Shop Newsletter |
Friday 6th December 2019 |
We've reached that time again: the last Shop Newsletter of the year, and the highlights of the last twelve months' releases for your Christmas picks. After picking through the below, why not also take a look at this feature we were asked to write for archive DVD/Blu-ray company Network, looking at their best 10 titles from the entire decade.
Meanwhile, do make sure you've entered our competitions. We've a wide range running at the moment, offering some brilliant comedy treats.
New announcements
Gavin & Stacey - A Special Christmas
It's been ten years since we spent Christmas with the Shipmans and the Wests. Last time it was Billericay - but the deal has always been to alternate, and this year we're heading to Barry where Uncle Bryn's cooking dinner for over thirteen people. Understandably he's tense.
Pam would secretly prefer to spend Christmas in Essex as she finds Gwen's house a bit lacking, but as long as she gets to be a doting grandparent along with Mick and Gwen, it doesn't really matter where they eat their turkey. Gavin and Stacey's baby is now nine and for them, parenthood can sometimes be a challenge. Smithy, a committed dad to twelve year old Neil the Baby makes the journey to Barry at weekends and every second Wednesday, whilst Nessa adopts her own brand of Nessa-style mothering.
For release on 6th January, you can see this highly-anticipated special on BBC One on Christmas Day at 8:30pm.
Last Christmas
Kate (Emilia Clarke) harumphs around London, a bundle of bad decisions accompanied by the jangle of bells on her shoes, another irritating consequence from her job as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop. Tom (Henry Golding) seems too good to be true when he walks into her life and starts to see through so many of Kate's barriers. As London transforms into the most wonderful time of the year, nothing should work for these two. But sometimes, you gotta let the snow fall where it may, you gotta listen to your heart ... and you gotta have faith.
This is the hit new Christmas romance, written by Emma Thompson and inspired by the music of George Michael and Wham!.
For more, see our full list of new releases and products coming soon.
The Best of 2019
Tim Vine - Sunset Milk Idiot Live
It's Tim Vine hitting the stage at full speed and firing off jokes like a tennis ball serving-machine set to maximum.
One of just two stand-up DVDs released this year, prepare to be bombarded with absolute nonsense. Experience Owl with a towel! Witness the wearing of an ice cream hat under hot lights! Meet the record Toucan! Sing about Cake and Milk? This is Tim's silliest show to date.
More laughs than ever before and his only show wearing blur shorts. Teddies on a hoop! Teddies on a hoop!
Motherland - Series 1 & 2
The first two acclaimed series of BBC Two sitcom Motherland, depicting the ins-and-outs of parenting in the London suburbs.
Written by a team that includes Graham Linehan and his wife; Sharon Horgan, and Holly Walsh, this acclaimed comedy aired its second series on BBC Two recently (also available), and will be back again in 2020 for a third run. Stars include Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch, Paul Ready, Philippa Dunne and Tanya Moodie.
John Bishop - How To Grow Old
Whether he likes it or not, comedian John Bishop is getting older. His hair is greying, it's getting that much harder to stay fit, and the potential to become something of embarrassment is ever increasing. But hope is not lost.
How To Grow Old is John's offering to the world. With sage advice on how to avoid the common pitfalls of age, intimate confessions and spit-your-dentures-out hilarious commentary on his own advancing years, this memoir is his observational comic writing at its very best.
Life With Cooper
Unseen for fifty years, Life With Cooper is the sketch and magic show that cemented Tommy Cooper's popularity with the viewing audience in the latter half of the 1960s. A sideways look at some of the ridiculous things that happen to him on a daily basis, it shows the blundering comedian coping with, amongst other things, his horoscope, getting a passport, joining the army and the thundering calamity of a lack of cash.
A genuine joy to watch, remarkably all 19 episodes - three series - survive, and are included in this triple-disc set alongside the sole surviving episode of his previous series for the same broadcaster (ABC), Cooperama. Also included is a PDF script of the wiped one-off special, Cooper King-Size.
Guest stars include Stanley Unwin, Henry McGee, Warren Mitchell, Sheila Hancock, June Whitfield, Deryck Guyler, Dandy Nichols and Patricia Hayes.
