Documentary

• Britain Of Yesteryear | DVD | (17/07/2006) from £5.98   |  Saving you £11.01 (184.11%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Britain In The 1940's: Britain in the 40s tells the story of this turbulent decade and the remarkable fortitude of the British people during and after the war through the eyes of the newsreel cameras. From the horror and destruction of The Blitz in 1941 to the marriage of Princess Elizabeth to the dashing Prince Philip in 1947 we take a nostalgic and sentimental journey back to how we lived and the way we were 60 years ago. Britain In The 1950's: This programme presents an affectionate look at the way we were in the 1950's: the way we dressed laughed (and cried) - even the way we holidayed. We also focus on the events that shook the world during the decade: the death of George VI in 1952 heralding a new Queen Elizabeth II and her Coronation in 1953; the conquering of Everest: the first four-minute mile; the last woman to be hanged in Britain; and the tragic Munich Air Disaster. Britain In The 1960's: The 1960s were a decade of massive change in Britain. From Beatlemania to the violent anti-war protests in Grosvenor Square the major news stories of the period are shown using rarely seen material. The result is a unique glimpse of the history of Britain during the 'Swinging Sixties' - when Britain was at the centre of so much that was new and exciting from the boutiques of Carnaby Street to the launch of Concorde.

• Pawn Stars Season 2 | DVD | (16/04/2012) from £22.93   |  Saving you £-2.94 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Venture inside the only family run pawn shop in Las Vegas, where three generations of men use their sharp-eyed skills to carefully access the value of items ranging from the obscure to the historic. In Pawn Stars, the rarely tactful and always confrontational Harrison family finds the gems and busts the fakes, all in hopes of making the biggest profit possible

• Ancient Worlds | DVD | (06/12/2010) from £10.79   |  Saving you £14.20 (131.60%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Ancient Worlds is a six-part odyssey from the first cities of Mesopotamia to the Christianisation of the Roman Empire with archaeologist and historian Richard Miles at the helm. The series tells the story of what Richard argues is mankind's greatest achievement - civilisation. The series offers an epic sweep of history against a panorama of stunning locations and bold propositions about the origins of human society. In the 21st century we might fondly imagine that it is humankind's natural state to live together in communities that extend beyond blood ties. As Ancient Worlds sets out to show however no such assumptions were made by the first clan chiefs who decided to form communities in southern Iraq in 4500 BC. There is nothing natural about the city and its founders understood that its very survival relied on compromise ruthlessness sacrifice and toil. In the West we have consigned the term 'civilisation' to the museum display case. Embarrassed by its chauvinistic and elitist connotations we have increasingly taken refuge in more politically correct and soft-focused terms such as 'culture' to explain our origins. This series seeks to rescue civilisation from its enforced retirement and celebrate such a hard-fought invention.

• The Boat That Guy Built | DVD | (21/05/2012) from £9.75   |  Saving you £10.24 (105.03%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Motorcycle racing star, mechanic and engineering enthusiast Guy Martin, together with his best mate Mark Mave Davies, fit out Reckless, an aptly named narrowboat using the best of British inventions from the Industrial Revolution. The series sees Guy – described as a cross between Steve McQueen and Fred Dibnah – building his own versions of the innovations that made Britain great, from an 18th century blast furnace to allow him to smelt iron and make a kettle, to re-engineering a steam engine so that it powers his shower. Along the way he'll learn how to weave silk using an early computer, blow up the first gas-powered water heater, milk a cow the traditional way by burying his head against the cow's stomach, and abseil off the side of Derby Cathedral to clean its clock and pay tribute to his steeplejack hero, Fred Dibnah. He also visits historic lavatory manufacturer Thomas Crapper and Sons, to conduct a flush-off and find the best toilet.

• Shoah | DVD | (19/02/2007) from £26.39   |  Saving you £23.60 (47.20%)   |  RRP £49.99

  Shoah is Claude Lanzmann's landmark documentary meditation on the Holocaust. Assembled from footage shot by the filmmaker during the 1970s and 1980s it investigates the genocide at the level of experience: the geographical layout of the camps and the ghettos; the daily routines of imprisonment; the inexorable trauma of humiliation punishment extermination; and the fascinating insights of those who experienced these events first hand. Absent from the film is any imagery shot at the time the Holocaust occurred. There is only Lanzmann and his crew filming in private spaces and now-dormant zones of eradication to extract testimony from a series of survivors witnesses and oppressors alike. Through his relentless questioning (aided on occasion by hidden camera) Lanzmann is able to coax out material of unparalleled emotional truth that constitutes both precious oral history and withering indictment. Shoah (the title is a common designation for the Holocaust and a Hebrew word that can be translated as 'Catastrophe' or 'Annihilation') was the first of Lanzmann's films to analyse the effects of the death camps on individual lives and the world at large. It represents an aesthetic achievement in line with Alain Resnais's Night and Fog combining inquiry rage and mourning to create a monumental portrait of shame and grief. Shoah locates within the present a direct line to the horrors of the past and is widely regarded as one of the most powerful films of all time.

