"Actor: Hans Matheson"

• Tess of the D'urbervilles | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £6.12   |  Saving you £18.87 (308.33%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A passionate sensual and very modern version of Thomas Hardy's infamous novel combining young upcoming acting talent with recognisable and much-loved faces. When the beautiful and innocent Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune meeting the manipulative Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man Angel Clare seems to offer her love and salvation but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent... Whilst unstintingly gorgeous and romantic this new adaptation is an intense moving and provocative depiction of the tragically beautiful story.

• Still Crazy | DVD | (11/10/1999) from £12.12   |  Saving you £2.13 (19.61%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This gently satirical British comedy chronicles the quixotic reunion of a late, arguably not-so-great and unlamented 70s rock band, Strange Fruit, with a winning mix of humour and poignancy. The "Fruits", as the survivors call themselves without irony, had disbanded after the tragic loss of one member, the mysterious disappearance of another and the aftershocks of internal rivalries, but 20 years later they warily reassemble for a Dutch club tour, a warm-up for a proposed festival appearance. Between that seemingly hare-brained proposal and the fateful festival, director Brian Gibson, working from a sharp script by Dick Clement and Ian LaFrenais, captures the absurdities of middle-aged rockers trying to recapture that lost cockiness.Breathing life into the band is a terrific cast, including Stephen Rea, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall and Bill Nighy, each managing to juggle deft archetype with believable character traits: Spall's cheerfully crass, flatulent drummer and Nighy's preening, slow-witted lead singer exemplify the approach, grabbing chuckles yet making you actually care about them. Equally impressive is Billy Connolly as the wily roadie, Hughie, at once pragmatic and devoted to his charges. All are well-served by production details and script points that get the group's lost world of late 60s and early 70s rock exactly right, from costuming and stage moves to the long-forgotten bands they name-check--Blodwyn Pig, anybody?The band's music likewise benefits from inspired insiders, cowriters Mick Jones (Spooky Tooth, Foreigner) and Chris Difford (Squeeze), who hit a nifty combination of bombast (for the silly scenes) and earnestness. When Gibson and his cast risk the story's amiable glow on a darker, more dramatic final act, the music rises to the challenge and the whole project, like its fictional subject, achieves an unexpectedly touching victory. --Sam Sutherland

• Jericho | DVD | (07/03/2016) from £3.95   |  Saving you £21.04 (532.66%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Yorkshire, 1874. Penniless following the death of her husband, Annie Quaintain and her two children are turfed out of their village home and forced to start a new life in Jericho, a remote shanty town in the expansive and rugged Yorkshire dales. Jericho is home to a community of navvies and pioneers, prostitutes and vagabonds who will live and die in the shadow of the viaduct they've been brought together to build. Rough and rustic, yet with a wild west, carnival-like atmosphere, it's a place where people with secrets can hide, and where love can flourish against all odds. Set against a visually striking frontier landscape, this epic, eight-part drama series follows the creation of a community from nothing and the human stories and heroic struggles of survival that emerge.

• Doctor Zhivago | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £5.59   |  Saving you £9.40 (168.16%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Stunning adaptation of Boris Pasternak's most celebrated novel scripted by acclaimed dramatist Andrew Davies (Pride And Prejudice Bridget Jones's Diary Othello). The sweep and scale of the Russian Revolution acts as the backdrop for the intense and ultimately heart-breaking love story of Doctor Yury Zhivago the physician and poet who wrestles with the anguish of being torn between the love of two women Tonya and Lara. Starring Sam Neill Keira Knightley and Hans Matheson. Now the winner of 4 major awards from the New York Film Festivals 2004.

• The Christmas Candle | DVD | (03/11/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Hans Matheson and Samantha Barks star in this Christmas family movie set in 1890, adapted from the novel by Max Lucado. According to legend, every 25 years an angel arrives in the English village of Gladbury and blesses one of the candlemaker Edward Haddington (Sylvester McCoy)'s candles, meaning that whoever lights it will be granted a miracle. When foward-thinking minister David Richmond (Matheson) comes to the village, a rivalry strikes up between him and the old-fashioned Edward, especially when he tries to bring electric light to the church. As he promotes the acts of good deeds and kindness throughout the village, however, David finds himself a friend in Emily Barstow (Barks). When the special candle goes missing the villagers experience a Christmas they will never forget. The film also stars Lesley Manville, James Cosmo, Barbara Flynn and Susan Boyle in her feature debut.

• Half Light | DVD | (21/08/2006) from £6.79   |  Saving you £10.46 (189.15%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A best selling thriller novelist moves to a remote cottage on the Scottish coast following a tragic loss. But her demons have followed her.

• Deathwatch | DVD | (16/06/2003) from £7.02   |  Saving you £10.97 (156.27%)   |  RRP £17.99

  After a catastrophic World War One offensive the surviving members of Y-Company find themselves lost in a seemingly deserted German trench network that has a sinister power of its own.

• Les Miserables | Blu Ray | (07/01/2013) from £10.78   |  Saving you £2.21 (20.50%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Victor Hugo's stirring novel of redemption and revolution is brought to life by the artistry of director Billie August and his brilliant cast. Liam Neeson stars as Jean Valjean, a heartless convict who is transformed by a single act of mercy. Uma Thurman is Fantine, the vulnerable prostitute who begs Valjean to raise her only child, Cosette (Claire Danes). And Oscar-winner Geoffrey Rush (Best Actor, Shine, 1996) is an ambitious policeman determined to return Valjean to prison. A truly epic film, Les Miserables is Magnificent! A compelling and powerful human drama with terrific performances by Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush.

