How could there not be a Best of the Two Ronnies? After all, there isn't any worst. The only conceivable gripe anyone could have with this collection is the usual how-could-they-have-left-out-so-and-so problem that is bound to beset a comedy programme of such high quality. However, pretty much every one of the 25 items on this generously filled release is an unmitigated joy. The duo's talent for quickfire wordplay is well to the fore in such sketches as "Nuts Milord", the phonetic "Swedish Lesson" set in a restaurant ("F-U-N-E-X?" "S, V-F-X.") and in the classic "Ice Cream Parlour", in which Corbett's request for cheese and onion ice cream is met with Barker's endless list of alternatives delivered at auctioneer-like speed. They also excel at manipulating the whole concept of how dialogue works, as in "Crossed Lines" (two halves of two different telephone conversations heard at once) and "Mastermind", in which Corbett's special subject is "answering the question before last". All told this is an unmissable collection; so in the words of the St Botolph's Country Dance Group (featured in the wonderful song-and-dance finale), "Sod off, sod off, so doff your hat I pray".

On the DVD: The Best of the Two Ronnies on disc is presented in 4:3 TV ratio and also includes artist profiles plus a helpful, stills-driven menu, but no other extras. --Roger Thomas

The Best of the Worst Witch DVD contains seven episodes of CITV's hugely popular Worst Witch series. Based Jill Murphy's internationally bestselling books that are said to have been an inspiration to JK Rowling and the Harry Potter books, the 25-minute episodes chronicle the hilarious adventures of would-be witch Mildred Hubble. Aimed at 5-11 year olds, the DVD starts with Mildred's first day at Miss Cackle's Academy for Witches, a secondary boarding school which emphasises discipline and traditional values but which also teaches young girls how to ride broomsticks, chant and cast spells. Mildred gets off to a flying start when arriving late on her broomstick: she crashes into the school bins!

The strong storylines (taken from three series) mainly focus on whether Mildred will make the grade as a bona fide witch, and her continuing rivalry with snooty Ethel Hallow. Whether Mildred is turning Ethel into a pig or being transformed into a frog, pre-teenagers will relate to the heroine, learning from her the importance of determination, imagination and friends. There are admirable performances from Georgina Sherrington (winner of Hollywood's "Young Artist Award") as Mildred, Kate Duchêne as the stern Miss Hardbroom, Claire Coulter as the kindly Headmistress and the renowned Una Stubbs as the eccentric Miss Bat who spends school holidays in the cupboard! The stories are not scary and the special effects are used sparingly but with good results--particularly spectacular is the image at the start of each episode of students arriving for school on broomsticks.

Entertaining, amusing and captivating, it's a real treat for pre-teenagers. --Tracey Hogan.

Tommy Lee Jones as a racing driver drawn into the spider's web of a Detroit carmaking dynasty.

The Bible Code is a 40-minute American TV documentary, originally titled Secrets of the Bible Code Revealed, re-edited for the UK with narration by British presenter Paul Ross. The title change links the programme closely with Michael Drosnin's bestseller and The Bible Code, and while Drosnin is featured, the film is based more closely on the books The Mysterious Bible Codes by Grant Jeffrey and Cosmic Codes by Chuck Missler.

The theory that there are phrases prophesying future events mathematically encoded in the Hebrew text of The Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) is centuries old; Sir Isaac Newton spent years investigating the possibility. However, it was the 1994 publication of a paper in the journal Statistical Science, consequently publicised by Drosnin, that revived modern interest. This short film can do no more than provide an introduction to a subject hotly debated by many leading mathematicians, statisticians, theologians and historians. The programme is in no doubt that God encoded secret messages in the Bible, and so oversimplifies the issue as to reduce it to the level of tabloid sensationalism. Anyone genuinely interested in the theory would be better served reading a serious book on what is an enormously involved subject.

On the DVD: This is a standard 4:3 TV programme with average picture and sound which doesn't benefit from the digital format. The only extra is a handful of barely relevant text pages on the Enigma code. The listed "brief history of WWII" is not present. Given the subject so much more could have been done in providing background material, even to including a DVD-ROM computer programme to run code searches. As it is this is a missed opportunity to make a genuinely interactive experience. --Gary S Dalkin

A hit in Europe but a flop in the US--where it was trimmed, rescored, and given a new ending--Luc Besson's The Big Blue has endured as a minor cult classic for its gorgeous photography (both on land and underwater) and dreamy ambiance. Jean-Marc Barr is a sweet and sensitive but passive presence as Jacques, a diver with a unique connection to the sea. He has the astounding ability to slow his heartbeat and his circulation on deep dives, "a phenomenon that's only been observed in whales and dolphins until now," remarks one scientist. Kooky New York insurance adjuster Joanna (Rosanna Arquette at her most delightfully flustered and endearingly sexy best) melts after falling into his innocent baby blues, and she follows him to Italy, where he's continuing a lifelong competition with boyhood rival Enzo (Jean Reno in a performance both comic and touching).

Besson's first English-language production looks more European than Hollywood, and it suffers from a tin ear for the language. At times it feels more like an IMAX undersea documentary than a drama about free divers, but the lush and lovely images create a fairy tale dimension to Jacques's story, a veritable Little Merman. More dolphin than man, he's so torn between earthly love and aquatic paradise that even his dreams call him to the sea (in a sequence more eloquent than any speech).

Besson has expanded the film by 50 minutes for his director's cut, which adds little story but slows the contemplative pace until it practically floats in time, and has restored Eric Serra's synthesizer-heavy score, a slice of 1980s pop that at times borders on disco kitsch. Most importantly, he has restored his original ending, which echoes the fairy tale he tells Joanna earlier in the film and leaves the story floating in the inky blackness of ambiguity. --Sean Axmaker, Amazon.com

A twisty comedy where you're never sure who's conning who. Owen Wilson in perfect casting as a surf dude leads the impressive cast.