Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

The double-disc version of Harry Potter's latest exploits is, if not completely wizard, then certainly entertaining and above average. Warners should also be commended for including something here for all ages.

Younger teenagers are obviously the target audience and they'll enjoy the raft of featurettes titled Close-Up With The Cast Of Harry Potter. Introduced - and interrupted by - Alfie Enoch (Dean) and Matthew Lewis (Neville) - they play like a hybrid of Blue Peter and (for those of us old enough to remember) Why Don't You..?

The set up is that each main cast member spends time with a member of the technical team to give an insight into the process. So we're given Editing With Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Special Effects With Matthew Lewis, Oliver Phelps (George) and Tom Felton (Draco), Owl Training With Jessie Cave (Lavender), Stunt Training With Rupert Grint (Ron), Costume Designs with Evanna Lynch (Luna), Behind The Camera With James Phelps (Fred) and Make-Up With Emma Watson (Hermione).

Each comes in at around the four-minute mark and they're entertaining enough, although some of the cast members take to 'interviewing' better than others. Lynch is particularly timid in her segment - although fans will doubtless be interested to hear she devised some of her jewellery herself - while it seems bizarre they made poor Cave do the owl training, since she looks petrified throughout.

The best of the bunch is probably the Special Effects segment, which has plenty of making of footage, although Emma Watson's chat about make-up also proves an enjoyable trip down memory lane. Enoch and Lewis aren't the most polished presenters on the planet but there is an easy humour to this that is hard not to like.

Older viewers, meanwhile, will enjoy 47-minute documentary JK Rowling: A Year In The Life - first shown on ITV back in December 2007. Although suffering from overly portentous narration from director James Runcie - "How has she done it? Where has it all come from?" he asks in one of several redundant voiceover passages - the input from Rowling herself is surprisingly candid and intimate. She talks about how her mother's death affected her and "seeped into every part of the books" and also reveals her troubled relationship with her father.

Runcie has enviable access and captures the moment when, in Edinburgh's Balmoral Hotel, she finally finished the last book in the series, The Deathly Hallows. "Some people will loathe it," she says. "But for some to love it, others must loathe it." It is this smart observation and forthrightness that comes across as a whole from the documentary, which also touches on the charitable work the author is involved with. Much, much more interesting than the usual all gloss and no garters DVD extras we are used to.

Teenagers may well be bored rigid by the JK Rowling documentary, but they'll doubtless enjoy the One-Minute Drills, which see each of the main cast attempt to describe their character's arc in under 60 seconds. What's On Your Mind is also entertaining, if brief. It sees Felton - who, on the strength of this, could certainly secure a presenting spot if the acting thing doesn't work out long-term - asking the cast questions that require one-word answers. It doesn't take itself too seriously and is, surprisingly, quite revealing... particularly Watson's answers which include: Elton John, The Queen, Jilly Cooper(!) and The Bible.

Parents may wish to throw an invisibility cloak over The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter - Sneak Peek, as it is sure to see kids' turn their pester power up to stun. It's a feature concerning a new area at Universal Orlando (due to open in 2010), which is based on Hogsmeade. Featuring some cool looking rides and shops themed on those seen in the book, it won't need much magic to make revenues appear.

Completing the set are nine additional scenes. Several deal with extra explanation of the vanishing cabinet and it's easy to see why they proved unecessary. The best is a scene in which Flitwick is scene conducting the school choir over a rather nice montage, but the film doesn't suffer from its absence. Technical specifications are all fine. A great addition to any Christmas stocking.