• First Position | DVD | (27/05/2013) from £5.74   |  Saving you £10.25 (178.57%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Every year, thousands of aspiring dancers enter one of the world's most prestigious ballet competitions, the Youth America Grand Prix, where lifelong dreams are at stake. In the final round, with hundreds competing for only a handful of elite scholarships and contracts, practice and discipline are paramount, and nothing short of perfection is expected. Bess Kargman's award-winning documentary, First Position, follows six young dancers as they prepare for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet, struggling through bloodied feet, near exhaustion and debilitating injuries, all while navigating the drama of adolescence. A showcase of awe-inspiring talent, tenacity and passion, First Position paints a thrilling and moving portrait of the most gifted young ballet stars of tomorrow.

• Grand Central - London To Sunderland Cab Ride | DVD | (20/04/2009) from £4.75   |  Saving you £10.24 (215.58%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Jump into the cab of one of Grand Centrals Valenta-powered High Speed Trains and experience the drivers eye view of the route between London and Sunderland. In the Autumn of 2008, this extraordinary rail journey was filmed onboard the 11.27 Kings Cross to Sunderland. Calling at York,Thirsk,Northallerton, Eaglescliffe, Hartlepool and Sunderland we discover the many different landscapes and speeds this working line traverses. From the suburbs of London, through the open fens of Cambridgeshire to the Durham coast.. The train is formed with two class 43 power cars and 5 MkIII coaches (1 first class, 1 restaurant/buffet and 3 standard class trailers). Grand Central operates 3 such sets on this route allowing for four trains in each direction per day. Pure engine room sounds are retained throughout to enhance the experience, whilst on-screen graphics point out features of interest en route.

• Great British Railway Journeys | DVD | (07/02/2011) from £5.45   |  Saving you £29.54 (542.02%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Passionate about trains Michael Portillo charts the great British romance with the railways as he retraces four journeys that were first documented in the monthly railway guide Bradshaw's Handbook. He sees what's changed and discovers how our love of the railways all began. Portillo makes stops en route to visit some of Britain's most beautiful cities and hidden-away villages meeting extraordinary people and hearing stories of how their lives have been shaped in some way by the railways. Throughout these monumental journeys Portillo explores the secret ammunition factory at Gretna sails the last steam boat on Lake Windermere learns to talk 'scouse' in Liverpool takes a dip in Bath Spa cooks a traditional curry in Birmingham tries his hand at oyster fishing in Cornwall and meets survivors of the Coventry Blitz. This 4 disc DVD set features 20 episodes covering the 4 different journeys: Liverpool to Scarborough Preston to Kirkcaldy Swindon to Penzance Buxton to London

• DSIRE | DVD | (10/06/2013) from £10.05   |  Saving you £-0.06 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Marlon Brando and Jean Simmons star in this semi-fictional, epic costume drama based on Annemarie Selinko's novel. D�sir�e (Jean Simmons) is young Napoleon's first true love, long before his rise to power. However, he has to decide whether to marry her and sacrifice his career or abandon her. The two lovers go their separate ways, D�sir�e eventually marrying the King of Sweden and Napoleon marrying Josephine (Merle Oberon), and only meet again when Napoleon is about to decide to go into exile.

• Pathe Archive -A Year To Remember - The 1940s | DVD | (28/02/2011) from £12.45   |  Saving you £12.54 (100.72%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Using rare news footage and interviews from the incredible British Pathe archive this extraordinary series provides a unique year by year look at what made the news of yesteryear. With a comprehensive hour long programme on each year of the 1940s this 3 disc - set package provides the definitive insight into the decade that took us from World War through Victory to an all new age of austerity in a newly divided world. At the beginning of the 1940s - the world woke up to the expansionist ambitions of Nazi Germany as Hitler's forces made steady progress invading Finland Denmark Norway Belgium Holland and France. Japan Yugoslavia Greece and Bulgaria bolstered the Axis Forces. By 1942 a state of global war ensued; the US had entered the conflict following the Japanese attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbour and the war spread to campaigns in the Pacific Burma North Africa Russia and the Atlantic. 1943 was a tuning point for the Allies with the bloody siege of Stalingrad ending success repelling the German forces in Tunisia and the surrender of Italy. D-Day in June 1944 saw the Normandy landings of Allied invasion troops - the world's biggest combined land sea and air operation. As the Allied force made progress to Berlin and eventual Victory In Europe the grim realities of the concentration camps were revealed to a disgusted world. Post-war the United Nations and NATO were formed and the Iron Curtain fell and divided Europe and Berlin. In the UK a new age of austerity began with wartime rationing continuing and a challenging balance of payments deficit with many produced goods strictly for 'Export Only'. Princess Elizabeth married the Welfare State and the NHS were inaugurated and the Nationalisation of core public utilities and industries began in earnest under Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government.

