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Are You Being Served? The Movie

Actors: John Inman, Mollie Sugden, Frank Thornton, Trevor Bannister, Wendy Richard
ASIN : B0000640SH
Sales Rank : 3791
Director : Bob Kellett
Studio : Starz / Anchor Bay
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0013131143690
UPC : 013131143690
Release Date : December 11, 2002
Publisher : Starz / Anchor Bay
Manufacturer : Starz / Anchor Bay
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Starz / Anchor Bay
Running Time : 95

Product Description

While the store floor is being remodeled the staff of grace brothers is treated to a continental holiday at don bernardos palace hotel in costa plonka where they tangle with the local cuisine swap cheeky lust letters and are caught in the middle of an armed rebel insurrection. Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 06/03/2008 Starring: John Inman Frank Thornton Run time: 96 minutes Rating: Nr Director: Bob Kellett

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Writers Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft managed something quite clever with this, the film version of the 1970s sitcom Are You Being Served? The idea of this cheery collection of comedy stereotypes--the pompous one, the vulgar one, the camp one, the shifty one, and so on--being confined within a department store was a master stroke, as it allowed any kind of situation to arise without the plot having to exceed the restrictions imposed by the set. How, then, to keep the same theme for the big screen without just offering the television series writ large? Simple: send the whole cast on holiday together but make sure they can't leave their hotel, a state of affairs contrived easily enough by throwing a guerilla uprising into the plot. So it is, then, that the staff of Grace Bros. descends on the Costa Plonka while the store is closed for refurbishment. There are all the usual jokes involving knickers, boobs, toilets, and gay sex (sometimes all at once), adding up to a good slice of nostalgic fun for anyone who was there when lapels really were that wide. --Roger Thomas

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Little Britain - Abroad

Actors: Matt Lucas, David Walliams
ASIN : B000UPMZ4E
Sales Rank : 3895
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Subtitled, Color, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051420626
UPC : 794051420626
Release Date : December 20, 2007
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 60

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 11/20/2007

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Little Britain fans will be having a laugh with Little Britain: Abroad, an hourlong escapade (plus extras) on the British comedy troupe's adventures around the world. The troupe's secret weapon: Men dressing in drag is funny in any culture. The skits take a cue from Little Britain's patron saints, Monty Python, as no bit is too silly. Planes are accidentally hijacked; madcap misunderstandings result in Vicky's being held in a Thai jail, waiting for Mum (Dawn French, in a memorable cameo) to come rescue her. One of the best skits involves an official visit from the British Prime Minister to the U.S. White House, whilst a "very special relationship" between the two countries is, shall we say, cemented. Extras include a hilarious documentary, Little Britain Down Under, and great commentary over both regular scenes and some deleted ones. You can laugh till you weep, and then learn a thing or three about how successful comedy is built. Not bad, that. --A.T. Hurley

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Little Britain - The Complete Second Series

Actor: Peter Davison
ASIN : B000F7CMSG
Sales Rank : 3920
Director : Steve Bendelack, Declan Lowney
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051251923
UPC : 794051251923
Release Date : December 23, 2006
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 167

Description

Little Britain is the reigning king of UK comedy. Its quirky, off-kilter characters have quickly become British national treasures, garnering numerous accolades, including three BAFTAs (UK equivalent to Emmys) and double gold at the prestigious Rose d'Or of Lucerne (Europe's highest comedy award). With the second season comes a host of new characters as well as returning favorites. Unconvincing transvestite Emily Howard has a new friend, Vicky Pollard is still butchering the English language; and an assortment of new oddities are on exhibit, including Bubbles De Vere, Carol "Computer Says No" Beer and and Harvey Pincher, who has an unusually strong attraction to his mother. transvestite. Then there's Andy, sitting all day in his wheelchair painstakingly looked after by Lou, who has no idea his friend can walk. Little Britain presents the breathtaking debris of modern life in all its glory.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Documentary
Interviews
Other

