The Ten Best DVD box-sets

1 Mad Men Season 1 29.99

The lauded new American drama recently started its second series in the US. Get up to date with season one's cool examination of 1960s New York ad men. Retro-fetishists can buy the box set in the style of a Zippo lighter.

2 Damages Series 1 34.99

Starring Glenn Close in her first major television role as a revered and reviled litigator at an American law firm, Damages is a smart drama about ambition and power. Look out for Ted Danson as a corrupt CEO.

3 Brideshead Revisited 39.99

A new film version of Evelyn Waugh's sacred and profane novel hits cinemas in October but surely it can only pale in comparison with ITV's sumptuous 11-episode adaptation from 1981.

4 Gossip Girl Season 1 29.99

It's this year's essential guilty pleasure. Rich, stylish and beautiful young New Yorkers prance around Manhattan being bitchy to each other. What's not to love? Admit it - you want to watch it.

5 The Richard Dawkins Collection 17.99

Dawkins takes on the deluded and the doubters in this Channel 4 series. The Genius of Charles Darwin does exactly what it says on the tin. The Enemies of Reason looks at alternative health care Root of All Evil? challenges religion.

6 Tanner '88 11.60

Robert Altman and Garry Trudeau blurred reality by running a fictional candidate in the actual 1988 Democratic primaries. Available from www.criterion.com, it's a searing satire of American politics.

7 The Wire Season 5 39.99

Cops and robbers, politicians and journalists, unions and crime gangs: all of Baltimore has been crammed into this stunning exploration of the city, culminating in the fifth and final series, available from September.

8 Pulling Season 1 19.99

Minus the hype of Gavin & Stacey, many argue that Pulling was the superior comedy. Written by and starring Sharon Horgan as Donna, a woman realises she doesn't love her dependable but boring fiance.

9 Flight of the Conchords Season 1 26

"New Zealand's fourth-most-popular folk-parody duo", the Flight of the Conchords, take Manhattan with one obsessed fan, one inept manager and one friend in tow. Deadpan and self-deprecating humour abounds.

10 Entourage Season 3 from 25.99

Live the high life vicariously through HBO's comedy-drama about an actor and his best friends enjoying the Hollywood dolce vita. It's worth it alone for Jeremy Piven's turn as Ari Gold, the crazed agent who cares too much.

The Ten Best is edited by Rebecca Armstrong r.armstrong@independent.co.uk

Copyright c 2008 Independent Newspapers UK Limited. All rights owned or operated by The Independent.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.