"Actor: Pamela Salem"

• Blake's 7 - Series 1 | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £17.03   |  Saving you £32.96 (193.54%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Blake's 7 was the hit BBC space opera launched in the wake of Star Wars, though with a grittier sensibility and produced on a fraction of the budget. Over 13 episodes the first series introduced freedom-fighter Blake (Gareth Thomas) as he escaped from the Orwellian Federation, gathered a crew of low-life rebels, salvaged an alien starship called the Liberator, and began striking back against the forces of Supreme Commander Servalan (sultry Jacqueline Pearce). The effects were cheap, and alien planets were represented by a disused quarry or an industrial complex, but the strong characters and cynical storylines created by Doctor Who veteran Terry Nation remain involving. The perfect foil for Blake was Paul Darrow's Avon, a near psychopathic criminal mastermind who only fought to save his skin. The cowardly Vila (Michael Keating) was almost as memorable, while the female leads were Jenna (Sally Knyvette), a smuggler and pilot, and determined Auron telepath Cally (Jan Chappell). Also on board was Gan (David Jackson), inhibited from violence by a brain implant. With even the good guys being criminals, including murderers, this was a galaxy far, far away from previous screen space opera. Though undeniably dated, the show is still vintage TV SF, right from the opening three-parter "The Way Back / Spacefall / Cygnus Alpha" to the cliff-hanging shocker "Orac", which introduces the final member of the un-magnificent seven. On the DVD: Blake's 7, Series 1 presents the 13 episodes across five DVDs so as to maximise picture quality. Following the BBC's Doctor Who DVDs the 4:3 images are as strong as one could expect from a 1970s TV show shot partly on video (interiors) and 16 mm film (exteriors). Film shots have some grain and vary considerably in quality while the video material shows occasional minor tearing and flaws in the tape. Otherwise these are as good as Blake's 7 is ever going to look. The same is true of the mono sound, which is clear and undistorted. Each DVD is introduced with a CGI reincarnation of the series' famous logo and three episodes are offered with a commentary. These are "Spacefall" (Sally Knyvette, Michael Keating and producer David Maloney), "Seek-Locate-Destroy" (Keating, Jacqueline Pearce and Stephen Greif) and "Project Avalon" (Knyvette, Pearce and Greif). The chat ranges from high-school reunion playfulness, including singing the title music, to some more serious insights into making the show, to an amusing running debate as to whether Glynis Barber appears in "Project Avalon". Other extras are "2 out takes, a missing scene, 1 robot, 2 flat feet and a blooper". These are exactly what they say: an extract from Blue Peter in 1978 with Lesley Judd making a Blake's 7 bracelet; nine clip compilations introducing the main characters; a synopsis for each episode; and a trailer for the Series 2 DVDs. --Gary S Dalkin

• Fresh Fields/French Fields - The Complete Series | DVD | (24/10/2011) from £11.99   |  Saving you £40.00 (400.40%)   |  RRP £49.99

  This International Emmy Award-winning comedy stars Anton Rodgers (May to September) and Julia McKenzie (Cranford) as William and Hester Field, a happily married middle-class couple whose children have flown the nest. Setting out to prove you re as young as you feel, Hester is determined to do all those things she never got around to when the kids were at home leaving William trailing in the wake of his wife s seemingly boundless enthusiasm. Fresh Fields gentle humour garnered high ratings throughout its four-year run, with McKenzie earning a BAFTA nomination for Best Light Entertainment Performance. Its sequel, French Fields, saw the couple following their children s example and setting up home across the Channel; three series chart a whole new chapter of misadventure as the Fields try to breach the language barrier and adapt to the strange customs of their adopted home. This set presents both complete series, brought together for the first time on DVD.

