"Actor: Rollo Weeks"

• The Lost Prince | DVD | (20/01/2003) from £6.12   |  Saving you £9.87 (161.27%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A marvellous reinvention of the costume epic, The Lost Prince is Stephen Poliakoff's absorbing study of the turbulent years leading up to and during the First World War, seen through the percipient eyes of a scarcely remembered royal child. Extensively researched, impeccably cast, beautifully filmed, written and directed by Poliakoff himself with masterly economy and restraint, this is a timely reminder that original, intelligent drama can work as prime time entertainment while appealing on multiple levels; and there isn't an escaped soap star in sight. Johnnie, the prince kept hidden away by his parents Queen Mary and George V for fear that his epileptic fits and idiosyncratic ways might draw unwelcome attention, is not presented as a tragic figure. His view of the great events which shatter his family and change the world forever is direct and uncluttered. Poliakoff celebrates his apartness--and that of all children who are different--as a force for good, without judging the standards, protocols and contemporary medical theories which kept him on the periphery of society. The series makes the most of its well-chosen locations, and from Johnnie's garden at Sandringham to the assassination of the Russian imperial family, it maintains a hypnotic and elegiac quality The acting is first-rate, too. Gina McKee is profoundly moving as Johnnie's devoted nurse Lalla; and Miranda Richardson's Mary is an extraordinary performance, the controlled façade of single-minded focus occasionally fracturing to reveal a flash of humanity. This production is exquisite in every respect. On the DVD: The Lost Prince is presented in its original transmission format of 16:9. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, enhanced by Adrian Johnston's haunting score is crystal clear. Extras include Poliakoff's revealing commentary, with occasional input from Johnston and designer John-Paul Kelly, and a couple of documentary fragments which show the production in progress and place it in context with the rest of Poliakoff's work. --Piers Ford

• Girl With A Pearl Earring | DVD | (31/05/2004) from £3.01   |  Saving you £16.98 (564.12%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The story behind one of the greatest paintings ever created traces the relationship between Dutch master Johannes Vermeer and his lowly maid, Griet.

• Thief Lord | DVD | (16/10/2006) from £5.10   |  Saving you £10.89 (213.53%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Two young boys in Venice are befriended by a gang of young urchins and their enigmatic leader, the Thief Lord.

• The Little Vampire | DVD | (06/05/2002) from £17.98   |  Saving you £-1.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Fresh from Stuart Little, young Jonathan Lipnicki carries on his pint-sized shoulders his every scene in The Little Vampire as eight-year-old Tony, befriender of vampires. The Scottish setting lends itself nicely to spookiness, too. A continent away from his native California, Tony's having a tough time making new friends when a band of vagabond vampires enters his life through his bedroom window. The encounter seems pure coincidence at first, but then the scary truth surfaces: Tony, though he's not a vampire himself, has "sympathy for our kind", as the dad of the bat-linked brood puts it. Visions of vampire happenings from generations past invade the kid's consciousness, and they hold the key to the clan's current gypsy-like predicament. Through his clairvoyance and, by extension, the discovery of a long-lost amulet, the mostly benevolent bloodsuckers are able to reclaim their rightful status as proper cave-dwellers in their homeland. Clueless-parent predicaments abound--Tony's mum and dad smirk at their son's vampire-obsessed imagination until the cape-draped heads of the clan drop by for a visit--and viewers of around Tony's age will find the gang's adventures eluding a bumbling vampire hunter genuinely chuckle worthy. --Tammy La Gorce

• Attila the Hun | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £13.80   |  Saving you £4.18 (38.67%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Men Followed. Women Loved. Rome Trembled. Two worlds collide along with the two men who embody the values and essence of these worlds. Attila King of the Huns (Gerard Butler) is a visionary who sees more in his people than they see in themselves. While the Huns are content to plunder and extort the surrounding nations Attila looks beyond to the possibility of an empire and new world order. Roman General Flavius Aetius (Powers Boothe) embodies the best and worst of Rome in the final years of her existence. He is motivated by one overriding goal: Rome must continue to rule the world. Two different visions of destiny held by the two strongest men of the century; these conflicts are at the heart of 'Attila the Hun'.

• Attila The Hun | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Straight out of the American television movie school of historical thought, Attila the Hun is a glossy, at times long and often ridiculous re-telling of one of the great stories of Ancient Rome. How much of it is historically accurate is debatable--much of the action is ludicrously far fetched--and the image that most of us have of Attila is quite different to the bare-chested, longhaired reject from an 80s soft rock band that is presented here. The film does have its own slightly warped charm, though. The storyline is surprisingly complex, involving plots and counter plots, and the movie does exhibit a sense of epic somewhat in the vein of Gladiator, but is sadly lacking the budget, style or talent. The acting is awful (as befits anything that stars Steven Berkoff) and reduces the political machinations of Rome to little more than Dynasty in togas. Gerrard Butler is a fine actor--as he proved in the recent TV drama The Jury--but is woeful here, delivering his lines in a bizarre trans-Atlantic Scottish accent. At three hours it's way too long, too. There does remain something strangely compelling about Atilla the Hun, though you'll find more reliable facts about Roman history in an Asterix book. --Phil Udell