After premiering on UK screens earlier this year on Virgin 1, the hit spin-off series from the “Terminator” franchise, The Sarah Connor Chronicles has just been released on DVD, courtesy of Warner Home Video.  Starring British actress Lena Headey (as seen in “300” and the recent restaging of “St Trinians”) as the title character, the abridged season one packs an action-packed punch which will keep you on the edge of your seat with visual effects that wring the most they can out of a small-screen budget, and an engaging and in many ways unexpected storyline.  The series had such a short run due to the American writers strike, but the good news is Season Two is not far off its Stateside premiere.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles was Virgin 1’s highest rated show ever when it aired earlier this year, averaging 750,000 viewers, eight times the usual rating for its timeslot on the channel.

UK Terrestrial channel five has announced that it is to remake the classic British drama comedy series Minder. It has commissioned six episodes from Talkback Thames. Shane Ritchie (Alfie Moon in Eastenders), will star as Archie Daley, nephew of the original wheeler dealer Arthur Daley.

Taking the place of Dennis Waterman’s Terry McCann, who for the last 36 episodes of the original was himself replaced by Gary Webster as Ray Daley, will be Lex Shrapnel, who has just finished a two year stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Lex will be playing Jamie Collins, Archie’s minder.