Acorn Media have been sponsoring some of our most successful competitions this year so we would like to return the favour by telling our readers about the fantastic box sets they have available this Christmas – perfect to binge watch some of your favourite TV shows on those long dark winter nights.

Yes you can stream and download programs, but I think, just like a physical book is so much nicer than an e-book, it just doesn’t compete with being able to unwrap a gift of a box set.

Here are some of the highlights available from Acorn Media.

LINE OF DUTY SERIES 1-4 DVD AV3354 £44.99rrp

“You know where you are with Line of Duty: blindfolded and speeding round a labyrinth” said the Daily Telegraph. An explosive series four of Line of Duty this year brought Thandie Newton to the screen as DCI Roz Huntley, a devious and powerful opponent of AC12 with secrets that have already cost one life and will cost more as the hunt for a serial killer is derailed. With Series Four raising issues that have tracked the team since Series One, this is a box set rollercoaster ride that takes you, shakes you and won’t let go. Great writing, acting and direction makes Line of Duty 1 – 4 an exciting release.

OUR GIRL COMPLETE COLLECTION DVD AV3411 £39.99rrp

Featuring Series One, Two and The Nepal Tour

Our Girl follows the lives of female army medics. Subject to the worst rigours of war and terror, they soon find that their experiences overseas are hard to leave behind when they come home. When Series One starring Lacey Turner arrived, it grabbed the attention of an audience hungry for a strong female lead. Series Two brought Michelle Keegan into the starring role and the media and audience figures took off, being variously described as audacious, popular, action-packed and intense. Michelle Keegan’s star soared and she returned to our screens this year in the first of three tours of duty: Our Girl: The Nepal Tour.

BROADCHURCH 1-3 (DVD & BLU-RAY) DVD AV3350 £44.99rrp

Blu-ray AB2024 £49.99rrp

The third and final series broadcast earlier this year, drawing to a close one of TV’s greatest partnerships in David Tennant and Olivia Colman. When Danny Latimer, an 11-year-old schoolboy, goes missing, his mother, Beth, frantically starts to search for him whilst her best friend, Ellie Miller, a local police officer, discovers she has a new boss – DI Alec Hardy. When Danny’s body is found and news of the crime spreads, a chain reaction starts which will put Broadchurch under a national spotlight pulling the town, its residents and its secrets apart. Series Two and Series Three followed this story and other strands to a powerful conclusion. But at heart what we treasure are the exchanges of Hardy and Miller; unforgettable, and well worth revisiting.

INSPECTOR GEORGE GENTLY COMPLETE DVD AV3374 £99.99rrp

Heading North following the death of his wife to solve one more case, Inspector George Gently decides to stay. Partnered by the young Detective Sergeant Bacchus, Gently discovers a whole new world as the swinging sixties make their way up to Northumberland. Starring Martin Shaw and Lee Ingleby, this complete collection contains every episode ever made, including the pilot. Guest stars include Helen Baxendale, Lee Boardman, Warren Clarke, Sarah Lancashire, Pixie Lott, Lisa McGrillis, Neil Morrissey, Neil Pearson, Alison Steadman, Kevin Whately, Lesley Nichol, Denise Welsh and Jim Moir.

DOC MARTIN SERIES 1-8 DVD AV3440 £99.99rrp

Starring Martin Clunes and available for the first time in one collection, the story of Doctor Martin Ellingham begins with his arrival, a respected surgeon from London, in the small fishing village of Portwenn in Cornwall, where this fish out of water soon discovers that small village life can present some very big problems. Portwenn itself is brought to life by its rich array of characters including the formidable Sally Tishell who runs the local chemist; Bert Large and his son Al, local policemen Mark Mylow and Joe Penhale, Doc Martin’s aunt Dr Ruth Ellingham and, of course, the primary school teacher, Louisa Glasson, who fell for the man they thought had no heart, but she found it.

