"Actor: Brenda Blethyn"

• Vera - Series 1 | DVD | (23/05/2011) from £8.49   |  Saving you £16.50 (194.35%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Introducing this major new detective franchise Vera starring Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Brenda Blethyn as Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Middle-aged Vera is an experienced not to mention brilliant murder detective. Kind-hearted but a loner she freely admits she can become obsessed with her job.

• Secrets & Lies (1996) (Criterion Collection) UK Only | Blu Ray | (26/04/2021) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Writer-director MIKE LEIGH (Naked) reached new levels of expressive power and intricacy in his ongoing contemplation of unembellished humanity with this resonant exploration of the deceptions, small and large, that shape our relationships to those we love. When Hortense (RoboCop's MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE), a Black optometrist who was adopted as a child, begins the search for her birth mother, she doesn't expect that it will lead her to Cynthia (Pride & Prejudice's BRENDA BLETHYN, winner of the Cannes Film Festival's best actress award), a desperately lonely white factory worker whose tentative embrace of her long-lost daughter sends shock waves through the rest of her already fragile family. Born from a painstaking process of rehearsal and improvisation with a powerhouse ensemble cast, Secrets & Lies is a Palme d'Orwinning tour de force of sustained tension and catharsis that lays bare the emotional fault lines running beneath the surface of everyday lives. Special Features: New 2K digital restoration, supervised by director Mike Leigh and director of photography Dick Pope, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack New conversation with Leigh and composer Gary Yershon New interview with actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste Audio interview with Leigh from 1996 conducted by film critic Michel Ciment Trailer English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• Vera - Series 3 | DVD | (16/09/2013) from £8.49   |  Saving you £11.50 (135.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  ITV's critically acclaimed crime drama returns starring multi-award winning actress Brenda Blethyn as DCI Vera Stanhope. Based on the bestselling Inspector Stanhope books by renowned writer Ann Cleeves Vera and her team are faced with a series of daunting challenges.

• Vera: Series 1-13 | DVD | (26/02/2024) from £150.25   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Vera - Series 2 | DVD | (21/05/2012) from £12.89   |  Saving you £12.10 (93.87%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The first series of Vera may have left the show a little bit of work to do, but this follow-up run of stories improves things with considerable skill. The basic premise remains similar. Vera follows the work of Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope, a woman driven to solve crime, whilst battling a catalogue of problems of her own. So far, so conventional. Television is hardly short of detectives, after all. But Vera has a trump card, and her name is Brenda Blethyn. The Oscar-nominated actress gives a considered performance in the title role, and the lends the show the gravitas it needs to keep us hooked. Blethyn is front and centre for much of the four episodes collected together here, and it's a complex collection of cases she's presented with. For instance, she has to face the mysterious suicide of a former colleague, and the odd murder of a social worker, each of which comes with a labyrinthine backstory that Vera needs to get to grips with. There are still problems with Vera that this second series doesn't completely solve. Based once more on Ann Cleeves' novels, the wonderful Blethyn has proven to be a divisive choice amongst hardened fans of the books, and whilst her character is deepened here, more work on the writing and less reliance on the leading actress would serve the show well. That said, her adventures here are fleshed out, interesting, and intriguing to watch. And Vera continues, as it did in the second half of its maiden series, to improve. Well worth a look. --Jon Foster

• Beyond The Sea | DVD | (18/04/2005) from £6.20   |  Saving you £13.79 (222.42%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Double Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey directs and stars in this biopic of popular crooner Bobby Darin.

• Romantic Comedy | DVD | (13/02/2006) from £68.83   |  Saving you £-18.84 (N/A%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Pride And Prejudice: The five Bennet sisters have all been raised by their mother with one purpose in life - finding a husband. However the second eldest Lizzie can think of 100 reasons not to marry. When Mrs Bennet hears the exciting news that a wealthy bachelor and his circle of sophisticated friends are to take up summer residence in a nearby mansion the Bennets are abuzz with the hope that potential suitors will be in full supply. Obligingly the newcomer Mr Charles Bingl

• Vera Series 1-8 | DVD | (19/03/2018) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All the episodes from the ITV crime thriller based on the novels by Ann Cleeves. Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn) along with Detective Sergeant Joe Ashworth (David Leon) and their team, carry out various murder investigations. Series 1 episodes are: 'Hidden Depths', 'Telling Tales', 'The Crow Trap' and 'Little Lazarus'. Series 2 episodes are: 'The Ghost Position', 'Silent Voices', 'A Certain Samaritan' and 'Sandancers'. Series 3 episodes are: 'Castles in the Air', 'Poster Child', 'Young Gods' and 'Prodigal Son'. Series 4 episodes are: 'On Harbour Street', 'Protected', 'The Deer Hunters' and 'Death of a Family Man'. Series 5 episodes are: 'Changing Tides', 'Old Wound', 'Muddy Waters' and 'Shadows in the Sky'. Series 6 episodes are: 'Dark Road', 'Tuesday's Child', 'The Moth Catcher' and 'The Sea Glass'. Series 7 episodes are: 'Natural Selection', 'Dark Angel', 'Broken Promise' and 'The Blanket Mire'. Series 8 episodes are: 'Blood and Bone', 'Black Ice', 'Home' and 'Darkwater'.

