Touching Evil 2 [VHS]

Touching Evil 2 [VHS]
Robson Green (Actor), Nicola Walker (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(8)

Buy new: $39.98 $11.20
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Review & Description

The first run of Touching Evil in 1999 established this British franchise as a dark, modern noir police series, an almost airless world of gloomy offices bereft of overhead lighting and viewed through a haze of dust and smoke. It's the flip side of British TV's other great cop show, Prime Suspect, but it hums with incisive writing, sharply etched characters, and dramatic intensity, the qualities that make both shows riveting. Robson Green stars as Dave Creegan, the haunted, tightly wrapped investigator whose forehead scar is a constant reminder of his near-death experience. In Touching Evil 2 the Organized and Serial Crime Unit (a fictional police division roughly equivalent to the American FBI) investigates three new cases: a flamboyant serial killer whose murders continue after he's been captured, a wave of relief workers found dead and wrapped in white shrouds, and a baby-broker with ties to a notorious ring of pedophiles. What gives the series its grit is the toll each case takes on the cops. Creegan's confidence is shattered when a miscalculation leaves a girl dead and that misstep haunts him to the devastating series finale. His partner Susan Taylor (Nicola Walker) finds the line between her personal life and her cases blur, and junior squad member Mark Rivers (Shaun Dingwell) goes through a tormenting trial by fire--and trial under fire--to prove his courage and his competence to the unit and to himself. Police stories have rarely been more frank or uncompromising. --Sean Axmaker Read more

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Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 3 [VHS]

Agatha Christie's Poirot, Vol. 3 [VHS]
Format: VHS Tape
(15)

17 used & new from $6.95

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Review & Description

A potpourri of international intrigue awaits Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot in this trio of hourlong episodes. An alleged Communist conspiracy casts suspicion on the Russian servant of a murdered woman in "How Does Your Garden Grow?" In "The Adventure of the Western Star" a Belgian film star's priceless diamond disappears after she receives threatening letters from a Chinese man. And when Britain's prime minister vanishes on the eve of important international negotiations, Poirot is called in to solve the case of "The Kidnapped Prime Minister." The deceptions in each crime are elaborately plotted, but for Poirot the solution is usually as simple as a children's nursery rhyme.

British actor David Suchet portrays the dapper detective with a quiet dignity and sublime smile that often infuriate his action-hungry clients. But as Agatha Christie readers know quite well, all of the real action takes place in Poirot's "little gray cells." Providing comic counterpoint to Poirot's method is his sidekick, Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), whose well-meaning but befuddled attempts to help solve each case make these episodes entertaining even if you've already figured out whodunit. --Larisa Lomacky Moore Read more

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P.D. James - The Black Tower [VHS]

P.D. James - The Black Tower [VHS]
Roy Marsden (Actor), Pauline Collins (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(11)

Buy new: $49.98
12 used & new from $5.98

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Review & Description

Three mysterious murders...two suspicious suicides...one deadly secret and the only witness, a brooding black tower at the top of a cliff. It all adds up to a diabolical case that may threaten detective Dalgliesh's own life.Actor Roy Marsden's fourth outing as mystery author P.D. James's recurring hero Inspector Dalgliesh is a very satisfying affair: an unorthodox whodunit in a surprisingly creepy setting, all wrapped in a psychologically complex story in which love, duty, and loyalty become corrupting prisons for myriad characters. Beneath it all is Dalgliesh's own crisis of confidence after a bullet injury. An old mentor from school, a kindly chaplain, seeks the recuperating Dalgliesh's assistance with a problem at Toynton Grange, a nursing home. When the detective arrives, he finds the chaplain dead, a rash of threatening letters anonymously sent to the residents, a disabled man possibly murdered, and a Grange director twisted by missionary zeal, bitter disappointment, and the loathing of his staff and clients. Dalgliesh slowly penetrates the Grange's peculiarly insulated culture, looking for a pattern to bizarre events. James's lengthy story is gripping, but the splendid cast is reason enough to see this miniseries. --Tom Keogh Read more

