"Actor: David Stewart"

• Eurythmics - Peacetour | DVD | (28/06/2005) from £9.43   |  Saving you £-3.44 (-57.40%)   |  RRP £5.99

  As music DVDs go, sweet dreams must surely be made of this. Quite apart from carrying a great performance (although the music production is perhaps too sanitary overall), the label appears to have gone all-out to ensure that pretty much every extra feature that the DVD format supports is represented here in the best possible way. The performance is taken from the final (London Docklands Arena) date of the 1999 tour in support of Amnesty International and Greenpeace and includes all the classics you'd expect. There are some nice multi-angle options on a couple of the songs, a self-congratulatory and patronising interview/documentary section (but better to have it than not), a discography, a complete lyrics section, and a rather dull gallery of photographs which looks like a way of using up the PR department's leftovers. But the music's great if you're a fan and pretty damn good even if you're not, and as a demonstration of how all music DVDs should be produced--i.e. stuffed to the last possible byte with all kinds of material--this release is the business. --Roger Thomas

• A Touch of Frost: Series 5 | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £19.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (25.01%)   |  RRP £24.99

  David Jason is the gritty and dogged Detective Inspector Jack Frost a man who has little time for paperwork or the orthodox approach. This release features all the episodes from Series Five of A Touch of Frost. Episode titles: Penny For The Guy House Calls True Confessions No Other Love.

• Glam Rock Compilation | DVD | (26/05/2003) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-11.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  In an era when men took as much pride in their make up as women hip shakin' 3 minute pop songs were the order the day: glam rock had arrived! Tracks Include: 1. T.Rex - Jeepster 2. Roxy Music - Virginia Plain 3. Suzi Quatro - 48 Crash 4. David Essex - Rock On 5. Sweet - Teenage Rampage 6. Bay City Rollers - Bye Bye Baby 7. Medicine Head - How Does It Feel 8. Lulu - The Man Who Sold The World 9. David Cassidy - Rock Me Baby 10. Smokie - If You Think You Know How To Love Me 1

• Wild West - Series 1 | DVD | (15/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Dawn French casts off her 'Vicar Of Dibley' dog collar for some lurid rain-wearas she takes on a much talked about role as a lesbian in a close-knit coastal community. A quirky comedy set in the small picturesque yet rather odd coastal village of St Gweep. Mary always says what she thinks and is not averse to stocking the shop she runs with stolen goods while Angela's prim exterior masks an unhealthy obsession with some frilly frocks and strange phobias. And the village locals are every bit eccentric as the distinctively 'odd couple' in this charming and original series.

• A Touch of Frost: Series 6 - 10 | DVD | (18/10/2004) from £27.98   |  Saving you £42.01 (150.14%)   |  RRP £69.99

  A must for all fans of BAFTA winning David Jason detective series, A Touch of Frost. This 10-disc set features all the episodes from series six to ten.

• The X Files: Nothing Important Happened Today | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £3.80   |  Saving you £12.19 (320.79%)   |  RRP £15.99

  It has become traditional for The X-Files to kick off each new season with a humourless conspiracy two-parter, and Season 9 is no exception: in The X Files: Nothing Important Happened Today David Duchovny’s Mulder is gone, along with everything in his apartment, and Gillian Anderson’s Scully is mostly at home with her perhaps-telekinetic baby, which leaves the bulk of the investigation to promising new characters Doggett (Robert Patrick) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish).The A-plot features Lucy Lawless as a water-breathing terminatrix who could be an alien, a government experiment or a mermaid without it making any difference, but too much time is spent on impossible-to-follow subplots about internal FBI politics and everyone’s intricate backstory (if ever a release needed a "previously..." prologue, this is it). Usually, the series gets over these heart-sinking openers and livens up a bit, but this time there’s a feeling that this is the end of the line for a thoroughly battered premise.Chris Carter joins Gene Roddenberry in the exclusive category of producer-creators who turn in the worst scripts for their own shows, and all the strengths of The X-Files (shivers, wit, provocative ideas) are missing in action here as the engine grinds on empty.On the DVD: The X-Files: Nothing Important Happened Today on disc arrives with two three-minute filler featurettes, focusing on Gish’s character and the making of this show. The good news is that this anamorphic widescreen release is the best The X-Files has ever looked in a television format, showing that however dramatically exhausted it might be, the show remains technically impressive. --Kim Newman

