"Actor: Ricky"

• The Office - Series 1 and 2 | DVD | (05/04/2004) from £17.53   |  Saving you £12.46 (71.08%)   |  RRP £29.99

  It feels both inaccurate and inadequate to describe The Office as a comedy. On a superficial level, it disdains all the conventions of television sitcoms: there are no punch lines, no jokes, no laugh tracks and no cute happy endings. More profoundly, it's not what we're used to thinking of as funny. Most of the fervently devoted fan base that the programme acquired watched with a discomfortingly thrilling combination of identification and mortification. The paradox is that its best moments are almost physically unwatchable. Set in the offices of a fictional Slough paper merchant, The Office is filmed in the style of a reality television programme. The writing is subtle and deft, the acting wonderful and the characters beautifully drawn: the cadaverous team leader Gareth, a paradigm of Andy McNab's readership; the monstrous sales rep, Chris Finch; and the decent but long-suffering everyman Tim, whose ambition and imagination have been crushed out of him by the banality of the life he dreams uselessly of escaping. The show is stolen, as it was intended to be, by insufferable office manager David Brent, played by cowriter Ricky Gervais. Brent will become a name as emblematic for a particular kind of British grotesque as Alan Partridge or Basil Fawlty, but he is a deeper character than either. Partridge and Fawlty are exaggerations of reality, and therefore safely comic figures. Brent is as appalling as only reality can be. --Andrew Mueller On the DVD: Series 1 is tastefully packaged as a two-disc set appropriately adorned with John Betjeman's poem "Slough". The special features occupy the second disc and consist of a laid-back 39-minute documentary entitled "How I Made The Office by Ricky Gervais", with cowriter Stephen Merchant and the cast contributing. Here we discover that Gervais spends his time on set "mucking around and annoying people", and that actress Lucy Davis (Dawn) is the daughter of Jasper Carrott; as well as seeing parts of the original short film and the original BBC pilot episode; plus we get to enjoy many examples of the cast corpsing throughout endless retakes. There are also a handful of deleted scenes, none of which were deleted because they weren't funny. Series 2 is a single-disc release, but the extra features are enjoyable nonetheless. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant feature in a gleefully shambolic video diary--highlights of which include Gervais flicking elastic bands at his cowriter and taping their editor to his swivel chair. The ubiquitous Gervais also mockingly introduces some outtakes (mostly of him corpsing throughout dozens of takes) and a series of deleted scenes, notably of Gareth arriving in his horrendous cycle shorts. --Mark Walker

• Derek - Series 2 | DVD | (17/11/2014) from £8.59   |  Saving you £11.40 (132.71%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A year has gone by since we last visited Broad Hill Retirement Home and the old gang is back. Derek Noakes (Ricky Gervais) is still spreading kindness wherever he goes. Kev (David Earl) is still drunk. Dougie (Karl Pilkington) is still grumpy. Hannah (Kerry Godliman) is still the salt of the earth. Wayward youth Vicky (Holli Dempsey) is now working there full - time and providing the residents with free slippers - no questions asked. And there are some new elderly tenants who've since joined.

• Harry Hill's TV Burp Gold 2 | DVD | (09/11/2009) from £6.15   |  Saving you £13.84 (225.04%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Harry Hill's Best Of TV Burp Gold 2

• Lonesome Dove | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones star as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call, ageing cowboys and former Texas rangers, who organise a 2,500 mile cattle drive for one last great adventure in this excellent 1989 miniseries adaptation of Larry McMurtry's novel. The best friends, who steal the herd from a gang of Mexican cattle rustlers, drive their herd from Texas to Montana, battling horse thieves, angry Indian tribes, and a renegade half-breed killer named Blue Duck (Frederic Forrest) on a mission of revenge. The excellent cast also includes Robert Urich as cardsharp and former Ranger Jake Spoon, Anjelica Huston as McCrae's old flame Clara Allen, Danny Glover, Ricky Schroder, Diane Lane, Chris Cooper, DB Sweeney, Steve Buscemi, and even a small role for author Larry McMurtry. Australian director Simon Wincer shows a tremendous capacity for balancing sweeping drama and intimacy against the gorgeous landscape of the American Southwest, giving a grandly epic feel to the film despite its small-screen target and limited budget, and for forging memorable characters of even the smallest supporting parts. The heart of the drama belongs to McCrae and Call, memorably etched by Duvall and Jones as the last of the range romantics. In the age of revisionist Westerns, this excellent cattle-drive drama nicely maintains an old -fashioned feeling while still showing the dark side of the American West. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

