"Actor: Norman"

• Just My Luck | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £7.67   |  Saving you £3.58 (55.85%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Just My Luck was an important step in the career of Norman Wisdom for several reasons. It's principally notable for the introduction of actor Edward Chapman, whom many would come to know as series regular Mr Grimsdale. Here he's the stuffy foil to Norman's romantic plans regarding his jewel-making job, where he'll do anything to possess some of the wealth about him. The chance comes in the form of an accumulator bet at Goodwood races thanks to a slimy Leslie Phillips. Another star cameo of note was a second appearance by Margaret Rutherford (after Trouble in Store) as an eccentric animal owner. But the real advance with the Wisdom formula was that--after a reasonably serious plot line--Norman finally gets the girl. On the DVD: This is a straight transfer from video. So although the mono sound and 4:3 ratio don't improve on anything previously available, at least it won't deteriorate further.--Paul Tonks

• Gazette - The Complete Series | DVD | (01/07/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £39.99

  Gerald Harper (Adam Adamant Lives!) stars as James Hadleigh, proprietor of the Westdale Gazette, a Yorkshire newspaper owned by his father. Created by Robert Barr and originally screened in 1968, Gazette introduced the charming, privileged but conscientious protagonist whose continuing mixed fortunes would be chronicled in Hadleigh, Yorkshire Television's immensely popular and long-running series aired between 1969 and 1976.

• Square Peg, The / Follow A Star | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £7.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (62.58%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In The Square Peg Norman Wisdom plays one of a pair of council workmen who, while repairing the road outside an army base, come to illustrate the oxymoronic nature of the phrase "military intelligence". Finding themselves drafted, the workmen are sent to repair the roads ahead of the Allied advance through war-torn Europe by the sergeant they previously embarrassed. Norman finds himself behind the German lines, joins up with French Resistance, gets captured then sets out to rescue British prisoners from a German military HQ by impersonating General Schreiber. Of course Wisdom plays Schreiber too. The Square Peg is the film that introduced Norman Wisdom's famous catch-phrase, "Mr. Grimsdale!". Also here Hattie Jacques gets to sing a remarkable duet with Wisdom, and a pre-Goldfinger Honor Blackman provides the love interest. Following his rising star was just what Norman Wisdom's audience had been doing all through the 1950s and, by 1959, and after six films with director John Paddy Carstairs, it was time for a change. Hence Robert Asher made his directorial debut with Follow a Star. The plot is a comedy version of A Star is Born (1954), with Norman yet again playing a dreaming shop worker, this time aspiring to singing stardom. Vernon Carew (played by Wisdom regular Jerry Desmonde) is the fading singer who schemes to use Wisdom's talent to sustain his own rapidly failing career, while the girl is overlooked starlette June Laverick. Norman is surrounded by a particularly strong supporting cast, with Hattie Jacques returning from The Square Peg (1958), Richard Wattis, John Le Mesurier, Fenella Fielding, Ron Moody and, uncredited, future Bond villain Charles Grey. --Gary S Dalkin

• Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies | Blu Ray | (16/07/2012) from £7.94   |  Saving you £8.05 (50.30%)   |  RRP £15.99

  While the Civil War rages on, President Abraham Lincoln must undertake an even more daunting task: Destroying the Confederate Undead.

• Muhammad Ali - the Greatest | DVD | (12/04/2005) from £10.35   |  Saving you £-0.36 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Charting the life and times of Muhammad Ali this documentary begins in Louisville Kentucky the birthplace of the future World Heavyweight Champion and follows his career from his first amateur fight against Ronnie O'Keefe (for which he was paid the princely sum of $4.00) to the most infamous fights of his life: ""The Rumble in the Jungle"" and ""The Thrilla in Manila"". Featuring classic footage from legendary fights as well as interviews with his trainer Angelo Dundee and contribu

• Worzel Gummidge - Christmas Special - Cup O' Tea An' A Slice O' Cake | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £8.57   |  Saving you £-2.58 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Worzel is back, putting the "Wor" after W as well as he ever used to do. This time, he appears in a Christmas special, A Cup O' Tea An' a Slice O' Cake, where he puts on his party head and heads off to the Scarecrow ball. As always with Worzel, nothing goes to plan and chaos and confusion follow him wherever he goes. For those who remember John Pertwee as scatty Worzel, and Una Stubbs as the irrepressible Aunt Sally the first time around, buying this for their children is an easy excuse for a trip down memory lane. Guest appearances from a younger but equally distinctive Barbara Windsor, and a fresher but just as funny Billy Connolly add up to make almost an hour of first-class entertainment. --Lucie Naylor

