Battle in The Mind Field

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It took 2,000 years for someone to make chess better! The most challenging game on earth comes to life in Battle Chess. An entire medieval world at war is reflected on the checkered field. Everyone who’s ever had a knight take a pawn has seen that capture as more than one piece replacing another on the board. In player’s minds, the bold knight, resplendent in his armor of silver or ebon, sallies forth and slays the foul footsoldier. Combat, mortal combat, is the heart and soul of chess, but this aspect of it can only live in the mind’s eye… until now!

One of the most powerful anti-war statements ever put on film, this gut-wrenching story concerns a group of friends who join the Army during World War I and are assigned to the Western Front, where their fiery patriotism is quickly turned to horror and misery by the harsh realities of combat. Director Lewis Milestone pioneered the use of the sweeping crane shot to capture a ghastly battlefield panorama of death and mud, and the cast, led by Lew Ayres, is terrific. It's hard to pick a favorite scene, but the finale, as Ayres stretches from his trench to catch a butterfly, is one of the most devastating sequences of the decade. The film won Oscars for Best Picture and for Milestone's direction – and trivia buffs should note that the actors were coached by future luminary George Cukor, while Ayres became a conscientious objector in World War II.

A European who came to dominate the scoring of westerns, Ennio Morricone is a unique figure in the history of film music. Morricone was born in Rome, the son of a jazz trumpet player, in 1928. He was a precocious musician, starting to compose at the age of six, and studied harmony and composition at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory. Post-war Italy didn't offer many opportunities for a serious composer, and Morricone worked in various jazz bands, as well as serving as a staff composer, arranger, and conductor on Italian radio and television. During the late 1950's, he landed a job as orchestrator and assistant to Nascio Nascimbene, then the leading composer in the Italian movie industry. Morricone began writing film scores in the early 1960's, but he first distinguished himself in the western field.

Fifty years, 11 CDs, 11 Doctors and 389 tracks. This is the release that Doctor Who fans worldwide have been waiting for, assembled after years of research and trawls through dusty archives and libraries. It's a comprehensive overview of the very special music that has accompanied the Doctor over his travels through time and space from William Hartnell in 1963 to present day Matt Smith. From Ron Grainer's iconic theme realised by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop's Delia Derbyshire to Murray Gold's orchestral tapestries, this is a musical saga of monumental proportions. The esteemed collection of composers featured include Tristram Cary, Brian Hodgson, Wilfred Josephs, Dudley Simpson, Geoffrey Burgon, Paddy Kingsland, Roger Limb, Malcolm Clarke, Keff McCulloch, Dominic Glynn, John Debney and many more. The lavish 32 page booklet with the set includes liner notes from Doctor Who composer Mark Ayres on the history of music in the series and details of the episodes.