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Touching Evil [VHS]

Touching Evil [VHS]
Robson Green (Actor), Nicola Walker (Actor), Alex Pillai (Director), Bill Eagles (Director) | Format: VHS Tape
(23)

Buy new: $39.99 $25.00
15 used & new from $2.98

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Review & Description

From Paul Abbott, the celebrated author of Reckless and Cracker, comes this contemporary, darkly-edged miniseries starring Robson Green as Detective Inspector Dave Creegan. Follow the exploits of the Organized and Serial Crime Unit (OSC), an FBI-styled elite crime squad. Co-stars Nicola Walker (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Creegan's partner.This three-volume set captures a police force totally unlike the ones U.S. television and film audiences regularly see. Gone are the gunshots and widespread violence that afflict characters on NYPD Blue and Homicide. This dark British miniseries has an unflinching focus on the pensive, slightly spooked but always confident Detective Inspector Dave Creegan (Robson Green). Of course the caseload isn't entirely alien to a pop culture audience, weaned as it is on crime novels and American television-style plots. There's an aging geneticist who is possessed by an odd infatuation--apparently not a sexual one--with children, keeping them penned in an all-white room while watching them on a remote video cam, and other deviants just interesting enough to capture extended interest. Touching Evil's pacing is intricately slow, such that evidence gathering can be seen from an inchworm-like perspective (showing tweezers extracting a single hair, for example). Green's role is structured like Fox Mulder and other U.S. television creations. Moody and a bit inscrutable, Creegan comes to the Organized and Serial Crime Unit after a long sabbatical, triggered (no pun, really!) by his getting shot in the head. Rather than give up police work after meeting with the bullet, however, he recommits to the job, treating cases as if they're his personal obsession. And they are. Creegan violates all the conventions his American TV-cop counterparts break in their unbridled passion to solve crimes, but he does it with unforced and unhurried relish. The plots in each of these episodes are singular, allowing the story lines to develop like good mysteries, even driving the viewer to suspect that Creegan's passions are leading him waywardly away from the cases. Shot with mostly stoic camera angles, the show's energy changes significantly when Creegan's heart begins to pound, the camera catches in halted visuals, and the drama builds and builds until, well, until it avoids resolution time and again, much to the viewer's delight. --Andrew Bartlett Read more

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Ultraviolet [VHS]

Ultraviolet [VHS]
Jack Davenport (Actor), Susannah Harker (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(78)

12 used & new from $7.85

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Review & Description

In the six-part British miniseries Ultraviolet, we discover that ultraviolet light is used (both in surgery and via high-tech weaponry) to identify people who have been infected with a disease labeled "Code V." It's transmitted via a bite to the neck, but at no point in the series is the word vampire used. Instead, in the second episode ("In Nomine Patris") the nickname "Leech" is introduced. We learn that it was this disease that was responsible for the fire of London, and that one in 20 people are already infected. In the opening episode, policeman Michael Colefield (Jack Davenport) is recruited into the secretive Complaints Investigation Bureau. He meets its introverted priest-chief Pearse (Philip Quast), the emotionally driven Dr. Angela March (Susannah Harker), and the bullish heavyweight Vaughan (Idris Elba). Spinning around Mike's suddenly complicated life are his best friend's jilted fiancée (Colette Brown) and an old flame (Fiona Dolman). In later hard-hitting episodes we see the stabbing murder of a teacher-priest by a 12-year-old boy ("Mea Culpa") and the capture of a Leech ("Persona Non Grata"). This intriguing series ends having tied together most of its threads, but dangles worrying implications at the viewer... not so much to suggest a sequel as to hammer home everything at stake. It played in America on the Sci Fi Channel. --Paul Tonks Read more

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Poirot - Set 12 [VHS]

