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DVDs in the Works

Archive for January, 2011

The King’s Speech and more

The King’s Speech, Colin Firth

With twelve Academy Award nominations (more than any other film), The King’s Speech is looking like an early favorite for Best Picture this year. If you found this film as moving and inspirational as we did, we have plenty to deepen your understanding and appreciation of this story.  First off, you can visit this link to learn more about the historical background to the film and to actually hear the climactic speech from the film. The shop has also just brought in The King’s Speech book, based on Lionel Logue’s recently discovered diaries and records.

We also have a number of great dramas about the George VI’s family.  Our Emmy-winning miniseries The Lost Prince tells the haunting story of George VI’s youngest brother, John. Epileptic and learning-disabled, John faded from public view during World War I and ultimately from memory until Stephen Poliakoff penned this unforgettable drama. It also provides a deeper insight into their emotionally distant parents, George V and Queen Mary, as played by Tom Hollander and Miranda Richardson.

Moving into the glamorous post-WWII years is The Queen’s Sister, in which Lucy Cohu (Ballet Shoes, Torchwood: Children of Earth) plays George VI’s troubled daughter (and younger sister of the current monarch), Margaret. Or you could go much further back in history to the peerless miniseries on his grandfather, Edward the King, or to the popular film on the early years of his great-grandmother, The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt (Gideon’s Daughter).

Ricky Gervais to pop into US “Office”

Ricky Gervais, The Office

Ever since The Office was so successfully transplanted to the US, comparisons have been rife. Who’s more dysfunctional: David Brent or Michael Scott? Who’s funnier: Ricky Gervais or Steve Carell? Who would be funnier if you could see them together? For the answer to that last question, we have only a week to wait. After serving as executive producer on the American series for seven seasons, Gervais will briefly step in front of the camera on the episode that airs on January 27th. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Golden Globe Award-winning original BBC series, and it has been very gratifying to see how well its stars have done. Ricky Gervais has gone on to feature films and Extras. Martin Freeman (Sherlock) is not only Dr. Watson these days, but he has landed the role of Bilbo Baggins in the upcoming Hobbit films. Mackenzie Crook raised his profile in Pirates of the Caribbean and all its sequels, but he continues to guest star in such BBC productions as Little Dorrit and Merlin Series 2 (which came out on Tuesday). If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s no better time than now to try out the original Office — season singles are now only $13.98 at the shop.

Law & Order UK gone viral

Law & Order: UK

Someone who has spent a lot of the past few months watching Law & Order UK on BBC America created a viral video that crossed out desktops today. It reminded us of how many British TV favorites have shown up in the series. The strong cast of regulars includes Ben Daniels (The State Within, Aristocrats), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who), Harriet Walter (Little Dorrit, Dorothy L. Sayers Mysteries) and Bill Paterson (Wives & Daughters, Hard Times). But it’s just as much fun to see who will turn up in the episodes:  Juliet Aubrey (Middlemarch, Primeval), Dervla Kirwan (Ballykissangel), Lesley Manville (Cranford), Eddie Marsan (Little Dorrit), Iain Glen (MI-5, Season 9). See how many stars you can spot.

Lark Rise (and Dawn French) returns!

Lark Rise to Candleford: Season 4

The fourth season of Lark Rise to Candleford premieres in the UK this Sunday, and we’re working to get the new DVD of this phenomenally popular drama out as soon as we can, hopefully in the spring. In addition to on-going favorites – Julia Sawalha, Claudie Blakley, Ben Aldridge, John Dagleish, Ruby Bentall, and Victoria Hamiliton– a potential love interest for the perpetually single Julia Sawalha’s Dorcas arrives in the form of newcomer Gabriel Cochrane (played by Richard Harrington, Collision).

Formerly the wealthy owner of a large iron foundry, Gabriel arrives widowed and destitute so Dorcas hires him as blacksmith to stoke her forge. Writer Bill Gallagher (who also wrote the recent revival of The Prisoner) said for this fourth series he wanted to create someone who had to start life again, in contrast to Sir Timothy (Ben Miles), a man of wealth and standing, and James Dowland (Jason Merrells), a self-made man.

The best news for long-term fans is the reappearance of Dawn French as Arless matriarch Caroline.

By the way, if you’ve been wondering where the Lark Rise crew goes to re-create Victorian England’s rural landscape, they head for the less traveled, southerly parts of the Cotswolds  off the main foot trails. John Dagleish, who tills the land as Alf Arless, told the Radio Times: “One of my favorite views was at Lasborough [a small parish in Gloucestershire], when you’re looking across the valley. We were able to do big, wide shots there, with nothing of modern day life getting in the way, so it was perfect for getting right back to that period.”