• Deep Blues | DVD | (25/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• The X Files: Providence | DVD | (16/09/2002) from £7.86   |  Saving you £8.13 (103.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  As with earlier releases, The X-Files: Providence splices together two episodes, "Provenance" and "Providence", into a pseudo-movie. Again, the results fall way below the series average as the long-dead alien conspiracy business is flogged, with a lot of running around and ominous rumbling still not adding up to anything like an actual story. FBI agent Neal McDonaugh (of Minority Report) inexplicably survives a flaming motorcycle crash, leaving behind brass rubbings taken from an alien spaceship, then shows up and tries to murder Scully's psychokinetic baby, who is promptly kidnapped by a UFO cult. In Part 2, Scully (Gillian Anderson) and Reyes (Annabeth Gish) fend off enemies and friends within the bureau as they track down the cultists, who are having trouble with a spaceship they've dug up, and a typical pointless climax has things happen without the characters doing anything to contribute. Even at this late, post-Duchovny stage in the game, The X-Files has turned out some fine stand-alone episodes, but these dreary wallowings go a long way towards explaining why only diehards are still watching. After the child says "I made this" at the end of the credits, it's becoming very hard not to shout "well, clean it up then". On the DVD: The X-Files: Providence, as with Nothing Important Happened Today, arrives in a great-looking anamorphic widescreen transfer. There are two slight promotional "featurettes"--three-minute clips/talking heads promos focusing on the episode "Providence" and actor Cary Elwes' character. --Kim Newman

• Bride Of Re-Animator | DVD | (03/07/2017) from £10.59   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Brian Yuzna's Bride of Re-Animator (1990) was one of the last hurrahs for special-effects-based horror films before CGI extended the ease with which the impossible could be put on screen. Like its predecessor, Re-Animator, Bride is very loosely based on HP Lovecraft's stories of Herbert West, a scientist with a taste for investigation that knows no boundaries, especially not those of good taste. He and his agonisingly liberal sidekick Cain have discovered an improvement on their original serum--now they can not only bring the dead back to life but also assemble them from parts first. Jeffrey Combs gives a wonderfully dour performance as West, not even cracking a smile when a creature he has concocted from fingers and an eye-ball is running around the room unseen by a pestering detective. This is the sort of film that constantly escalates its macabre elements--the surviving villain of the first film has been left as simply an animated head, but that does not stop him pursuing his revenge on West, nor finding ways of using West's new techniques along the way. It all makes for cheerfully gruesome fun. On the DVD: Bride of Re-Animator is presented in an anamorphic widescreen visual aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and its Dolby 2.0 does what little can be done with the muddy soundtrack, but is rather better with the jauntily creepy score. The only special features on this Tartan issue are the trailer, the director's production notes and a reel of trailers for other Tartan horror movies. --Roz Kaveney

• Superman: Man of Tomorrow | Blu Ray | (07/09/2020) from £7.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Meet Clark Kent. Sent to Earth as an infant from the dying planet Krypton, he arrived with as many questions as the number of light-years he traveled. Now a young man, he makes his living in Metropolis as an intern at the Daily Planet alongside reporter Lois Lane while secretly wielding his alien powers of flight, super-strength and x-ray vision in the battle for good. Follow the fledgling hero as he engages in bloody battles with intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo and before fighting for his life with the alien Parasite. The world will learn about Superman but first, Superman must save the world! Special Features: Lobo Natural Force of Chaos-He's the rude, crude, galactic bounty hunter who has been more than a thorn in the side of DC's greatest heroes. This is a full throttle look at Lobo. Martian Manhunter - Lost and Found-This is the personal journey of J'onn J'onzz. A stranger in a strange land who emerges from the shadows as a force for eace and justice. A Sneak Peek at DC Universe's Next Animated Movie-Description intentionally omitted. A Preview of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies-Have a look at the animated feature film, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies A Preview of Justice League vs. The Fatal Five -A dangerous new menace appears from across time and space to threaten our galaxy. This featurette is a thrilling look at the new film Justice League vs. The Fatal Five. Superman: The Animated Series, The Main Man: Part I-Superman squares off against the moronic superpowerful space-biker mercenary, Lobo, who has a contract on the superhero. Superman: The Animated Series, The Main Man: Part II-Superman and Lobo must join forces to escape being exhibits of an alien zoo.

• War of Resistance | DVD | (22/08/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  When a young resistance fighter witnesses atrocities towards the Jews, he’s drawn into a web of espionage and clandestine activities. When he meets a young physics students and resistance journalist - Hans Poley, they embark on a nonstop, action packed hunt through underground tunnels, Gestapo highjacks and daring rescues. War of Resistance is an explosive WWII thriller, that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the nail-biting finale.

• Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This | DVD | (31/01/2000) from £19.97   |  Saving you £-13.98 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Filmed at Heaven in 1983 contains concert footage and video clips of 'Sweet Dreams' 'Love Is A Stranger' and 'Who's That Girl?'.

• Playing God | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £6.82   |  Saving you £-0.83 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  From the outset, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was about conflict. Producers Rick Berman and Michael Piller challenged the utopian ideals of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek universe to create something totally different from its predecessors. That meant no familial camaraderie, squeaky-clean Federation diplomacy, or beige décor. Instead they wanted interpersonal friction, ruthless enemies (Gamma Quadrant Imperialists--The Dominion) and rebellion at every turn. The DS9 concept was originally facilitated by introducing the Cardassian/Bajoran war during The Next Generation's final days. After a muted first reception fans gradually came to accept the new look, but no one liked Star Trek without a starship and eventually the producers capitulated to viewers' wishes by introducing the USS Defiant (an apt name) in Season 3. Relying far less on technobabble than TNG, DS9 was unafraid to focus on matters of the spirit instead, demonstrating a ballsy independence from its parent shows. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by Babylon 5, improved CGI space battles also became a fan favourite. Throughout the increasingly serialised story arc there were rebellious factions within the different establishments: Kira had belonged to the Shakaar resistance cell; the Maquis was Starfleet vs Cardassians; section 31 was a secret Starfleet group; the True Way was a Bajoran group opposed to peace; the Cardassians had their Obsidian Order and the Romulans their Gestapo-like Tal Shiar. Yet for all its constant bickering and espionage (even Bashir got to be James Bond), there was always some contemporary social commentary lurking: the Ferengi were used as a comedic foil to frown on materialistic greed; drugs were looked at via the Jem'Hadar foot soldiers' addiction to Ketracel White. Perhaps Sisko summed up the real heart of things: "Bajor doesn't need a man, it needs a legend". A future vision that retains a place for religion and spirituality turned out to be Deep Space Nine's first best destiny. --Paul Tonks

• Finding Graceland | DVD | (01/01/2001) from £16.64   |  Saving you £-7.66 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Life isn't about believing in dreams; its about living them! An eccentric drifter claiming to be Elvis Presley hitches a ride with a young man and they find themselves on an adventurous road trip to Memphis...

• Jeffrey | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £21.98   |  Saving you £-11.99 (-120.00%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Surprisingly light-hearted and witty, Paul Rudnick's Jeffrey (based on his off-Broadway play) was one of the first films to tackle the AIDS crisis without patting itself on the back or offering everything up in a sobering movie-of-the-week scenario. The titular Jeffrey (Steven Weber) is a happy-go-lucky gay man who suddenly comes face to face with the fact that AIDS has turned sex into something "radioactive". Paranoid in the extreme, he vows to become celibate--at just about the same time that hunky Steve (The Pretender's Michael T. Weiss) saunters into his life, eyes twinkling and hormones raging. The only problem is that Steve, for all his muscles and charm, is HIV-positive, thus setting Jeffrey's deepest fears into motion. When it was written in 1995, Jeffrey struck a nerve in mining the fear that a number of gay men felt during the height of the AIDS crisis. Even just a few years later, though, Jeffrey's paranoia (what, he's never heard of condoms?) seems dated, and his behaviour more self-damaging than self-aware--basically, he needs a slap upside the head as opposed to therapy. Still, Rudnick (who went on to pen the more mainstream In and Out) is never one to pass up a witty one-liner or an opportunity to poke fun at anyone, and Jeffrey now stands as a hilarious, sometimes poignant portrait of gay single life and the perils of dating in a paranoid time. Weber's Jeffrey is simultaneously open to the possibilities of life and fearful to embrace them, and Weiss is, well... gorgeous and funny and sexy beyond belief. Still, it's Patrick Stewart, as Jeffrey's interior decorator best friend, who effortlessly steals the film with his cutting wit; in his mouth, Rudnick's lines are priceless gems. With a host of amazing cameos, including Sigourney Weaver as a conceited New Age maven, Kathy Najimy as her sad-sack follower, Christine Baranski as a high-society hostess for a roundup-themed charity dinner, and a top-form Nathan Lane as a gay priest who seems to have discovered the meaning of life--literally. --Mark Englehart, Amazon.com