Poirot - Set 12 [VHS]
David Suchet (Actor), Hugh Fraser (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(13)

Buy new: $49.95
13 used & new from $8.22

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Review & Description

David Suchet returns as Agatha Christie's eccentric Belgian sleuth. Acorn Media productions of Christie's classic novels are always lovingly done, and this set is no exception. All three mysteries are well acted, shot in beautiful locations, and manage to fold in a little dry humor with the ghastly business at hand. "The King of Clubs" involves murder on a film set and just might have something to do with a game of bridge. In "The Dream" Poirot is called in to consult with a wealthy industrialist before a murder has even occurred. One does, of course, and there is also a gratifying call-everyone-together-in-one-room-so-the-detective-can-explain-everything scene. The Incredible Theft has a terrific pre-war flavor, and in this episode it's no mere murder--the very future of England is at stake! Suchet is a perfect Poirot, capturing the detective's faint ridiculousness without losing his very serious distaste for murder. Curl up with a hot cup of tea and enjoy. --Ali Davis Read more

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Inspector Morse (Collection Set 5) [VHS]

Inspector Morse (Collection Set 5) [VHS]
John Thaw (Actor), Kevin Whately (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(3)

13 used & new from $19.26

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Review & Description

The set includes the following:
"Cherubim and Seraphim"
"Deadly Slumber"
"The Day of the Devil"
"The Way Through the Woods"
"Twilight of the Gods"
"Mystery of Morse" Read more

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Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd/Lord Edgware Dies [VHS]

Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd/Lord Edgware Dies [VHS]
David Suchet (Actor), Philip Jackson (Actor), Andrew Grieve (Director), Brian Farnham (Director) | Format: VHS Tape
(14)

Buy new: $29.95 $19.99
20 used & new from $3.33

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Review & Description

Hercule Poirot (David Suchet), Agatha Christie’s beloved Belgian detective, is back on the case. Based upon Agatha Christie’s best-selling novels and set against the art deco elegance of 1930s England, THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD and LORD EDGWARE DIES feature fascinating clues, deviant suspects and riveting conclusions by this most masterful detective.This beautifully packaged A&E set marks the return of David Suchet as Hercule Poirot in two feature films. Although the films are based on two early Christie novels, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Lord Edgware Dies, the stories have been rewritten to take place after previously filmed episodes in the Agatha Christie's Poirot series, thus accounting for the slightly older-looking cast.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd opens with a retired Poirot cursing at vegetable marrows in his country garden. When his old friend is found stabbed in the neck, Poirot begins an investigation that reunites him with Chief Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson) and uncovers a chain of furtive phone calls and secret romances. Unfortunately, the restructuring necessary to adapt the story from text to film takes away some of the shock value of Christie's original ending, which caused quite a controversy when the book was first published in 1926.

Lord Edgware Dies finds Poirot reopening his London office with the help of Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran) and Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser). As they celebrate their reunion, Japp quips that there's "only one thing missing... the body." Right on cue, a corpse turns up just moments later. Most of the suspects are actors by profession, but Poirot's "little gray cells" are able to penetrate the murderer's disguise--though only after two more victims heighten the suspense.

The acting is impeccable and the sets are as lavish as ever in both of these adaptations. The main characters' delight in being reunited is sure to be matched only by the delight of Agatha Christie fans who now have two more episodes to add to their collection. --Larisa Lomacky Moore Read more

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Inspector Morse (Collection Set 1) [VHS]

Inspector Morse (Collection Set 1) [VHS]
John Thaw (Actor), Kevin Whately (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(5)

17 used & new from $15.35

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Review & Description

Inspector Morse Set 1 contains: 1) The Dead of Jericho 2) The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn 3) Service of All the Dead 4) The Wolvercote Tongue 5) Last Seen Wearing 6) Last Bus to Woodstock Read more

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Rumpole of the Bailey Boxed Set, Vols. 17-21 [VHS]