• Enemies of the People | DVD | (06/06/2011) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Fields of Cambodia remain unexplained. Until now. In Enemies of the People the men and women who perpetrated the massacres - from the foot-soldiers who slit throats to the party's ideological leader Nuon Chea aka Brother Number Two - break a 30-year silence to give testimony never before heard or seen. Sambath is on a personal quest: he lost his own family in the Killing Fields. The film is his journey to discover not how but why they died. In doing so he hears and understands for the first time the real story of his country's tragedy.

• WORLD WAR II IN COLOUR 4 DVD Gift Set | DVD | (22/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Collection of documentaries, narrated by Robert Powell, that make use of colour footage to provide an insight into World War II.

• Crimes of the 20th Century | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Crumb (Criterion Collection) - UK Only | Blu Ray | (05/08/2024) from £14.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Terry Zwigoff's landmark 1995 film is an intimate documentary portrait of the underground artist Robert Crumb, whose unique drawing style and sexually and racially provocative subject matter have made him a household name in popular American art. Zwigoff candidly and colorfully delves into the details of Crumb's incredible career and life, including his family of reclusive eccentrics, some of the most remarkable people you'll ever see on-screen. At once a profound biographical portrait, a riotous examination of a man's controversial art, and a devastating look at a troubled family, Crumb is a genuine American original.

• Discover the Great Masters of Art - Raphael DVD | DVD | (18/04/2011) from £7.29   |  Saving you £9.70 (133.06%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Includes 16-page booklet examining many of the most famous works The Miracle of Perfection The paintings of Raphael demonstrate the results of his valuable research into the past and his Renaissance counterparts twinned with a poignant sense of deeply human poetry. Heavily influenced by his early life in Urbino and the loss of his parents while still a child Raphael started his career as a teenager. He moved to Perugia where the influences of Umbria impacted on his work and by 16 he was considered a Master. It was the beginning of a career which while short would impact on every aspect of the fundamental artistic culture in the transition between the 15th and 16th centuries. An intellectual fascinated by antiquity Raphael s work drew on an ever-broadening field of influences often reflecting political turbulence and personal tragedy as much as the shifting trends in Renaissance art and architecture. The creative hotbed of Rome was the perfect backdrop for Raphael leading to the creation of some of the greatest artworks of all time. In this fascinating programme we trace Raphael s life and career examining in spectacular detail many of his greatest masterpieces and assessing the influences and importance of those major works including the famous series of Madonnas. In addition to close-up footage examining the intricate and beautiful painting of Raphael we consider his life and his untimely death aged just 37.

• Welcome To The Darkness | DVD | (26/02/2024) from £6.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• A World In Arms | DVD | (14/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Revolution of 1789 transformed France from a decadent monarchy to a modern state. It threw up the first citizen's army and introduced the concept of total war. Under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte the greatest General of his age France built up a massive Empire. Its haughty ambitions and the war that erupted as a result shook the world... It was truly the first 'world war'. As empires clashed five million people died in fighting that raged from Russia to Spain and fro

• Concorde - The Farewell | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £4.90   |  Saving you £8.09 (165.10%)   |  RRP £12.99

  This programme provides a fascinating insight into the final months of Concorde service. As well as comprehensive coverage of Concorde 216's final ever flight into Filton on 26th November 2003 the programme also covers many of the final flights around the UK as well as museum 'delivery' flights to the Concordes final resting places. Also covered as part of the final US tour is BA's last ever flight from London to Washington DC in October 2003. Destinations covered in this programme include: Baden BadenBirminghamCardiffFiltonHeathrowManchesterNew York JFKParisToulouseWashington Also included is comprehensive coverage of the last weeks of commercial service including exclusive 'airside' footage at New York JFK as well as many angles including next to the runway on the final day at Heathrow. There are also many interviews with pilots and others closely involved with Concorde during her three glorious decades in commercial service.

• Special Forces | Blu Ray | (12/03/2012) from £7.47   |  Saving you £12.52 (167.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A French journalist in Afghanistan is kidnapped by the Taliban.

• Out Of Town - Vols. 1 To 3 | DVD | (28/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  For lovers of rural England countryman Jack Hargreaves embarks on a series of delightful expeditions through the English countryside. With the countryside once again back in the news the series demonstrates country life and the importance of rural economies trades and habitats.