"Actor: Andrew Whyment"

• Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Video | DVD | (30/09/2002) from £16.20   |  Saving you £-4.95 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Revealing a truly adult edge never previously seen Harry Enfield brings us the best bits of his 'Brand Spanking New Show' with a whole new gang of chums and catchphrases. New characters include: Cornish Ladies Man the last of the great West Country lovers; Chris Great the 'fictional' red-headed DJ who owns the radio station; Shagging Couple still at it after all these years; Paxman the journalist with a very direct interviewing style; The Pharmacist thorough but rather indiscreet; Mother & Daughter people think we're sisters; and loads more.

• The Royle Family - The Complete Series 2 | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £4.94   |  Saving you £15.05 (304.66%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On paper, The Royle Family doesn't sound that promising: a working-class family from Manchester sit in their cluttered living room, watch the telly and argue over domestic details (the arrival of a telephone bill, for instance, provides the big dramatic event of the first episode, which aired in September 1998). But from such small everyday incidents, Royle Family creators Caroline Aherne and Dave Best (who play young couple Denise and Dave) have crafted one of the most successful shows on British television: a comedy about the joys and frustrations of family life that's warm, honest and very, very funny--Britain's answer to The Simpsons, whose success the show rivalled when it started broadcasting on BBC2 (the programme jumped channels to BBC1 for its second series).The Royle Family marked an on-screen reunion for Brookside-actors Ricky Tomlinson (who plays bearded, big-hearted, banjo-playing Jim Royle) and Sue Johnston as his wife Barbara, the driving force behind the Royle household. It is smart casting because The Royle Family is as much a soap opera as a situation comedy. Now in its third series, The Royle Family has seen its characters develop like real folk. Denise and Dave got married and now have a little sprog; Barbara starts menopause (how many sitcoms are brave enough to use that for laughs?) and Denise's kid brother Anthony shakes off his surly adolescence when he turned 18 in series two. Unlike Oasis, who provide the shows theme song "Halfway Round the World", this programme just keeps getting better.But no soap--not even Brookside in its dafter moments--has one-liners as brilliantly crafted as The Royle Family. (The scripts from the series are available to buy.) Slouched in his armchair, Jim's dour running commentary on the TV shows that are on at the time are particularly priceless: Changing Rooms, for instance, boils down to "a Cockney knocking nails into plywood... Is this what its come to?" Not quite: because as long as the Royle Family are around, there is something worthwhile to watch. --Edward Lawrenson

• The Very Best Of The Royle Family | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Spanning the three series of this superb sitcom, The Very Best of The Royle Family is a prime taster for those not familiar with the series. Co-created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, who star as Denise and Dave respectively, The Royle Family deserves its own comedic category. They had a hard fight persuading the BBC to leave a laughter track off the show, which would have disrupted its unique ambience and chemistry. Never departing from the house of lazy, good-for-nothing but defiantly sardonic Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson) and wife Barbara (Sue Johnston), The Royle Family chronicles the everyday chat and banal comings and goings of this Northern household, which barely qualifies as "working" class, since mostly they are slumped on the sofa in front of the telly in a cathode-induced stupor. Confused viewers waiting for something to "happen" in the conventional sitcom manner will be disappointed. What they'll get instead is an irresistible stream of dialogue that captures unerringly the humdrum cadences of "ordinary" people. These episodes capture the Royles in customary, festive mood--Denise's marriage, Christmas, baby David's birthday party and so forth--which is good, as we get to see more of Liz Smith's magnificent Nana. As each seemingly inconsequential scene vividly illustrates, this is hardly a romanticised family. Denise is an appallingly negligent mother, there's probably never been a green vegetable in the house, most of their friends, including Darren, are well dodgy, and mum Barbara is unfairly put-upon ("Eh, I've been so busy this morning I haven't had time to smoke", she laments at one point). Yet undoubtedly, unlike their regal counterparts, this Royle Family are close-knit, somehow getting by. The family that watches telly together stays together. On the DVD: The Very Best of the Royle Family, disappointingly, has no extra features. --David Stubbs