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Little Britain: The Complete Second Series furthers David Williams and Matt Lucas's often-inspired, wickedly funny explorations of life in the British Isles. The six episodes found in this two-disc set hammer mercilessly and usually hilariously on a handful of recurring sketch ideas, with the occasional one-off experiment thrown in for good measure. Among the best bits is a running "Fat Fighters" storyline, in which Lucas (who, along with Williams, plays women perhaps better than any other British comedian in television history) portrays the horribly demoralizing leader of a weight-loss franchise, ridiculing her clients, sabotaging their relationships, and broadly hinting that one woman who won a lottery should share her earnings. Williams is at the center of a pair of savagely satiric storylines (with chapters in each episode), one in which he plays a flamboyantly gay, very uncivil servant assisting Britain's prime minister (Anthony Head), and a more shocking narrative of an upper-class, groom-to-be whose poor fiancee watches him demand "bitty" from his mother--"bitty" being code for breastfeeding. Meanwhile, Lucas is wonderful as a young homosexual who insists he's the only gay in his small town in the English countryside, despite much evidence (including the presence of a gay vicar and his leather-clad lover) to the contrary. There's much more, and all snarkily narrated by actor Tom Baker, known to many as the fourth incarnation of Dr. Who. Williams and Lucas's commentary track for each episode is a kick, too. --Tom Keogh

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Hamish MacBeth: Series 1-3 Collection

Actor: Robert Carlyle
ASIN : B000SINSYO
Sales Rank : 3558
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051414427
UPC : 794051414427
Release Date : December 23, 2007
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 936

Description

Now together in one collector's set, all three seasons of Hamish Macbeth, the quirky award-winning series starring Robert Carlyle! Before his breakout performances in Trainspotting and The Full Monty, Robert Carlyle starred as Police Constable Hamish Macbeth, who finds himself transferred from his Glasgow beat to the village of Lochdubh, a town where the strangeness of the villagers is exceeded only by the strangeness of the goings on. Good thing Hamish Macbeth is in town. He proves to be a natural at maintaining the social balance of his tight-knit town while solving crimes along the way. Whether it's tracking down 300 weight of salt, mediating a family feud featuring space aliens, or a search for the Stone of Destiny, there's nothing Hamish Macbeth and his trusty canine sidekick Wee Jock can't handle.

DVD Features:
Biographies
Interviews

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Prehistoric Planet - Complete Set

Actor: Ben Stiller
ASIN : B00008AOWU
Sales Rank : 5340
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790777139
ISBN : 0790777134
UPC : 794051175021
Release Date : December 08, 2003
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 132

Description

The BBC's award-winning Walking With Dinosaurs is now available in an all-new, kid-friendly format: Prehistoric Planet: Dino Dynasty I! The same breathtaking CGI and state-of-the-art digital effects that wowed millions has been given an incredible make-over with all-new music, educational fact files, and a younger, hipper voiceover by actor Ben Stiller. But the star of the show remains the totally lifelike, utterly amazing dinosaurs themselves -- great lumbering giants such as Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, fearsome predators like Allosaurus and T-Rex, all brought to life so realistically, you'll believe we sent our camera crews back in time. Prehistoric Planet: Dino Dynasty I is a wild, truly awesome journey into the ancient past that will leave your kids so awe-struck, they won't even realize they're learning!

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This well-received Discovery Kids television series cleverly cannibalized footage from two hugely popular, BBC primetime programs Walking with Dinosaurs and Walking with Prehistoric Beasts, reworking the CGI-heavy dino-dramas into absorbing (and--shh!--educational) fare. The result was, and is, smashing. Narrated by Ben Stiller and ingeniously scripted, the series delineates epochs, species, and prehistoric environments in an entertaining effort to broaden one's detailed appreciation of ancient creatures of the land, sea, and air. Meet Ornithocheirus, a Cretaceous-period flying pterosaur whose 40-foot wingspan can carry him from the future Florida coast to Europe in a day--yet who could end up as snack food for the 80-foot aquatic monster Liopleurodon. Or the fascinating, 6-foot Leallynasaura, a 106-million-year-old denizen of Antarctica's rainforest (!) who avoids the predatory Koolasuchus (seriously) through clan cooperation. There's more to prehistoric Earth than the stylish raptor and bullying T-Rex; meet their neighbors here. --Tom Keogh