Guilt
Blackly comic drama Guilt follows disparate brothers Max (Mark Bonnar) and Jake (Jamie Sives) who, while driving home one night, accidentally run over and kill an old man on a darkened street. After making the panicked decision to cover their tracks, the brothers seem to get away with their crime. However, as neighbours and relatives of the dead man begin to suspect his death wasn't as innocent as it initially seemed, the brothers find their lives rapidly falling apart, as their actions begin to catch up with them.
The Favourite
Oscar-winning period comedy The Favourite, starring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.
It is the early 18th Century, and - based on real events - Queen Anne is increasingly frail. Close friend Lady Sarah is the real governor of the country, but when minor aristocrat Abigail arrives at Court, she begins to upset the established order and cause ructions between the two friends and lovers.
Looking for more modern cinema? Cast your eyes over the popular hit Fisherman's Friends, and the brilliant, acclaimed Laurel & Hardy biopic Stan & Ollie.
Plebs - Series Five
ITV2's hit period comedy returned earlier in the Autumn for a fifth series.
Following the blaze that nearly gutted the Crown and Toga last time, the boys have given it a lick of paint and are pushing ahead with their goal to turn it into Rome's trendiest nightspot. This time round we see them embark on a wine-buying trip to Tuscany, attempt to lure in rival firms of chariot hooligans, turn the space into a wedding venue and pursue an illegal archaeological dig.
Guests include Amanda Holden, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Tony Robinson, Nigel Lindsay, John Thomson, Phil Davis, Kevin Bishop and Christopher Biggins. A complete Series 1 - 5 set is also available to order.
The Likely Lads
A film release that is perhaps more notable for its extras. This is the wonderful feature-film sequel to BBC 2's The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?, newly restored for Blu-ray - the picture quality in this HD remaster is beautiful, and the comedy from Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement's script.
True, it's a worthy purchase for that alone: but also included are two brand-newly recovered episodes from that original, iconic TV sitcom. First aired way back in 1965, Series 2 episodes A Star Is Born and Far Away Places are available here for the very first time. They're a wonderful watch, making this already compelling set an absolute must-own for 1960s/70s comedy fans.
Similarly, you may also be interested in new, HD restorations of the Till Death Us Do Part film (also accompanied by a missing TV episode); related TV series Till Death.... and The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf; the film outing for Thames's Man About The House; and The Smallest Show On Earth, co-starring Peter Sellers.
The League Of Gentlemen - Precious Things
Beautifully packaged with gorgeous new, bespoke artwork is this exclusive Royston Vasey vinyl collection. Comprising the soundtracks to the original Christmas Special (Yule Never Leave, first aired on the 27th December 2000), and the three anniversary episodes from 2017 (Return To Royston Vasey, Save Royston Vasey and Royston Vasey Mon Amour, first shown on the 18th, 19th and 20th December 2017). Yule Never Leave is presented on 180g "Snow Slash" vinyl and the anniversary specials are pressed on 3 sides of 180g "Snowglobe" vinyl.
This release complements the sold-out Special Cuts collection.
Catastrophe - The Complete Series 1 - 4
Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney write and star in four series of another acclaimed, internationally successful modern British sitcom.
Instant chemistry, accidental pregnancy and genuine disaster provide the foundation for the flaming hovel of a relationship between US businessman Rob, visiting London, and Irish teacher Sharon, living there. With their relationship on shaky ground, can they attempt to weather unemployment, mortgages, children who bite, Brexit, jealous co-workers, drunken mistakes, friends in rehab, disastrous job interviews, insane family, and, of course, keeping the children alive?
This is the complete collection of the comedy hit, as seen on Channel 4.
Dad's Army - The Lost Episodes
From the original scripts - including David Croft's original camera directions - come three lost Dad's Army episodes, beautifully remade with a new cast.
Not seen since their original airings in 1969, these three programmes are all that is lost of the iconic BBC sitcom, and celebrating the programme's 50th anniversary have now been made anew for audiences to delight in once more. All from Series 2, Kevin McNally leads as Captain Mainwaring, with Robert Bathurst as Sergeant Wilson, Kevin Eldon as Lance Corporal Jones, David Hayman as Private Frazer, Mathew Horne as Private Walker, Timothy West as Private Godfrey and Tom Rosenthal as Private Pike.
Worzel Gummidge - The Complete Collection
Ahead of Mackenzie Crook's new take on the iconic literary character, the complete collection of Jon Pertwee's much-loved incarnation returns to DVD.
