 [2006], Nip/Tuck - Season 3, Hex - Season 2, Stingray - Complete Series [1964], Charmed - Series 4, Poldark - Series 2 - Part 2 [1975], Bewitched - Season 4, Doctor Who - Four To Doomsday [1981], Morecambe And Wise: The Thames Years - Series 1 [1978], A Question Of Sport (BBC) - All New 2008 Edition [Interactive DVD], Midsomer Murders : The Christmas Collection Special Edition & Documentary (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk), On The Buses - Series 3, Curb Your Enthusiasm: Complete HBO Season 4, The Impressionists, The Goodies ... At Last (BBC) [1970], Balls Of Steel - Complete Season 1, Big Train : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2 [1998], Poldark - Series 1 - Part 2 [1975], Star Trek: Fan Collective - Borg Box Set |