• Inspector Morse -- The Remorseful Day / Rest in Peace | DVD | (13/11/2000) from £4.99   |  Saving you £11.00 (220.44%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Inspector Morse provides all the period cosiness of an Agatha Christie costume drama but in an apparently modern setting. Morse is a contemporary detective with all the nostalgic appeal of Poirot or Sherlock Holmes, an anachronistic throwback who drives a classic car, listens to Wagner on LP, quaffs real ale in country pubs or single malt at home and quotes poetry whenever occasion arises (at least once or twice an episode). His much put-upon sidekick Segeant Lewis (Kevin Whateley) is the bemused ordinary copper who acts as a foil for his artistic and academic passions, and not incidentally allows the writers to explain any possibly obscure or learned references to the TV audience. With plots of crossword puzzle-like intricacy, top-drawer thespian guest stars, loving views of quintessentially English Tourist Board Oxfordshire countryside and literate screenplays from such luminaries as Malcom Bradbury, the show was a sure-fire hit across middle England.In 1994, after four successful series, John Thaw moved on to other projects (initially, the disastrous A Year In Provence) but always left the door open for more Morse. "The Remorseful Day" is, however, positively his final appearance. The story opens dramatically with a montage of kinky sex and murder, before settling down into a leisurely exploration of leads that might or might not be red herrings. More murders follow, naturally, as the story adds yet more twists. But this time things are different: Morse, on the very eve of retirement, is gravely ill. Convalescing at home he consoles himself with bird watching and a newly acquired CD player, but he is more than usually irritable and relations with Lewis, who is impatiently awaiting his own promotion to Inspector, are strained. Could Morse himself be the murderer? Certainly Chief Superintendent Strange (James Grout) is worried. The ultimate resolution of the case takes second place to the show's finale, which will be no surprise to anyone who has read Colin Dexter's novel. A poignant and dignified end to the casebook of a much-loved detective.On the DVD: This disc also includes a 96-minute appreciation of the Morse phenomenon, "Rest in Peace", presented by James Grout who plays Chief Superintendent Strange in the series, plus a music video of the Morse theme tune, "Yesterday is Here". --Mark Walker

• Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (21/10/2002) from £12.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (23.09%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Although Britain has changed almost beyond recognition since Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was first broadcast in the early 1970s, the show's simple slapstick humour has an ageless quality that makes it enduringly hilarious. Michael Crawford found fame as Frank Spencer, still probably television's most accident-prone man, and still Britain's most mimicked sitcom character, having inspired thousands of wannabe entertainers to don black berets and Humphrey Bogart-style rain coats and feebly exclaim "Mmm, Betty!". Crawford's great insight was to portray Frank as both a figure of fun and an endearingly sympathetic character: we laugh at him but never cease liking him, and we always admire his plucky never-say-die spirit. Most of the episodes share the common theme of Frank attempting to find a job (ranging from a holiday camp entertainer to an RAF cadet), but because of his clumsy demeanour and lack of common sense, losing the positions within a matter of hours. Pitted against a variety of middle-aged, male professionals (his GP, a psychiatrist and a public relations consultant for example), Spencer's stupidity reduces these "experts" to nervous wrecks. His long-suffering, doting wife Betty (Michelle Dotrice) features throughout, but despite his wild behaviour and idiocy she appears only mildly flustered by her husband's actions. On the DVD: Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em was one of the first comedy series to be recorded by the BBC in colour, but the sound and vision of the episodes transfer perfectly satisfactorily to DVD format. At times the production values of some of the episodes are decidedly ropey (watch out for stray boom microphones and the skewed opening and closing credit). Apart from the episode and scene selection menus, which incorporate sound extracts from the show, no extras are included. --John Galilee

