johns-list's - Rented

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Meet 'The Protectors': Ian Souter, Robert Shoesmith and their Girl Friday, Heather Keys. Their motto: 'We Sell Security'. Their object: to prevent crime.

Operating from a smart Marylebone office, they form a high-powered private investigation team dedicated to fighting crooks and forestalling crimes of all kinds in the twilight borderland between the underworld and the policeman's beat. This classic ABC adventure series stars former RSC player Andrew Faulds as the fiercely moral Souter, a Black Watch officer turned private detective; Michael Atkinson is fellow troubleshooter Shoesmith, an ex-policeman with an unnervingly acute understanding of the mind and methods of the criminal; Ann Morrish is secretary and confidante Heather, a former auctioneers' assistant with a sharp eye for art fakes and forgeries.

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A band of outlaws, led by tough, gruff Stretch (Gregory Peck), find themselves knocking at deaths door after becoming lost in the treacherous western Badlands - only to find their salvation in a lonesome town called Yellow Sky, where the only inhabitants are a doddering old man and his mysterious,

alluring daughter. But their deliverance from danger is short-lived when the gang discovers a fateful secret hidden within the dusty, rotting walls of this ghost town - one that will turn brother against brother in a desperate battle to the death!

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Summer, 1939. Warsaw. Young translator Harry Chase (Jonah Hauer-King) and Polish waitress Kasia Tomaszeski (Zofia Wichfacz) are deeply in love, but when US reporter Nancy Campbell (Helen Hunt) discovers German tanks poised to invade, Harry grows desperate to save Kasia from Warsaw's fate.

How will he explain this to sweetheart Lois Bennett (Julia Brown), and his supercilious mother Robina, (Lesley Manville) waiting for him in Manchester? And how will Lois's shellshocked father Douglas (Sean Bean) cope with news of another war? Meanwhile, Nancy's nephew Webster O'Connor (Brian J. Smith) finds sanctuary in liberal Paris, as her friends in Berlin, the Rosslers (Victoria Mayer and Johannes Zeiler), must keep a dangerous secret from the nazi regime...

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"Do Not Adjust Your Set", a madcap sketch show with a cult following, was a huge influence on television comedy.

Written by and starring Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, with performances and additional material from David Jason and Denise Coffey, it also provided a showcase for Terry Gilliam's animations and the musical antics of art-school jazz-anarchists The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. This collection brings together all the existing shows from the Rediffusion and Thames series for the first time. Among the five episodes entirely new to video, two were previously thought lost entirely.

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Anyone can make themselves unpopular - but it takes a past master like Monty Python's John Cleese to be really irritating.

The secret, he says, is to let the other person believe it's all totally unintentional - and that's just the first of many tricks of the trade he's giving away! With the help of Python pals Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, Connie Booth from Fawlty Towers and Goodie Tim Brooke-Taylor, Cleese demonstrates the uncanny ability to keep his victims just the right temperature under the collar... one degree below boiling point! Parents, waiters, salesmen, chat-show hosts - for some people, irritation is a way of life, the rest of us have to work at it. After watching this video you'll possess the know-how you need to irritate for business or pleasure... as well as discovering where Basil Fawlty got so many of his ideas from! Find out just how to pay back job interviewers, cinema chatterboxes, garage staff, even bank clerks in the only way they deserve. And there's a gold-plated bonus for Monty Python fans to treasure in Cleese, Palin and Chapman's "Airline Pilot" sketch - an undiscovered classic of British comedy.

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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Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back to learn the skills of the medieval castle builders - by joining the largest archaeological experiment in the world.

Although Britain has some of the finest remaining castles of the medieval period, many of their secrets have been lost in time. So Ruth, Peter and Tom travel to Guedelon, in the Burgundy region of France, where an ambitious, 25 year project is under way to build a medieval castle from scratch, using only the materials and tools available in the 13th century. As our trio get to grips with the skills and crafts of medieval construction, they recapture an era, and a camaraderie not often seen today in the workplace. For six months they experience the daily rigours of life in the 13th century, from how to dress to the art of combat. 'Secrets of the Castle' brings medieval history to life in a fun and informative way.

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The Age of Steam was an era of extraordinary change which utterly transformed every aspect of British life - from trade and transportation to health and recreation.

This series reveals how the world we live in today was entirely shaped by the railways, charting the glorious evolution of rail transportation and how it left its mark on our lives, landscape and culture. Hop aboard an old-fashioned locomotive and set off down the line to a new part of the country with the established stars of the BBC Two Farm series, Peter Ginn, Alex Langlands and Ruth Goodman who have immersed themselves in the story of how the railways made us what we are today. Our team of experts also get their hands dirty - driving the train, working in the station, manning the signal box and learning how to run every aspect of a 19th and early 20th century railway. This is a trip not to be missed.

