smw's - Rented List

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Double bill of true stories...

A Long Way Home (2003)

He Committed the Worst of Crimes. Now He Must Win Back Their Hearts. Jack stands accused of committing probably the worst crime a father can commit against his child: sexual abuse. Having inflicted deep psychological damage on his entire family, Jack must now struggle to win back their hearts. But if the father himself was abused as a child, does this at least explain, though not excuse, his crime? And if, deep beneath their wounds, Jack and his family still love each other, can that love prove powerful enough to withstand the sins of the past? Starring Robert Urich (Spenser for Hire) and Meredith Baxter (Family Ties), this emotionally charged drama poses complex and controversial questions as it explores one of the darkest aspects of family life.
Doing Life (1986)
He Fought for His Own Rights - And for the Rights of Others. Convicted of cop-killing, Jerry Rosenberg seemed destined to die in the electric chair. The remarkable and inspirational story of how he turned his life around and fought a very personal battle to get his sentence commuted is told in this compelling drama, starring Tony Danza of Taxi fame. In the early 1960s, Brooklyn-born career criminal Rosenberg faced the death penalty for a double cop-killing. But Rosenberg swore he was innocent and set about squashing his conviction. Through a correspondence course in law, Rosenberg even gained a degree, and he went on to establish a considerable reputation for counselling and defending his fellow inmates and to earn the title 'America's Greatest Jailhouse Lawyer'.

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Janet Scott and Rachel Bailey are Detective Constables in Manchester Met Police's Major Incident Team, Syndicate 9 murder unit. Part ot a team working for the formidable DCI Gill Murray, their intuition, research and interview skills are integral to putting brutal killers behind bars.

Despite their differences - the impulsive, funny and single Rachel contrasting with her elder colleague, a reflective, married mother-of-two - the two detectives are a great partnership. Thrown together in the toughest of cases, they have become the best of friends, ready to support each other both in and away from the incident room.

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She was buried in his past. Now she's come to haunt his future. Wayne Rogers and Bonnie Bedelia star in this complex emotional drama, in which a Vietnam veteran's life is shattered by a past infidelity.

Craig Weston's quiet life in Houston with his wife, Janet, and their two daughters changes forever when he is contacted out of the blue by Lien Van Huyen, a woman with whom he had an affair while serving in Vietnam. Lien (Tina Chen) drops two bombshells: Craig is the father of her son, Quan (Bryan Price), and she is terminally ill and wishes him to adopt the boy. Torn between fear of losing his family and his moral obligation to Lien, Craig feels he must tell Janet about this devastating secret. But how will she react to her husband's infidelity?

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When two girls mysteriously disappear in the wilds of Tasmania in similar circumstances, 15 years apart, Dr. Anna Macy finds herself inextricably linked to both cases.

Anna must confront the traumatic events of her troubled past and discover her connection to the truth of what is really happening in the Kettering forest.

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With the smoke finally settled on Finn and Ruby's dramatic departure, all eyes are on Allie (Sarah Parrish) and Gavin (Jason Merrells), who are happily back together - with big plans for the future.

Not content with running the family salon, Allie sets her sights on opening a hairdressing academy for the next generation of Manchester super-stylists, with financial backing from ex boy-band member Liam (James Murray). When she discovers she might be pregnant, she thinks she can have it all - Gavin, the baby, her salon and the academy. But just as things are looking rosy, fate deals a shocking blow that threatens to change the Henshall-Ferraday partnership forever.

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'Our Friends In The North' is the biggest and most ambitious contemporary serial ever produced for BBC 2, an epic drama spanning 30 years in the lives of four Georgie friends and the world that shaped them.

The eleven hours took forty weeks to film and feature a cast of thousands, with 160 speaking parts and 3000 extras, exploring three decades of corruption, vice, violence and collapsing ethical standards in Britain's corridors of power from 1964 to 1995.

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Sarah Lancashire returns in the acclaimed BBC thriller written by Sally Wainwright. No-nonsense police sergeant Catherine Cawood is back heading up her team of dedicated police officers in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire. While on duty, she makes a gruesome discovery - a body.

