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Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series

Actors: David Tennant, Freema Agyeman
ASIN : B000UVV2GA
Sales Rank : 343
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Region Code : 1
Format : Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051420220
UPC : 794051420220
Release Date : December 06, 2007
Publisher : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Manufacturer : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Running Time : 652

Description

The third installment of Doctor Who is full of new thrills, new laughs, new heartbreak and some terrifying new monsters. From the moment the Doctor walks into the life of medical student Martha Jones he changes it forever. In Elizabethan London, they meet William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre while back in present day London, 76-year-old Professor Lazarus recaptures his youth with consequences that threaten Martha's entire family. And, the Doctor's sworn enemies, the Daleks, who have been hiding in 1930's New York, return with a terrifying plan for humanity.

Amazon.com

Doctor Who fans concerned that the departure of popular companion Rose (Billie Piper) at the end of the second season might spell an end to the venerable UK science fiction series' revival were soon reassured by the program's third series, which is compiled in its entirety in this six-disc set. Not only did Freema Agyeman (as Earth doctor Martha Jones) prove to be more than a worthwhile replacement for Rose, but the quality of the series' 14 episodes maintained--and in many cases surpassed--the blend of wit, excitement and drama brought by head writer Russell T. Jones when he revived the program in 2003. Highlights from the third series include the Christmas special "The Runaway Bride" (starring comedian Catherine Tate as a temporary companion to the Doctor as he mourns the loss of Rose), "Gridlock" (the Face of Boe summons the Doctor and Martha to a future New York City to stop an invasion by his old enemy the Macra), "Human Nature" and "The Family of Blood" (a two-part serial in which the Doctor changes his biological form to escape the clutches of an alien brood who seek his immortality), and the three-part "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums" and "The Last of the Time Lords," which not only revives the Doctor's greatest adversary, The Master (played by Derek Jacobi in "Utopia" and John Simm in "Drums" and "Time Lords") but also revives Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) and introduces his new position with the Torchwood team. Supplemental features are included on each of the six discs in the set; chief among them are commentary by Jones, Tennant, Agyeman, producer Phil Collinson, and members of the writing and production team (in various permutations) on each of the 14 episodes. The Doctor Who Confidential series, which aired on BBC Three and offered behind-the-scenes looks at elements from each episode, is included in its 15-minute "cut down" version (as well as an hour-long episode that covered a live performance of music from the show by the National Orchestra of Wales and hosted by Tennant), as are several video diaries shot by Tennant, who proves as engaging behind the camera as he is on the show. A smattering of deleted scenes, outtakes (mostly featuring Tennant reacting good-naturedly to his own blown lines), BBC promos for all 13 episodes (including the amusing "Vote Saxon" spot, which offers Sharon Osbourne and UK pop stars McFly throwing their support behind the Master's disguise as a human MP in the series' final two episodes), and trailers for other BBC series like Jekyll, Torchwood, and MI-5, round out this terrific set. -- Paul Gaita

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Galapagos [Blu-ray]

Actor: Galapagos
ASIN : B000T28PWY
Sales Rank : 609
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 0
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen
Binding : Blu-ray
EAN : 0794051413727
UPC : 794051413727
Release Date : December 02, 2007
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 150

Description

The inspiration for Darwin's theory of evolution, the Galapagos Islands are a living laboratory, a geological conveyor belt that has given birth to and seen the death of many species of plants and animals. As the western islands rise up from the sea offering a chance of life, the eastern islands sink back beneath the waves guaranteeing only death. Between the two are the middle islands; fertile, lush land in its prime that contains an incredible diversity of life. Nowhere else on the Earth are the twin processes of creation and extinction of species so starkly apparent... see it all unfold before your eyes in this stunning series filmed entirely in high definition from the BBC and the National Geographic Channel.