• Raining Stones | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Bob Williams is a survivor. He supplements his dole by becoming embroiled in whatever scam is on offer from rustling sheep to rotting drains. But now life has dealt him a bitter blow. His van has been stolen and his daughter Colleen is approaching her first communion. She needs the traditional white dress shoes veil and gloves. Where on earth is the money going to come from? Raining Stones is a funny and essentially human story of survival in the nineties and people's aspirations for a better way of life.

• Magnolia - Two Disc Set (1999) | DVD | (02/10/2000) from £9.16   |  Saving you £1.83 (19.98%)   |  RRP £10.99

  24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize a man about to die: both men are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad.

• Derek - Series 1 | DVD | (11/11/2013) from £13.98   |  Saving you £8.00 (66.72%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Meet Derek Noakes (Ricky Gervais) a tender, innocent man whose love for his job and the people he cares for shines through. He's 49 years old and loves animals, Rolf Harris, Jesus, 'Deal or No Deal', 'Million Pound Drop' and 'Britain's Got Talent' - but his main hobby is autograph hunting. He works in a retirement home with his mate and landlord, Dougie (Karl Pilkington in his very first acting role). Derek cares deeply for old people because they're kind and funny and tell him stories about the olden days. Hannah (Kerry Godliman) is a care worker at the home and is Derek's best friend. She's smart, witty and hardworking, but unlucky in love, and like Derek, always puts other people first.

• The Very Best Of The Royle Family | DVD | (25/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Spanning the three series of this superb sitcom, The Very Best of The Royle Family is a prime taster for those not familiar with the series. Co-created by Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash, who star as Denise and Dave respectively, The Royle Family deserves its own comedic category. They had a hard fight persuading the BBC to leave a laughter track off the show, which would have disrupted its unique ambience and chemistry. Never departing from the house of lazy, good-for-nothing but defiantly sardonic Jim Royle (Ricky Tomlinson) and wife Barbara (Sue Johnston), The Royle Family chronicles the everyday chat and banal comings and goings of this Northern household, which barely qualifies as "working" class, since mostly they are slumped on the sofa in front of the telly in a cathode-induced stupor. Confused viewers waiting for something to "happen" in the conventional sitcom manner will be disappointed. What they'll get instead is an irresistible stream of dialogue that captures unerringly the humdrum cadences of "ordinary" people. These episodes capture the Royles in customary, festive mood--Denise's marriage, Christmas, baby David's birthday party and so forth--which is good, as we get to see more of Liz Smith's magnificent Nana. As each seemingly inconsequential scene vividly illustrates, this is hardly a romanticised family. Denise is an appallingly negligent mother, there's probably never been a green vegetable in the house, most of their friends, including Darren, are well dodgy, and mum Barbara is unfairly put-upon ("Eh, I've been so busy this morning I haven't had time to smoke", she laments at one point). Yet undoubtedly, unlike their regal counterparts, this Royle Family are close-knit, somehow getting by. The family that watches telly together stays together. On the DVD: The Very Best of the Royle Family, disappointingly, has no extra features. --David Stubbs

• Ricky Gervais - 3 Disc Box Set | DVD | (22/11/2010) from £40.48   |  Saving you £-10.49 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Titles Comprise: Animals Fame Science

• American Gods | Blu Ray | (31/07/2017) from £4.99   |  Saving you £13.01 (260.72%)   |  RRP £18.00

  When Shadow Moon is released from prison, he meets the mysterious Mr. Wednesday and a storm begins to brew. Little does Shadow know, this storm will change the course of his entire life. Left adrift by the recent, tragic death of his wife, and suddenly hired as Mr. Wednesday's bodyguard, Shadow finds himself in the centre of a world that he struggles to understand. It's a hidden world where magic is real, where the Old Gods fear both irrelevance and the growing power of the New Gods, like Technology and Media. Mr. Wednesday seeks to build a coalition of Old Gods to defend their existence in this new America, and reclaim some of the influence that they've lost. As Shadow travels across the country with Mr. Wednesday, he struggles to accept this new reality, and his place in it.

