Regan

Besides the 77-minute pilot, this digitally restored DVD includes a commentary by actor Dennis Waterman, producer Ted Childs and director Tom Clegg. More pub chat than critical analysis, the trio wheeze their way through the show, struggling to remember faces and names. It's all genial stuff, if frequently off-the-wall.

The interview with scriptwriter Ian Kennedy Martin is more revealing. An early champion of John Thaw - he picked him out from an episode of The Avengers - Martin insisted that the RADA actor land the role of Regan. Both men were hard living. "We were alcoholics," admits Martin, before recounting how Thaw would arrive on set straight from a night out in Soho. But there's also a deep respect. Thaw was "the consummate professional" - always learning his dicky birds (words) on the Sunday before a shoot.