Amazon.com

While its title may be superfluous, Galapagos: The Islands That Changed the World is a beautifully filmed journey into "the islands of the tortoise." Located due west of Ecuador, the Galapagos islands are full of gorgeous scenery and exotic wildlife. And this 150-minute documentary shows it all, thanks to stunning cinematography shot from all viewpoints--the air, sea and, of course, land. The collection is both soothing and exhilarating as it allows viewers to peek in on mating albatrosses (which are monogamous), penguins fishing, and surprisingly graceful giant tortoises swimming in the ocean. The filmmakers also manage to capture a ferocious volcanic eruption that is amazing in its clarity. The problem with many documentaries lies in the narration. A documentary filmmaker hits the jackpot when he is able to get someone like Sigourney Weaver, whose crisp narration fits in beautifully with the sweeping footage in Planet Earth. While Tilda Swanton lends a relaxing quality to Galapagos, her voice at times is a bit too lulling to hold the viewer's interest. The writing also borders on melodramatic, with talk of the simmering sea and such. With visuals as stunning as this, hyperbole is unnecessary. Charles Darwin has described the Galapagos as a world within itself, and it is said that the islands were one of his inspirations for his book The Origin of Species. While the film doesn't clearly explain why the Galapagos are unlike any other place on earth, it does showcase a destination that is unlike what most of us know. --Jae-Ha Kim

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Torchwood - The Complete Second Season

Actors: John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd
ASIN : B0013GS3WW
Sales Rank : 1034
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929025046
UPC : 883929025046
Release Date : December 16, 2008
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 628

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/16/2008 Run time: 585 minutes Rating: Nr

Amazon.com

The following are included in the second season of Torchwood: repeated bouts of unrequited love, homicidal ex-lovers, monsters from space and impending doom for major characters. Now, that's how a series' second season should play out! But what makes Russell T. (Doctor Who) Davies' sophomore set of adventure for Torchwood so engaging is that he bundles them together in a tight and cohesive package that remains dramatically involving while maintaining the proper level of science fiction adventure. John Barrowman's Captain Jack Harkness is back, having materialized in the final episode of Doctor Who's third series ("Last of the Time Lords"), and with him comes one of the show's most inventive characters: fellow Time Agent and former lover Captain John Hart, played by Buffy the Vampire Slayer's James Marsters. Hart wreaks considerable havoc in the series opener, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," and returns several episodes later in "Fragments" to reveal Harkness' long lost brother Gray, who brings the series to a close in "Exit Wounds" with a horrific rash of violence that rends the Torchwood team permanently asunder. It's a finale that will leave fans agape by the final frame, but it's not the only stunner in the second season. "Reset" should also raise eyebrows with both the introduction of Doctor Who companion Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) in a three-episode arc, but also the shocking death and resurrection of a Torchwood member. Other highlights include "From Out of the Rain," which introduces one of the series' most intriguing villains, the Ghostmaker, and the alien "Adam," who throws the team into chaos with his power to suggest false memories. But the season's key storyline is the conflict between Jack, his brother Gray, and Captain Hart, which brings emotional heat and weight to the show's complex science and fantasy elements. Extras include all 13 episodes of Torchwood Declassified, the 10-minute companion series which explores elements of each episode, as well as "The Life and Deaths of Captain Jack Harkness," a 22-minute featurette (narrated by Freema Agyeman) about the character's immortal status that includes comments by Barrowman and Davies. Nine minutes of amusing outtakes and 18 minutes of deleted scenes bring this satisfying set to a close. --Paul Gaita

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Doctor Who - The Complete First Series

Actors: Billie Piper, Christopher Eccleston, Camille Coduri, Noel Clarke, John Barrowman
ASIN : B000E41MS6
Sales Rank : 330
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051250124
UPC : 794051250124
Number Of Discs : 5
Release Date : December 04, 2006
Publisher : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Manufacturer : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Running Time : 585

Description

Christopher Eccleston's Doctor is wise and funny, cheeky and brave. An alien and a loner, his detached logic gives him a vital edge when the world's in danger. But when it comes to human relationships, he can be found wanting. That's why he needs Rose. From the moment they meet, the Doctor and Rose understand and complement each other. As they travel together through time, encountering new adversaries, the Doctor shows her things beyond imagination.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary: Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix on all eps Almost 5 hours of ?making of? interviews and behind-the-scenes footage
Interviews
Other:Star studded team of writers including Russell T Davies (Queer As Folk), Steven Moffat (Coupling), and Mark Gatiss (The League of Gentlemen)

