David Attenborough and the BBC have a well-earned reputation for producing some of the greatest nature programs, but The Life of Mammals could well be Attenborough's magnum opus. Much of the footage shot for this series had never been seen before, and is presented with the respect and reverence for the natural world that Attenborough has made his trademark. It never ceases to surprise: the sight of a lion taking down a wildebeest on the African savannah has almost become a cliché of nature programs, yet in The Life of Mammals the cameras keep rolling and the viewer witnesses the fallen animal's herd coming to its rescue and driving off the lion. It's a moving sight and just one of many remarkable scenes. A thorough and entertaining overview of one of evolution's greatest success stories, the series is loosely structured to follow the development of mammals, beginning with the basics in "A Winning Design," which clarifies what makes a mammal different from reptiles and birds-no, it isn't egg-laying: both the platypus and the echidna are egg-laying mammals; it's their ability to adapt. And it's this adaptability that becomes the crux of the remainder of the series. "Insect Hunters" focuses on mammals who have specifically adapted to eating insects, from the giant anteater and the armored armadillo to bats, which have evolved into complex and effective hunters. "Plant Predators" demonstrates the particular (and often peculiar) adaptations of herbivores, while "Chisellers" is about those mammals who feed primarily on roots and seeds, ranging from tree-dwelling squirrels to opportunistic mice and rats. "Meat Eaters" talks about the evolutionary arms race that exists between predators and prey, and the unique adaptations of both individual and pack hunters. Omnivores are explored in "Opportunists"-mammals like bears and raccoons, whose varied diet allows them to occupy nearly any environment. [+]

On a small island, the choices of a few can change the tides of the world. This compelling hit British drama series, produced by London Weekend Television, details the overwhelming pain and frustration experienced by the Channel Islands inhabitants during the German occupation of World War II. The uneasy relationship maintained by the islanders and the Nazi's is continually threatened as constrictive regulations dampen morale, accusations of rape add fear and suspicion, while murders, spying, and a plot to assassinate Hitler, entangle high-ranking officials from both sides. This is the second series (13 episodes) of the masterfully acted series starring Alfred Burke (The House on Garibaldi Street, Longitude) as the German Military Commandant charged with maintaining order and Bernard Hosfall (Braveheart, Gandhi) as the chosen representative for the islanders, both of whom will make choices that could cause a turn in the direction of the war. Featuring extraordinary writing, period style cinematography and archival footage, Enemy At The Door remains one of the finest World War II dramas ever produced.

The thrilling sequel to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Both had supposedly outlived their usefulness to the Circus, the British Secret Intelligence Service: George Smiley, the retired head of espionage, and General Vladimir, an aging informant who reported to him. When the general walks into a bullet after sending an urgent message to his old handler, the Circus asks Smiley to "tidy things up. " But Smiley hears Vladimir's message as a call to arms against his nemesis, the Soviet super spy Karla, once again tantalizingly within his grasp. Alec Guiness reprises the role of British spymaster George Smiley in this gripping sequel to the television masterpiece Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Filmed on location in London, Paris, Hamburg and Berne, Smiley's People also stars Eileen Atkins, Anthony Bate, Bernard Hepton, Michael Lonsdale, Beryl Reid, Patrick Stewart and Bill Patterson.

Harrowing, funny, and immediately addictive, the 1979 British television series Danger UXB stars Anthony Andrews as Army Lieutenant Brian Ash, an engineering student whose excitement about his rapid commission as an officer during World War II is tempered by his unenviable post with a bomb disposal unit. Assigned to a fatality-heavy team that defuses unexploded German bombs scattered throughout London during the blitz, Ash faces down his terror and eventually becomes the closest thing to an expert one can be dismantling sometimes booby-trapped ordnance. In doing so, he earns the respect of his superiors as well as from the enlisted men working under him, and his protracted survival is nothing short of miraculous considering the tragic number of friends and colleagues Ash loses. There is a dark side, however. The longer Ash sticks with his unit, the more obsessive he becomes about his responsibility to keep London safe. Meanwhile, his nerves grow frayed and his morale collapses. Ash's desperate romance with a married woman (Judy Geeson) provides him little to hold onto, and when a true crisis ambushes his spirit toward the end, one can't be sure if he's headed for the scrap heap of permanent casualties. Based on the recollections of an actual wartime bomb disposer, Danger UXB was created by John Hawkesworth, who later produced (and wrote many episodes for) the fantastic Sherlock Holmes TV series starring Jeremy Brett. Despite many tense moments in Danger UXB's 13 episodes-one is always expecting a bomb to blow away a favorite character-the show is also graced by great humor (Ash's crew sometimes bring to mind Sergeant Bilko's hustlers) and a warm, likable cast. Andrews himself, perhaps, has never been better. [+]

