Superspy George Smiley (Alec Guinness) has for some time been in 'retirement' - some say due to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, the retiring masterspy finds himself summoned back to the 'Circus' (British secret service) when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department.

Double bill of BBC espionage drama mini-series based on the novels by John Le Carré and starring Alec Guinness as master spy George Smiley. In 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' (1979), Smiley has been in 'retirement' for some time, some say owing to his mishandling of the Czech scandal. However, the retiring superspy finds himself summoned back to the 'Circus' (British secret service) when it transpires that an enemy infiltrator is at work in the department. Smiley returns once again to his old department in 'Smiley's People' (1982) following the murder of his friend, General Vladimir, a Russian who once worked for British Intelligence. When it transpires that Vladimir was in fact a double agent, Smiley becomes engaged in a battle of wills with his old adversaries at the Moscow Centre.

Wartime drama starring Alec Guiness as Peter Ross, an RAF reconnaisance photographer assigned to trace and destroy an Italian convoy threatening to invade Malta. As the Luftwaffe threatens, Ross's romance with a local girl hangs in the balance.

Fifth collection of feature-length TV dramas based on the novels of the British crime writer, Edgar Wallace. Though most famous today for contributing to the screenplay of 'King Kong' (1933), Wallace was an extremely popular writer of mystery fiction during the early 20th century. A number of his stories were adapted for TV at Merton Park Studios in the early 1960s and often featured strong casts, with the actors to appear in this volume including Patrick Magee, Alan MacNaughton, Katherine Blake, Nigel Stock and John Thaw. The episodes are: 'Ricochet', 'The Double', 'The Rivals', 'To Have and to Hold', 'The Partner', 'Accidental Death' and 'Five to One'.

Dirk Bogarde stars as a Q.C. with a past he has tried to bury. Now married, he has tried to forget a homosexual affair, but finds he cannot escape it when he receives a phone call from his former lover. His lover, Jack Barret (Peter McEnery), has been arrested by police for theft, but the police found that he has no money to his name and have come to the assumption that he is being blackmailed. When Bogarde refuses to speak to him Barret commits suicide. Opening himself up to legal proceedings, Bogarde decides to prosecute the blackmailers himself.

Submerge yourself in classic BBC Dickens dramatisations that, like the great novelist's work, have stood the test of time.

The majesty of Charles Dickens' storytelling is captured in this DVD boxset that brings together BBC dramatisations of eight of the acclaimed author's classic novels. From the touching 1985 dramatisation of the semi-autobiographical Oliver Twist to the moving A Christmas Carol that sidesteps mawkish sentimentality and instead, offers viewers an affecting and sincere drama, each TV adaptation will delight fans of the author – and win over a generation of new ones.

Starring a wealth of celebrated actors including Maggie Smith, Bob Hoskins, John Mills and many more, the Charles Dickens Collection celebrates the author's work with authentic and beautifully-played mini TV-series from a broadcaster that is world-renowned for its adaptations.

In chronological order, the adaptations featured in this set are:

• A Christmas Carol (1977)
• A Tale of Two Cities (1980)
• The Pickwick Papers (1985)
• Oliver Twist (1985)
• Martin Chuzzlewit (1994)
• Our Mutual Friend (1998)
• David Copperfield (1999)
• Great Expectations (1999)

In the south of France, 1183, Henry II (Peter O'Toole) summons his family to a Christmas conference. His sons all have designs on his crown, whilst the presence of the King's mistress (Jane Merrow) adds spice to his exchanges with his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn). Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance, and the film also gained statuettes for Best Screenplay and Music.

Offbeat 1960s Hammer Studios fantasy horror. When Captain Lansen (Eric Portman)'s leaky cargo ship is blown off course, the crew members find themselves in a mysterious, fog-shrouded ocean where the seaweed eats human flesh and mutated crab-like creatures with huge claws are on the loose. The surviving crew and passengers then encounter a band of Spanish conquistadors who think it is still the 1500s and the Inquisition is still in progress.