Amazon.com

The venerable science fiction program Doctor Who returned to British televisions in 2005 after a 15-year absence and delighted the majority of fans and critics with its adherence to the adventure and charm of the original series while making admissions for a new generation of viewers (hipper editing and score, CGI effects). Thirteen episodes were generated, all starring Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor and pop-singer-turned-actress Billie Piper as his companion Rose; acclaimed writer/producer Russell T. Davies (Touching Evil, Queer as Folk) oversaw the show as chief writer and executive producer. The new series proved so popular that the BBC agreed to revive the program for second and third seasons--though without Eccleston, who has since been replaced by David Tennant. This six-disc set comes with all 13 episodes plus the battery of supplemental features now customary to all Doctor Who DVD releases.

Eccleston is very engaging in the title role, bringing a manic curiosity tempered by occasional bouts of gravity (which befit a personality with a long and dramatic a lifespan as the Doctor's) that hew closely to the (arguably) most popular Doctor, Tom Baker. Piper is equally adept as department store clerk Rose--she's afforded more of a back story than most of the Doctor's sidekicks have received in the past, and she more than handles her own alongside Eccleston. Highlights among the 13 episodes include the season opener, "Rose" (which sees the return of an old foe, the Autons, and their controlling force, the Nestene Consciousness); the revamped Daleks in "Dalek" and the two-parter "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways"; a trip to Victorian England to aid Charles Dickens in "The Unquiet Dead," and of course, the arrival of the tenth Doctor at the conclusion of the action-packed "Parting of the Ways." The episodes strike the right blend of quirk, excitement, and imagination, thanks largely to the engaging performances and the guidance of Davies, whose admiration for the show and its history is evident throughout.

Supplemental features--and there are many--including commentary on all 13 episodes by members of the cast and crew, including Piper and Davies; numerous making-of featurettes, including a profile of Davies; a video diary by Piper; an interview with Eccleston, and best of all, a glimpse at the 60-minute Christmas special, "The Christmas Invasion," which picks up where the series concludes. Who fans won't be disappointed. --Paul Gaita

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Doctor Who - The Complete Second Series

Actors: David Tennant, Billie Piper
ASIN : B000JBWWP6
Sales Rank : 383
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051278623
UPC : 794051278623
Number Of Discs : 6
Release Date : December 16, 2007
Publisher : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Manufacturer : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : Sci-Fi Channel, The
Running Time : 646

Description

Can Rose trust a man with a new face? David Tennant (Viva Blackpool, Harry Potter) steps into the role of the Doctor, now in his 10th incarnation. Following on from the phenomenal success of the first series, the second series is full of more thrills, more laughs, more heartbreak and some terrifying new aliens and old acquaintances. The Doctor and Rose meet Queen Victoria, an evil race of Cat Women, K9 and Sarah Jane, and the dreaded Cybermen.

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Deleted Scenes
Other:Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi franchise in television history
Outtakes:Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi franchise in television history
Other

Amazon.com

Christopher Eccleston's tenure as the time-traveling title hero in the venerable UK sci-fi series Doctor Who lasted just 13 episodes, but he left enough of a impression on fans to make some wonder how his replacement, veteran television performer David Tennant, might fare in the role. As this second-series boxed set proves, the answer is: he's a near-perfect Doctor who combines the eccentricities of earlier incarnations (most notably Tom Baker) with a fresh and youthful interpretation of his own, and even brings a healthy dash of romantic chemistry with his sidekick, Rose Tyler (the equally charming Billie Piper). And their adventures retain the solid blend of thoughtful speculative fiction, pulp action, and quirky humor that typified the series at its best. Among the 15 terrific stories contained in the six-disc set are the "Children in Need" (a.k.a. "Pudsey Cutaway") mini-episode from the 2005 Children in Need telethon that showed Eccleston's transformation into Tennant; "School Reunion," in which Elisabeth Sladen returns as Sarah Jane Smith; "The Girl in the Fireplace," which draws together robots in 18th century France with a derelict space station in the distant future; and the season finale, "Army of Ghosts/Doomsday," which not only revives the series' most popular villains, the robotic Daleks, in a head-to-head struggle against the Cybermen, but also marks the final appearance of another series regular. For fans and first-time visitors to the TARDIS alike, the Second Series is simply thrilling sci-fi TV.

