Very Important Person

James Robertson Justice, Leslie Phillips, Stanley Baxter, Eric Sykes, John Le Mesurier and Richard Wattis feature in this raucous early-sixties PoW escapade directed by Ken Annakin and co-written by Jack Davies – both Oscar-nominated for Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines. Based on real-life events during World War II, Very Important Person (re-titled A Coming Out Party for its US release) is featured here in a brand-new transfer from the original film elements, in its original aspect ratio. As the subject of a This Is Your Life-style television show, eminent aviation scientist Sir Ernest Pease revisits his wartime experience on a secret reconnaissance mission which ended abruptly when the bomber he was testing was downed over Germany. Captured and held in a prisoner of war camp, Pease found himself among a motley, relentlessly optimistic group of RAF officers – who were tireless in helping their brilliant but ill-tempered fellow prisoner carry out his audacious escape plan! SPECIAL FEATURES: Original theatrical trailer Image gallery

Dick Emery at Thames Television

Hallo, honky-tonks! Hoe gaat het met je?Dick Emery was vier decennia lang een vaste waarde op de televisie en een van de Britse komediegiganten. Hij was een natuurlijke mimespeler en een man met vele gedaantes, en zijn komische genialiteit creëerde vele gedenkwaardige personages, waaronder de onvergelijkbaar dikke Bovver Boy, de oude knar Lampwick, de ongelooflijk tandige dominee en de onvergetelijk camp Clarence!Hoewel het grootste deel van zijn productie voor de BBC was, maakte Emery drie zeer populaire variété-specials voor Thames Television aan het begin van de jaren '80. Met een nieuwe cast van flamboyante creaties naast zijn vintage comic favorieten, bevatten deze shows ook de talenten van Beryl Reid, Lulu, The Three Degrees en Dad's Army's Bill Pertwee; Dam Busters ster Richard Todd helpt met het recreëren van een aantal beroemde PoW avonturen en Lynda Carter slaagt er maar net in zich staande te houden tussen Emery's eigen Wonder Women rondborstige bom Mandy, man-etende spinster Hettie, en de immer populaire Duchess!

Terrahawks: Volume 3

Gerry Anderson, the hugely influential creator of Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet, made a spectacular return to puppet animation in the early 1980s with an exciting new series co-created with Christopher Burr. Thrilling yet another generation of children (and adults!), Terrahawks introduced a new elite force to defend 21st century Earth against a host of alien invaders.Led by the heroic Tiger Ninestein, the Terrahawks crew consists of Captain Mary Falconer, his second-in-command; fighter-pilot and pop star Kate Kestrel; the poetically inclined Lieutenant Hiro; and Lt. Hawkeye – the gunner with computer-enhanced vision. Assisted by a legion of charismatic spherical robots known as the Zeroids, they battle a cabal of evil adversaries – none more terrifying than android crone Zelda, the would-be conqueror of all Earth-Scum !The final thirteen episodes of Terrahawks are presented here for the first time in High Definition from the best available materials, in their original as-transmitted aspect ratio.SPECIAL FEATURES TBC

Great British Railway Journeys: Serie 5

Michael Portillo gaat het spoor op met een exemplaar van George Bradshaw's Victorian Railway Guidebook. In een serie van vier epische reizen reist Portillo door de lengte en breedte van het land om te zien hoe de spoorwegen ons hebben veranderd, en wat er van Bradshaw's Groot-Brittannië is overgebleven.Deze 4 DVD set bevat 20 afleveringen over 4 verschillende reizen:Manchester naar ChesterfieldLonden naar LeedsSouthampton naar WolverhamptonNorwich naar ChichesterOp zijn eerste reis van deze serie gaat Michael Portillo van Manchester, de geboorteplaats van George Bradshaw, de uitgever van deze vertrouwde gids, naar Chesterfield, de begraafplaats van George Stephenson, de vader van de spoorwegen. Voor de tweede reis wordt Michael door zijn Bradshaw's van het Londense station Euston naar Leeds geleid. Hij ontdekt wat er met de eens zo trotse Euston Arch is gebeurd en stapt dan uit in Cheddington, de plaats van de Grote Treinroof.Op de derde reis van de serie begint Michael in Southampton waar hij leert tafels dekken aan boord van het luxeschip Queen Elizabeth voordat het uitvaart. Hij eindigt in Wolverhampton waar hij hoort dat Koningin Victoria een emotioneel bezoek bracht dat het einde betekende van haar verbanning uit het openbare leven na de rouw om haar echtgenoot, Prins Albert. De laatste reis voert Michael van een kathedraalstad, Norwich, en een pijnlijke ontmoeting met een bunzing, naar een andere kathedraalstad, Chichester, vanwaar hij op weg gaat naar een voorproefje van het snelle leven op Goodwood.

