In a pre TV-on-DVD world, British television programs were fairly difficult to come by: a number of programs would be broadcast on PBS, and later, A&E... there were VHS tapes available in box sets if you got hooked on Red Dwarf or Miss Marple mysteries, but they tended to be expensive.
Reckless stocks the usual suspects, including a number of classic mysteries and detectives, so there is no shortage of Sherlock Holmes, as well as the monk Cadfael, Poirot, or classic Agatha Christie characters. These are augmented by more modern installments, including police dramas and procedurals, offering an incredible contrast to their American counterparts. Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren: The Queen) and Cracker (starring Robbie Coltrane: Harry Potter) are good examples of modern British cop shows, often taking a few episodes to work through a particular case, slowly putting the puzzles together as complex characters adapt and evolve. Clive Owen was also a BBC fixture before he became a bankable Hollywood star, and we have him in Chancer and Second Sight. On the lighter side, we have a wide variety of comedies, everything from the cult favorite Monty Python's Flying Circus to the groundbreaking The Office, which has been famously remade into an American series (though there is no shortage of fans who will argue that the 2+ seasons of the BBC Office is superior to the remake). Hugh Laurie, also widely known on American TV as House, M.D, is also a fixture in British comedy, in the sketch show A Bit of Fry and Laurie, the Woodhouse period comedy Jeeves & Wooster, and the Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) helmed Black Adder.
There's a greater variety available in the BBC section than just a handful of genres-- from the nautical adventure of Horatio Hornblower to Good Neighbors, the shows in Reckless Video's BBC section are bound to offer something for everyone. |
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It is fun to browse at Reckless
Reckless Video does have standard genre sections for Comedy, Action, Drama, etc, but one of the things that makes the store special (and a lot of fun to browse through) is our array of nooks, crannies, and subsections... sometimes small and sometimes not-so-small sections of movies among the more normal categories that might be just what you're looking for (even if you didn't know you were looking for it). Finding the right section-- the one that really captures your imagination-- might keep your movie-watching schedule booked for a month, so feel free to wander around and see if anything catches your eye.
This page will always be highlighting one of Reckless Video's spotlight sections. Right now, it's...
BBC
(located in TV Land)
Now that television shows are widely distributed on DVD and American awareness of BBC programming has been increased by the variety of cable channels, the game has changed: Reckless Video has an extensive (and ever-expanding) BBC section that covers a wide range of styles and eras. 
A number of these comedies are specifically British... there has never been an American equivalent for something like The Young Ones, which manages to be a variety show, sitcom, and social critique all at the same time. Little Britain has attained a rabid following for its wild caricatures, and Dylan Moran's (Shaun of the Dead, Tristram Shandy) irate bookstore owner in Black Books is the only character that could possibly out-grumpy John Cleese's (A Fish Called Wanda, The Life of Brian) innkeeper in Fawlty Towers. 
There are also a number of subsections within Reckless Video's BBC section. We have sections for Charles Dickens classics such as Nicholas Nickleby, and a section for the long-running intelligence series MI-5. Robson Green has a section all to himself, after starring in the dark and excellent Wire in the Blood and Touching Evil, and the romantic Reckless.
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Monthly Sections Outside of our permanent sections, Reckless offers a different specialty section every month under the TV in the front room. All of the movies in our Monthly Special rent for only $2, so be sure to check it out.
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