• Never Say Never Again | DVD | (23/04/2001) from £16.25   |  Saving you £-0.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  After years of enduring Roger Moore in the role of James Bond, it was good to have Sean Connery back in 1983 for Never Say Never Again, a one-time-only trip down 007's memory lane. Connery's Bond, a bit of a dinosaur in the British secret service at (then) 52, is still in demand during times of crisis. Sadly, the film is not very good. In this rehash of Thunderball, Bond is pitted against a worthy underwater villain (Klaus Maria Brandauer); and while the requisite Bond Girls include beauties Kim Basinger and Barbara Carrera, they can't save the movie. The script has several truly dumb passages, among them a (gasp) video-game duel between 007 and his nemesis that now looks utterly anachronistic. For Connery fans, however, this widescreen print of the Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) film is a chance to say a final goodbye to a perfect marriage of actor and character. --Tom Keogh

• The First Great Train Robbery | DVD | (19/03/2001) from £16.80   |  Saving you £-3.81 (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A lively, humorous caper film of the first order, The First Great Train Robbery is Michael Crichton's ambitious adaptation of his own novel, which was inspired by the facts of the first known train robbery. Crichton sets this attractive, highly enjoyable film in London in 1855, where Edward Pierce (Sean Connery) and Agar (Donald Sutherland) plot to steal £25,000 in gold that is being transported by train to pay British troops in the Crimean War. Lesley-Anne Down plays Miriam, Pierce's sophisticated paramour and the third partner in the scheme; while Pierce and Agar make copies of four keys for the train's closely guarded safes, she uses her feminine wiles to distract a variety of officials and businessmen with connections to the gold.The film boasts a vividly authentic recreation of mid-Victorian England, all the more remarkable since the production was filmed primarily in Ireland on a budget of $6 million--a miraculously modest sum (even in 1978) for such a lavish-looking film. Credit is due to the splendid cinematography of Geoffrey Unsworth and Jerry Goldsmith's ebullient score, both of which enhance the film's look and feel. Although Crichton's directorial style seems somewhat detached and bloodless, he maintains a vivid respect for place and time, and his three leads are splendid in their charismatic roles. Meticulous attention to details of costuming and production design enhance the breezy fun of the heist, which climaxes with an exciting sequence on the rushing train, with Connery performing his own stunt work. While the later hit Mission: Impossible would take a similar sequence to its high-tech, high -velocity extreme, The First Great Train Robbbery remains an entertaining study of crime in a less hectic age, allowing Crichton to emphasise ingenuity over special effects. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Scorpion Tales - The Complete Series | DVD | (01/12/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A series of six individual plays, each linked by the scorpion-like twist in its denouement, Scorpion Tales features some of Britain's most talented and renowned actors - including Trevor Howard, Geoffrey Palmer, Jack Shepherd, Don Henderson and Patrick Barr.The impressive diversity of the plays reflects the free hand given to a team of distinguished writers that includes Ian Kennedy-Martin (The Sweeney), Jeremy Burnham (The Avengers), Bob Baker and Dave Martin (Doctor Who); the screenplays range from an engagingly devious account of a man's attempt to outwit a computer, to a tough drama about a jaded policeman who becomes the object of a homosexual vendetta, a chilling tale about a secret training course, and a supernatural story of a boy's attempt to gain his father's attention by invoking evil powers. The series is produced by David Reid (The Power Game), and directors include Shaun O'Riordan (Sapphire and Steel) and BAFTA winner Don Leaver (Prime Suspect, A Touch of Frost).First screened in 1978, the complete series is released here for the first time on DVD.

• All Creatures Great And Small - Series 3 | DVD | (23/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Episodes Comprise: 1. Plenty to Grouse About 2. Charity Begins at Home 3. Every Dog His Day... 4. Hair of the Dog 5. If Wishes Were Horses 6. Pig in the Middle 7. Be Prepared 8. A Dying Breed 9. Brink of Disaster 10. Home and Away 11. Alarms & Excursions 12. Matters of Life and Death 13. Will to Live 14. Big Steps and Little 'Uns

• French Fields - The Complete Second Series | DVD | (25/07/2011) from £10.98   |  Saving you £4.00 (44.49%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After four highly successful series in 1989 the international Emmy Award-winning Fresh Fields became French Fields as William and Hester Fields (Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers) followed their children's example and set up home across the Channel. They soon discover there s more than 22 miles of water dividing the English from the French. Hester's brave attempt to cross the language barrier using Franglais and mime to rival Marcel Marceau merely causes bewilderment. And French customs and culture are no less tricky; even the car steering wheel is in the wrong place while asking a surly housekeeper to leave could be seen as despotic and spark a minor revolution. However despite such difficulties the Fields persevere in their inimitable style providing comic entertainment for their French friends and viewers alike. This complete second series also includes the hilarious 1990 Christmas Special.