The Eighties

Produced by Emmy award winning producers Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, The Eighties is the third series in the acclaimed documentary strand chronicling American society and popular culture in the later twentieth century.As the Cold War ended, the world learned of a mysterious virus that defied a cure and triggered a global pandemic. Wall Street brokers became the new rock stars but the economic boom led to a material excess and corruption. The personal computer signalled a technological revolution. The music world discovered hip-hop, MTV, Prince and U2, but lost John Lennon. Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and Cheers brought new sophistication to televised storytelling. And throughout the decade, Ronald Reagan left his mark as few public figures do, enjoying unprecedented popularity but also enduring a scandal that nearly derailed his presidency.This epic series uses rare archival footage and interviews with renowned journalists, historians, musicians and television artists to paint a vivid and compelling portrait of a decade of lasting consequence.Raised on TelevisionAn explosion of new channels and the advent of the VCR transform our viewing habits.Video Killed the Radio StarThe digital revolution hits the music world, and MTV is born.The Fight Against AIDSA mysterious illness develops into a pandemic with huge political and cultural consequences.The Reagan RevolutionA look at Ronald Reagan's landmark legislative achievements and political setbacks.Greed Is GoodJunk bonds, bailouts and Wall Street corruption set the tone for a decade of excess.Tear Down This WallThe appointment of Mikhail Gorbachev triggers an astounding chain of events.Technology Gets PersonalThe innovations and inventions of the Digital Revolution change life forever.

Great British Railway Journeys: Serie 1-4

Zavvi - Het huis van de popcultuurGewapend met zijn Victoriaanse exemplaar van Bradshaw's Railway Handbook gaat Michael Portillo het spoor op om van kust naar kust te reizen en te ontdekken wat er nog over is van Bradshaw's Groot-Brittannië.Gepassioneerd door treinen, brengt Michael Portillo de grote Britse romance met de spoorwegen in kaart in deze fenomenaal succesvolle serie. Gewapend met zijn exemplaar van George Bradshaw's beroemde spoorweghandboek, legt hij zeventien reizen af die voor het eerst in de Victoriaanse gids werden beschreven (en nog eens twee uit de Ierse metgezel!), om te zien wat er veranderd is en te ontdekken hoe onze liefde voor de spoorwegen begon. Hij stopt in enkele van de mooiste steden en afgelegen dorpjes van Groot-Brittannië, ontmoet bijzondere mensen en hoort hoe hun leven door de spoorwegen is beïnvloed.Deze 19-disc set bevat de complete series 1-4.

The Frighteners: The Complete Series

No cops and robbers, no clanking chains, no well-worn horror themes; this rare and highly acclaimed thriller anthology features instead a range of stories in which ordinary people are threatened by situations that slide startlingly, menacingly out of control...Featuring the considerable talents of John Thaw, Ian Holm, Warren Clarke, Tom Bell, Ray Smith and Robert Urquhart, The Frighteners features thirteen haunting tales of malice and manipulation, vengeance and mounting terror. It features stories from acclaimed novelist and playwright William Trevor, Bouquet of Barbed Wire author Andrea Newman, Get Carter writer/director Mike Hodges, and Secret Army co-creator Wilfred Greatorex.