As with the First Series set, the supplemental features are plentiful here; commentary by the show's cast and crew is provided on each episode, and four feature picture-in-picture commentary tracks; deleted scenes and outtakes are also included, as are video diaries by Tennant and Piper, and a lengthy featurette, "Doctor Who Confidential," which covers nearly every aspect of the series' production, including the introduction of the Torchwood Institute and the return of Sarah Jane, both of which would be featured in their own respective spin-off series (the first in Doctor Who's long history) in 2007. – Paul Gaita

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The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (First And Second Series Plus Special)

Actors: Ricky Gervais, Martin Freeman, Mackenzie Crook, Lucy Davis (II)
ASIN : B0002W4P98
Sales Rank : 395
Director : Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0794051208521
UPC : 794051208521
Release Date : December 16, 2004
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 450

Product Description

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Run time: 450 minutes

Amazon.com

It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks, and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional British paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television show. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful, and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth (Mackenzie Crook); the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson); and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim (Martin Freeman), whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of ! the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by codirector-cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character. Fawlty is an exaggeration of reality, and therefore a safely comic figure. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller

The second series exceeded even the sky-high standards of the first. Indeed, it ventured beyond caricature and satire, touching on the very edge of darkness. Ricky Gervais is once again excruciatingly superb as David Brent, but in this series, Brent's to-the-camera assertions concerning his management qualities and executive capabilities are seriously challenged when the Slough and Swindon branches are merged and his former Swindon equivalent Neil (Patrick Baladi) takes over as area manager. To compensate, Brent cultivates his pathologically mistaken image of himself as an entertainer-motivator-comedian whose stage happens to be the workplace. Meanwhile, Tim, who can only maintain his sanity by teasing the priggish Gareth, continues to wrestle with his yearning for receptionist Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis), a sympathetic character persisting in a relationship with a man about whom she still maintains unspoken reservations. As ever, it's the awkward, reality TV-style pauses and silences, the furtive, meaningful and unmet glances across the emotional gulf of the open-plan office, that say it all here. As for Brent, his own breakdown is prefaced by a moment of hideous hilarity--an impromptu office dance, a mixture of "Flashdance and MC Hammer" as Brent describes it, but in reality bad beyond description. Then, when his fate is sealed, he at last reveals himself in a memorable finale to perhaps the greatest British sitcom, besides Fawlty Towers, ever made. --David Stubbs

The brilliant and devastating comedy of The Office is brought to a satisfying conclusion in The Office Special, originally a two-part Christmas special on the BBC, set three years after the end of the faux-documentary's second season. The former office manager David (Ricky Gervais) now ekes out a desperate existence as an oblivious quasi-celebrity, making awkward, humiliating visits back to the office staff he still believes loves him. Gawky Gareth (Mackenzie Crook) has risen to manager and become a petty tyrant, while the sweet but snide Tim (Martin Freeman) continues to pine for former receptionist Dawn (Lucy Davis), who fled to Florida with her fiance. When the documentary crew pays for Dawn to return for the holiday party, an unpredictable reunion looms ahead. The Office fuses scathing humor and genuine empathy, turning excruciating social discomfort into inspired satire. Fans will find this special rewarding in all respects. --Bret Fetzer

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North & South

Actors: Daniela Denby-Ashe, Richard Armitage, Tim Pigott-Smith, Emma Ferguson, Travis Oliver
ASIN : B000AYEL6U
Sales Rank : 1180
Director : Brian Percival
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781419821004
ISBN : 1419821008
UPC : 794051245328
Release Date : December 15, 2005
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 233

