"Actor: Peter Jones"

• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The original BBC radio adventures of Arthur Dent (an ape-descendant whose anger at the apparently inexplicable destruction of his home planet Earth, situated in an obscure corner of the outer spiral arm of the galaxy, is expressed in frequent irritation at friendly automatic doors and vending machines) and his travelling companions, Ford Prefect (an itinerant towel-carrying hitch-hiker originally from a small planet somewhere in the vicinity of Betelgeuse), Zaphod Beeblebrox (the notorious ex-Galactic President and patron of Eccentrica Galumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon Six) and Marvin the Paranoid Android (who's still suffering from that terrible pain in all the diodes down his left side) proved to be such a success for the BBC that its transition to TV was (almost) inevitable. In 1981 several key members of the radio cast made the move to the small screen. Simon Jones' bewildered Arthur Dent remains the central character, shambling around in his dressing gown (a fact easy to forget on radio); Mark Wing-Davey's Zaphod Beeblebrox is the same as his boastful radio persona, even if the second head utterly fails to convince. Unfortunately, newcomers David Dixon (as Ford Prefect) and the irritating Sandra Dickinson (as Trillian) are no match for their radio predecessors.The problem here is not so much the low-budget look as the script itself, which is lovingly faithful to the radio series in a way that Douglas Adams' novels aren't. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was a lucid, satirical, occasionally profound, utterly unique comic invention on radio. As such, it has nothing to gain from TV. The script needs no visual elaboration--that's best left to the listener's own imagination. Only the animated renditions of the Guide itself enhance Peter Jones' wonderfully dry narration; otherwise--paradoxically, perhaps--by supplying images the concept is oddly diminished here.On the DVD: A suitably eclectic not to say eccentric collection of extra features makes this a wholly satisfying two-disc set, neatly packaged in a fold-out slipcase. On the second disc there's an hour-long "making of" documentary from 1992 featuring contributions from the cast and crew, including Douglas Adams; and then there's even more in a 20-minute section entitled "Don't Panic!". A fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at filming as the clock runs out on studio time and a look at the recording of the original radio series complete the first part. Then navigate to the "Outer Planets" to find outtakes, a deleted scene, Zaphod's animatronic second head on Tomorrow's World and Peter Jones's witty and shambolic introduction to the first episode, plus more besides. The series itself is presented in standard 4:3 ratio and Dolby stereo. --Mark Walker

• Anastasia | DVD | (17/04/2019) from £2.83   |  Saving you £3.16 (111.66%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Stomping out their usual cuteness and carbon copying Disney's grand animation style to a tee, directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (An American Tail) create a successful musical comedy from the story of the lost Russian princess. Adapting the story of imperialism and revolution is tricky, and subsequently the film's opening is weak. Once Anya (voiced by Meg Ryan, sung by Liz Callaway) is a teenager and on her own (suffering from some degree of amnesia), Anastasia is quite pleasing though never refreshingly new. 20th Century Fox's big-money gamble to horn in on Disney's realm is worthy. The songs, especially the recurrent "Once Upon a December" by Broadway team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, are better than Disney's recent efforts. It's worth picking up the soundtrack. The mix of cell animation and computer work is vivid. The collection of vocal talent is also strong, from John Cusack (as Dimitri, who wants to earn the reward by bringing Anya to Paris) to Hank Azaria as an amusing albino bat. Kelsey Grammer helps turn a roly-poly sidekick into a warm and strong supporting character. The biggest drawback is Bluth/Goldman's insistence on having a typical villain. Surprisingly, the story would be strong enough without one and the undead corpse of Rasputin (Christopher Lloyd) is unneeded and unoriginal. --Doug Thomas

• Unforgotten - Series 1 - 4 Boxset | DVD | (26/04/2021) from £29.84   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  All the episodes from the first four series of the ITV detective drama starring Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar. In the first series, when a skeleton belonging to a young man is discovered below a demolished building, DCI Cassie Stuart and DI Sunil Khan (Walker and Bhaskar) are brought in to lead the investigation. After identifying the body as a homeless male named Jimmy Sullivan (Harley Sylvester), the detectives unearth the names and addresses of four possible suspects, Beth, Father Rob, Frankie C and Mr. Slater, as named in Jimmy's diary. Will any of them hold the key to solving Jimmy's death? In the second series, the duo's next big case begins when a suitcase is washed up from the River Lea in London, containing the remains of a dead body. After discovering the person was buried more than 25 years ago and learning his identity, the pair quickly identifies a list of four potential suspects who all have interlinked connections to the deceased. As they try to discover what life was like for the victim, David Walker, all those years ago, Cassie and Sunil find themselves investigating historical allegations of abuse, rape and cover-ups in their search for his killer. In the third series, the detectives investigate the death of missing schoolgirl Hayley Reid, who disappeared on New Year's Day, 2000, after construction workers unearth human remains while carrying out repairs on the M1 motorway. Returning to the initial investigation of her disappearance, the detectives identify four possible suspects, but which one of them is responsible for Hayley's death? Finally, in the fourth series the discovery of a body in a metal scrapyard leads to Stuart and Khan investigating a drink driving incident from 30 years ago that may prove pivotal in solving this latest mystery.