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Middlemarch

Actors: Juliet Aubrey, Patrick Malahide, Douglas Hodge, Trevyn McDowell, Robert Hardy
ASIN : B000784WNQ
Sales Rank : 7103
Director : Anthony Page
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419805257
ISBN : 1419805258
UPC : 794051219022
Release Date : December 19, 2005
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 420

Product Description

Chronicles the life loves foibles & politics of the fictional english town of middlemarch. This centers on the socially conscious but naive dorothea brooke whose disastrous match to the pedantic rev edward casaubon sets in motion a chain of events that will change middlemarch forever. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 04/17/2007 Rating: Nr

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The BBC has raised the mini-series to an astonishing creative peak. A prime example is the 1994 production of Middlemarch, based on the classic novel by George Eliot, which juxtaposes morals and money, grand ambitions with petty jealousies, and pursuits of the mind with bodily needs. A handsome young doctor named Lydgate (Douglas Hodge, Vanity Fair) comes to the provincial town of Middlemarch to start a new hospital; a headstrong young woman named Dorothea (Juliet Aubrey, The Mayor of Casterbridge) yearns to contribute to the greater good of the world. These idealists enter into marriages that derail all their intentions and lead them into lives they never imagined. The network of characters in this six-episode program, ranging up and down the societal ladder, create an intricate and utterly engrossing narrative as well as a magnificent recreation of life on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution. The cast, from the largest to the smallest roles, is impeccable. When a scene turns to a character you've only glimpsed before, the precision of the writing (by miniseries master Andrew Davies, Pride and Prejudice) and the vivid performances suck you into the life of this person who seemed like mere background scenery only moments before. The cumulative impact of Eliot's story will leave you gasping at its brilliant balance of romance and reality. Performers include creepy Patrick Malahide (The Singing Detective) and sexy Rufus Sewell (Dark City) among the familiar faces of dozens of inspired character actors. Don't let the literary pedigree of Middlemarch scare you off--the plot is as juicy as a soap opera, with a psychological fullness that makes every dramatic turn all the more gripping. --Bret Fetzer

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The Vicar of Dibley - 10th Anniversary Specials

Actor: Vicar of Dibley
ASIN : B0009UZG78
Sales Rank : 5633
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Video
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419816123
ISBN : 1419816128
UPC : 794051238627
Release Date : December 27, 2005
Publisher : BBC Video
Manufacturer : BBC Video
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Video
Running Time : 100

Description

The holidays are usually an eventful time for the eccentric residents of Dibley and their chocoholic female vicar, Geraldine. This year proves to be no exception. Alice gets "the wrong end of a very, very long stick" when she spots a supermodel in her undies in the vicarage. It isn't long before the entire village believes that Gerry is not only one of the first female vicars in England, but also one of the first lesbian vicars! In the New Years special, Gerry is determined to mark the 20th anniversary of Live Aid, but the villagers are determined to give her a birthday present she'll never forget - a blind date with one of them!

