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Acorn Media has announced their May ’09 schedule of British Television programming. The official word follows. Cheers.
Acorn Media continues with the Best of British TV on DVD. Below are press releases for Acorn Media’s May DVDs. These include May 26’s The Invisibles with Anthony Head, Murder Most English, and A Village Affair. I think you’ll find we have a lot entertaining, high-quality DVD debuts, several of which have not been broadcast in the U.S. and are available to U.S. audiences for the first time. Other releases included are: Pie in the Sky – Series 1 with Richard Griffiths, Red Green Is Special, and 3 Mo’ Divas (Acorn’s first Blu-ray release).
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A musical celebration of class, sass, and style;
From Marion J Caffey’s, creator of the hit show Three Mo’ Tenors
3 MO’ DIVAS
Debuts on Blu-ray, DVD, and CD
May 12, 2009
“Captivating…majestic…dynamic divas” –Variety
“Soaring vocal talent” –Los Angeles Times
“A glittering display of vocal virtuosity” –The Denver Post
Silver Spring, MD — Marking Acorn Media’s first Blu-ray release, 3 Mo’ Divas, a spectacular musical celebration with 10 styles of music, debuts on Blu-ray and standard DVD on May 12, 2009. Conceived by Marion J. Caffey, creator of the smash hit Three Mo’ Tenors, this show has thrilled sold-out audiences all across North America. In this live performance from their widely popular, ongoing tour, there’s nothing the three divas can’t sing, from soaring opera to show tunes, jubilant gospel, jazz, blues, and more. 3 Mo’ Divas was broadcast on HDNet in fall 2008 and as a PBS special in March 2009. Also on May 12, Acorn Media is releasing 3 Mo Divas debut CD, “Smashing Musical Barriers.”
Three magnificent voices. Ten musical styles. Two hundred years of music. Take your front-row seat at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for genre-defying feats of vocal skill by three of today’s most versatile and powerful singers. Sopranos Nova Y. Payton and Jamet Pittman and mezzo-soprano Laurice Lanier are all classically trained but sing everything with equal skill. The show begins with the classical sounds of Puccini then segues into songs from popular Broadway musicals like Wicked, Ragtime, and Rent, followed by familiar tunes from Billie Holiday, Whitney Houston and Tina Turner. Complete with rehearsal clips and interviews, 3 Mo’ Divas provides nonstop family entertainment.
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SONGS INCLUDE: Summertime, God Bless the Child, Seasons of Love, Defying Gravity, Quando m’en vó (from Puccini’s La Boheme), Everything Must Change, I’m Every Woman, Let the Good Times Roll, and more.
For further information on the singers and their upcoming concerts including The Apollo Theater in New York City and The Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, MD, please visit www.3MoDivas.com
Street: May 12, 2009
Blu-ray and DVD Single
SRP: $29.99 and $24.99
Approx. 58 min., plus bonus performances – Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 surround – SDH subtitles
Special Features: 29 minutes of bonus performances and biographies of the singers.
Audio CD Smashing Musical Barriers
SRP: $14.99
16 Tracks – Approx. 58 min.
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Delectable British Detective Series
Starring Richard Griffiths (The History Boys, Harry Potter)
Series 1 on DVD May 12, 2009
“As much a pleasure for culinary enthusiasts as it is for crime fans” -The Times (U.K.)
Silver Spring, MD — Pie in the Sky, Series 1, a lighthearted, much-loved British detective series, arrives on DVD from Acorn Media on May 12, 2009. Featuring equal amounts police work and culinary adventure, Richard Griffiths (Tony®-winner The History Boys, Equus, Harry Potter films) stars as cop-cum-chef Henry Crabbe with Maggie Steed (Shine on Harvey Moon) as his non-foodie and long-suffering wife. Pie in the Sky debuted on BBC1 in the U.K. in March 1994 and aired for five series.
After 25 years in the force, Detective Inspector Henry Crabbe has lost his appetite for the job. After taking a bullet in the line of duty, he plans to take early retirement and open his dream restaurant, Pie in the Sky. But his accountant wife, Margaret, doesn’t think the numbers add up. And his former boss, ACC Fisher (Malcolm Sinclair, Casino Royale), connives to keep Crabbe on the force to cover up for his own incompetence. Although craving retirement, Crabbe winds up juggling police work with the demands of running a restaurant, and the two worlds often intersect.
Guest stars include Michael Kitchen (Foyle’s War), Andy Serkis (The Lord of the Rings), Pete Postlethwaite (In the Name of the Father), and Julian Fellowes (Monarch of the Glen).
