{alltv} Three great BBC series on DVD

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Comic Steve Coogan voices a cheeky shill for BBC America on every BBC-related DVD and Blu-ray. While it is intended to get Americans exercising their Anglophile genes for TV watching, his tease applies equally well to home entertainment releases. Especially dramas.

"When you take a class-ridden society with no ability to address its emotions and let it simmer for a thousand years," Coogan pontificates, "you frankly have the perfect recipe for drama."

Along with "the unprecedented opportunity to heard words pronounced correctly," that is part of the appeal. Three BBC series with sharp appeal have seasons newly released on DVD in both the U.S. and Canada. Each is a quality production. Each is presented with good bonus materials. Each carves out its own niche. All have past seasons available on DVD. None is available in Blu-ray yet.

In no order of preference, because I admire all three for different reasons, here are the latest from The Adventures of Merlin, Skins and MI-5 (or Spooks, as it is titled in Britain, to the apparent chagrin of we colonials):

* The Adventures of Merlin: The Complete Second Season: Set in medieval times, the storyline follows Merlin the Magician as a youth, while he humbly serves the equally young, pre-legend Arthur at Camelot. Creators are Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy.

Stars are Colin Morgan as Merlin, Bradley James as Prince Arthur, Anthony Head as King Uther Pendragon and John Hurt as voice of the Dragon.

Geared toward kids and youths, this show is simplistic and easy to follow, with bouts of juvenile high jinks matching the temperament of core characters. But it is also sophisticated in morality, as Merlin deals with the challenges of hiding his gift in an era when magic is reviled by authorities.

The special effects -- such as stone gargoyles that become killing machines through black magic in The Curse of Cornelius Sigan -- are first-rate. Bloodshed is minimal, although people die.

The show is family friendly, unless sorcery freaks you out as much as it does crusty King Uther.

* Skins: Volume 4: Set in contemporary times, the storyline follows a group of inner-city British teenagers wrestling with the usual demons: Drugs, sex, schooling, religion, relationships and trying to have fun.

In this season, our protagonists return to college and are jolted when a drug-deranged girl suicides at the disco. Each episode is edgy, intelligent, thoughtful and sensitive to the characters involved. Never panders. It is far tougher than, for example, America's Glee.

Like Glee, however, Skins has a large core ensemble that is talented and diverse. Among them is Merveille Lukeba, who plays Thomas, the focus of episode one in season four. His performance is heart-wrenching as he illuminates a young man of African origin who deals with a complexity of issues, including fidelity and his role in the suicide scandal.

Creators Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain gave Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) his career boost on this show, although he is no longer involved. Skins is also being remade -- abysmally -- in America on MTV.

* MI-5: Volume 8: Set in contemporary times, with each episode shot like a Jason Bourne movie, this kinetic series kicks major spy butt. We delve into the activities of MI-5, as well counter-espionage and terrorist groups, among them rogue Russian agents. The show is consistently engaging and superior to 24. It was created by David Wolstencroft with Peter Firth as the lead of a large, excellent ensemble.

A very serious adult show -- and these are the original British broadcast versions. Camerawork and direction is as inventive as the plots are dense and dangerous.