Rumpole of the Bailey Boxed Set, Vols. 17-21 [VHS]
Leo McKern (Actor), Jonathan Coy (Actor) | Format: VHS Tape
(1)

20 used & new from $2.99

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Review & Description

Before there was Quincy and The Practice, there was Rumpole. Rumpole of the Bailey is, quite simply, one of the best television series ever and has served as a model for all law dramas that followed it. Edgy and satirical, Rumpole is based on John Mortimer's books of the same name. A determined and committed criminal defense barrister at the Old Bailey, or criminal court (whose clients have included three generations of the Timson family, among others), the antihero Rumpole is portrayed by esteemed actor Leo McKern. As champion of the downtrodden, the self-righteous Rumpole finds himself again and again in trouble variously with his wife Hilda, his peers, the head of chambers, and judges, to name but a few. A connoisseur of Wordsworth, cigars, and cheap liquor, McKern's usually disheveled Rumpole belies the character's dry sense of humor and astute skill as a barrister. The upwardly mobile Hilda is played by Peggy Thorpe-Bates, known for her Miss Toliver in Alcatraz Island (1933), and Justice Sir Guthrie Fetherston is played by Peter Bowles, known for his Richard DeVere in TV's To the Manor Born.

Each volume features two episodes:

Volume 17: First, in "Rumpole and the Alternative Society," Rumpole heads to the west of England to visit his old friend Sam "Three Fingers" Dougherty from their days together in the RAF and to defend Kathy Trelawney in court, charged with selling marijuana to an undercover investigator. Second, in "Rumpole and the Course of True Love," Rumpole must defend a melodramatically romantic teacher charged with having an affair with a student, while Guthrie tries to become a judge.

Volume 18: In "Rumpole and the Quacks," Rumpole battles the formidable Phillida in court to defend his doctor, accused of sexually molesting a patient. Next, in "Rumpole for the Prosecution," Rumpole takes on a rare role as prosecutor to investigate a policeman who may not have been properly charged for murdering a girl.

Volume 19: In "Rumpole and the Children of the Devil," Rumpole again defends the Timsons as their daughter Tracy Timson is put into the custody of a social worker when her parents are accused of Satanism. Meanwhile, Rumpole's wife Hilda is stressed out about the Scales of Justice Ball and having to dance on her birthday. Next, in "Rumpole and the Miscarriage of Justice," Rumpole defends Detective Gannon, who changed a teenager's confession for murdering a policeman.

Volume 20: First, in "Rumpole and the Eternal Triangle," Rumpole flirts with a beautiful violinist but is caught off guard when she asks him to defend her jealous husband, charged with murdering her accompanist. Meanwhile, Claude raises concerns that Henry has sexually harassed their secretary. Next, in "Rumpole and the Reform of Joby Johnson," the barrister must defend a teenager charged with theft even after an important brief is burgled from Rumpole's house.

Volume 21: In "Rumpole and the Family Pride," Rumpole and Hilda are invited out to a relative's castle for the weekend--but Rumpole's concerns turn out justified as they find out the castle's owner is charged with murdering a transient woman who has been living on the estate. Then, in "Rumpole on Trial," Rumpole is defended in a hearing for taking a stand against Justice Oliphant by Hilda's friend Sam Ballard.

Typical of British drama, production values are low while the caliber of script-writing and acting is unsurpassed. A rare example of a television serial that is as appealing and engaging after watching it 10 times as it was the first. --Erik Macki Read more

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Sherlock Holmes 4-Pack [VHS]

Sherlock Holmes 4-Pack [VHS]
Format: VHS Tape
(3)

Buy new: $14.99 $4.08
32 used & new from $0.99

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Review & Description

This Collection contains the following:

Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Sherlock Holmes - The Woman in Green
Sherlock Holmes - Terror by Night
Sherlock Holmes - Dressed to Kill Read more

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