• The X Files: Season 6 | DVD | (17/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  The sixth series of The X-Files picks up after the events of the big-screen movie. So it is that "The Beginning" attempts to fit the film into the TV chronology before moving on to tackle plot points left dangling from series five's "The End" (note the guard asleep at the nuclear power plant console is named Homer!). Between story arc threads are several pleasing one-off excursions: time travel to a Bermuda Triangle boatload of Nazis ("Triangle"); further temporal escapades akin to Groundhog Day ("Monday"); a demonic baby case featuring genre stalwart Bruce Campbell ("Terms of Endearment"); and "The Dreamland, Parts 1 and 2", in which David Duchovny gets to play someone else via personality switching. Back in the conspiracy scheme of things, Mulder chases "S.R. 819", a Senate resolution tying conspiracies together; "Two Fathers" and "One Son" indicates that the abductee experiments are intended to cure the black oil disease; and the year finishes with "BioGenesis", in which a beach-buried UFO has Scully and the audience wondering if we are from Mars. --Paul Tonks

• Santa Who? (2000) | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Leslie Nielsen tones down the bumbling for Santa Who? but wearing a belly like a bowl full of jelly does little to diminish his trademark dimwittedness, which is what gets the bells ringing on this St. Nick flick. Peter Albright, self-involved TV reporter, can't believe his luck when Santa, presumably the for-hire variety, sails into his windshield and gets amnesia--what a story! When his search for Santa's family stops short at the North Pole, his humbug infestation subsides, setting him free to make merry. Predictability aside, Santa Who? drags a sleigh-full of better than average shenanigans into living rooms, making this a winter-evening warmer for the whole family. --Tammy La Gorce, Amazon.com

• A Christmas Carol | DVD | (22/11/2004) from £10.71   |  Saving you £2.28 (21.29%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Standing out in the crowded field of screen adaptations of the classic Dickens novel A Christmas Carol is hard to do, but this version pulls it off. When a transparent Jacob Marley walks through Ebenezer Scrooge's apartment door, you know you're seeing something both timeless and contemporary. Other strategically placed special effects--a funnel cloud that transports Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas present, the hollow spectre of Christmas future--keep you riveted without slipping into anachronism. But, as good as the technology is, the performances are what really power this 93-minute television interpretation. Patrick Stewart brings a depth to Scrooge that allows the character to go beyond the cartoonish qualities that have made him a Christmas mainstay. That doesn't mean he's any less heartless with his hapless employee Bob Cratchit (Richard E. Grant) or any less dismissive of his well-meaning nephew. A frail-looking Joel Grey makes an excellent ghost of Christmas past, and a superb cast ably fill the remaining roles. Director David Jones, shooting on location in England and at Ealing Studios, has achieved a balance of science and sentiment that will help this version hold up for many years to come. --Kimberly Heinrichs

• Deep Blues | DVD | (11/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• X Files Season 4 Boxset | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £89.99

  In Season 4 of The X-Files, Scully is a bit upset by her on-off terminal cancer and Mulder is supposed to shoot himself in the season finale (did anyone believe that?), but in episode after episode the characters still plod dutifully around atrocity sites tossing off wry witticisms in that bland investigative demeanour out of fashion among TV cops since Dragnet. Perhaps the best achievement of this season is "Home", the most unpleasant horror story ever presented on prime-time US TV. It's not a comfortable show--confronted with this ghastly parade of incest, inbreeding, infanticide and mutilation, you'd think M & S would drop the jokes for once--but shows a willingness to expand the envelope. By contrast, ventures into golem, reincarnation, witchcraft and Invisible Man territory throw up run-of-the-mill body counts, spotlighting another recurrent problem. For heroes, M & S rarely do anything positive: they work out what is happening after all the killer's intended victims have been snuffed ("Kaddish"), let the monster get away ("Sanguinarium") and cause tragedies ("The Field Where I Died"). No wonder they're stuck in the FBI basement where they can do the least damage. The series has settled enough to play variations on earlier hits: following the liver vampire, we have a melanin vampire ("Teliko") and a cancer vampire ("Leonard Betts"), and return engagements for the oily contact lens aliens and the weasely ex-Agent Krycek ("Tunguska"/"Terma"). Occasional detours into send-up or post-modernism are indulged, yielding both the season's best episode ("Small Potatoes") and its most disappointing ("Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man"). "Small Potatoes", with the mimic mutant who tries out Mulder's life and realises what a loser he is (how many other pin-up series heroes get answerphone messages from their favourite phone-sex lines?), works as a genuine sci-fi mystery--for once featuring a mutant who doesn't have to kill people to live--and as character insight. --Kim Newman