• Secrets and Lies | DVD | (22/07/2019) from £11.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a young, black optometrist whose adoptive parents have recently died. Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn) is a sad, unmarried mother who works in a factory and lives in a shabby terraced house with her confrontational daughter Roxanna (Claire Rushbrook). Cynthia's brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) is a successful photographer who lives comfortably in suburbia with his wife Monica (Phyllis Logan). In a misplaced effort to re-unite the family, Maurice & Monica throw a small barbecue party for Roxanne's 21st birthday. When Cynthia brings along her new friend Hortense, chaos ensues and some painful truths are revealed.

• Dead Man Running | DVD | (01/03/2010) from £4.49   |  Saving you £13.50 (300.67%)   |  RRP £17.99

  When it becomes apparent that the recession is hitting the criminal world as hard as it is hitting Wall Street, notorious gangster and loan shark, Mr. Thigo (50 Cent) arrives in London to shake things up and make an example out of one of his late payers.

• Secrets And Lies (Wide Screen) | DVD | (16/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  If a film fan had never heard of director Mike Leigh, one might explain him as a British Woody Allen. Not that Leighs films are whimsical or neurotic; they are tough-love examinations of British life--funny, outlandish and biting. His films share a real immediacy with Allens work: they feel as if they are happening now. Leigh works with actors--real actors--on ideas and language. There is no script at the start (and sometimes not at the end). Secrets and Lies involves Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste), an elegant black woman wanting to learn her birth mothers identity. She will find its Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), who is one of the saddest creatures weve seen in film. Shes also one of the most real and, ultimately, one of the most loveable. Timothy Spall is Cynthias brother, a giant man full of love who is being slowly defeated by his fastidious wife (Phyllis Logan). There is a great exuberance of life in Secrets & Lies, winner of the Palme DOr and best actress (Blethyn) at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival--not Zorba-type life but the little battles fought and won every day. Leighs honest interpretation of daily life is usually found only on the stage. Secrets & Lies is more realistic than a stage production, however, especially when Leigh shows us uninterrupted scenes. Critic David Denby states that Leigh has "made an Ingmar Bergman film without an instant of heaviness or pretension." If that sounds like your cup of tea, see Secrets & Lies. --Doug Thomas

• Vera: Series 11 (Eps 3 & 4) | DVD | (31/01/2022) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  BAFTA and Golden Globe -winning actress Brenda Blethyn stars as the unorthodox but brilliant DCI Vera Stanhope in this hit crime drama. Vera may be unconventional and unglamorous, but she faces the world with her caustic wit, guile and courage, and what she lacks in charm she more than makes up for in wisdom and insight. Vera and her trusted team investigate tragic and intriguing cases, chasing ruthless killers, unravelling complex mysteries and uncovering secrets that sometimes stray a little too close to home. Set against the atmospheric landscapes of the breathtaking Northumberland countryside, this top-rating drama is inspired by the bestselling novels and characters created by acclaimed author Ann Cleeves.

• Little Voice | DVD | (22/01/2001) from £5.88   |  Saving you £12.11 (205.95%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Michael Caine was robbed of an Oscar. He gives his finest performance in a decade as big-talking small-time agent Ray Say, a paunchy, pale life of the party hiding his desperation under gold chains and cool bravura. When he hears the almost magical voice of Jane Horrocks's meek little LV (short for Little Voice) fill her bedroom with the rich voice of Judy Garland, he sees his ticket to the big time. Little Voice is ostensibly LV's story, and in fact the original play was written for Horrocks, whose amazing vocal impressions of Garland, Shirley Bassey and Marilyn Monroe (among others) form the centrepiece performance of the film. But as directed by Mark Herman (Brassed Off), the story of this mousy girl who shuts herself in from a bellowing world is just as overwhelmed by the bombastic characters as LV herself. Brenda Blethyn babbles a blue streak as LV's overbearing mother, Mari, an ageing widow who escapes her unhappiness in carousing and becomes almost pathologically jealous when Ray's attentions turn from her to LV. As Ray puts his dreams on the line for LV's showcase, he reveals his true self: a venal man who spits and barks out his bottled-up anger in an astoundingly bile-filled delivery of Roy Orbison's "It's Over." The showstopping moment once again overwhelms LV's tale, but Caine's performance is so astounding it seems a fair trade. --Sean Axmaker