Description

DVD Features:
Audio Commentary:Commentary on Episodes 1 and 4 by producer Kate Bartlett, director Brian Percival and writer Sandy Welch
Biographies:Cast bios
Deleted Scenes
Interviews:Specially recorded interview with Richard Armitage
Production Notes

Amazon.com

North & South is a splendid, four-hour adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's 19th century novel about an unlikely, and somewhat star-crossed, love between a middle-class young woman from England's cultivated south and an intemperate if misunderstood industrialist in a hardscrabble, northern city. Daniela Denby-Ashe plays Margaret Hale, forthright and strong-willed daughter of a former vicar (Tim Pigott-Smith) who relocates his family from a pastoral village outside London to unforgiving, largely illiterate Milton, a factory town where John Thornton (Richard Armitage) and his mother (Sinead Cusack), survivors of poverty, rule their cotton mill with an iron hand. Thornton befriends Margaret's father but incurs her wrath for his severity with his workers. What she doesn't notice is Thornton's core sense of responsibility for his employees' welfare. On the other hand, he misinterprets some of Margaret's own actions and intentions. Equally stubborn, the two drag out their obvious attraction over many painful months and events.

North & South's two leads are both very good, though Armitage's brooding, penetrating performance may very well be considered a classic one day. There are other wonders in the cast: Cusack and Pigott-Smith are superb, and Brendan Coyle is memorable as a firebrand union organizer who ultimately becomes an ally to a softening Thornton. The miniseries script by Sandy Welch is a persuasive mix of historical context and character study. Brian Percival's direction is full of moments that linger in the imagination, such as the winter-dream look of a busy cotton mill, with thousands of snowy fibers floating in the air. --Tom Keogh

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Spaced: The Complete Series

Actors: Simon Pegg, Jessica Hynes, Julia Deakin, Nick Frost, Mark Heap
ASIN : B0019MFY3Q
Sales Rank : 1081
Director : Edgar Wright
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929019748
UPC : 883929019748
Release Date : December 22, 2008
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 350

Product Description

Spaced revolves around two idle twentysomething flatmates - immature skateboarding would-be comic artist Tim (Simon Pegg) and moody responsibility-shy Daisy (Jessica Stevenson) and their self-induced lack of success in employment relationships and life in general. Together with their oddball assortment of friends and neighbors Marsha Brian Mike and Twist they exist in a world perched precariously on the edge of normality.Running Time: 343 min.System Requirements:Running Time: 343 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/BBC Rating: NR UPC: 883929019748 Manufacturer No: 1000038748

Amazon.com

It only takes one episode to become very protective of this 1999 British Comedy Award-winning series that put comedy soul mates Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (now Hynes), as well as Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) on the map. One can only hope a threatened American version is never produced. This is one of those brilliant, off-center, lightning-in-a-bottle creations that gets you so jazzed, you want to turn all your friends on to it. Spaced (actually, Friends might have been a better title; too bad it was taken) stars Pegg and Stevenson as strangers Tim and Daisy, "amiable 20-somethings" who pose as a "professional couple" to rent an apartment. He is a recently-dumped aspiring comic book artist. She is an easily distracted writer. As the series unfolds, their apartment becomes an "island of calm in the ocean of life" as Tim and Daisy form a kind of 21st century family with their similarly misfit friends, including soused landlord Marsha (Julia Deakin), who lives with her teenager daughter (aka "the devil in a A cup," who is heard, but never quite seen), Brian (Mark Heap), an artist who deals in anger, fear, and aggression, Simon's best friend Mark (Frost), a militaristic gun nut, and Daisy's best friend, Twist (Katy Carmichael), a fashion poseur (in the series' penultimate episode, look for a pre-Office Ricky Gervais). Spaced is not so much interested in Tim and Daisy's charade as it is in cramming each episode with pop culture references and obscure in-jokes, and brilliantly realized film and TV homages, ranging from Woody Allen's Manhattan to Pulp Fiction and The Empire Strikes Back (Star Wars, especially, looms large in Tim's slacker universe). As with Arrested Development, Spaced benefits from repeat viewings to catch missed bits of business and gags that fly by at a Simpsons-esque rate. This Complete Series set is everything Spaced's fervent following would demand. Each episode is complemented by the original commentaries as well as newly-recorded gabfests that also feature American friends of the show, including Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, Quentin Taratinto, Matt Stone, Diablo Cody, and Bill Hader. There are deleted scenes and outtakes, and, best of all, an hour-long 2007 Q&A with Wright and the cast, in which Pegg allows that, had there been a third series (and we can still dream), it would have provided viewers hoping that Tim and Daisy would ultimately get together with "a moment to make every hair of your body stand on end." You will see such a moment if you "skip to the end" of the essential near two-hour series retrospective. --Donald Liebenson