• Doctor Strangelove | DVD | (18/02/2002) from £6.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (185.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Arguably the greatest black comedy ever made, Stanley Kubrick's cold war classic is the ultimate satire of the nuclear age. Dr Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, to give it its full title, is a perfect spoof of political and military insanity, beginning when General Jack D Ripper (Sterling Hayden), a maniacal warrior obsessed with "the purity of precious bodily fluids", mounts his singular campaign against Communism by ordering a squadron of B-52 bombers to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets counter the threat with a so-called "Doomsday Device," and the world hangs in the balance while the US president (Peter Sellers) engages in hilarious hot-line negotiations with his Soviet counterpart. Sellers also plays a British military attaché and the mad scientist Dr Strangelove; George C Scott is outrageously frantic as General Buck Turgidson, whose presidential advice consists mainly of panic and statistics about "acceptable losses". With dialogue ("You can't fight here! This is the war room!") and images (Slim Pickens's character riding the bomb to oblivion) that have become a part of our cultural vocabulary, Kubrick's film regularly appears on critics' lists of the all-time best. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

• Agatha Christie's Poirot - The Definitive Collection (Series 1-13) | DVD | (18/11/2013) from £52.60   |  Saving you £5.39 (10.25%)   |  RRP £57.99

  David Suchet stars as Agatha Christie's enigmatic eccentric and extremely intelligent detective Hercule Poirot. From England to the Mediterranean accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks Captain Hastings Chief Inspector Japp and Miss Lemon Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions. Includes all 70 episodes plus many extras.

• Unforgotten The Complete Series 1 - 3 | DVD | (24/09/2018) from £19.99   |  Saving you £8.00 (40.02%)   |  RRP £27.99

  Series 1: When the body of a young man is discovered in a derelict building, DCI Cassie Stuart (Nicola Walker) one of the Met's smartest detectives is called in to investigate with her partner, DI Sunil Khan (Sanjeev Bhaskar). Jimmy Sullivan was a homeless boy, murdered in 1976 when the building was a hostel. His diary implicates four suspects; a clergyman, an eminent entrepreneur, a community worker and a wheelchair-bound husband caring for his wife. Each has a secret to hide. As their lies unravel, the people they love most begin to wonder what else they might be capable of. Nothing in this case is black and white. Can you ever really know the people closest to you? What secrets have they buried? EXTRAS: The Bare Bones of Unforgotten Unforgotten Takes Us Back to the 70's What is Unforgotten? Whatever Happened to Jimmy Sullivan? Series 2: Critically acclaimed ITV drama series Unforgotten starring Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar returns for a second series. The story begins with the discovery of a body; this time the perfectly preserved remains of a middle-aged man found in a sealed suitcase in the silt of the River Lea in North East London. As Cassie and Sunny begin the complicated task of trying to identify the victim, we will meet four unconnected people who we suspect are linked in some way to the victim... EXTRAS: Building the Series Sins of the Past Domestic Turmoil Designing Unforgotten Body in a Bag Flashes of the Past Sunny's Rucksack Series 3: When human remains are found on the central reservation of a motorway near London, Cassie and Sunny are called to the scene. Dogged work leads the team to Hayley Reid, a 16-year-old girl who went missing on the eve of the millennium. The police's failure to find out what happened to Hayley wrecked her family's life. Cassie's compassion makes her determined to correct the mistakes made by the original investigating team whatever the cost to herself. A close-knit group of old school friends hold the key to what happened. Doctor Tim Finch, television presenter James Hollis, failing salesman Pete Carr, and artist Chris Lowe. As the four suspects find themselves under the spotlight, their tight bond is put to the test. They all have secrets in their past events that have pulled their lives apart. None of them are quite who they first seem to be, but is one of them capable of murder? EXTRAS: What is Unforgotten? Opening Scene Locations The Role Of Social Media The Suspects