• PD James: The Adam Dalgliesh Chronicles | DVD | (05/11/2018) from £74.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A spectacular critical and ratings success when first transmitted on ITV, Upstairs, Downstairs still maintains its position as one of the major success stories of British television worldwide. Multi-award-winning (including ones from BAFTA, the Writers' Guild, the Royal Television Society, Emmys and Golden Globes), the series stars Jean Marsh, Gordon Jackson, Angela Baddeley, Pauline Collins and Lesley-Anne Down. Upstairs, Downstairs takes place at 165 Eaton Place from the turn of the century through the Great War and into the Roaring Twenties. It concerns the Bellamy family: politician Richard Bellamy, his wives Marjorie and Virginia, wastrel son James, wayward daughter Elizabeth and his flighty ward, Georgina Worsley. The house domestics are led by Hudson, the butler, a conservative Scot who must contend with the 'below stairs' behaviour of the household staff, including cook Mrs Bridges and maids Rose and Sarah. Features: The Story of Upstairs, Downstairs five exclusive documentaries Commentaries for selected episodes Variant version of On Trial Archive interviews with Gordon Jackson, Jean Marsh and Angela Baddeley An interview with composer Alexander Faris, and a 5.1 mix of Faris conducting the Upstairs, Downstairs theme with a live orchestra Russell Harty Goes Upstairs, Downstairs a 1975 Christmas special

• Music From Another Room | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £6.39   |  Saving you £6.60 (50.80%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When five year old Danny helps deliver a family friend's baby Anna he tells his father that he will one day marry her. But it's not until he moves back to America- twenty five years later- that fate steps in and literally knocks him off his bike- and into the arms of a beautiful grown up Anna (Mol)! And while destiny might be on his side Danny (Law) discovers that time is not... because Anna is not only sure of her feelings for Danny but she's also engaged to be married to someone

• Jim Henson Collection: The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Storyteller | DVD | (10/10/2016) from £49.93   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Jim Henson's fantasy epic The Dark Crystal doesn't take place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but like Star Wars it takes the audience to a place that exists only in the imagination and, for an hour and a half, on the screen. Recalling the worlds of JRR. Tolkien, Henson tells the story of a race of grotesque birdlike lizards called the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. A prophecy tells of a Gelfling (a small elfin being) who will topple their empire, so in their reign of terror they have exterminated the race, or so they think. The orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal (which gives the Skeksis their power) and restore the balance of the universe. Henson and codirector Frank Oz have pushed puppetry into a new direction: traditional puppets, marionettes, giant bodysuits, and mechanical constructions are mixed seamlessly in a fantasy world of towering castles, simple huts, dank caves, a giant clockwork observatory, and a magnificent landscape that seem to have leaped off the pages of a storybook. Muppet fans will recognise many of the voice actors--a few characters sound awfully close to familiar comic creations--but otherwise The Dark Crystal is a completely alien world made familiar by a mythic quest that resonates through stories over the ages. --Sean Axmaker

• At Last Smith And Jones Vol.1 | DVD | (12/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  At Last Smith And Jones: Vol.1 (2 Discs)

• Clubland | DVD | (31/03/2008) from £13.48   |  Saving you £0.51 (3.78%)   |  RRP £13.99

  A young man finds himself torn between two passionate women intent on fighting it out in the war for his affections in this new comedy.

• Outside Edge - Complete | DVD | (09/07/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Cricket - the sport of gentlemen - takes on new dimensions in this cheeky British comedy about the foibles and follies of married life. Kevin and Maggie Costello live for the moment constantly expressing their affection for each other in outrageous ways. Roger and Mim Dervish on the other hand lead a quiet life reserving their passions for the seemingly more subdued activities of cricket and tea cakes. But when the Costellos and Dervishes meet at a cricket match the collision of opposing personalities serves as a prelude to a series of hilarious unpredictable adventures.

• The Calling | DVD | (16/08/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Joanna is about to graduate from University with her whole life set up for her but she has decided to face up to a truth she has been avoiding her whole life. Since she was small she has had the desire to become a Nun. She is set on joining a closed order of Benedictines. Her best friend cannot believe it her boyfriend is devastated and her mother feels it's just a phase. The only encouragement she gets is from the family's religious housekeeper Consuela When she finally gets to the convent the liberalism of a politically active Novice Sister Ignatious and a bunch of women with border-line mental illness including a psychotic Mother Superior an alcoholic football fan in charge of the vineyard an over-pious floor mopper Sister Hilda to name a few at first makes her wonder if she's following the right path after all but as she gets to know the Sisters and the enormous community bond they all share and the spiritual love that connects them she starts to see glimpses of her own spiritual fulfillment. Several weeks into her vocation she discovers something in herself which brings a whole new series of secrets out into the open until eventually the bond she has with Sister Ignatious dictates and assists in her destiny.