DVD Features:
Biographies:Cast bios
Other:2005 Comic Relief Sketch "Antiques Roadshow"
Outtakes:"Dibley Defrocked": A hilarious compilation of behind-the-scenes footage and outtakes

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The Vicar of Dibley fans rejoice! These two hour-long 10th Anniversary episodes rank with the very best. Even though the last full series was 4 years earlier, the cast hasn't lost their fantastic rapport--particularly the delightful chemistry between feisty Vicar Geraldine Granger (Dawn French, French & Saunders) and her sweet-tempered but dimwitted verger, Alice (Emma Chambers, Notting Hill); these two bounce off of each other like a classic comedy duo. The first episode is Christmas-themed and features a contest to write a new Christmas carol and an implausible (yet very funny) visit from amazonian supermodel Rachel Hunter, which leads everyone to believe that Gerry is gay. The other is supposedly a New Year's episode, but it's really about Gerry's impending birthday, speed-dating, and writing a letter to the Prime Minister about world poverty (culminating in a serious and surprisingly moving plea aimed at the 2005 G8 Summit meeting). As ever, French is the barely-calm center of wildly spinning carousel of village eccentrics and the results are wonderfully funny. Co-written by Richard Curtis (4 Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones' Diary, Love Actually). Also featuring a 14-minute mini-episode created for Comic Relief, also excellent. --Bret Fetzer

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House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut)

Actors: Robert Ashby, Delaval Astley, Ian Collier, Kenneth Hadley, Alex Leppard
ASIN : B00009MGGI
Sales Rank : 3926
Director : Mike Vardy, Paul Seed
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9780790777603
ISBN : 0790777606
UPC : 794051176523
Release Date : December 26, 2003
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 640

Description

Ian Richardson (From Hell, M. Butterfly) leads an all star cast in this malevolent satire of greed, corruption and ambition in the highest realms of government. As Machiavellian monster Francis Urquhart, he schemes and backstabs his way to the top until he is standing on a pile of broken promises, betrayals and the bodies of those who oppose him. Every step of the way, Urquhart lays out his plans with horrifying wit and venomous charm. But the ranks of his enemies are growing, and they intend to bring him down, whatever the price. Brilliantly adapted by Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bridget Jones's Diary), from Michael Dobbs's best-selling novel, this satirical trilogy took home a primetime Emmy, a Peabody, two BAFTAs and a Broadcasting Press Guild Award.

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Connoisseurs of political chicanery will relish House of Cards, the mordantly funny story of Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson), a British politician with his eye on the top job. Urquhart is the chief whip of the Conservative Party and his job is to maintain party discipline, or, as he likes to say, "put a bit of stick about." This means that he has intimate knowledge of his colleagues' foibles, knowledge that he uses to further his own political ambitions. Aided by his equally ruthless wife and drawing on a network of accomplices, Urquhart forces the prime minister to resign then sets out to discredit each of his rivals for the party leadership. Although it is strongly cast throughout, House of Cards belongs to Ian Richardson. Without his perfectly balanced performance, Urquhart might have become no more than a two-dimensional villain, but Richardson finds exactly the right tone to make his character as attractive as he is wicked. Thanks to Richardson, and a superb script by Andrew Davies, this brilliant political satire is sure to delight anyone who has wondered what might be going on in the darker corners of our democratic institutions.

In To Play the King, Urquhart appears to have everything he wants. He is the prime minister, he has no immediate rivals, and everyone who knows of his crimes is either on his side or dead. But a new challenge arises when the queen dies and the new king (Michael Kitchen doing a perfect Prince Charles) proves to be a thorn in Urquhart's side. Urquhart may be a staunch defender of the monarchy as a concept, but an individual sovereign is fair game if he proves to be a threat. With a Davies script that pokes fun at British politics and the antics of the royal family as well as a terrific cast led again by Ian Richardson, To Play the King maintains the high standard set by House of Cards.