Special Features: Interview with star Maggie Steed, production notes, biography of Richard Griffiths, and more.
Street: May 12, 2009 SRP: $49.99
DVD 3-Vol. Boxed Set: 10 episodes – Approx. 488 min., plus 18 min. bonus program
SDH subtitles
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Collection of specials from the PBS hit comedy franchise
Debuts on DVD May 12, 2009
Includes new 90-minute retrospective special
Silver Spring, MD — Red Green Is Special, four specials from the crowd-pleasing Canadian comedy and PBS hit, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on May 12, 2009. The Red Green Show creator and star Steve Smith features north-of-the-border handyman humor in the vein of Home Improvement, which also debuted on television in 1991. This collection of four specials features the new 90-minute retrospective special, The Red Green Story: We’re All in This Together, which aired on PBS starting in December 2008.
Armed with power tools, off-kilter advice, and preposterous inventions, Red Green and his pals from Possum Lodge amassed a giant fan base during the show’s 15-year run, which ended in April 2006 with exactly 300 episodes. A Canadian comedy institution still running in syndication, the series has also spawned a feature film, books, and a cult-like following.
These four uproarious specials from The Red Green Show abound with manly advice, wild inventions, and favorite memories.
Red Green’s We Can’t Help It—We’re Men—Red aims to shed light on the male condition and achieve “a better understanding between the various sexes.” Includes 71-minute bonus program Red Green’s Of Cars and Men, a bumper-to-bumper ride packed with useless advice about every man’s first love—his car. Approx. 65 min., plus 100 min. of bonus material.
Red Green D.V.D., Duct Tape Virtuoso Deluxe—All duct tape, all the time! Red offers valuable tips on the magical silver stuff in this tribute. Extras include fan-made duct tape creations and a Red-guided tour of a duct tape factory. Approx. 64 min.
Red Green’s Hindsight Is 20/20—Twenty-five years after Steve Smith created the character Red Green, he looks back to see how it all went so horribly wrong. Approx. 60 min. [closed captioned]
The Red Green Story: We’re All in This Together—Two years after the final episode, cast members reminisce about the show’s remarkable run. Rare clips, audition anecdotes, and production memories tell the behind-the-scenes story of the little show that could—even when it probably shouldn’t have. Approx. 90 min. [closed captioned]
Acorn Media previously released the 1997-2001 individual season DVD collections.
Street: May 12, 2009 SRP: $39.99
DVD 4-Vol. Boxed Set: 4 specials – Approx. 279 min., plus bonus – Comedy
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New BBC Crime Caper Series
Starring Anthony Head and Warren Clarke
Debuts on DVD May 26, 2009
Available to U.S. audiences for the first time with its DVD release
Silver Spring, MD — The Invisibles, starring popular British actors Anthony Head and Warren Clarke, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on May 26, 2009. The six-episode comedic drama follows a pair of aging, big-hearted retired thieves that decide to take another crack at crime. Filled with heists, hijinks, and humor about being over the hill, The Invisibles is pure fun. The series aired on BBC1 in the U.K. in the summer of 2008 and is available to U.S. audiences for the first time with its DVD release.
Former crooks and best friends Maurice Riley (Anthony Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Little Britain) and Syd Woolsey (Warren Clarke, Dalziel and Pascoe, Bleak House) are back in dear old Britain after 15 years of living off their ill-gotten gains in Spain’s “Costa del Crime.” Now they’re determined to stay on the straight and narrow in a quiet new seaside town. And Maurice’s wife, Barbara (Emmy® and BAFTA award-winner Jenny Agutter, MI-5/Spooks, Logan’s Run), is determined to make sure that’s exactly what happens. Despite their best intentions, the local pub manager (Dean Lennox Kelly, Shameless) proves more persuasive than Barbara, and “The Invisibles” are soon back in business. But after years out of the game, they discover they can’t crack safes like they used to. As the criminal competes with the comical, The Invisibles hurtles between drama and laughter, with entertainment the winner every time.
Anthony Head’s daughter in the series is played by his real-life daughter, Emily Head.
Street: May 26, 2009 SRP: $39.99
DVD 2-Vol. Boxed Set: 6 episodes – Approx. 347 min. – SDH subtitles
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Provocative, sexy drama based on a bestselling romance novel by Joanna Trollope;
Starring Sophie Ward, Kerry Fox, Nathaniel Parker, and Jeremy Northam
Debuts on DVD May 26, 2009
“Cracking central performances…compelling” —Daily Record (U.K.)
“Lavish lesbian relationship drama” —The Times (U.K.)