Rockliffe's Babies: The Complete Series

A controversial police procedural from the late 1980s, this ratings-winning drama charts the progress of seven trainee CID officers learning the ropes in some of London's toughest areas.Ian Hogg gives a career best performance as the tough, irascible Alan Rockliffe – an old-school supervisor whose job it is to sort the wheat from the chaff. Featuring guest appearances from Lonnie Donegan, Norman Beaton, Pauline Quirke, Kevin Lloyd, John Michie and John Woodvine, this set contains both hard-hitting series of Rockliffe's Babies, complete and uncut.It's a busy week for the young plain-clothes Crime Squad PCs. A mixed bunch, with decidedly mixed abilities, they're thrown in at the deep end with a hooded prowler, an armed robbery and a mugging on the notorious Dragon Estate. They need to think fast, but if anyone can sharpen their instincts it's surely the quick-tempered DS Rockliffe.

There Was A Crooked Man

Unseen for over fifty years, this exceptionally rare feature sees comedy legend Norman Wisdom at his best playing a naïve explosives expert who finds himself involved with a criminal gang after uncovering nefarious dealings by a prominent industrialist!Hailed as one of Wisdom's finest films, it was one of two features he made independently, and marked a departure from his more familiar and endlessly popular comic creation, 'the Gump'. Co-starring Alfred Marks and Susannah York, There Was a Crooked Man was directed by the BAFTA-nominated Stuart Burge.SPECIAL FEATURES:Image galleryOriginal promotional PDFsBooklet by Norman Wisdom expert Richard Dacre

Great American Railroad Journeys: The Complete Series 2

A companion to the phenomenally successful Great British Railway Journeys, this series sees Michael Portillo swapping his treasured copy of Bradshaw's handbook for its stateside counterpart an 1879 edition of Appleton's guidebook to the railroads of America and Canada.This four-DVD set features twenty episodes covering two different journeys:St. Louis, Missouri, to the Grand CanyonThe Twin Cities to MemphisMichael makes two epic journeys through the United States: his first follows the trail of 19th-century European pioneers, beginning in St Louis, Missouri, and ending with an awe-inspiring bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon; the second journey begins with Minnesota's Twin Cities, takes in the modern metropolis of Chicago and and ends in Memphis, Tennessee.Along the way Michael gets a taste of the Old West in Dodge City, conducts a cattle auction in Kansas, visits the birthplace of F. Scott Fitzgerald in St Paul, Minnesota, and learns of a musical dream made reality in Santa Fe; he also finds time to savour New Mexico's delectably fiery cuisine and immerses himself in the culture and history of the continent's first inhabitants: the Native Americans.

The Vision

Dirk Bogarde, Lee Remick and Eileen Atkins head an outstanding cast in this stunning drama from the creative team behind Shadowlands. Originally screened as part of BBC2's acclaimed Screen Two strand and featuring an early TV role for Helena Bonham Carter, The Vision is a disturbing reflection of an era of televangelists, burgeoning satellite channels and ruthless media manipulation.Bogarde plays James Marriner, a faded, unhappily married former TV presenter who is persuaded to front the People Channel a right-wing, evangelical satellite network poised to launch in Europe; determined to recruit Gentle Jim as a reassuringly familiar anchorman, the network's steely, seductive boss Grace Gardner (Remick) proves hard to refuse.As the network's first live transmission looms, Marriner, whose personal life is now under surveillance, has become deeply uneasy about its aims. But Gardner makes it clear that any attempt to alert viewers to her organisation's true agenda will bring about a devastating retribution.