• Doctor Zhivago | DVD | (12/07/2004) from £6.32   |  Saving you £8.67 (137.18%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The mini-series treatment suits Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak's sprawling novel of a Russian physician-poet whose comfortable life is upended by the revolution. And this near-four-hour Granada TV production lucidly demonstrates that Pasternak was one heck of a storyteller: the torment of Zhivago (Hans Matheson) as he must choose between his well-bred childhood sweetheart (Alexandra Maria Lara) and the tragically beautiful Lara (Keira Knightley) remains compelling. The TV treatment can't match the epic sweep of David Lean's feature film, of course, with its cast of thousands and astonishing production design. Devotees of that 1965 version will undoubtedly yearn for Maurice Jarre's tinkly hit "Lara's Theme", too; here, Ludovico Einaudi's score is serviceable by comparison. Matheson, too, is serviceable in the title role, but the uncannily gorgeous Knightley and a supremely decadent Sam Neill (as her dreadful seducer) keep their characters vital. The limitations of the small screen duly noted, the frosty location shooting is handsome. Given the choice, see the Lean film on the big screen every time; but this is a sturdy introduction to a classic story. --Robert Horton

• Stella Does Tricks | DVD | (12/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting) gives a powerful performance as Stella, a gutsy teenage prostitute who can already turn tricks with the best of them but still enjoys a giggle about sex with her girlfriends, a young group ran by oily pimp Mr Peters (James Bolam). Despite an oddly close relationship with Peters, she is desperate to escape from him, and when her best friend is attacked by one of his cronies she decides to make her move - but not before taking a spectacular revenge on the attacker...

• Stella Does Tricks | DVD | (31/07/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  One of a brood of school-age prostitutes working the streets of London Stella is a virtual prisoner of her sleazy paternalistic pimp Mr. Peters. Realizing that she must make her escape Stella hooks up with Eddie a young junkie to confront the ghosts of her past and make a clean start. She soon learns however that escaping a past such as her own is precarious. Forced to turn one last trick Stella seizes a perfect opportunity to wreak revenge on her pimp and finally gain freedom. Kelly MacDonald (Trainspotting) stars as Stella in a riveting and widely acclaimed performance. Stella Does Tricks also features performances from - the ever excellent - James Bolam as Mr. Peters and Hans Matheson as Eddie.

• Evita/Les Miserables/Gypsy | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Evita (Dir. Alan Parker 1996): Eva Peron (Madonna) was born the illegitimate daughter of a penniless farmer. Determined to make it to the top Eva attaches herself to a poplar tango singer (Jimmy Nail) in the big city. Eva becomes a radio and film actress moving in influential circles within Buenos Aires society. When she becomes involved with rising politician Juan Peron (Jonathan Pryce) the establishment disapproves and he is arrested. Eva fights on the freedom both for her husband and the oppressed masses. Peron is freed by the people the couple marries and Peron is elected president. But Eva's greatest battle is yet to come. Les Miserables (Dir. Bille August 1998): Based on Victor Hugo's classic novel this is an epic tale of love honour and obsession against the dramatic background of the French Revolution. Jean Valjean (Liam Neeson) lives a life on the run for stealing a loaf of bread. Settling in a remote town he devotes himself to the care of the poor including the beautiful young and poverty stricken Fantine (Uma Thurman). When Fantine dies she leaves a daughter Cosette (Claire Danes) who Valjean raises. But they are haunted by Javert (Geoffrey Rush) a policeman whose lifelong search for Valjean has become an obsession. A hunt begins that will come to a final confrontation on the revolution torn streets of Paris. Gyspy (Dir. Emile Ardolino 1993): It's Emmy Grammy and Golden Globe-winner Bette Midler in the role she was born to play. The superstar of Beaches Ruthless People Down & Out in Beverly Hills and For the Boys delivers a standing room only performance as Mama Rose the ultimate vaudeville stage mother. Rose's blind ambition for her two daughters forces one to desert her and the other to emerge as the world's most famous striptease artist - Gypsy Rose Lee. Based on the actual memoirs of Ms. Lee and directed by the late Emile Ardolino (Sister Act Dirty Dancing) this musical motion picture extravaganza is true to the original Broadway production... including the glorious Jerome Robbins choreography and the memorable Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim score. The classics are all here - from Everything's Coming Up Roses to Let Me Entertain You and as a special bonus the complete version of Gypsy's classic overture. Spectacular performances by Ms. Midler and her supporting cast - Peter Riegert Cynthia Gibb (as the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee) and Ed Asner - will leave you asking for an encore!

• 300: Rise of an Empire (Blu-ray 3D) | Blu Ray | (29/09/2014) from £26.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Sullivan Stapleton, Rodrigo Santoro and Eva Green star in this action prequel to the 2007 movie '300' which is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel 'Xerxes'. In 480 BC, Athenian General Themistocles (Stapleton) leads the Greek Army in a war against the invasion of King Xerxes I (Santoro), naval commander Artemisia (Green) and their Persian forces. Themistocles allies with the Spartans but they are still outnumbered by Xerxes' men. Who will be victorious? The film was co-written by Zack Snyde.

• Nero | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The decline of an empire A dramatisation of the life and times of the infamous Roman Emperor Nero who allegedly set fire to Rome when he committed suicide.