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"

PBS's Masterpiece Theatre began business in 1971 with the American premiere of an engrossing, 12-part BBC series, The First Churchills, inspired by Sir Winston Churchill's biographical writings about 17th-century ancestors John Churchill and Sarah Jennings. Besides being a painless way to learn a few things about the revolving-door monarchy of the House of Stuart, The First Churchills is written with a stately air though its story flows like a steady stream of fresh gossip. A viewer needn't feel guilty about being entertained by intrigues at the royal court while listening to screenwriter's Donald Wilson's elegant and uplifting dialogue, rich in civility and courtly asides. John Neville (The Adventures of Baron Munchausen) and Susan Hampshire (lauded for her earlier performance in The Forsyte Saga, a British series that helped launch public television in America) play John and Sarah, who meet in the court of Charles II (James Villiers) and defy family and friends by marrying for love instead of family fortune. (Neither has any money. ) John, a military officer who built much of Charles's army and never lost a battle, and Susan, an aide and confidante to the Duchess of York, are trusted figures in the king's circle. But as with everyone around them, they are jostled by political and religious forces following the death of Charles, including anti-Catholic sentiments that drive the king's stubborn successor, James II (John Westbrook), to Ireland and see the latter replaced on the throne by William, Prince of Orange (Alan Rowe), and his vindictive wife (and James's daughter), Mary (Lisa Daniely). With a European war raging and British soldiers and resources mishandled by amateurs, a restless John is sidelined and even briefly arrested due to royal paranoia; meanwhile, Sarah's close friendship to the future Queen Anne (Margaret Tyzack) yields numerous dramas on its own. The First Churchills is really about a tumultuous period in English history which saw strains between Parliament, the citizenry, and the monarchy come to a head, several times over. The story of John and Sarah's survival and deep regard for one another offers a perfect, reassuring line to follow through all the epochal raucousness. [+]

"The Flax": When Crichton and Aeryn's Transport Pod is ensnared in an invisible drift net called The Flax, a former Zenetan pirate offers to free it for a small fee. He also promises he'll take D'Argo to a Luxan ship that is similarly trapped. But when readings indicate that Crichton and Aeryn's pod is running out of atmosphere, D'Argo must make a difficult choice-retrieve the star charts that will take him home or save his friends! "Jeremiah Crichton": After Moya starbursts without warning, Crichton finds himself stranded on the planet Acquara, an earth-like paradise where he is more than happy to stay. Paradise is lost, however, when D'Argo and Rygel land on the planet in the middle of a dispute between Crichton and a young warrior, and Rygel is hailed as the Acquaran's savior. Can Aeryn and Zhaan find a way to rescue Crichton before Rygel's true identity is revealed? "Durka Returns": When Moya nearly collides with another transport, Moya feels obligated to make repairs and brings the vessel aboard. Once docked, they find the ship carries a powerful race known as the Nebari-including a Nebari official, Salis, a Nebari criminal, Chiana, and Captain Selto Durka, the ex-Peacekeeper Commander responsible for the torture of Rygel. Durka has been mentally cleansed by the Nebari to remove all those thought processes deemed unacceptable, making him incapable of inappropriate behavior. Seeking revenge, Rygel attempts to kill Durka, but instead breaks the mind cleansing. "A Human Reaction": Crichton finds a wormhole and returns to Earth. However, only his father, Major Jack Crichton, believes he is really his son. [+]

A compulsive social climber who can't seem to make it up a rung, a proper matronly woman who nevertheless inspires the odd groping, Hyacinth Bucket (she pronounces it Boo-kay, mind you) is a woman full of comical contradictions that provide the basic fodder for this boxed set of British humor. Add to the mix her loving but long-suffering husband who can't make a trip to town without a severe dose of passenger-seat driving ("Mind the old lady on the pavement, dear"); her romance-addled sister, Daisy, whose tank-topped husband Onslow hasn't held down a job in recent memory; and Rose, the sister who's never met a married man she hasn't dated or a short skirt she hasn't worn-and you've got an English family whose antics are at least as amusing as those of that Windsor clan. Each of the four videotapes features three 28-minute episodes in which Hyacinth tirelessly tries to impress the neighbors with her self-perceived rising social status and fabulous connections to aristocracy. While viewers laugh at-not with-the unaware Hyacinth, there's not a mean-spirited bone in this BBC sitcom, which has equally enchanted American viewers via PBS stations around the country. -Kimberly Heinrichs.

Reilly: Ace of Spies is a thrilling dramatization of the fantastic life and exploits of Sidney Reilly, arguably the first modern secret agent and a complex, often unfathomable individual who invented his very name and identity. Sam Neill has never been better as the former Sigmund Rosenblum, an Odessa-born Jew who becomes a freelance spy for the British at the dawn of the 20th century. Calculating, ruthless, and more certain of his own counsel than the wisdom of his superiors, Reilly (he changes his name by the end of the first episode, "An Affair with a Married Woman," to obscure his personal history) can't help but remind one of a particularly determined James Bond. Reilly's reputation as a womanizer-not entirely deserved, but then none of his associates can quite figure out his thriving love life-adds to this historical figure's Bondian mystique. In other respects, Reilly's version of espionage is far more complicated, and has greater historical repercussions, than that of Fleming's superspy. The first half of the 12 episodes in this set concern Reilly's daring work ascertaining and even securing the West's access to Middle East oil and, looking ahead to Russia's possible rise as a major power, determine the extent of that country's oil reserves. At the same time, Reilly always has one eye trained on ethically ambiguous opportunities to accrue wealth or play one friendly interest against another. The oil mission leads him from virtual house arrest in the foothills of the Caucuses (where Reilly sleeps with the young wife of an aging preacher as cover for his escape, leaves her to be arrested, then later marries her) to Port Arthur in China (where he clears the way for British allies the Japanese to invade) to France (where Reilly competes with the Rothschilds over Persian Oil concessions). The latter episodes focus on Reilly's extraordinary attempt to overthrow the Bolsheviks following the Russian revolution, barely escaping St. Petersburg after a botched attempt to assassinate Lenin and later risking his life by returning and advocating the killing of Stalin. [+]