THE WINDSORS SERIES 1-3 & CHRISTMAS SPECIAL DVD AV3417 £24.99rrp

An outrageous comedy series imagining the royal family as you’ve never seen them before. The Windsors are divided: Prince Charles (Harry Enfield) wants his son Wills (Hugh Skinner) to show a more regal detachment but Wills wants to fly the air ambulance and mingle with the people. Kate (Louise Ford) is trying to find acceptance in the royal family, and Camilla (Haydn Gwynne), alarmed at Wills and Kate’s popularity, is plotting to destroy them. Meanwhile, Harry (Richard Goulding) is chasing Pippa Middleton’s (Morgana Robinson) famous arse, Prince Edward’s fallen on hard times, Fergie (Katy Wix) is partying like it’s 1982 and Beatrice and Eugenie, strapped for cash, decide to launch themselves online as make-up vloggers. Laugh-out-loud funny and perfect to follow The Queen’s Speech. 2

THE TUNNEL SERIES 1 & 2 DVD AV3291 £39.99rrp

With Series Three airing this December, it’s the ideal time to revisit the first two series. Detectives Karl Roebuck (Stephen Dillane) from the UK and Elise Wassermann (Clémence Poésy) from France combine forces to investigate the shocking murder of a prominent French politician found dead on the border between the two countries which is just the beginning of a murderous international reign of terror. In series two they are brought together again over a terrorist plot that begins with the downing of a passenger plane in the Channel and a massive loss of life that is only the tip of a terrible iceberg. Great pre-Brexit entertainment.

DETECTORISTS 1-3 plus Christmas Special DVD AV3413 £39.99rrp

This is the complete boxed set containing series one to three of this BAFTA award-winning comedy series along with the additional episode which aired over Christmas 2015.

FOOTBALLER’S WIVES COMPLETE DVD AV3367 £49.99rrp

Welcome to the word of Footballers’ Wives, where everybody plays dirty. They’re young, they’re rich, they’re beautiful and they’ve got everything that money and fame can buy: the designer gear, the palatial homes, the flash cars, the platinum credit cards and the handsome celebrity husbands. This very special 16–disc complete DVD collection brings together all five series of Footballers’ Wives, both series of Extra Time and a host of extras.

BAD GIRLS COMPLETE DVD AV3405 £59.99rrp

Before orange was the new black, this highly acclaimed, original and controversial drama explored the never-ending conflict that occurs between the prisoners and the men and women who are paid to lock them up. This 18–disc complete collection contains every episode from all eight series.

WILD AT HEART – COMPLETE DVD AV3377 £99.99rrp

Featuring every episode on 17 discs, along with extensive behind the scenes cast and crew interviews, Wild at Heart is set against the stunning scenery of the South African bush, telling the story of Danny Trevanion (Stephen Tompkinson), a widowed English vet and his new extended family.

THE COMPLETE FOYLE’S WAR DVD AV3217 £129.99rrp

With 28 feature-length films adding up to over 45 hours on 17 discs, this is the complete Foyle’s War featuring every episode ever made. Michael Kitchen is Detective Chief Superintendent Foyle, a hardworking, policeman in Hastings during the Second World War. Anxious to join the war effort, he has repeatedly had his applications turned down and has returned to the South Coast sidelined and frustrated; but it soon becomes apparent that his detective skills are vitally needed on the Home Front.

THE GOOD LIFE COMPLETE SERIES 1-4 DVD AV3274 £34.99rrp

Consistently one of the best loved and best-selling sitcoms ever made, this is The Good Life – featuring every episode along with the 1977 Christmas Special, and the 1978 Royal Command Performance.

VERSAILLES SERIES 1&2 DVD AV3392 £34.99rrp

Versailles, 1667. Louis XIV in a Machiavellian political move in his 28th year decides to make the nobility submit to his will by imposing a move of the court from Paris to Versailles, his father’s former hunting lodge. Trapped by their king’s “invitation”, the nobles of Paris gradually come to see the castle as a gilded prison and soon even his most humble courtiers begin to show their viciousness and danger threatens the kingdom, even so far as the court of Versailles into which a deadly poison seeps.

