THERE will be many a stocking filled with a DVD this Christmas morning but with so much to choose from, how can you be sure of backing a winner?
Well for the sports fan in your life you can’t go far wrong with the BBC’s London 2012 Olympic Games.
An astonishing 15 hours of coverage spread across five discs including a specially-edited version of that unforgettable Opening Ceremony from director Danny Boyle, more than seven hours of sporting highlights and the full Closing Ceremony. Relive those halcyon days of summer because we will never see their likes again.
Comedy is always a big festive winner and many a comedian has bankrolled their year with a successful live release. This year there are releases from our own John Bishop, Peter Kay, Michael McIntyre and Sarah Millican.
But the winner for me has to be the latest box-set from the priceless political satire The Thick of It.
The prospect of Armando Iannucci turning his attention to the Coalition government had many salivating and he didn’t disappoint.
Enforcer Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) undermines newly installed leader Nicola Murray MP (Rebecca Front) using all of the underhand tactics at his disposal while the scene involving Peter Mannion and coalition partner Fergus in crisis at the top of a children’s slide will live long in the memory.
For the period drama fan, look no further than Downton Abbey - Series Three which can fill the gap after the Christmas special.
Another eight episodes full of quality with perhaps the biggest ‘oh my god’ moment the series as ever produced during Lady Sybil’s dramatic labour.
Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess somehow manages to up the ante once again with her fantastic one-liners perhaps inspired by the arrival of Shirley MacLaine as Cora’s American mother Martha Levinson.
If it’s documentary you’re after, Michael Apted’s unmissable 56 Up proved another rollercoaster of emotions as we catch up on the lives of the children we first met aged 7. There is nothing quite so dramatic as the passage of real life and Apted’s social class study beautifully captures it.
And for the classic film fan then look no further than the restored Les Enfants du Paradis.
This welcome re-release of Marcel Carne’s 1945 epic, made during the Nazi occupation of France, comes in a lovingly restored two-disc edition laden with featurettes and extras. Mime artist Jean-Baptiste Debureau falls under the spell of beautiful actress Claire Reine (Arletty), who is known around town as Garance, but fate conspires to keep them apart.
Just magnificent.