Disc 1: **COPS: Bad Girls Feature - Full Screen, Approximately 17 minutes of exclusive "TOO HOT FOR TV" VAM you won't see anywhere else! Disc 2: **COPS: Caught In the Act feature - Full Screen, Approximately 17 minutes of exclusive "TOO HOT FOR TV" VAM you won't see anywhere else! Disc 3: **COPS: Shots Fired feature - Full Screen, Approximately 17 minutes of exclusive "TOO HOT FOR TV" VAM you won't see anywhere else!

Meet Amanda Ripley (Dawn French), Shelley DuPont (Ruby Wax), Candice Valentine (Tracey Ullman) and Jennifer Marsh (Jennifer Saunders), the unlikely roommates who share an apartment under the watchful eye of landlord Lady Carlton (Joan Greenwood). Whether it is a kidnapping for ransom, a low-budget re-make of Gone With the Wind or a romance with Prince Andrew, these girls find themselves in the most ridiculous situations.

One of the best comedy series ever to emerge from England, Black Adder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of World War I. In his pre-Bean triumph, British comic actor Rowan Atkinson played all five versions of Edmund, beginning with the villainous and cowardly Duke of Edinburgh, whose scheming mind and awful haircut seem to stand him in good stead to become the next Archbishop of Canterbury-a deadly occupation if ever there was one. Among tales of royal dethronings, Black Death, witch smellers (who root out spell makers with their noses), and ghosts, Edmund is a perennial survivor who never quite gets ahead in multiple episodes. Jump to the Elizabethan era and Atkinson picks up the saga as Lord Edmund, who is perpetually courting favor from mad Queen Bess (Miranda Richardson) and is always walking a tightrope from which he can either gain the world or lose his head. Subjected to bizarre services for her majesty (at one point, Edmund is asked to do for potatoes what Sir Walter Raleigh did for tobacco), Edmund-as with his ancestor-can never quite fulfill his larger ambitions. The next incarnation we encounter is in late-18th-century Regency England. This time, Blackadder is a mere butler to the idiotic Prince Regent (Hugh Laurie in a brilliantly buffoonish performance) and is caught in various misadventures with Samuel Johnson, Shakespearean actors, the Scarlet Pimpernel, and William Pitt the younger. With a brief stop in Victorian London for a Christmas special, the series concludes with several episodes set during the Great War. The new Edmund is a career Army officer, but a scoundrel all the same. Shirking his duties whenever possible and taking advantage of any opportunity for undeserved reward, this final, deeply sour, and very funny Blackadder negotiates survival among a cadre of fools and dimwits. [+]

What better way to escape from the onslaught of so-called reality television than to sail away with Richard Chamberlain to "the Japans" for a little samurai action and some discreet "pillowing"? From the golden age of the miniseries comes this television benchmark, the 10-hour, Golden Globe-winning saga based on James Clavell's bestselling epic. In his award-winning performance, Chamberlain stars as John Blackthorne, the 17th-century English navigator on a Dutch trading ship. A storm runs the ship aground off the coast of Japan, a "torn and cruelly divided country" locked in a power struggle between Toranaga (the venerable Toshiro Mifune) and Ishido, two warlords who would be Shogun. Blackthorne gets over his initial culture shock ("I piss on you and your country," he defiantly proclaims to his samurai captors, which to his humiliation turns out to be an unfortunate choice of words) to become a trusted ally of Toranaga and the lover of the beautiful interpreter Lady Mariko (Yoko Shimada). Their forbidden, ill-fated romance-and Blackthorne's total assimilation into Japanese culture-is set against political intrigue as Toranaga prepares for the inevitable showdown with Ishido, and Blackthorne's growing influence threatens the local Jesuits who had built up a lucrative trade monopoly. Shogun was a production blessed with good karma, and it remains an awesome achievement from a bygone era when the miniseries was king. -Donald Liebenson Originally broadcast in September of 1980 as a 5-part, 12-hour miniseries, Shogun stood out from the pack of television events at the time with its boldness of action and calculated risks. Based on James Clavell's epic novel, Shogun stars Richard Chamberlain as John Blackthorne, a 17th-century English pilot commanding a Dutch ship that wrecks off the coast of Japan. Viewed suspiciously by local authorities, Blackthorne is at first in some danger of being executed. But with little hope of returning to Britain anytime soon, he begins to assimilate into the feudal society, befriending a powerful warlord (Toshiro Mifune) and wearing the robes of a samurai. [+]