• The League Of Gentlemen | DVD | (15/01/2001) from £14.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.07%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The League of Gentlemen is a sardonic crime drama in which Jack Hawkins plays an embittered retired army officer who recruits seven fellow ex-soldiers to carry out a bank raid with military precision. The film presents an England between post-war austerity and the more liberated 1960s where traditional moral certainties were rapidly being discarded; a London where ex-officers left on the scrapheap at war's end could justify turning their military experience to armed robbery. Unfortunately the tale is neither particularly amusing or thrilling, with an overlong central detour via an army camp prefacing the exciting heist and a largely anti-climactic ending. Nevertheless Hawkins effectively subverts his heroic officer type from The Cruel Sea (1953) and The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), and there's excellent support from a great cast including Nigel Patrick, Richard Attenborough and Roger Livesey. Bryan Forbes not only wrote the cynical screenplay but costarred with wife Nanette Newman in her first significant screen role. More influential than truly classic, The League of Gentlemen has lent its name to a modern BBC comedy, an "Extraordinary" comic strip-turned-movie, and proved the template for heist films ever since, including both versions of The Italian Job (1969 and 2003). On the DVD:The League of Gentlemen is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 transfer from an excellent condition print and mostly looks and sounds fine. There's minimal print damage, though sadly Philip Green's ironically patriotic main title music suffers from significant distortion. The only extra is the original trailer, which is now something of a period piece itself. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Fosters - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (05/09/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The first sitcom both written for and starring black actors, The Fosters showcased the early work of Lenny Henry (riding high on a recent win in talent series New Faces) as the budding artist son of easygoing family man Samuel Foster (Norman Beaton, who would go on to gain major fame in ‘90s comedy Desmond’s). The series follows the day-to-day trials of Samuel and his lively wife Pearl (both immigrants from Guyana), and their three children on a South London housing estate.This second series sees the Pearl feeling that she's being taken for granted, a twentieth wedding anniversary, a sance and Sonny breaking it to the family that he’s going to do a nude painting of a female neighbour!

• Rhubarb Rhubarb / Mr H Is Late | DVD | (09/09/2002) from £14.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Two hilarious short films from British funny man Erik Sykes: 'Rhubarb Rhubarb' concerns a mad game of golf and in 'Mr H Is Late' a coffin is late for a funeral...

• The Phantom Of The Opera | DVD | (07/03/2005) from £12.32   |  Saving you £-2.33 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The original and best version of Gaston Leroux's legendary book The Phantom Of The Opera is an awesome monument to the Golden Age of Hollywood starring ""The Man of a Thousand Faces"" Lon Chaney. In the film Chaney is Erik the horribly disfigured Phantom who leads a menacing existence in the catacombs and dungeons beneath the Paris Opera. When Erik falls in love with a beautiful prima donna (Mary Philbin) he kidnaps her and holds her hostage in his lair where he is destined to have

• Inspector Morse - Disc 13 And 14 - The Sins Of The Fathers / Driven To Distraction | DVD | (15/07/2002) from £5.34   |  Saving you £9.65 (180.71%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• Mozart-La Finta Giardiniera | DVD | (27/11/2006) from £4.92   |  Saving you £21.33 (582.79%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Dramma Giocoso in Three Acts

• A Stitch In Time | DVD | (12/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Norman Wisdom returns as his famous "Pitkin" character, but also for the first time since his appearance in 1958's The Square Peg, Edward Chapman is also back to provide Norman with the excuse to reprise his immortal catch-phrase "Mr Grimsdale". Following on from the previous year's On the Beat, this is actually Wisdom's third adventure as Norman Pitkin, and he certainly has a thing about uniforms. In the previous pictures he was in the army then the police, while here he succeeds in causing chaos in a St. John's Ambulance unit, as well as donning drag to play a blonde nurse complete with suspender belt and silk stockings. Each Norman Wisdom movie usually sees him as the accidental Lord of Misrule in one institution or another, and this time its the NHS: after being banned from his local hospital, Norman resorts to subterfuge to visit a little orphan girl. There's an autobiographical touch here, as Wisdom himself was raised in an orphanage and centred the plot of One Good Turn (1954) around such an establishment. It's all good fun and clearly shows where such later British comedy as Michael Crawford's BBC TV series Some Mothers Do 'Av 'Em (1973-78) found its inspiration. --Gary S. Dalkin

• The Lord of the Rings (1978) | Blu Ray | (10/12/2012) from £13.82   |  Saving you £5.43 (43.23%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Made in 1978, the original 'The Lord Of The Rings' was directed by cutting edge animator Ralph Bakshi using an innovative technique that allowed the animator to paint over live action footage, bringing the book to life with stunning success. Featuring an exceptional voice cast including William Squire as Gandalf the Grey, Christopher Guard as the Hobbit Frodo and guardian of the master ring, John Hurt as the heroic Strider, One Foot in the Grave's Annette Crosby as Galadriel and Star Wars' A...