Including all 4 original ITV series, a newly restored version of the musical Christmas special, and the two New Zealand-made series from the late 1980s, the scripts by Willis and Hall continue to sparkle some 40 years on from the series' debut.
Alongside Pertwee, Una Stubbs stars as Aunt Sally, with Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Berry, Charlotte Coleman, Jeremy Austin, Joan Sims and others.
Mum - The Complete Boxset
Lesley Manville stars in the BAFTA-winning BBC Two comedy that concluded its third and final series earlier this year, and is now available to own in this DVD box set.
Picking up her life after the sudden death of her husband, Cathy finds herself slowly drawn towards his best friend, Michael, whilst also torn between the competing demands of mothering a slow-witted adult son, his dippy girlfriend, and her late husband's ageing parents.
This much loved series is contained over 3 discs.
Roy Chubby Brown - 50 Shades Of Brown
The master of blue jokes, comedy's favourite self-proclaimed 'Fat B*stard', returns to DVD with a brand new show for 2019.
Clockwise
Long-awaited, this is a wonderful new remaster and restoration of the iconic 80s road-trip farce from Michael Frayn, starring the brilliant John Cleese.
Obsessively punctual, secondary school headmaster Brian Stimpson is invited to be the first ever state school head to chair the prestigious annual Headmasters' Conference. But after a mix-up with skiving students at the train station, his precisely-planned trip across country descends into chaos. Hijacking another student in her father's car, running into police, old colleagues, monks and greasy businessman, it's a day that no one will live to forget.
Also featuring Alison Stead-man, Penelope Wilton and Joan Hickson, Clockwise is presented with a smattering of special features. Guaranteed laughter for all the family.
Louis Barfe - Happiness And Tears: The Ken Dodd Story
Acclaimed and picked by the Sunday Times as its "book of the week" last month, this is the first serious biographical assessment of Ken Dodd since the death of the feather duster-wielding Liverpudlian in spring 2018.
Light entertainment historian Louis Barfe charts the life and extraordinarily long comedic career of a man whose work straddled the very tail end of variety and the golden age of television comedy. When Dodd died, social media divided into two camps: those who wondered what all the fuss was about, and those who had seen him in live performance. Barfe argues that Dodd was the last of the great variety acts, a creator of superb absurd vulgarity who was at his best not on the small screen but on stage, where his act - 'a rolling boil of cumulative humour' - delighted his audiences across seven decades. This is the definitive life of the man called 'the last great music-hall entertainer'.
Monty Python's Flying Circus Norwegian Blu-ray Edition
Years in the making, Network presents the entire original television series of Monty Python's Flying Circus, fully rejuvenated for the first time.
Sketches, some edited for timing, taste and copyright reasons, have been carefully restored to their intended length and the majority of Terry Gilliam's animations have been newly scanned in high definition and restored to a specification way beyond their original format. Hitherto unseen out-takes, film inserts and studio recordings have been retrieved, adding yet another dimension to this exclusive release. This is the ultimate television restoration and a must for every generation of Python fan. 7 discs feature all 45 episodes presented series-by-series, for the first time totally uncut and beautifully restored from original film and videotape elements.
Series 1 is available separately (on both DVD and Blu-ray), with 2-4 following in 2020.
Fleabag - Series One & Two
Available on both DVD and high definition Blu-ray, the complete collection of Phoebe Waller-Bridge's internationally acclaimed, smash hit comedy about a young woman living in London is available to own now in this single 2-disc collection.
As she hurls herself headlong at modern living, Fleabag is thrown roughly up against the walls of contemporary London, with all its frenetic energy, late nights and bright lights, in this very modern mix of fatalism and hedonism, sustaining a merry-go-round of broken dreamers.
Unfettered and unfiltered, Fleabag tears through the series sleeping with anyone who dares to stand too close, squeezing money from any orifice, rejecting anyone who tries to help her and keeping up the bravado all along. Because that's just the kind of messed-up, normal person she is.
Never The Twain - The Complete Series
Starring Donald Sinden and Windsor Davies as two curmudgeonly antique dealers, Never The Twain quickly became one of Thames Television's most popular comedies, running for a stonking 11 series from 1981 to 1991. The hit sitcom is now finally available to own and watch again, in this complete DVD collection.