The Worst Witch set contains seven episodes of the popular TV series. Based on the internationally bestselling books of Jill Murphy that are said to have been an inspiration to J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books, the 25-minute episodes chronicle the hilarious adventures of would-be witch Mildred Hubble. Aimed at 5- to 11-year-olds, the set starts with Mildred's first day at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, a secondary boarding school that emphasizes discipline and traditional values but that also teaches young girls how to ride broomsticks, chant, and cast spells. Mildred gets off to a flying start when arriving late on her broomstick: she crashes into the school bins. The strong storylines focus mainly on whether Mildred will make the grade as a bona fide witch and her continuing rivalry with snooty Ethel Hallow. Whether Mildred is turning Ethel into a pig or being transformed into a frog, pre-teenagers will relate to the heroine, learning from her the importance of determination, imagination, and friends. There are admirable performances from Georgina Sherrington as Mildred, Kate Duchène as the stern Miss Hardbroom, Clare Coulter as the kindly Headmistress, and the renowned Una Stubbs as the eccentric Miss Bat, who spends school holidays in the cupboard. The stories are not scary, and the special effects are used sparingly but with good results. [+]

Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace towers over most novels. It isn't merely the length that impresses-over 1,200 pages-but the number of characters. This BBC/Time-Life serial spans the Napoleonic Wars (1805-20) and incorporates 52 principals and 110 supporting players (a 44-page booklet proves indispensable with identification). Chief among them is Pierre (a bespectacled Anthony Hopkins), an illegitimate idler who becomes Count Bezuhov upon his father's death. Pierre admires Napoleon (David Swift), and chooses not to fight. Cousins Nikolai Rostov (Sylvester Morand) and Andrei Bolkonsky (Alan Dobie) harbor no such reservations. The Yugoslavia-filmed battle sequences convince with their cavalcade of extras, but the drawing-room scenes serve as the heart of the series. (The soft exteriors were shot on film; the crisp interiors on video. ) In these sequences, the other Rostovs, Bolkonskys, and Bezuhovs-notably Nikolai's impetuous sister, Natasha (Morag Hood)-emerge as complex individuals. Occasional inner monologues distinguish them further. [+]

This boxed set features the greats of British comedy from the 1940's, 1950's, and the 1960's, in classic clips from stage and screen, variety shows, cult commercials, and more. Includes contributions from: Sandy Powell, Frank Randle, Will Hay, The Goons (with Peter Sellers), Bob Monkhouse, John Cleese, Benny Hill, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Morecombe and Wise, and many more.

It's time to acknowledge those unsung heroes, The Beverly Hillbillies, for helping to rescue The Dick Van Dyke Show, which, incredibly, was nearly canceled after its first season. Executive producer Sheldon Leonard championed the series, and CBS moved the Petries to follow the top-rated Clampetts. The rest is television history. Unlike the high-concept Hillbillies, the more sophisticated Dick Van Dyke Show's appeal was in its more grounded situations and three-dimensional characters, each of whom are given ample opportunities to shine in this second season. Son Ritchie (played by Larry Matthews) gets too attached to baby ducklings (the touching season opener "Never Name a Duck"). Sally Rogers (Rose Marie) gets engaged to an opportunistic comedian ("Jilting the Jilter"). Buddy Sorrell (Morey Amsterdam) is reunited with his black sheep brother ("Hustling the Hustler"). Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) is revealed to be the alien Lolac from Twilo (the classic "It May Look Like a Walnut," which contains the sublimely surreal line, "Danny Thomas put walnuts in my hat"). And Rob (Van Dyke) becomes a psychosomatic drunk ("My Husband Is Not a Drunk"). On the flashback front, we see how Rob proposed to Laura ("The Attempted Marriage"), dumped an old flame ("Will You Two Be My Wife?"), and was installed as head writer of The Alan Brady Show ("I Was a Teenage Head Writer"). [+]

If American TV was this good, would we ever go to the movies? In a series of eight loosely connected stories, Polish master Krzysztof Zanussi (Life As a Fatal Sexually Transmitted Disease, The Year of the Quiet Sun) explores life in modern Poland. Like Krzysztof Kieslowski's brilliant Decalogue, which Zanussi produced, Weekend Stories comprises small, self-contained films connected by themes that weave through the series: the connections between urban and rural life, the legacy of communism echoing through contemporary life, the lovely opening image repeated in variation in each film. Zanussi's style is modest and effortless, and he directs with a subtlety and a sense of grace often missing from contemporary movies. Some of the modest moral tales are powerful and profound ("A Woman's Business" and "Little Faith"), others light and humble ("Deceptive Charm" and "The Soul Sings"), but all are sincere and affecting stories rooted in the delicacies of human nature: kindness, love, faith, sin, and forgiveness. The rich portrait they paint of contemporary Poland is warmed by Zanussi's love for his fumbling characters and hope for the future. -Sean Axmaker.