awwatchedthese's - Rented List

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Its 1862 and the Victorian Turf Club announces the running of Australia's richest horse race ever, an event that will become known worldwide as the Melbourne Cup. One top cup contender is racehorse Archer. But Archer is nearly 600 miles north of Melbourne, with untracked rugged country in between.

Archers young handler, Dave Power, volunteers to ride the horse to Melbourne and sets off on the journey of a lifetime.

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Detective Inspector Jonah Gabriel takes on his first case since being shot in a botched police operation that left his partner dead. The new case involves investigating the murder of recently pardoned, drug baron Harvey Wratten.

On the other side of the criminal divide, Joseph Bede, a former associate of Wratten's, is moved to make his own enquiries. As Gabriel, dogged by amnesia and suspicious colleagues, follows a complicated line of investigation and Bede becomes increasingly desperate to see through a massive drugs operation that will enable him to step out of the business forever, the enigmatic and ruthless Gatehouse emerges from the shadows to bring the story to a shocking climax...

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In the 1920s, District Nurse Megan Roberts is assigned to a poor Welsh mining village where life has hardly changed since Victorian times. Educated and an outsider, she is treated with deep suspicion by many of the locals. Life in the village is cruel, harsh and deprived.

The population are mired in poverty and their only solace is to be found in drink or religion. As the strong-willed Megan fights to bring what comfort she can, she also finds herself battling against powerful farmers, local officials and mine owners who care nothing about the villagers' welfare. Things come to a head when a contaminated local water supply threatens an epidemic and cost-cutting at the old drift mine has tragic consequences for the safety of the miners...

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After years of unavailability, the three surviving episodes from the legendary BBC horror anthology series 'Dead of Night' finally come to video. Originally screened on BBC2 in 1972, and rarely seen since, 'Dead of Night' has been highly sought by fans of classic TV and British horror for decades.

1. The Exorcism
In what is perhaps the most terrifying of the episodes, four wealthy, middle-class friends (Clive Swift, Edward Petherbridge, Anna Cropper and Sylvia Kay) gather for a Christmas dinner in a country cottage only to find that the past will not rest while they feast.
2. Return Flight
The professionalism of an experienced and respected airline pilot (Peter Barkworth) is placed under scrutiny when he encounters the ghostly apparition of a Second World War Lancaster bomber.
3. A Woman Sobbing
A middle-class housewife (Anna Massey) becomes increasingly paranoid when her nights are interrupted by the terrifying and unexplained sound of a woman crying in one of the rooms in her new house.

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The TV adaptation of the highly popular series of 'Doctor' books by Richard Gordon was a massive hit for ITV on its original transmission in 1969. Centred on the hilarious misadventures of a team of young doctors at St.

Swithin's Hospital, the series showcased the talents of Barry Evans, Robin Nedwell, Geoffrey Davies and Richard O'Sullivan as their characters made painful progress from newly qualified juniors to fully fledged medical malcontents under the scrutiny of the fearsome Professor Loftus (Ernest Clark). Featuring scripts from a team of writers that included Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden (The Goodies}, John Cleese and Graham Chapman (Monty Python's Flying Circus), Barry Cryer (The Two Ronnies, The Kenny Everett Television Show) and Douglas Adams (Hitch-hiker's Guide...), its original setting and robust humour made the 'Doctor' series essential viewing. The series lasted for nearly a decade and this set presents every hilarious episode, originally screened between 1969 and 1977.

John Cleese and Graham Chapman, along with Tim Brooke-Taylor, Marty Feldman and Aimi MacDonald headline this historic comedy series, which directly prededed and inspired Monty Python. With every episode a string of wildly silly and hilarious sketches, it deserves to achieve immortal status.

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The Lost Detective

DC Dangerous Davies is asked to investigate a local boy made very bad; James Ramscar. This enquiry leads him to the case of The death of teenager Celia Norris in 1980. With the help of his gloomy young friend Mod he slowly unravels the mystery and discovers the Truth is closer to home than he thought.
Dangerous by Moonlight
A new investigation rakes Davies tripping the light fantastic at a local ballroom, as he unravels the mystery of a missing husband.
Tricia
A simple burglary inquiry rakes a sinister twist for Davies when the victim begins to stalk him.
Lofty
The death of an old tramp, whose bizarre hobby is collecting waste paper, leads Davies into a complex cose of mistaken identity.

When health official Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) notices that her lover has become strangely distant, this sets in train a series of shocking discoveries that sees both her and colleague Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) fleeing for their lives to the sound of ear-piercing alien screams.

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Alyssa (Carly Schroeder) is a troubled teen. Rebellious since the death of her mother she is sent to stay with her estranged father (Adrian Dunbar), a dolphin expert, in the Bahamas. The reunion starts badly as father and daughter appear to have little in common.

But as the future of the sea life centre is threatened by closure, a bond begins to develop and family ties grow. As Alyssa gets to know and love the dolphins, she starts to see her father – and her own troubles - in a new light.