• The Rag Trade: The Complete LWT Series | DVD | (13/08/2018) from £14.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Another huge comedy hit from On the Buses creators Ronald Wolfe and Ronald Chesney, The Rag Trade stars Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin as Harold Fenner, the much put-upon proprietor of Fenner Fashions, and Paddy, his ever-so-militant trade union shop steward in a sitcom that's designed to get you laughing! Originally a successful BBC sitcom from the early 1960s, a decade later both cast and writers reunited for two further hilarious series this time made by London Weekend Television for the ITV network. As well as Jones and Karlin reprising their roles as the series main antagonists, new additions to the cast included In Loving Memory's Christopher Beeny, On the Buses' Anna Karen and early role for Eastenders' Gillian Taylforth. This set contains all 22 LWT episodes, including the 1977 Christmas special.

• Bible / The Robe / Demetrius And The Gladiators | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Bible - In The Beginning The greatest stories of the Old Testament are brought to the screen with astounding scope and power in this international film which depicts the first 22 chapters of Genesis. This is the spectacular story of man's creation his fall his survival and his indomitable faith in the future. Matching the epic scale of the production are performances by George C. Scott as Abraham Ava Gardner as Sarah and Peter O'Toole as the haunting presence of the Angel of God. The legendary John Huston directs and delivers a commanding performance as Noah. From the film's opening amidst cosmic chaos to its lingering message of hope and salvation The Bible stands as a monumental motion picture achievement. The Robe The first movie ever filmed in CinemaScope The Robe was nominated for five Academy Awards in 1953 including Best Picture for Richard Burton. Burton stars as Marcellus Gallio the Roman centurion charged with overseeing the crucifixion of Christ. But when he wins Christ's robe in a gambling game at the foot of the cross his life is forever changed. Its inspired story set to a spectacular score and featuring an all-star cast including Victor Mature and Jean Simmons The Robe remains one of the screen's greatest biblical epics. Demetrius And The Gladiators This enormously successful sequel to The Robe continues the story of Demetrius (Victor Mature) the Greek slave who after the death of his master is sentenced to train as a gladiator in the Roman arena. There his newfound Christian faith is put to the test when he has to contend not only with the swordsmen and wild beasts of the arena but also the evil and sensuous Messalina (Susan Hayward) and the mad emperor Caligula (Jay Robinson). Crammed with astonishing action and fight sequences this heroic epic is not to be missed!

• Q. - The Almost Complete Q | DVD | (20/11/2017) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Comedic madness in Spike Milligan's ground-breaking, wild, subversive and nonsensical BBC sketch comedy series from 1969 1980. Simply Media are delighted to announce release of Q: The Almost Complete Collection on DVD 20th November 2017, containing all surviving episodes from Qs 5-9 in this 5-disc set, on DVD together for the very first time. Originally shown by the BBC from 1969-1980, this BAFTA-nominated series is considered a landmark in British Comedy. The fast-paced, anarchic sketch comedy will delight fans of the series and Spike Milligan's work. Written by and starring BAFTA-winner Spike Milligan in a variety of silly outfits and outlandish situations involving idiot Boy Scouts, Adolf Hitler, and the Royal Family. The original Q5 of 1969 was heralded as the inspiration behind Monty Python's Flying Circus, which debuted a few months later. It's also one of the best showcases of Spike's surreal and eccentric humour. Sketches come in thick and fast, and jump from one plot point or location to another with no explanation, and sometimes no apparent conclusion. Bizarre, yes. Funny, most definitely! Terry Jones and I adored the Q... shows , recalled Michael Palin for Spike's biography, [Milligan] was the first writer to play with the conventions of television. The BBC initially delayed re-commissioning the ground-breaking Q series until the Monty Python series ended, despite the impact Q had already had on the world of alternative comedy, and at a time when Kenny Everett and Not the Nine O'clock News were further testing the limits of TV Comedy. However, the popular Q returned over 6 years later for four further series. It is clear to see Monty Python in Spike's work, with Life of Brian's Chris Langham on the writing team and Monty Python's Flying Circus director Ian MacNaughton directing some episodes. For Q8 and Q9, direction was taken over by the talented BAFTA-winning Ray Butt (Only Fools and Horses). Spike leads a fantastic cast of co-performers including John Bluthal (The Vicar of Dibley), Bob Todd (Superman III), John D. Collins (˜Allo ˜Allo), Peter Jones (The Rag Trade), and Margaret Nolan (Goldfinger), Alan Clare (Rising Damp) and a self-parodying David Lodge in yet more surreal, outrageous and determinedly under-prepared sketches and musical interludes. Enjoy all the madness and mayhem of Spike Milligan's Q again with this landmark DVD collection.