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Les Miserables - The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall

Actors: Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball, Lea Salonga, Judy Kuhn, Michael Maguire
ASIN : B00110K62U
Sales Rank : 909
Brand : Warner Brothers
Studio : BBC Warner
Region Code : 1
Format : Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Binding : DVD
EAN : 0883929005949
UPC : 883929005949
Release Date : December 19, 2008
Publisher : BBC Warner
Manufacturer : BBC Warner
Availability : Usually ships in 24 hours
Label : BBC Warner
Running Time : 148

Description

A performance of Les Miserables by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, for a 10th Anniversary Concert celebration.

Amazon.com

The 10th anniversary concert video of the international musical sensation Les Misérables might be the best thing to appease fans until a full-fledged movie comes along. Or it might be even better, as feature films are often subject to extramusical casting considerations and this 1995 dream cast is superb. Reprising their roles from the original London company are Colm Wilkinson (Valjean), Michael Ball (Marius), and Alun Armstrong (Thenardier). From Broadway come Judy Kuhn (Cosette), Lea Salonga (Eponine), and Michael Maguire (Enjolras); from a later London production comes Ruthie Henshall (Fantine); and from Australia comes Philip Quast (Javert).

Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's score vividly captures the passion of Victor Hugo's epic tale of post-Revolutionary France, combining tear-jerking ballads ("I Dreamed a Dream," "Bring Him Home") and rousing anthems ("Do You Hear the People Sing"). The format of this concert is closer to that of a dramatic cantata rather than a fully staged production; the singers stand at their microphone stands with an orchestra and chorus behind them, but they do wear costumes and participate in some movement. At certain points such as the climax of the barricade scene, the video switches to action from a stage production. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra sounds great, and it can be thrilling when 200 choristers (dressed in logo T-shirts) rise to their feet for a full-company number such as "One Day More." Also, subtitles provide date and scene information and help move the story along.

The 147-minute video contains footage not seen when Les Mis was a PBS pledge-drive staple, most notably the encore in which a progression of 17 actors who have played Valjean around the world share "Do You Hear the People Sing?" Each sings a line in his native language, a testament to the enduring power of this show to audiences everywhere. --David Horiuchi

DVD features
The 2008 two-disc edition presents the concert on a single-sided disc (the original DVD split the concert over two sides) with optional English subtitles. It's also in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio) comparied to the original's 1.33 full-screen. The second disc has Stage by Stage: Les Miserables, the hourlong documentary from 1988. Unfortunately the sound is only Dolby Digital 2.0, and there's an odd omission (compared to the earlier Sony DVD): the first 10 seconds of Gavroche's "Little People" are missing ("Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evening, my dear..."). --David Horiuchi

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Doctor Who - The Complete Third Series

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Galapagos [Blu-ray]

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Doctor Who: The Infinite Quest

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Torchwood - The Complete Second Season

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Doctor Who - The Complete First Series

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Doctor Who - The Complete Second Series

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The Office - The Complete Collection BBC Edition (First And Second Series Plus Special)

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North & South

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Spaced: The Complete Series

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Les Miserables - The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert at London's Royal Albert Hall

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