• The First Great Train Robbery | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  All aboard for runaway action and suspense in this riveting masterpiece from writer/director Michael Crichton! Starring Sean Connery Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down it's a spine-tingling and suavely performed adventure based on history's first great train robbery. This ingenious and wonderful crime caper delivers mile-a-minute thrills and breathtaking excitement. Connery is Edward Pierce a master thief who conceives a brilliant plan to steal a fortune in gold bars from a railway payroll car. But to pull off the most daring heist in history Pierce must join forces with a safecracker (Sutherland) and his own beautiful girlfriend (Down) in a series of intricately-plotted thefts that will test all of their nerve camaraderie and larcenous skill.

• Into The Labyrinth - The Complete Series | DVD | (14/07/2008) from £12.35   |  Saving you £12.64 (102.35%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The complete collection of the much-loved TV series!

• The Professionals - Series 1 To 4 | DVD | (13/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £149.99

  Every episode of this much loved classic crime TV show featuring that unforgettable theme tune! A brilliant fast-paced violent and hard-hitting action series The Professionals chronicles the lives and exploits of the men of covert British security unit CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5) in particular the unit's top operative partnership of ex-cop Ray Doyle (Martin Shaw) and former mercenary and ex-SAS paratrooper William Bodie (Lewis Collins) and their superior officer the gruff but

• The Professionals - Vol. 1 | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £5.53   |  Saving you £0.46 (8.32%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Thrown together to join George Cowley's new C15 organisation....Hard men no patience nor time for subtleties. Charged with combating terrorists criminals and corruption wherever they find it. Capable of using any means necessary. The only people they can trust are themselves... Old Dog With New Tricks: You don't get a prisoner released without a lot of pressure and the brother of a notorious criminal has found a way to apply plenty of that. With the kidnapping of the Home Secretary intended as a bargaining chip it's down to CI5 to stop him; an act which requires one of the team to put himself in very great danger... Long Shot: CI5's gruff leader George Cowley finds himseld in the sights of assassin Ramos. Against the backdrop of an important conference Bodie and Doyle must ensure they bring Ramos to justice and bring Cowley out alive... Where The Jungle Ends: A series of violent bank robberies herald the return of an army squad to Britain their skills available to the highest bidder. However CI5's mission to track them down forces loyalties to be questions for Bodie used to serve with these men... Killer With A Long Arm: CI5 become aware that an assassination attempt is about to be made. Who is the important figure to be killed and who are the killers?

• French Fields - The Complete First Series | DVD | (13/06/2011) from £9.99   |  Saving you £3.00 (30.03%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After four highly successful series, the international Emmy Award-winning Fresh Fields became French Fields, as William and Hester Fields (Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers) followed their children s example and set up home across the Channel. They soon discover there's more than 22 miles of water dividing the English from the French. Hester bravely tries to cross the language barrier using Franglais and mime which rivals Marcel Marceau but leaves the French bewildered. And French customs and culture are no less tricky; even the car steering wheel is in the wrong place, while asking their bad-tempered housekeeper to leave could be seen as despotic and spark a minor revolution. However, despite such difficulties, the Fields persevere in their inimitable style providing comic entertainment for their French friends and viewers alike.

• Doctor Who: Tom Baker Complete Season Three (Blu-ray) | Blu Ray | (04/08/2020) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• French Fields - The Complete Third Series | DVD | (19/09/2011) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  After four highly successful series in 1989 the international Emmy Award-winning Fresh Fields became French Fields as William and Hester Fields (Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers) followed their children s example and set up home across the Channel. They soon discover there s more than 22 miles of water dividing the English from the French. Hester s brave attempt to cross the language barrier using Franglais and mime to rival Marcel Marceau merely causes bewilderment. And French customs and culture are no less tricky; even the car steering wheel is in the wrong place while asking a surly housekeeper to leave could be seen as despotic and spark a minor revolution. However despite such difficulties the Fields persevere in their inimitable style providing comic entertainment for their French friends and viewers alike.