The Final Cut, the last installment of the trilogy, strikes a more somber note than its predecessors. Urquhart has almost overtaken Margaret Thatcher to become Britain's longest serving postwar leader, but the public is tiring of him and there are rumblings of dissent in the Conservative Party. Urquhart and his wife plot to secure both their place in history and their financial future. Once again, writer Andrew Davies has created a satire to relish, one that confirms all of our doubts about the motives of politicians. Ian Richardson's wonderful performance--filled with sly asides and winks to the camera--makes Francis Urquhart as fascinating as he is wicked, and we find ourselves rooting for this terrible man. The world would certainly be a duller place without him. --Simon Leake

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The Charles Dickens Collection (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)

Actors: Paul McGann, Keeley Hawes, David Morrissey, Peter Vaughan, Pam Ferris
ASIN : B0009PVZMS
Sales Rank : 3721
Director : Gareth Davies, Julian Amyes, Julian Farino, Lawrence Gordon Clark, Pedr James
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419814662
ISBN : 1419814664
UPC : 794051234421
Release Date : December 06, 2005
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 1920

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Rating: Nr

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As can be clearly seen from the care lavished on these six BBC adaptions of Charles Dickens' novels, the British love their Dickens! And why not--Dickens is ideally suited to television, with his elaborate but vigorous plots, each a compendium of comically odious personalities (and one or two nice folk, just to keep things from getting too awful). Actors dig into these meaty roles with zeal, delighting in the hairpin turns from macabre horror to sweet sentiment. The more popular (and most frequently adapted) of the books at hand--Great Expectations and Oliver Twist--are the most conventional. The 1981 mini-series Expectations (in which young Pip learns the pitfalls of wealth through his relationship with the rich and bitter Mrs. Havishamand and her warped ward, Estella) is dutiful to its source but not adapted with much inspiration. Twist, from 1985, fares better; it's a zippy treatment of this tale of childhood deprivation and juvenile delinquency, and the horrors of Victorian orphanages will raise your hackles. The adaptation is capable but a little flat--still, any story where an undertaker observes, "Every tear is another shilling in the till," is clearly not lacking in wicked wit.

Fortunately, the others are considerably juicier: Martin Chuzzlewit, a lesser-known but richly satirical book, has a star-studded production from 1994, featuring Paul Scofield, Tom Wilkinson, Pete Postlethwaite, and Julia Sawalha, among others. The wealthy Martin Chuzzlewit, deeply suspicious of all mankind due to being hounded by greedy, grasping relatives, threatens the happiness of his ward Mary and his namesake grandson. In addition to the sterling and energetic cast, Chuzzlewit has outstanding production values, as does the 1998 version of Our Mutual Friend, which goes to great lengths to evoke the textures of life in Dickens' London. The mysterious death of a man about to inherit a great fortune sets in motion a complex plot that intertwines two love stories (it's one of Dickens' most romantic works), social scheming, and murderous obsession. The names aren't quite as famous (such as Paul McGann, Timothy Spall, Anna Friel, and Keeley Hawes), but the performances are top-notch and the script is particularly dynamic.

Bleak House, a Kafka-esque story of young innocents caught in an all-consuming, multi-generational lawsuit, cultivates a rich and potent Gothic horror; the 19th century seems like an unnerving alien world, through which lawyers and policemen stride like cruel predators. Diana Rigg is the most famous face in this 1985 production, but strong performances abound. The final component of this box set is the most curious: A 1994 version of Hard Times starring Alan Bates and Richard E. Grant, which turns this dark story--about a schoolmaster/politician who raises his children on reason at the expense of all feeling and finally reaps the bitter rewards--into a compact, theatrical feature film that's so swift it's almost jaunty. Adapted and directed by Peter Barnes (writer of The Ruling Class), it's the most stylized production of the bunch, and while lacking the depth and narrative detail of the others, it effectively cuts to the essence of Dickens. --Bret Fetzer

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Are You Being Served? The Movie

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Little Britain - Abroad

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Doctor Who - Black Orchid (Episode 121)

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Little Britain - The Complete Second Series

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Hamish MacBeth: Series 1-3 Collection

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Prehistoric Planet - Complete Set

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Middlemarch

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The Vicar of Dibley - 10th Anniversary Specials

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House of Cards Trilogy (House of Cards / To Play the King / The Final Cut)

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The Charles Dickens Collection (Oliver Twist / Martin Chuzzlewit / Bleak House / Hard Times / Great Expectations / Our Mutual Friend)

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