Silver Spring, MD — Based on the provocative, bestselling novel by Joanne Trollope, A Village Affair, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on May 26, 2009. Filmed on grand English estates and picturesque countryside, this lavish 1994 British production follows an illicit love affair that scandalizes a tranquil English town and is available to U.S. audiences for the first time with its DVD release. The drama stars Sophie Ward (The Shell Seekers), Kerry Fox (Welcome to Sarajevo), Nathaniel Parker (The Inspector Lynley Mysteries), Jeremy Northam (Emma, The Tudors), Michael Gough (Batman), and Claire Bloom (Brideshead Revisited), with 9-year-old Keira Knightley in one of her first screen roles.
Recently returned to England from New York City, vivacious heiress Clodagh Unwin (Kerry Fox) befriends a couple new to her village. The husband (Nathaniel Parker) is entranced by the young aristocrat, but Clodagh has eyes for someone else: his wife, Alice (Sophie Ward).
Alice has a gilded life—beautiful children, a handsome husband, and a stately home. Secretly, she’s depressed after the birth of her third child and unhappy in her marriage. Clodagh proves irresistible. As their love grows, they realize their secret may be impossible to keep.
English novelist Joanne Trollope has written numerous novels including The Rector’s Wife and Friday Nights. A Village Affair was written in 1989 and this adaptation aired in the U.K. on ITV in 1995.
Street: May 26, 2009 SRP: $24.99
DVD Single: Approx. 100 minutes – British drama
DVD Features: Cast filmographies and Joanna Trollope biography.
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Classic BBC mysteries starring Anton Rodgers and Christopher Timothy
Debuts on DVD May 26, 2009
A kindly detective puts right the wrongs in a sleepy English town
Silver Spring, MD — Murder Most English, four classic BBC mysteries with a darkly comic touch, debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on May 26, 2009. Based on the series of detective novels by Colin Watson, the charming mysteries feature fan-favorite Anton Rodgers (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, May to December, Lillie) along with Christopher Timothy (All Creatures Great and Small), John Comer (I Didn’t Know You Cared), and Moray Watson (The Darling Buds of May). Dark humor, surprising twists, and a quintessentially English hero make this series a must for British mystery fans. Produced in 1977, the BBC series aired in the U.S. on public television.
Clad in tweed and puffing on a pipe, Detective Inspector Purbright (Anton Rodgers) pursues the evildoers of Flaxborough with a doggedness that belies his polite conversation and mild manner. And a good thing, too. For although the quiet country town appears all gentility, beneath the surface lies a darker world of deception, intrigue, treachery, and infidelity. These forces can upset the harmony of the most staid of small communities … and ignite passions that erupt into violence.
Assisted by the ever cheerful Detective Sergeant Love (Christopher Timothy) and the sometimes helpful Chief Constable Chubb (Moray Watson), Purbright serenely polices the clean but mean streets of Flaxborough and pits his wits against unforgettable characters, including the formidable Miss Teatime, a spy named Hopjoy, and a shady lawyer called Gloss. Armed with courtesy, respect, and a steely determination, he works to uncover the truth and restore order to this most English of English towns.
The Mysteries: Hopjoy Was Here; Lonelyheart 4122; The Flaxborough Crab; and Coffin, Scarcely Used
Street: May 26, 2009 SRP: $49.99
DVD 3-Vol. Boxed Set: 7 episodes – Approx. 344 min. – SDH subtitles
About Acorn Media: The Acorn Media Group, a leading independent global media company, provides distinctive home video products and other merchandise to consumers in North America, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand. With a special focus on the best of British television programming, Acorn Media has exclusive distribution rights to hundreds of collectible titles on DVD. Its U.S. division will release nearly 100 DVDs in North America in 2009, including Cracker: The Complete Collection with Robbie Coltrane, John Steinbeck’s East of Eden with Jane Seymour (DVD debut), Painted Lady with Helen Mirren, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares (DVD debut, Original UK Series), Stephen Hawking and the Theory of Everything, 3 Mo’ Divas, Murdoch Mysteries, and more from Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Lynda La Plante’s Trial & Retribution, Agatha Christie’s Marple, Life on Mars, Series 1, among many more. www.acornmedia.com
Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Acorn Media distributes distinctive home video releases to the North American market with a special focus on the best of British television. Acorn’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.
[...] May 2009’s Acorn Media releases include a DVD compilation of Red Green Show-related specials. Apparently PBS flogs the series like A&E Home Video flogs Monty Python’s Flying Circus DVDs. [...]