A PLACE TO CALL HOME SERIES 1-4 DVD AV3343 DVD £34.99rrp

A Place to Call Home is a sweeping romantic drama set in 1950s rural Australia following the lives of Nurse Sarah Adams and the Blighs, a wealthy and complicated Pastoralist family living in Inverness, New South Wales where sex, death and secrets are never far below the surface. Marta Dusseldorp (Jack Irish) leads the cast as Sarah Adams, a woman with a mysterious past who has returned to Australia after 20 years abroad.

INSPECTOR MONTALBANO SERIES 1-6 DVD AV3315 £99.99rrp

Drawing on the novels of acclaimed Italian author Andrea Camilleri, Luca Zingaretti as Inspector Montalbano destabilised the dark world of Noric Noir, introducing viewers to a Mediterranean destective with all of the fine wine, dining and detective work that that implies. This collectable collection is a must-have and a must-watch including, as it does, a full 26 feature-length tales.

Note: Also Available: Inspector Montalbano Collection 7: DVD AV 3307 £24.99rrp

GRANTCHESTER SERIES 1-3 DVD AV3372 £39.99rrp

It’s 1953 and Sidney Chambers (James Norton), is vicar of Grantchester, a village just outside Cambridge. Sidney’s is a quiet life. Or at least, it has been – right up until the moment that murder comes his way. In Series One Sidney is pushed in the dangerous world of lies, betrayal and murder and quickly finds that he excels in his new This DVD set includes all three series and the 2016 Christmas Special as well as a host of bonus features. 3

MIDSOMER MURDERS – NELSON’S CASEBOOK DVD AV3365 £49.99rrp

Not a year should go by without a new series of Britain’s favourite murder mysteries appearing on DVD, and 2017 delivered this enticing collection. Set in the idyllic, picturesque county of Midsomer, all is not as it seems and beneath the tranquil surface of village life exists a disturbing and cunning propensity for murder.Starring Neil Dudgeon as Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby, this DVD collection celebrates the cases that DS Nelson solved with him, including the 100th episode: The Killings of Copenhagen. This special box set features 15 films, behind the scenes featurettes and an interview with Nelson actor Gwilym Lee.

OH DOCTOR BEECHING! DVD AV3357 £29.99rrp

In this hilarious comedy from the writers of Hi-De-Hi! and starring Paul Shane, Su Pollard, Stephen Lewis and more, it is 1963 and, in the absence of a station master, Hatley Station has fallen into disarray despite the best efforts of porter Jack Skinner, who is married to the café-managing May. When the new station master Cecil Parkin arrives, it soon becomes clear that he and May had a passionate affair before the war. As the Beeching Axe swings its way through the railway network, will Hatley Station remain open for business?

WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN DVD AV3323 £129.99

Disillusioned by his wartime experiences in France, ex-sergeant Jack Ford (James Bolam) returns home to Gallowshields on Tyneside in search of a job – any job. Unfortunately, with Britain in the grip of recession, there is no work to be had. Aligning himself with the equally impoverished Seaton family, Jack sets about improving his fortunes – and along the way falls deeply in love with Jessie Seaton (Susan Jameson). This highly acclaimed classic television series has been lovingly repackaged into this complete box set collection.

AND DON’T FORGET – As Popular Today As Ever in Complete Box Sets:

• Tenko
• Agatha Christie Classic Crime
• Agatha Christie Two By Christie
• Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries
• The House of Eliott
• Boy Meets Girl
• In The Club
• Young Montalbano
• Barbara Taylor Bradford
• Dicte: Crime Reporter
• Lynda La Plante’s Trial &
• Retribution

 

• The Bletchley Circle
• Dixon of Dock Green
• Z Cars
• The Fall
• Dark Matter
• Indian Summers
• Plebs
• Rosemary & Thyme
• Kingdom
• The Liver Birds
• The Irish R.M.
• Jack Taylor
• New Tricks
• To The Manor Born
• Brush Strokes
• The Missing