Simon Peel and Oliver Smallbridge are not the easiest of neighbours. Simon is a blue-blooded Oxbridge snob while Oliver is a former barrow-boy with a chip on his shoulder - the only thing they have in common is a willingness to stoop to endless lengths to do the other down. But when Simon's son and Oliver's daughter begin to show more than a passing interest in each other, what was a mutual cold war rapidly turns into something decidedly hotter!
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing - Series One & Two Box Set
The complete collection of the much-loved Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Series 1 and 2, is available now on DVD. In this hilarious and heart-warming series, following their life-changing heart surgeries, comedy legends and lifelong friends Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse embark on a relaxing yet epic journey around Britain, eating great food, discussing life and death, and attempting to catch some of the nation's iconic fish. Bob is a keen apprentice and eager to learn, while experienced angler Paul has his patience tested time and again as he tries to teach Bob the rules of the river. Set against the backdrop of the stunning British countryside, Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing shows two comedy giants in their element and as you've never seen them before.
The two series are available individually, where you can also make the most of the beautiful photography with HD Blu-ray versions.
In Fabric
Also one of HMV's top picks of the year across all genres, this British comedy horror sneaked out at the end of Summer with a limited cinematic release.
From director Peter Strickland, the "haunting" film stars Gwendoline Christie and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in the tale of a cursed item of clothing. As the dress in question passes from person to person it destroys the lives of each of its owners. Also starring Hayley Squires, Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Caroline Catz and others, the film is now available to own.
Parsley Sidings - The Complete Series 1 & 2
Parsley Sidings ran for two popular series from 1971 to 1973, and was the only radio sitcom other than Dad's Army to star the much-loved Arthur Lowe. As Horace Hepplewhite, station master of a sleepy railway station, he spends his time dealing with small crises and supervising his errant staff - including his son, ticket clerk Bert; blonde bombshell Gloria the station announcer; crafty Cockney porter Percy and ancient signalman Bradshaw - not to mention his nemesis, Phineas Perkins, who manages the station one stop down the line.
Alongside Lowe, Ian Lavender plays Bert, Kenneth Connor is Percy and Liz Fraser plays Gloria, with guest stars including Pat Coombs and Bill Pertwee.
At Last The 1948 Show - Collector's Edition
Meticulously recreated from original scripts, off-air audio recordings, and fragmented snippets of different episodes and individual sketches, this brilliant BFI release compiles the two series of this pre-Monty Python sketch show, starring John Cleese, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and the lovely Aimi MacDonald.
Rammed with special features - and for our money, funnier than Monty Python's Flying Circus - the 1967 comedy was released alongside a similarly recreated new collector's edition of fellow Python predecessor Do Not Adjust Your Set, which stars Denise Coffey, Eric Idle, David Jason, Terry Jones and Michael Palin.
Get both titles for a brilliant Christmas bundle of archive sketch viewing.
Home
Written by and starring Rufus Jones (with Rebekah Staton, Youssef Kerkour and Oaklee Pendergast), this Channel 4 sitcom aired earlier in the year to much acclaim.
The comedy follows a mother and son, and her new boyfriend, who's recently moved into their home, as they return from a continental holiday. Unpacking the car on their Surrey drive way however, they are confronted with an unexpected package: stowaway illegal immigrant Sami, a Syrian refugee.
As Sami goes about claiming asylum and takes up residence in their home, the family find their relationships tested to the limits by their newfound situation, and their eyes opened to a range of new circumstances.
Genuinely laugh-out-loud funny when it could so easily have veered into preachy and cloying, Home will be back on screens in 2020 with a new series.
Summer Holiday
One of British comedy's most iconic film comedies, the road-trip musical Summer Holiday, starring Cliff Richard, one would have thought would have been restored and released many years ago. Until the Summer however, only an old sing-along transfer was available on DVD.
With this new release, the film has been fully restored and remastered in HD, including a selection of insightful special features, and limited edition photo cards.
Packed with classic songs and great fun for all the family, this title should have a space on everyone's shelf.
For more, see our full list of new releases and products coming soon.
Thanks for reading
We'll be back early in January with the first Shop Newsletter of the year, and decade. Until then, we'd like to wish you a very happy Christmas and new year. Happy viewing, listening and reading!
You can find our full comedy shop on our website at any time, and some of the best new release news, competitions and bargains on Twitter: @BritComedyShop.
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