• The Royle Family - The Complete Series 3 | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On paper, The Royle Family doesn't sound that promising: a working-class family from Manchester sit in their cluttered living room, watch the telly and argue over domestic details (the arrival of a telephone bill, for instance, provides the big dramatic event of the first episode, which aired in September 1998). But from such small everyday incidents, Royle Family creators Caroline Aherne and Dave Best (who play young couple Denise and Dave) have crafted one of the most successful shows on British television--a comedy about the joys and frustrations of family life that's warm, honest and very, very funny. It's Britain's answer to The Simpsons, whose success the show rivalled when it started broadcasting on BBC2 (the programme jumped channels to BBC1 for its second series). Now in its third series, The Royle Family has seen its characters develop like real folk. Denise and Dave got married and now have a little sprog; Barbara starts menopause (how many sit-coms are brave enough to use that for laughs?) and Denise's kid brother Anthony shakes off his surly adolescence when he turned 18 in series two. Unlike Oasis--who provide the shows theme song "Halfway Round the World"--this programme just keeps getting better. But no soap--not even Brookside in its dafter moments--has one-liners as brilliantly crafted as The Royle Family's. Slouched in his armchair, Jim's dour running commentary on the TV shows that are on at the time are particularly priceless. Changing Rooms, for instance, boils down to "a cockney knocking nails into plywood... Is this what it's come to?" Not quite; as long as the Royle Family are around, there is something worthwhile to watch. --Edward Lawrenson

• Coronation Street - Out Of Africa | DVD | (10/11/2008) from £4.90   |  Saving you £5.09 (103.88%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Coronation Street favourites Chesney Kirk and Fiz set out for South Africa to be reunited with Cilla. With regular Corrie viewers able to watch the fallout in Weatherfield on ITV1 the action in South Africa is only available to watch on ITV DVD. Guaranteed to make the christmas wish list of every Corrie fan this is the first Coronation Street DVD special for ten years.

• The Royle Family - The Complete First Series | DVD | (06/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On paper, The Royle Family doesn't sound that promising: a working-class family from Manchester sit in their cluttered living room, watch the telly and argue over domestic details (the arrival of a telephone bill, for instance, provides the big dramatic event of the first episode, which aired in September 1998). But from such small everyday incidents, Royle Family creators Caroline Aherne and Dave Best (who play young couple Denise and Dave) have crafted one of the most successful shows on British television: a comedy about the joys and frustrations of family life that's warm, honest and very, very funny--Britain's answer to The Simpsons, whose success the show rivalled when it started broadcasting on BBC2 (the programme jumped channels to BBC1 for its second series).The Royle Family marked an on-screen reunion for Brookside-actors Ricky Tomlinson (who plays bearded, big-hearted, banjo-playing Jim Royle) and Sue Johnston as his wife Barbara, the driving force behind the Royle household. It is smart casting because The Royle Family is as much a soap opera as a situation comedy. Now in its third series, The Royle Family has seen its characters develop like real folk. Denise and Dave got married and now have a little sprog; Barbara starts menopause (how many sitcoms are brave enough to use that for laughs?) and Denise's kid brother Anthony shakes off his surly adolescence when he turned 18 in series two. Unlike Oasis, who provide the shows theme song "Halfway Round the World", this programme just keeps getting better.But no soap--not even Brookside in its dafter moments--has one-liners as brilliantly crafted as The Royle Family. (The scripts from the series are available to buy.) Slouched in his armchair, Jim's dour running commentary on the TV shows that are on at the time are particularly priceless: Changing Rooms, for instance, boils down to "a Cockney knocking nails into plywood... Is this what its come to?" Not quite: because as long as the Royle Family are around, there is something worthwhile to watch. --Edward Lawrenson

• The Royle Family - Series 2 | DVD | (15/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Sit down put your feet up light a fag and join Britain's first family in their sitting room for the complete second series of The Royle Family plus the 1999 Christmas Special. The Royle Family is a real-life comedy set in a Manchester council house. Imagine a secret camera placed in the living room of an average working class family. The intense drama and emotions of everyday life such as whose turn it is to go to the off-licence is set against the continuous hum