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Turning the clock back over 400 years, five archaeologists and historians take on the challenge of running a farm for a year, as it was when King James 1 ruled the land.

Working without electricity, refrigeration, mains water, tractors or chemical pesticides, the group live off the land, eating the food they grow and wearing the clothes they create. They cope with a plethora of natural challenges - with 400-year-old manuals as their source of knowledge. Each episode focuses on a month in the life of the farm, following the seasonal tasks, from harvesting and building, to birthing calves and pigs, from salting and smoking meat to sheep shearing and garment making as they travel back to a forgotten time.

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In this series Peter Ginn, Ruth Goodman and Tom Pinfold take the farm one stage further, attempting to recreate not just the historical context but also the spiritual context of life in the year 1500, in a society where the Christian faith was at the heart of everything.

They take on the role of the lay-folk who did the bulk of the farming and craftwork within monastic lands, as well as exploring the monastery's primary function - to pray and care for the spiritual welfare of all Christians, both living and dead. Under the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII, the country was enjoying a new dawn of peace and prosperity. And as the biggest landowner, other than the King, the monasteries dominated many of the thriving crafts of the era - from wine-making and cloth production to printing and bell casting. They were also places of technological innovation and improvement: farmers on monastic lands pioneered many crucial developments, from the waterwheel to sheep breeding.

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Pioneering, immensely influential and often challenging, 'Armchair Theatre' was ITV's flagship drama anthology series.

Bringing high-quality drama to the viewing public, the series easily demonstrated the network's potential to rival the BBC's drama output, with diverse and powerful plays showcasing some of Britain's most gifted writers. This release comprises four plays featuring performances by some of the era's most celebrated and accomplished actors including Harry H. Corbett, Lee Montague, Kenneth Griffith, Derek Jacobi, Yootha Joyce, Reginald Marsh, Patrick Allen and Ronald Lacey.

Featured Plays:
- The Bird, the Bear and the Actress (1959)
- The Fishing Match (1962)
- The Man Who Came to Die (1965)
- Dead Silence (1966)

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In this landmark Living History Series, a Victorian Tenement in the heart of London's East End has been painstakingly brought back to life. A group of 21st century people are moving in to experience the tough living and working conditions of the Victorian poor.

In a world with no safety net they'll be expected to earn enough to put food on the table, pay their rent and keep the roof over their head. 'The Victorian Slum' charts the story of what life was really like for poor Victorians and through this immersive experience participants and viewers will discover the surprising and complex history that changed Britain's attitude to poverty forever.

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Following the huge success of the 'Wartime Farm' series - watched by over three million viewers a week during its eight week run - historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologist Peter Ginn return to Manor Farm in Hampshire to recreate the conditions of Christmas 1944.

1944 saw the sixth Christmas at war and shortages were biting deeper than ever. Added to this Britain's cities were in the grip of the worst German attacks since the Blitz of 1940. Unmanned flying bombs - the dreaded V1 'Doodlebugs' and V2 rockets - rained down, stretching morale and services to breaking point. Peter learns how to brew potato beer and Ruth cooks an improvised Christmas meal, relying chiefly on rabbit and a glut of carrots from the farm. There are innovative home-made gifts for children, and ingenious festive decorations made from scraps. The Salvation Army bring musical cheer to the occasion as the team reflect on the impact of what was to be the last Christmas of the Second World War.

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Pioneering, immensely influential and often challenging, "Armchair Theatre" was ITV's flagship drama anthology series.

Bringing high-quality drama to the viewing public, the series easily demonstrated the network's potential to rival the BBC's drama output, with diverse and powerful plays showcasing some of Britain's most gifted writers. This set comprises twelve plays featuring performances by some of the era's most celebrated and accomplished actors - including Susannah York, Colin Blakely, Ian Holm, Irene Handl, Donald Pleasence, Terry-Thomas, Patrick Macnee, Arthur Lowe and John Le Mesurier, among many others. This volume includes early plays by both Jack Rosenthal and David Perry, and a star-studded production of Oscar Wilde's 'The Importance of Being Earnest'.

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Archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and domestic historian Ruth Goodman return to experience life on a farm, this time during the Second World War. This latest experiment proves to be nothing short of a revolution in British farming, as the team take on their biggest challenge yet.

Wartime Farm is a fascinating blend of war history, survival creativity and endurance. This three disc set contains all eight episodes of the hugely popular BBC series which follows our experts across a year, using only historical tools and materials. A special feature, in which the presenters talk about making the show, is also included and constitutes a must have extra for fans.