The victim's injuries bear a striking similarity to a string of other murders over the previous few months, suggesting a serial killer is on the loose. But the case becomes even more shocking when it emerges that Catherine knows the victim - something that could have serious repercussions for both herself and her family.

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An immensely compelling movie starring Claudette Colbert as American author Agnes Newton Keith on whose autobiography the film is based. It depicts how the author and her husband, a British administrator were trapped in Borneo when the Japanese forces invaded.

The Keith's were taken prisoner but because of their different nationalities are separated and sent to separate camps. The camp commander Colonel Suga (Sessue Hayakawa) takes a particular interest in the authoress but his humanitarian tendencies cannot help the stricken Agnes as she is subjected to torture, starvation and humiliation at the hands of the guards.

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Sarah Lancashire stars as Catherine Cawood, a police sergeant in a small town where drunkards, drug addicts and teenage pregnancies are a way of life. Her world is turned upside down when the man she thinks is responsible for her daughter's death - Tommy Lee Royce - is released from prison.

Meanwhile, quiet middle-class accountant Kevin Weatherill feels underappreciated and underpaid at work. Desperate to give his daughters a decent education, he asks for a pay rise so he can send them to private school. But when his wealthy boss Nevison refuses, something finally snaps for Kevin and he enlists the help of local drug lord Ashley to kidnap Nevison's daughter and hold her for ransom. Things quickly spiral out of control when Ashley involves Tommy Lee in the plan. How far will any of them go to get what they really want?

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When Anna Forbes is raped by her father-in-law, at first she is too terrified to speak out. But when she does tell her husband, Mark, instead of sympathy she encounters vehement denial as he refuses to believe her accusations.

Anna's troubles only worsen when a concerned Mark commits her to a psychiatric institution. Mark is unaware of the institution's brutal regime, and the incarcerated Anna must now fight not only for justice but also for her sanity and freedom.

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Through circumstances beyond her control, Theresa Johnson (Mare Winningham) is forced into a life living rough on the streets with her young daughter, Hilary (Grace Johnston). It's a frightening and dangerous existence, and the crisis point comes as Hilary is rushed to hospital with lead poisoning.

Outreach worker Calvin Reed (Dorian Harewood) advises Theresa that the only way to save Hilary is to place her with a foster family, and Theresa must face the most heart-breaking and courageous decision of her life.

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Eight months after their livelihoods went up in smoke, the Henshall's are back in business, with a newly refurbished salon and a whole new set of problems. After a romantic break in Naples, everything looks rosy for Allie (Sarah Parrish) and Finn (Ben Daniels), especially as they come back married.

But with Allie and daughter Ruby (Lucy Gaskell) both heavily pregnant to the same man, the happiness is destined not to last. With Gavin (Jason Merrells) still in love with Allie, Ruby set on winning him for herself and Finn desperate to get Gavin out of the way, the Henshall's future is anything but cut and dried. It's time for some shocking decisions, but with what repercussions?

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Her face was her fortune - until they scarred her for life. Marla Hanson's dreams of becoming a top New York model were shattered when she was attacked and slashed across the face, sustaining wounds requiring nearly 150 stitches.

Marla's modelling career was finished, but her ordeal had only just begun. When her case came to court, the defence attorney tore into her, accusing her of being a prostitute and using sex to further her career. But Marla fought back against these accusations, and her exceptional courage made her not only America's most famous victim but a champion for others who had suffered in the same way.

Having chosen old flame Finn (Ben Daniels) over husband Gavin (Jason Merrells), Allie (Sarah Parish) finds herself far from welcome at her former hair salon. And is Gavin enjoying his newfound freedom just a little bit too much?

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Joanne Dawson (Victoria Principal) has everything that a woman could possibly want...beauty, brains, a successful career as a lawyer, and Jonathan Morris (James Farentino) as her lover. Morris is handsome, charming, and has a secure position as a prominent judge.

When a sensational homicide takes place, Joanne is called upon as the prosecuting attorney and Morris as the presiding judge. Through her investigation into the murder, Joanne discovers that Morris was somehow involved and she begins to realise the naked truth about her perfect boyfriend.