Moulin Rouge

One of the most lavish British films of the silent era in both budget and scope, Moulin Rouge stars Jean Bradin, Eve Gray and Russian-German screen sensation Olga Tschechowa in the story of a young aristocrat driven to a suicide attempt after falling in love with a young dancer and her elegant, ravishingly beautiful mother.Set in and around the famous dance-halls of Paris, Moulin Rouge showcased British International Pictures' engagement of leading Continental film-makers during the late 1920s. The first British film directed by expressionist pioneer Ewald Andre Dupont, it also features Werner Brandes' stylish, distinctively European cinematography and art direction by Oscar winner Alfred Junge.Filmed at Elstree through the winter of 1927, the film was originally trade shown in March 1928 as a silent film with live musical accompaniment. It was re-released in 1929 with a recorded, synchronised score by John Reynders.SPECIAL FEATURES:Image galleryOriginal script PDF

Whicker's World 3: Whicker In Europe

A broadcasting legend and one of the most recognisable faces on British television, Alan Whicker worked his own brand of quietly incisive journalism for over fifty years. A consummate interviewer with a famously affable, urbane style, his popular, award-winning documentaries continue to be a significant influence to this day.This ongoing series of releases will showcase every programme that Whicker made for ITV, in chronological order. In this third volume Whicker encounters an array of remarkable and sometimes eccentric Europeans, including the playboy prince, Johannes von Thurn und Taxis, Margaret Kenny the Dublin-born founder of Paris' famous Bluebell Girls and His Excellency, General of the Armed Forces, Alfredo Stroessner dictator of Paraguay.

The Flaxton Boys - The Complete Third Series

The story of the Flaxton Boys protagonists of Yorkshire Television's long-running and fondly remembered children's adventure series moves on to a third generation, as this series finds the two young friends encountering further mystery and peril in and around the fictional West Riding village of Carliston. It is now 1928. Jacklin Flaxton has been killed in the Great War, leaving his widow Jane to run Flaxton Hall. Arriving home from boarding school for the summer holidays, their son Jonathan, accompanied by his friend, William, learns that the vicar plans to convert the now-derelict Stilgoe Lodge into an orphanage. But while the boys are happy to help, a series of apparent hauntings forces several workmen to flee the Lodge in terror...

Pie in the Sky - De complete serie

Inspecteur Henry Crabbe (Richard Griffiths) is van plan om na 25 jaar bij de politie met pensioen te gaan en zijn eigen restaurant te openen - Pie in the Sky - tot groot ongenoegen van zijn superieuren.Nadat hij tijdens zijn laatste zaak is neergeschoten, wordt zijn besluit herbevestigd; maar wanneer zijn gedrag in die zaak in twijfel wordt getrokken, wordt hij gedwongen op parttime basis verder te gaan door de dubbelzinnige adjunct-hoofdcommissaris Freddy Fisher (Malcolm Sinclair), die zich er volledig van bewust is dat Henry de voornaamste reden is waarom zoveel misdaden worden opgelost. Hoe zal Henry het runnen van een restaurant combineren met zijn detectivewerk?Bevat alle vijf series van deze zeer geliefde politiedramaserie.Speciale kenmerken:Interview met Maggie SteedFilmografieënProductie OpmerkingenFoto Galerij

The Saint - De complete kleurenserie

De legendarische acteur Roger Moore speelt de rol van de bonafide playboy Simon Templar in de serie die van hem een wereldster maakte. Opgewonden en onstuimig, en altijd met een oog voor de dames, reist Templar de wereld rond op zoek naar dieven en oplichters om hen te bedriegen met een slimme combinatie van zijn bedrog en zijn kenmerkende charme.Gebaseerd op de wereldberoemde serie bestsellers van Leslie Charteris, presenteert deze 14-disc set de complete reeks van 47 afleveringen in kleur, samen met een aantal unieke en onderhoudende speciale functies:SPECIALE KENMERKEN:The Saint Steps In... to Colour: exclusieve documentaireVier audiocommentaren met Roger Moore, Johnny Goodman, Robert S. Baker, Peter Manley, Malcolm Christopher, Alvin Rakoff en Roy Ward BakerSpeelfilmversies van Vendetta for the Saint en The Fiction MakersTrailer galerijenTekstloos materiaal, reclamebumpers en buitenlandse titelsEdwin Astley muziek suitesPrinses Muna op Set nieuwsclipFotogalerijen

The Nearly Man - The Complete Series

Tony Britton won a BAFTA nomination for his central performance in this finely observed drama about a veteran Labour back-bencher who risks the remains of his career when he re-engages in the grass-roots politics of his northern working-class constituency.Starting life as a single ITV Playhouse drama which won the Broadcasting Press Guild's award for Best Single Play in 1975, The Nearly Man follows the events of seven months in a critical year for Christopher Collinson a public-school MP with the perfect credentials for a candidate in the forthcoming general election. The series charts his uneasy relationship with party activists, the intrigues and aggression of politics and the impact of Collinson's renewed ambition upon his marriage.This set features all seven episodes of the series along with the single play, devised and written by BAFTA winner Arthur Hopcraft.