• Straw Dogs | DVD | (07/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  According to critic Pauline Kael Straw Dogs was "the first American film that is a fascist work of art". Sam Peckinpah's only film shot in Britain is adapted from a novel by Gordon M Williams called The Siege of Trencher's Farm which Peckinpah described as a "lousy book with one good action-adventure sequence". The setting is Cornwall, where mild-mannered US academic David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) has bought a house with his young English wife Amy (Susan George) in the village where she grew up. David is mocked by the locals (one of whom is Amy's ex-boyfriend) and treated with growing contempt by his frustrated wife, but when his house comes under violent siege he finds unexpected reserves of resourcefulness and aggression. The movie, Peckinpah noted, was much influenced by Robert Ardrey's macho-anthropological tract, The Territorial Imperative. Its take on Cornish village life is fairly bizarre--this is a Western in all but name--and many critics balked at the transposition of Peckinpah's trademark blood-and-guts to the supposed peace of the British countryside. A scene where Amy is raped caused particular outrage, not least since it's hinted she consents to it. Not for the first time in Peckinpah's movies there are disquieting elements of misogyny, and it doesn't help that the chemistry between Hoffman and George is non-existent. (Impossible to believe these two would ever have clicked, let alone married.) But taken as a vision of irrational violence irrupting into a civilised way of life Straw Dogs is powerful and unsettling, and the action sequences are executed with all Peckinpah's unfailing flair and venom. Oh, and that title? A quote from Chinese sage Lao-Tze, it seems, "The wise man is ruthless and treats the people as straw dogs." The film was long withheld from home viewing in Britain by nervous censors, but this release presents it complete and uncut. --Philip KempOn the DVD: Straw Dogs is as jam-packed a disc as is possible for a film made before the days of obligatory "making of" features. Both the sound and visuals have transferred well, and, like the script, have aged well. There's a bumbling original interview in the style of Harry Enfield's Mr. Cholmondley-Warner, along with stills and original trailers. The new material includes a feature on the history of the film's censorship and commentaries by Peckinpah's biographers musing over interesting fan-facts (though none of the speakers have any first-hand experience of the making of the film). However, Katy Haber's commentary, and interviews with Susan George and Dan Melnick, offer a much more in-depth and intimate portrayal of the man and the making of the film. --Nikki Disney

• Casanova | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £5.03   |  Saving you £12.96 (257.65%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Fast paced and edgy this mini-series (first shown on BBC3) alternates between the gripping love triangle involving the young Casanova Henriette and her husband Grimani and the swan song of the world's most notorious lothario! Written by Russell T. Davies creator of 'Queer As Folk' and the scribe behind the new 'Doctor Who'.

• The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Special Edition | Blu Ray | (01/10/2018) from £12.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (38.49%)   |  RRP £17.99

  For the first time in the history of the universe, the complete Hitcher's Guide to the Galaxy is available in high definition! The cult classic British series from the mind of Douglas Adams is back in this very special edition. Featuring all episodes in full HD and 5.1 audio plus over 5 ½ hours of new and existing bonus material. Unbeknownst to its inhabitants, Earth is to be demolished to make way for an intergalactic highway. Arthur Dent (Simon Jones), an unassuming Englishman, is whisked off the planet to safety by his alien friend Ford Prefect (David Dixon), and launched on a dizzying journey through space and time (with only a towel, and a fish to help them) to discover the meaning of life itself.

• SATANIC RITES of DRACULA, THE (BD/ S/ H) | Blu Ray | (14/10/2019) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  1970s Hammer horror sequel starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Count Dracula (Lee)'s arch enemy Professor Van Helsing (Cushing) is investigating a Black Magic circle when he stumbles across the Count's plan to unleash a deadly viral plague on mankind.

• Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War | DVD | (09/03/2015) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play.  After the death of her bullying husband, the not-so-aged and downtrodden housewife Thelma Caldicot (Pauline Collins) is shipped off to the Twilight Years Rest Home by her money grabbing son and manipulative daughter in law. Appalled by the conditions, Mrs Caldicot decides to take matters into her own hands…   Review One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for OAP's --hotdog Magazine   A showcase performance by Pauline Collins --Empire

• My Girl | DVD | (10/05/2004) from £12.97   |  Saving you £-3.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  A doomed Macaulay Culkin becomes the object of affection for a little girl (Anna Chlumsky), estranged from her widowed father (Dan Aykroyd). This somewhat daring premise has various emotional buffers to keep young viewers from going into shock from Culkin's demise, but My Girl is also not shut off from real feelings. And while the story remains safely predictable, at the end of the day it is still a bittersweet experience. Culkin's performance is okay in that somewhat mannered way of his post-Home Alone career, but Anna Chlumsky is unusually sophisticated in her understanding of her character and situation. Aykroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis are perfectly stable as the kids' single parents. This is directed by Howard Zieff (Private Benjamin). --Tom Keogh

• Collateral - Single Disc Edition | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £3.98   |  Saving you £12.01 (301.76%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tom Cruise uncovers his dark side to play a contract killer who hijacks a taxi - and its driver - to take him from job to job.

• The Hunt For Red October | DVD | (07/07/2003) from £7.30   |  Saving you £8.69 (119.04%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Before Harrison Ford assumed the mantle of playing Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan hero in Patriot Games, Alec Baldwin took a swing at the character in this John McTiernan film and hit one to the fence. If less instantly sympathetic than Ford, Baldwin is in some respects more interesting and nuanced as Ryan, and drawing comparisons between both actors' performances can make for some interesting post-movie discussion. That aside, The Hunt for Red October stands alone as a uniquely exciting adventure with a fantastic co-star: Sean Connery as a Russian nuclear submarine captain attempting to defect to the West on his ship. Ryan must figure out his true motives for approaching the US. McTiernan (Predator, Die Hard) made an exceptionally handsome movie here with action sequences that really do take one's breath away. --Tom Keogh

• K-19: The Widowmaker / Witness / Clear And Present Danger | DVD | (11/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  K-19 The Widowmaker (Dir. Kathryn Bigelow 2002): Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star in a thrilling action-drama inspired by the true story of a Soviet submarine crew trying to save its vessel from a nuclear meltdown - and avert global war. Witness (Dir. Peter Weir 1985): When a young Amish woman (McGillis) and her son (Haas) are caught up in the murder of an undercover narcotics agent their unlikely savior proves to be the worldly and cynical Philadelphia detective J

• Archive | Blu Ray | (12/07/2021) from £5.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  2038: George Almore is working on a true human-equivalent AI. His latest prototype is almost ready, an android version of his wife who died in a car crash. Is this romantic or something much more sinister? George is playing God, creating a woman not from a rib but from electrical components, This sensitive phase is also the riskiest. Especially as he has a goal that must be hidden at all costs. The plot certainly has elements of Bride of Frankenstein as Theo James's George seeks to bring his wife back from the dead. Transferring her consciousness from an Archive unit to a A.I. humanoid.

• Ultimate Hammer Box Set | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £87.09   |  Saving you £62.90 (72.22%)   |  RRP £149.99

  20 of the greatest British films ever produced by the world renowned Hammer film studio! Includes: 1. Blood From The Mummy's Tomb (Dir. Seth Holt 1971) 2. Demons Of The Mind (Dir. Peter Sykes 1972) 3. The Devil Rides Out (Dir. Terence Fisher 1968) 4. Viking Queen (Dir. Don Chaffey 1967) 5. Dracula Prince Of Darkness (Dir. Terence Fisher 1966) 6. Fear In The Night (Dir. Jimmy Sangster 1972) 7. Frankenstein Created Women (Dir. Terence Fisher 1967) 8. The Horror Of Frankenstein (Dir. Jimmy Sangster 1970) 9. The Nanny (Dir. Seth Holt 1965) 10. One Million Years BC (Dir. Don Chaffey 1966) 11. Plague Of The Zombies (Dir. John Gilling 1966) 12. Quatermass And The Pit (Dir. Roy Ward Baker 1967) 13. Rasputin The Mad Monk (Dir. Don Sharp 1966) 14. The Reptile (Dir. John Gilling 1966) 15. The Scars of Dracula (Dir. Roy Ward Baker 1970) 16. SHE (Dir. Robert Day 1965) 17. Slave Girls (Dir. Michael Carreras 1967) 18. To The Devil A Daughter (Dir. Peter Sykes 1967) 19. The Vengeance Of SHE (Dir. Cliff Owen 1968) 20. The Witches (Dir. Cyril Frankel 1966)