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Behind their neat facades of Victorian propriety, Anthony Trollope's characters are bursting with life. A flirtatious vicar, two squabbling sisters, an ingenue and her meddling aunt surround Louis and Emily Trevelyan in the first blissful year of their married life.

But many things take a darker turn when the roguish Colonel Osborne (Bill Nighy) takes an interest in Emily, and fans the flames of Louis's jealousy. In an atmosphere thick with romance and rumour, Louis finds it all too easy t accuse his wife and force her from the house along with their young son. Obsessed with the imagined seduction, he descends into darkness, determined to destroy everything he loves.

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"Who Do You Think You Are?" follows the journeys of ten well known personalities as they explore their family trees, uncover their family history and discover fascinating and poignant facts about their ancestors that have been, until now, hidden in the annals of time.

Julie Walters travels to Ireland where she discovers the revolutionary side of her family; Brian Blessed learns of hardship and struggle as he traces the roots of his unusual name; Tamzin Outhwaite journeys into a story of rags to riches from her Italian past; Brendan O'Carroll turns detective as he investigates the murder of his grandfather; Sheridan Smith tracks down the source of her musical talent; Mary Berry stirs up illegitimacy, bankruptcy and even a baker as she delves into her father's family; Martin Shaw sorts fact from fiction to reveal what happened to his missing grandfather; Reggie Yates unravels a complex family history where Ghanaian culture and British colonialism collide; Billy Connolly makes an extraordinary discovery as he follows in his ancestors' footsteps to India and Twiggy unearths tough times for her mother's family in Victorian London.

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'Doctor Who' star Jon Pertwee is your host in this highly popular, light-hearted panel game where viewers are invited to play detective - pitting their wits against a panel of celebrities to solve a fictitious murder mystery.

The show's brilliantly original formula, devised by comedians Lance Percival and Jeremy Lloyd, presented short dramas laden with clues and red herrings to be pieced together by the celebrity panellists, who would then question the characters involved and finally point the finger at the most likely suspect. Lively repartee is the order of the day, and joining Pertwee and his regular panellists Patrick Mower and Anouska Hempel in this third series is a veritable who's who of 1970's television: Honor Blackman, Diana Dors, Richard O'Sullivan, Paula Wilcox, Magnus Pyke, Jackie Collins, Wendy Craig, Liver Birds Polly James and Nerys Hughes, Derek Nimmo and Bond girl Julie Ege are among the guests trying to track down "whodunnit". Also included is 'Piece of Cake', a special Christmas mystery from 1974.

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Penned by Simon Nye and starring Richard Lumsden, Imelda Staunton and Jeremy Clyde, this intelligent, searingly funny sitcom chronicles the misadventures of a team of deeply flawed characters manning the offices of a small suburban law firm.

'Is It Legal?' originally aired between 1995 and 1998, winning the British Comedy Award for Best Sitcom in 1995. Newly qualified solicitor Colin Lotus enters the profession fired with idealism and a genuine desire to help people. He hardly gets off to an auspicious start. Having accidentally killed his first client at Hounslow solicitors Lotus Spackman and Phelps, of which he is a junior partner, his legal career takes a decidedly shambolic turn - but in the company of dozy office boy Darren, skill-free secretary Alison, permanently infatuated clerk Bob and golf-obsessed, sherry-soaked senior partner Dick, his conduct is not exactly conspicuous…

Episodes Comprise:
1. Death in Hounslow
2. Whodunnit?
3. Dick's House of Horror
4. Colin Heals the World
5. Infatuation
6. Bob Breaks In
7. Resignation

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David Yelland stars as David Copperfield in this superb BBC adaptation of one of Charles Dickens' best-loved and most autobiographical of novels.

Featuring some of Dickens' most memorable characters, including the Micawbers and Uriah Heep, David Copperfield follows one boys' journey into manhood, achieving his dreams against seemingly insurmountable odds. Torn from his loving mother (Colette O'Neil) and devoted maid (Pat Keen) by his wicked stepfather (Gareth Thomas), David is abandoned into a cruel boarding school where the cane is the order of the day. When his mother is taken from him, he is sent to work in a bottle-cleaning factory and forced into humble lodgings with the Micawbers. Fleeing to the protection of his eccentric Aunt Betsy (Patience Collier), David at last starts to escape his past and fulfil his potential as a man. Capturing many of the hardships Dickens himself endured - from abject poverty to cruelty and injustice at school - 'David Copperfield' is a bittersweet but ultimately triumphant and uplifting masterpiece with a superb supporting cast that includes Anthony Andrews, David Troughton, Martin Jarvis, Jacqueline Pearce, Madeleine Orr and Jonathan Kahn as the Young David Copperfield.

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Washed-up producer Barry 'Dutch' Detweiler (William Holden) attempts to lure the iconic but reclusive actress Fedora (Marthe Keller) out of retirement in a bid to revive both their careers.

But her privacy is hard won, and with good reason, and opening up the secrets surrounding her could spell disaster.