It's not so much to ask for, whether it's Santa bringing the gifts, or it's little pagan solstice elves, or whoever. I just want some nice new DVDs to keep my player warm through the cold winter nights. Like maybe one or two or ten of these:

• Doctor Who: The Complete Series 4 (out November 18 from BBC Video): Okay, technically speaking, I do already own this set. But if I didn't, I'd be salivating like mad for it. Because Doctor Who is what made me the geek that I am, back in the '80s, and is reminding me, in its new incarnation, how big a geek I am capable of being. Which is very big indeed.

• The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus - Collectors Edition Megaset (out November 18 from A&E Home Video): It's 21 discs of crazy intellectual anarchy from the only guys ever to have made Proust funny. What self-respecting geek wouldn't want this?

• The Dark Knight (out December 9 from Warner Home Video): I can't wait to revisit Heath Ledger's terrifying and intense turn as the Joker. If only we could do IMAX at home.

• Hall & Oates: Live at the Troubadour (out November 25 from Shout! Factory): I said I was a child of the '80s, didn't I? "Maneater"? Best song ever.

• The X Files: I Want to Believe (out December 2 from 20th Century Fox): I miss Mulder and Scully, and I want to spend some more time with them. Even if, having seen this flick this summer, it's kind of a rerun to see it again in DVD.

• Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Collection (out December 16 from A&E Home Video): It's the whole TV series plus the two movies -- Bean and Mr. Bean's Holiday -- plus the animated show. I don't know if I'll be into the cartoon, but Rowan Atkinson's live-action Bean is like a modern Harold Lloyd meets Looney Tunes. Good stuff.

• Hamlet 2 (out December 23 from Universal Studios): I want to linger over those songs. Rock me, sexy Jesus!

• The Duchess (out December 27 from Paramount): I know it sounds bizarre, but trust me -- Ralph Fiennes is deadpan-hilarious as the cold Duke. And I'm still not even used to the idea that Fiennes can be funny at all.

And because Christmas actually, technically extends to Little Christmas, in early January, I'm including these, too:

• Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0 (out January 6 -- Twelfth Night -- from Universal Studios): The clues to who the last secret Cylon is are in this season, I just know it. And I must figure it out before the upcoming final season reveals it.

• Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday and Doctor Who: The War Machines (both out January 6 from BBC Home Video): See above for my intense devotion to the Doctor. Doomsday features my favorite Doctor, as played by Peter Davison, and The War Machines is one featuring the first Doctor, as played by William Hartnell, that I've actually never seen -- a lot of those very early episodes were presumed lost and have only recently been found.

Oh, and I want something else for Christmas, too: time to watch all these DVDs. But that could be tougher than peace on Earth.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MaryAnn Johanson (email me)
film reviews and TV blogging at FlickFilosopher.com

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