• An Idiot Abroad - Series 1-3 Boxset | Blu Ray | (24/12/2012) from £24.28   |  Saving you £10.71 (44.11%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Series 1Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant send their friend Karl Pilkington around the world... under the pretence of visiting the Seven Wonders. However, along the way the 'Little Englander' must endure camel rides, jungle treks, tribal customs and local oddballs while dining on toads and testicles... and searching for a decent lavatory. Series 2This time we see Karl set out on the ultimate bucket list. Karl is dispatched to far-flung corners of the world to complete a definitive list of things to do before you die in an attempt to prove whether they really are what they're cracked up to be. Series 3In this final series, Ricky Gervais has persuaded Karl to embark on an epic journey following in the footsteps of the famous explorer Marco Polo, but this time he'll have a little company... Ricky is sending Warwick Davis to join Karl on his 5000 mile journey from Venice to China.

• Snake Outta Compton | DVD | (28/01/2019) from £4.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A rap group on the verge of signing their first record deal is the city's only hope in a battle with a giant mutating snake monster. There s a giant motherfkin snake loose on the streets of Compton! The world's most dangerous city, with the most dangerous rap group, harassed by the most dangerous police force, will now battle with the world's most dangerous big-ass snake! Beware of terrible rhymes, unfriendly fire, and monstrous fangs in this unpredictable and outrageous satire of creature features, urban gangster films, and hip-hop culture.

• Freddy's Dead - The Final Nightmare | DVD | (22/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  They tried to burn him! They tried to bury him! They tried to wash him away with holy water! But like Freddy says; Sticks and stones may break my bones but you can never kill me. There''s just one problem... he''s run out of kids to spook in Springwood. So Freddy hitches a ride inside some poor soul''s dream to the nearest town and hey quicker than you can say ''Nine ten never sleep again'' the dreamstalker''s back in business. But enough is enough. Do or die; it''s time someone made Freddy hang up his hat for good. So get ready for Freddy in the final nightmare!

• Orrible | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The idea behind 'Orrible is easy to appreciate, even if the programme itself often wasn't. Take Johnny Vaughan--a supremely talented and likable broadcaster, one of very few ubiquitous television presences whose appearance does not drive the intelligent viewer to grim fantasies of revenge involving a baseball bat and a dark ally--and cast him as the lead in a sitcom. It was, at best, a partial success. The problem with 'Orrible is that Vaughan's forte is improvisation and association, not adhering to a script, not even one he cowrote. His character, a dimwitted, shell-suited West London minicab driver with Walter Mitty-ish fantasies of being an underworld player, has possibilities. But the potential is never fully realised, partly due to surprisingly leaden lines, but mostly due to Vaughan's limitations as an actor: he never quite manages to project anything other than a less-funny version of the screen persona audiences know and like. On the DVD: 'Orrible on disc has an episode selector, and a scene selector for each episode. Subtitles are available in English. There is also the option of listening to a running commentary by writers Ed Allen and Johnny Vaughan which, as it is isn't scripted, occasionally offers glimpses of the unrestrained, free-flowing Johnny Vaughan familiar from his other television work--as such, it's far funnier than anything in the actual programme. --Andrew Mueller

• Mr Vampire | DVD | (22/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mr Vampire is a multi -leveled kaleidoscopic action adventure which combines the supernatural elements of black comedy and award-winning action in one of the most successful Hong Kong pictures ever made. Now re-mastered enjoy the physical brilliance of leading-man Chin Siu-ho the stunning art design of Lam Sai-kan and the innovative direction of Ricky Lau. This flamboyant and thoroughly entertaining fable of the Chinese supernatural was so successful it spawned an entire sub-genre