• The Tripods - Series 1 | DVD | (19/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In 1984 and 1985, The Tripods was the show that the BBC used to fill its traditional Saturday teatime Doctor Who slot. Adapted from the first two books in John Christopher's "Tripods" trilogy, the show frustratingly failed to deliver the final story that winds everything up. This release collects the first series of 13 episodes, which covers the first book (The White Mountains). In 2089, the human race lives a peaceful, agrarian existence in post-technological communities under the rule of the Tripods, vast alien machines that look like the Martians from War of the Worlds. In a small English village, teenage cousins Will (John Shackley) and Henry (Will Baker) are troubled as they near the age at which they will be "capped", fitted by the local Tripod with a metallic hairnet which will turn them into docile, uncreative, happy servants of the invaders. A wily vagrant tells the boys that far to the south, a community of uncapped freemen resists the Tripods, and they set off on a 13-episode journey that takes them to the coast, across the English Channel and down through France, with stop-offs in the impressive ruins of Paris, at a medieval-style chateau and on a vineyard in the Jura. Along the way, the lads fall in with "Bean Pole" (Ceri Seel), a gangling, bespectacled French rebel who is fascinated with the lost arts of machine-making, but at each of their stopovers there are temptations, mostly in the forms of appealing French girls, to settle down and become happy conformists, but in the end they do join up with the rebels, ready for a mission to the city of the Tripods that comes in Series Two. With production values significantly higher than Doctor Who at that time, the show conserves its effects and makes them count, with the Tripods only rarely intervening directly. Watched at a sitting, it seems padded and the three lead actors are variable, but taken in single-episode chunks it works quite well, with a subtly unsettling depiction of a backward world where everyone seems happy but actually isn't and actual villainy comes as a relief amidst the overwhelming niceness. The English and French locations are very well used, and the production design and costuming (lots of hats to cover the "caps") is imaginative without being panto-like. --Kim Newman

• After Darkness | DVD | (27/08/2002) from £11.15   |  Saving you £-5.16 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Lawrence Hunningford (Julian Sands) becomes insane when as a child he witnesses the tragic drowning of his twin brother in the sands. He becomes gradually schizophrenic and is committed to the clinic. His elder brother Peter (John Hurt) accepts an invitation to teach at the University near the clinic. After Lawrence attempts to end his life Peter discharges his brother from the clinic and moves with him into a huge run down apartment and commits to take care of his brother. But the

• The Professionals - Volume 6 | DVD | (24/01/2005) from £7.79   |  Saving you £1.19 (24.79%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Thrown together to join George Cowley's new C15 organisation....Hard men no patience nor time for subtleties. Charged with combating terrorists criminals and corruption wherever they find it. Capable of using any means necessary. The only people they can trust are themselves... In The Public Interest: A Chief Constable has the perfect solution to escalating crime levels in his city; ensure that the police have ultimate power. But you know what they say about absolute power... Not A Very Civil Servant: Cowley is reluctant to involve his lads in a seemingly run of the mill case of backhanders and crumbling new council houses. Until that is he discovers just how far up the corruption goes... A Stirring Of Dust: A traitor has recently returned to Britain but no one's pleased to see him! Indeed if Bodie and Doyle don't find him before those he betrayed he's a dead man... Blind Run: Playing bodyguards for a foreign official should be a walk in the park for Bodie and Doyle. Yet for a secret visit a remarkable amount of people know about it some of whom have deadly intentions...

• Quicksand | DVD | (11/08/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Military Psychiatrist Bill Turner just met the woman of his dreams. Unfortunately she's the General's daughter she's his new patient and she's untangled in a shadowy and lethal conspiracy! Is she guilty or the victim? Turner's not sure he wants to know the truth...he just keeps getting sucked deeper and deeper into ""Quicksand.""

• Bitch, The / The Stud | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Stud (1978): A waiter (Oliver Tobias) becomes manager of a hip discotheque by sleeping with his boss' insatiable wife (Joan Collins) but the life bores him and he returns to his East End roots... This look at the sexual cavortings of the super-rich revived Joan Collins' flagging career and paved the way for her success in the television series 'Dynasty'. The Bitch (1979): Joan Collins stars in the film version of her sister Jackie's novel about a rich woman who ha

• The Stud and The Bitch | DVD | (23/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The Stud: A waiter (Oliver Tobias) becomes manager of a hip discotheque by sleeping with his boss' insatiable wife (Joan Collins) but the life bores him and he returns to his East End roots. This look at the sexual cavortings of the super-rich revived Joan Collins' flagging career and paved the way for her success in television's 'Dynasty'. The Bitch: Joan Collins stars in the film version of her sister Jackie's novel about a rich woman who has an ill-advised affair with a young gangster wanted by the Mafia. 'The Bitch' (1978)is a sequel to 'The Stud' also from a Jackie Collins novel.