• Inspector Morse - Disc 7 And 8 - Last Bus To Woodstock / The Ghost In The Machine | DVD | (24/06/2002) from £5.98   |  Saving you £9.01 (150.67%)   |  RRP £14.99

  When Inspector Morse first appeared on television in 1987, nobody could have predicted that it would run into the next century, maintaining throughout a quality of scripts and story lines that raised the genre of the detective series to a new level. Much of its success can be attributed to John Thaw's total immersion in the role. Morse is a prickly character and not obviously easy to like. As a detective in Oxford with unfulfilled academic propensities, he is permanently excluded from a world of which he would dearly love to be a part. He is at odds with that world--and with his colleagues in the police force--most of the time. Passionate about opera and "proper beer", he is a cultural snob for whom vulgarity causes almost physical pain. As a result, he lives from one disillusionment to another. And he is scarred--more deeply than he would ever admit--by past relationships. But he also has a naïve streak and, deep-down sensitivity, which makes him a fascinating challenge for women. At the heart of Morse's professional life is his awkward partnership with Detective Sergeant Lewis, the resolutely ordinary, worldly sidekick who manages to keep his boss in an almost permanent state of exasperation while retaining his grudging respect. It's a testament to Kevin Whateley's consistently excellent performance that from such unpromising material, Lewis becomes as indispensable to the series as Barrington Pheloung's hypnotic, classic theme music. Morse's investigations do occasionally take him abroad to more exotic locations, but throughout 14 successful years of often gruesome murders, the city of Oxford itself became a central character in these brooding two-hour dramas: creator Colin Dexter stating he finally had to kill Morse off because he was giving Oxford a bad reputation as a dangerous place! --Piers Ford

• The Walking Dead - Season 1-3 | Blu Ray | (30/09/2013) from £9.95   |  Saving you £62.04 (623.52%)   |  RRP £71.99

  Based on Robert Kirkman's hugely successful comic book series, The Walking Dead is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a zombie apocalypse. The series follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the humans who remain that truly become the walking dead.

• Norman Wisdom - The Square Peg | DVD | (28/04/2010) from £11.52   |  Saving you £-6.53 (-130.90%)   |  RRP £4.99

  United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Norman Wisdom's immense popularity stems from his hilarious portrayal of the little guy who always seems to win out in the end. The cloth capped bumbler is one of the great creations of British comedy. It is the second world war and Norman Pitkin (Norman Wisdom) is proud of his role in the war effort he is a road mender for the council until he is recruited into the pioneer corps. From the beginning, the worst fears of the commander are confirmed. But trying to turn Norman Pitkin into a soldier is like trying to fit a square peg in a round hall. ...The Square Peg ( The Square Peg - Norman Wisdom )

• Bulldog Breed, The / One Good Turn | DVD | (12/05/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1960, Norman Wisdom was left all at sea in The Bulldog Breed. He had already made a farce of the army in The Square Peg (1958), so what better than to join the navy? Back in the real world, the Russians had kick-started the space race putting Sputnik into orbit, so Norman rapidly finds himself selected to be the first Brit in space. Playing to type, the result is excellent physical comedy and copious tomfoolery at the expense of the upper ranks. With support from John Le Mesurier and Edward Chapman (the legendary "Mr Grimsdale") and uncredited appearances from Oliver Reed and Michael Caine, this is a notable British comedy, with an unusually direct reference to the risqué Carry On movies. For his second starring role Norman Wisdom played the oldest orphan of Greenwood Children's Home in 1954's One Good Turn. Not only does he have to find the money to buy one of the orphans a model car, but after a visit to Brighton he discovers Greenwood is due to be closed down by the home's own unscrupulous chairman, a property developer with plans to build a factory on the site. Also starring Thora Hird, One Good Turn was surely a film with a personal resonance for Wisdom who was himself brought-up in an orphanage after his mother died and his father was unable to raise him. As would become a tradition, he contributes a song, "Please Opportunity", and the movie, though produced by Rank, now sits easily in that classic Ealing era where the ordinary man took on the big guys and won. The innocent knockabout humour remains appealing. --Gary S Dalkin