Collected edition of seven BBC adaptations of the classic detective stories featuring the great Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr Watson. Peter Cushing stars as Holmes in the first five adaptations, with Nigel Stock as Dr Watson, broadcast by the BBC in 1968. In 'A Study in Scarlet', Holmes first meets Watson, and the two men investigate the death of a man in a locked room, with no signs of a struggle. In 'The Boscombe Valley Mystery', Holmes is not convinced that a young man murdered his father, and searches for more clues. In 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', Holmes unearths the truth behind a sinister family legend. In 'The Sign of Four', Holmes deals with some dark and sinister characters, including a murderous pygmy, and a pair of deadly twins. In 'The Blue Carbuncle', Holmes holds the key to freeing an innocent man. The 2002 adaptation of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', stars Richard Roxburgh as Holmes and Ian Hart as Dr Watson, portraying a younger pair of characters closer to the original Conan Doyle story. 'The Case of the Silk Stocking' (2005) is a brand-new story and is not based on any of Conan Doyle's work. Rupert Everett plays the great detective, called out of retirement by Watson (Hart) to solve a horrific series of murders, where young girls are being discovered choked to death on a silk stocking. Also included is 'The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes and Arthur Conan Doyle', starring Douglas Henshall as the writer as he comes to invent the character of Holmes, inspired by the techniques of his mentor, the Edinburgh doctor Joseph Bell (Brian Cox).

Four films based on the literary works of Graham Greene. In 'The Third Man' (1949), writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in war-torn Vienna to take up a job with his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). He is informed that Lime died a week previously in a car accident, but upon investigating further discovers that the circumstances of Lime's death are shrouded in confusion. Martins begins to wonder just how well he knew his old friend after the head of local military police, Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), convinces him that Lime was in fact a black market drug racketeer responsible for many deaths. In 'Brighton Rock' (1947), 16-year-old gangster Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) uses young waitress Rose Brown (Carol Marsh) as an alibi after commiting a murder at the race track. Worried that she will give him away, Pinkie marries Rose. However, his subsequent attempts to drive her to the point of suicide do not go according to plan. 'The Heart of the Matter' (1953) stars Trevor Howard as Scobie, an assistant police commissioner posted in Sierra Leone in World War 2. Exploring familiar Greene themes such as religion and work politics, the film co-stars Elizabeth Allan and Maria Schell as the wronged wife and the hard-done-by mistress. 'The Fallen Idol' (1948) is an award-winning adaptation of Greene's short story 'The Basement Room', and is told primarily from a child's perspective. Philippe (Bobby Henrey) is the young son of a diplomat who idolises Baines (Ralph Richardson), his father's butler. When Baines' wife is found murdered and Baines is implicated, Philippe does everything he can to point the investigation away from the butler. In doing so he makes matters worse - and also discovers that his hero is not the man he thought he was.

In the south of France, 1183, Henry II (Peter O'Toole) summons his family to a Christmas conference. His sons all have designs on his crown, whilst the presence of the King's mistress (Jane Merrow) adds spice to his exchanges with his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (Katharine Hepburn). Hepburn won an Oscar for her performance, and the film also gained statuettes for Best Screenplay and Music.

Roy Boulton directs this classic adaptation of the Graham Greene novel detailing the activities of a group of thugs in 1930s Brighton. Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is the head of a gang of small time crooks who make their money from a protection racket centred around Brighton race course. Pinkie is known for his short fuse and brutality, so his murder of a rival, Fred (Alan Wheatley), is very much in character. Pinkie believes, nonetheless, that he has got away with the crime until the promptings of a suspicious local woman, Ida (Hermione Baddeley), threaten to have the case reopened. Since only one person can identify him as the murderer, the waitress, Rose Brown (Carol Marsh), Pinkie comes up with an ingenious solution - marry Rose to stop her testifying against him. But will things go to plan?

Roy Boulton directs this classic adaptation of the Graham Greene novel detailing the activities of a group of thugs in 1930s Brighton. Pinkie Brown (Richard Attenborough) is the head of a gang of small time crooks who make their money from a protection racket centred around Brighton race course. Pinkie is known for his short fuse and brutality, so his murder of a rival, Fred (Alan Wheatley), is very much in character. Pinkie believes, nonetheless, that he has got away with the crime until the promptings of a suspicious local woman, Ida (Hermione Baddeley), threaten to have the case reopened. Since only one person can identify him as the murderer, the waitress, Rose Brown (Carol Marsh), Pinkie comes up with an ingenious solution - marry Rose to stop her testifying against him. But will things go to plan?

First series of the classic BBC TV series starring Douglas Wilmer as the famous sleuth and Nigel Stock as his loyal partner Watson. In this instalment, the pair from Baker Street must investigate the disappearance of a young aristocrat, stop a woman from marrying a murderous Austrian baron and solve the murder of Arthur Cadogan West with the help of Holmes' brother Mycroft (Derek Francis). The episodes are: 'The Speckled Band', 'The Illustrious Client', 'The Devil's Foot', 'The Copper Beeches', 'The Red-Headed League', 'The Abbey Grange', 'The Six Napoleons', 'The Man With the Twisted Lip', 'The Beryl Coronet', 'The Bruce-Partington Plans', 'Charles Augustus Milverton', 'The Retired Colourman' and 'The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax'.