Hill Street Blues was a pivotal show in television history. It was a move away from the larger-than-life cop action shows such as S. W. A. T. and Starsky and Hutch, although it was still stylistically a while before the gritty realism of NYPD Blue or Law and Order. Hill Street Blues was more down-to-earth: cops could get shot, relationships were difficult, characters you loved could be killed (remember that painful moment of silence for the beloved Sergeant Esterhaus?). But there was also the occasional surreal moment that gave each episode a rare energy. The Very Best of Hill Street Blues showcases the magic of the long-running series: the wonderful ensemble cast headed by Daniel Travanti and Veronica Hamel, the consistently excellent writing, and the multi-episode plot lines, which were engaging and significant. The moving force behind the magic was Steven Bochco, whose ingenious concept for the look and the feel of the show changed the way television was made. [+]

Bean, Bean, maniacal nut / The more you watch, you bust a gut! First unleashed in 1989, this sketch series was embraced by PBS viewers in the United States. In the tradition of the great silent clowns, Rowan Atkinson created a character with universal and multi-generational appeal (the sketches have little dialogue and are driven by often ingenious physical comedy). Like Bart Simpson, the resourceful, mischievous, and sometimes malevolent Bean is the inner child incarnate who acts on the impulses polite society normally represses. Atkinson has described Bean as "a 9-year-old boy, with an apparent lack of worldly experience, but an ingenuity that is quite clever in dealing with problems presented to him. " These problems include not knowing a single answer on an exam, tactfully disposing of a revolting restaurant meal, changing into his swimsuit at the beach without first removing his pants, and, most hilariously, getting a turkey stuck on his head (a classic bit reprised in the ill-conceived 1997 feature film). Atkinson has enjoyed some mainstream success stateside. He was the nervous minister (". your awfully wedded wife") in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the voice of Zazu in The Lion King. [+]

This compelling hit British drama series, produced by London Weekend Television, details the overwhelming pain and frustration experienced by the Channel Islands inhabitants during the German occupation of World War II. The uneasy relationship maintained by the islanders and the Nazi's is continually threatened as constrictive regulations dampen morale, accusations of rape add fear and suspicion, while murders, spying, and a plot to assassinate Hitler, entangle high ranking officials from both sides. This masterfully acted series stars Alfred Burke (The House on Garibaldi Street, Longitude) as the German Military Commandant charged with maintaining order and Bernard Hosfall (Braveheart, Gandhi) as the chosen representative for the islanders, both of whom will make choices that could cause a turn in the direction of the war. Featuring extraordinary writing, period style cinematography and archival footage, Enemy At The Door remains one of the finest World War II dramas ever produced.

Family Business is a reality-style series about Adam Glasser and his alter-ego "Seymour Butts", his meddling but well-meaning mom, Lila, and his cantankerous cousin Stevie, all working in, yes, the family business. which just happens to be adult entertainment! The series follows Adam as he faces the same problems that many people encounter - running his own company, juggling a hectic schedule, and looking for the love of his life. *Contains adult content, graphic language, nudity, and strong sexual content.

As seen on A&E MIDSOMER MURDERS Set Two What evil lurks beyond the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer. The cozy villages of Midsomer County reveal their most sinister secrets in these contemporary British television mysteries. Based on characters created by Caroline Graham, modern master of the English village mystery, the series stars John Nettles (Bergerac) as the unflappable Detective Chief Inspector Barnaby with Daniel Casey (The Wingless Bird) as his eager young assistant. Guest stars include Robert Hardy, Terence Rigby, James Bolam, Nigel Davenport, Orlando Bloom and Timothy West. The Mysteries: Dead Man's Eleven—A cricket bat used as a murder weapon implicates the son of a Fletcher's Cross tycoon. Death of a Stranger—When a tramp dies fleeing from fox hunters in Upper Marshwood, the investigation uncovers a trail of murderous deceit. Blue Herrings—Death is no stranger at a home for the elderly, but at Lawnside a series of deaths causes the residents to suspect foul play. Judgement Day—Midsomer Mallow has a shot at the Perfect Village title, provided it can keep a vicious murderer at bay. [+]

A 12-volume set including 22 sketches (Volumes 29-39) plus one volume entitled "The History of the Lost Episodes: The First Season. " These previously missing episodes were found by Jackie Gleason in 1984 and have not been seen since their original broadcast in the 1950s.