"Actor: Connie Booth"

• The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus/Live at Aspen | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  In just four series the ground-breaking anarchic surreal and hilarious Monty Python's Flying Circus - featuring Graham Chapman John Cleese Terry Gilliam Eric Idle Terry Jones and Michael Palin - changed the face of comedy. Over 30 years later their skits animation and sketches seem as fresh as ever. This compilation of the best moments from the series includes such classics as 'Dead Parrot Sketch' 'Ministry Of Silly Walks' 'Spanish Inquisition' 'Upper Class Twit of the Year' and 'Lumberjack Song'.Live At Aspen filmed in 1998 finds the team discussing the show and performing their favourite sketches. It was the first time in 18 years that all the Python members had appeared on stage together (the late Graham Chapman making his appearance in an urn).

• Floodtide: The Complete Series | DVD | (19/07/2010) from £12.15   |  Saving you £12.84 (105.68%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Set in England and France Floodtide is an intelligent action-filled drama following the trail of international cocaine smuggling revealing the devastating consequences for those caught in its reach and focusing on one man's attempt to take on the ruthless kingpin of a European cartel. Written by famed Sweeney and Professionals scriptwriter Roger Marshall this acclaimed series was originally screened in 1987 and 1988. The complete series is released here for the first time in DVD format. When cabinet minister Exton Waite dies after snorting lethally contaminated cocaine his daughter Tessa seeks out their former family doctor Ramsey in France; he returns with her to England to try to discover the facts about her father's death. But his investigations bring him into contact with one of the most powerful drug cartels in Europe headed by the brutal and elusive Lambert - and as those close to Ramsey become the victims of the deadly trade his search for the truth becomes a desperate private quest.

• Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Best Of Monty Python's Flying Circus - Vol. 1 | DVD | (04/10/1999) from £8.00   |  Saving you £11.99 (149.88%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The coming together of the influential Python team is regarded as a milestone for modern absurdist comedy, though each of the six members had been doing similar sketch work prior to this first 1969 series, of whose highlights this video consists. The most revolutionary aspect of Python was its eschewal of punch lines, preferring as they did bizarre, surreal links and quantum leaps into the imagination of animator Terry Gilliam. Inevitably, Python has dated. Sketches such as "The Upper Class Twit of the Year" and the "Wink-wink, nudge nudge" man are worn down by familiarity. There's some clunky stereotyping and "Oo, ducky"-style gay references. That said, much of this still stands up. "Hells Grannies" and the race to find the world's funniest joke are fine, the Eric Idle-driven documentary spoofs are witty while the Batley Townswomen's Guild's re-enactment of Pearl Harbour is intelligently ridiculous. John Cleese, however, stands literally and metaphorically head and shoulders above the rest. His and Chapman's sketches, involving a mountaineering expedition leader with double vision and an arts TV interviewer who can't get past the etiquette of how to refer to his guest ("Eddie baby...") are pursued to their absurd non-conclusions with the remorseless logic of a top-drawer barrister. --David Stubbs

• The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus Volumes 1-3 / Live in Aspen | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Nudge-nudge wink-wink say no more... it's a 4 disc box set including a feast of Monty Python sketches such as The Dead Parrot Sketch The 127th Upperclass Twit of the Year Competition From Hurlingham Park Bicycle Repair Man Vicious Gangs of Old Ladies The Lumberjack Song The Man With Three Buttocks The Joke That Kills People The Bishop It's In The Mind Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition The Finals of the All-England Summarise Proust Competition The Fifteenth Ideal Loon Exhibition The Cheese Shop Sketch Stand and Deliver The Ministry of Silly Walks Whicker Island Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days... and many more!

• The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus | DVD | (05/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus will probably be purchased mostly for the standards--those sketches that have become the staple material of every office joker and pub bore in Christendom--the Spanish Inquisition, the Australian philosophers, the Ministry of Silly Walks. Good fun though these are, once you've expunged the memory of a million witless impersonators, this collection is really worth owning for the material that never quite registered in the popular consciousness. Sketches such as the Summarise Proust Competition, the misunderstanding over the Hungarian phrasebook and John Cleese's manically embittered architect with a grudge against the Freemasons are every bit as funny as the more familiar hits and, free of any associated baggage, they will startle and delight the younger viewer as much as Python must have startled and delighted their parents when first broadcast in the 1970s. On the DVD: The Best of Monty Python's Flying Circus is a three-disc set, and each volume is equipped with a sketch selector that is fussier than strictly necessary. But this is more than compensated for by the wonderful Terry Gilliam animations that the viewer uses to navigate. Subtitles are available in English only. --Andrew Mueller

• Fawlty Towers - Collector's Edition | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £37.99

  Contains all twelve episodes from this crown jewel of British comedy. This exclusive collector's edition featuring a Corgi model of Basil's Austin 1300 and a hand painted figurine of Basil would be a great gift! Episode titles: A Touch of Class The Builders The Wedding Party The Hotel Inspectors Gourmet Night The Germans Communication Problems The Psychiatrist Waldorf Salad The Kipper and the Corpse The Anniversary Basil the Rat.

• Romance With A Double Bass (John Cleese & Connie Booth) | DVD | (05/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Romance with A Double Bass is a truly delightful film and an important piece of film history. Based on a short story by Anton Chekhov this project was one of John Cleese's first post-Python projects. Romance With A Double Bass was the second writing collaboration for Cleese and Connie Booth and their first on screen appearance together before they created the classic Fawlty Towers. A bassist (Cleese) shows up early for the betrothal ball of a beautiful princess (Booth) and whiles away the time having a dip in the river. The princess is doing the same unbeknownst to the bass player but when someone steals their clothes the bass player helps the princess to preserve her dignity by transporting her back to the castle in his bass case; along the way they overcome many mishaps and discover they have feelings for each other. The film also starts a host of British talent including June Whitfield Graham Crowden Freddie Jones Jonathan Lynn and Andrew Sachs.

• And Now For Something Completely Different (Collector's Edition) (DVD) | DVD | (03/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python's first feature, is a reworking of their best skits from the first two seasons of the TV series. Originally made for the US market (where the show had yet to be aired), it was shot on film outside the usual studio sets ("Nudge Nudge", for example, is set in a tavern filled with passers-by). The writing and performances are fine and the film is packed with some of their best bits: "How to Avoid Being Seen", " Hell's Grannies", "Blackmail", "The Lumberjack Song" and "The Upper Class Twit of the Year", among others. Many of the sketches have been shortened, however, and the loss of the overly bright video sheen (the film has a muddy, dull look to it) and the invigorating presence of a live audience leaves the film sluggish at times. They're still feeling out the possibilities of the feature length, which they conquered with their next movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974). --Sean Axmaker