"Actor: J.K. Rowling"

• Harry Potter: A History of Magic | DVD | (27/11/2017) from £8.15   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book, the British Library is hosting an exhibition of the real-life magical history behind JK Rowling's beloved classics. With exclusive access to a priceless collection of artefacts, take a tour around this mesmerising show. Rowling herself examines the most exciting items on display, and opens her private archive to reveal drawings and drafts that have been hidden away for years. And, as opening night arrives, famous fans marvel at this fascinating trove of delights, like Harry Potter seeing Diagon Alley for the first time. A behind the scenes look into the exhibition with JK Rowling Narrated by Imelda Staunton Readings from Harry Potter film actors: David Thewlis, Evanna Lynch, Warwick Davies, Miriam Margoyles & Mark Williams Rowling's imaginary world illuminated by her illustrator Jim Kay

• Who Do You Think You Are? Series Eight | DVD | (20/08/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £25.99

  Who Do You Think You Are? follows the journeys of ten well known personalities as they explore their family trees, uncover their family history and discover fascinating and poignant facts about their ancestors that have been, until now, hidden in the annals of time.June Brown starts with a bare-knuckle boxer in London's East End and ends up in Algeria; J.K. Rowling finds herself on the French border with Germany in the disputed territory of Alsace Lorraine; Sebastian Coe is Jamaican bound to uncover a history of sugar and slaves; Larry Lamb discovers a fantastical fairground history and a lost relative; Emilia Fox explores a theatrical heritage and an engineering innovator; Alan Carr kicks off with stories of the soccer field before tracking down a missing soldier; Robin Gibb finds himself related to a poor boy turned military man and uses the Freedom of Information Act to get to the heart of a mid-wife's labour; Richard Madeley discovers what it is to be a Pilgrim; Len Goodman starts with a barrow boy before traveling to Poland and returning to the London of Karl Marx; and Tracey Emin explores workhouses, prisons and the craftwork of gypsies.

• Who Do You Think You Are? Complete Series 1-7 | DVD | (22/08/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £119.99

  Who Do You Think You Are? follows the journeys of over sixty well known personalities as they explore their family trees uncover their family history and discover fascinating and poignant facts about their ancestors that have been until recently hidden in the annals of time. Now in a premiere event all seven series and the new Who Do You Think You Are? USA are brought together in one unique boxed set; sixty-six incredible stories one compulsively watchable collection.

• The Magical World Of J K Rowling - Author Of Harry Potter | DVD | (01/08/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  The Magical World of JK Rowling is an early bid to cash in on the fresh wave of Potter-mania that's about to break in the wake of the first big-screen Harry Potter. Fair enough, except that the makers of this documentary are operating under certain minor disadvantages: they've got no material, and nothing to say. As a result, some fairly desperate padding has gone on. For all that, even though the film runs a mere 39 minutes, it still feels painfully overstretched. For a start, they evidently couldn't get hold of JK Rowling herself. This isn't too surprising--after some bad experiences with the press following the success of the first Harry Potter book, she virtually never gives interviews (she took her revenge in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which features an obnoxious tabloid hack who meets a very unpleasant fate). The filmmakers make do with excerpts from her speech at the 1999 British Book Awards, interspersed with interviews with critics, bookstore assistants, school kids and teachers. This is all just about as exciting, and illuminating, as it sounds. The film's biggest scoop is a family who knew Rowling when she was a girl, and whose surname is--wait for it--Potter! Not even the most avid HP fan will get much from this limp effort. Sit tight and wait for the film. --Philip Kemp