• Ricky Gervais - Live - Animals/Politics/Fame | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £39.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  This set includes: Ricky Gervais: Live - Animals Filmed during a limited run at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London the show is based around Ricky's fascination with the animal kingdom and covers subjects as diverse as classifying bats gay animals and the Great War poets. From the moment the curtain goes up it becomes clear that David Attenborough has nothing to worry about as Gervais accompanies a short film on animal copulation with a unique and not entirely scientific narration! Fans will wonder if any subject is taboo as the comedy drifts from his interpretation of the Bible to parts of the animal kingdom that the BBC never dared to cover. Ricky Gervais: Live 2 - Politics Ricky Gervais recorded live at the Palace Theatre in London in 2004. Subjects up for discussion include Thora Hird and being mistaken for Johnny Vegas. Ricky Gervais: Live 3 - Fame Ricky Gervais returns with this brand new stand up show Fame where he turns his comic attention to the world of the celebrity and everything that fame can bring both good and bad. Ricky just keeps getting better and better as a stand-up and this show should be the funniest yet after all it's a subject he's well acquainted with.

• Return to Lonesome Dove | DVD | (06/04/2009) from £17.53   |  Saving you £2.46 (12.30%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Jon Voight heads an all star cast as feared and revered ex-Ranger Captain Woodrow Call seizes his dream to drive a herd of mustang from texas to Montana. Barbara Hershey Rick Schroder Lois Gossett Jr. William Petersen and Oliver Reed hit the saddle as Captain Call's single vision unites them all in a powerful struggle against hustlers Indian warriors each other and the volatile wilds of the West itself in a fight that's far more than a dream; it's their destiny...

• Extras - Series 1 | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  Extras is the hotly-anticipated new comedy series from the creators of The Office Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Ricky plays Andy Millman who having given up his day job to be an actor finds he just can't land the big parts. In fact he rarely gets a speaking role so spends most of his days stuck in a green room with other extras envying the A-list stars with his fellow actor Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen). Each week Extras has a

• Mr Vampire | DVD | (15/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Inspired by Pu Song-ling's legendary collection of horror stories in Liaozhai Zhiyi, MR VAMPIRE is a multi-levelled, kaleidoscopic action-adventure which combines the supernatural, elements of black comedy and award-winning action in one of the most successful Hong Kong pictures ever made. A sell-out attraction at many film festivals around the World, MR VAMPIRE continues to be one of the classics of the genre, and has become a firm favourite with Television audiences in the UK, attracting ...

• The Royle Family - The Complete Series 3 | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  On paper, The Royle Family doesn't sound that promising: a working-class family from Manchester sit in their cluttered living room, watch the telly and argue over domestic details (the arrival of a telephone bill, for instance, provides the big dramatic event of the first episode, which aired in September 1998). But from such small everyday incidents, Royle Family creators Caroline Aherne and Dave Best (who play young couple Denise and Dave) have crafted one of the most successful shows on British television--a comedy about the joys and frustrations of family life that's warm, honest and very, very funny. It's Britain's answer to The Simpsons, whose success the show rivalled when it started broadcasting on BBC2 (the programme jumped channels to BBC1 for its second series). Now in its third series, The Royle Family has seen its characters develop like real folk. Denise and Dave got married and now have a little sprog; Barbara starts menopause (how many sit-coms are brave enough to use that for laughs?) and Denise's kid brother Anthony shakes off his surly adolescence when he turned 18 in series two. Unlike Oasis--who provide the shows theme song "Halfway Round the World"--this programme just keeps getting better. But no soap--not even Brookside in its dafter moments--has one-liners as brilliantly crafted as The Royle Family's. Slouched in his armchair, Jim's dour running commentary on the TV shows that are on at the time are particularly priceless. Changing Rooms, for instance, boils down to "a cockney knocking nails into plywood... Is this what it's come to?" Not quite; as long as the Royle Family are around, there is something worthwhile to watch. --Edward Lawrenson