The Crunch And Other Stories

Zavvi - Het huis van de popcultuurNigel Kneale is vooral bekend om zijn baanbrekende Quatermass-verhalen en zijn schrijnende bewerking van George Orwells Nineteen Eighty Four, en latere tv-triomfen als The Stone Tape en The Woman in Black. Hij wordt algemeen beschouwd als een van de grootste Britse scenarioschrijvers. Hij maakte naam bij de BBC in de jaren 1950 en schreef vervolgens veelgeprezen drama's voor ITV in de daaropvolgende decennia, waarvan er hier drie worden voorgesteld.De stukken op deze set laten enkele van Kneale's meest blijvende thema's zien: een diepe sympathie voor de benarde situatie van het individu dat geconfronteerd wordt met een onvoorstelbare dreiging; de onrust en paranoia van het tijdperk van de Koude Oorlog, en de angst voor een onzekere nabije toekomst; en de veranderlijkheid en potentiële dreiging van de menigte.InTHE CRUNCH speelt Harry Andrews de rol van een premier die een nucleaire catastrofe in Londen probeert af te wenden; Maxwell Shaw, Anthony Bushell en Peter Bowles behoren tot zijn medespelers.LADIES' NIGHT is een ijzingwekkend verhaal over vrouwenhaat als leden van een herenclub zich keren tegen een vrouw die hen belachelijk maakt; een sterke cast bestaat uit Alfred Burke, Ronald Pickup en Bryan Pringle.InGENTRY schittert Roger Daltrey in een zwartkomisch suspense-drama, waarin een echtpaar een armoedig huis koopt in een opkomende wijk, maar betrokken raakt bij de nasleep van een gewapende overval.

The Belstone Fox

Combining exquisite imagery of both landscape and wildlife and with fine performances from a top-line cast including Eric Porter, Jeremy Kemp, Oscar nominee Rachel Roberts and Bill Travers The Belstone Fox is a captivating film for the whole family. Written and directed by Born Free's James Hill and with original music from the legendary Laurie Johnson it is featured in a brand-new High Definition transfer from the original film elements in its original theatrical aspect ratio.Based on David Rook's acclaimed novel The Ballad of the Belstone Fox (which went on to inspire Disney's The Fox and the Hound) it tells the story of Tag, an orphaned fox cub reared with a litter of foxhound puppies and who forms a close friendship with a pup named Merlin. Years pass and Tag's wily ways keep him safe but when he is eventually cornered he embarks on a course of action which could end in tragedy...SPECIAL FEATURES:Original theatrical trailerTextless materialImage gallery

Silver Dream Racer

Pop legend David Essex stars opposite Beau Bridges in a bittersweet story set in the cut-throat world of motorcycle racing. Featuring thrilling scenes filmed at the 1979 British Grand Prix and a powerful score by John Cameron (and a memorable top-ten hit for Essex himself) Silver Dream Racer is presented here in a brand-new transfer from original film materials in its original, as-exhibited aspect ratio.Aspiring racer Nick Freeman returns to his job as a garage mechanic after losing out to his underhanded American rival Bruce McBride. A twist of fate, however, gives Nick one more chance: when his brother is killed in a motorcycle accident, Nick inherits the untested, super-fast 500cc prototype on which he was working. Despite a series of crushing setbacks, he finally has the chance to prove both himself and the Silver Dream Machine ...SPECIAL FEATURES:Alternative Happy endingOriginal theatrical trailerImage galleryPromotional PDF