This week on Dead Format, we open the shop doors to our first ever guest — North East singer-songwriter, music practitioner, educator and all-round canny lass, Lesley Roley.

Lesley joins James and Matt to talk about the films she reaches for when the world needs shutting out. We drift into the serene painted worlds of Studio Ghibli, find unexpected comfort in muscles and one-liners deep in an 80s jungle, and lose ourselves in the music, the mud and the half-million-strong miracle of Woodstock.

Three films. One duvet. Pull it over your head and press play.

James and Matt are back behind the counter at Dead Format VHS Rental, Gateshead — and this week the villains have taken over.

Six of the greatest screen baddies ever committed to tape. Alan Rickman's Sheriff of Nottingham, Dustin Hoffman's Captain Hook, and the Wicked Witch of the West up against Robert De Niro as Al Capone, Robert De Niro as Max Cady, and Tom Cruise in Collateral.

De Niro twice. Rickman negotiating his own terms. Someone makes the case that Dorothy is the real villain.

Which baddie earns a place on the Ultimate Dead Format VHS Rental List?

Pull up a chair. The hum is back.

Dicky has popped in to the shop to check in on James and Matt at Dead Format VHS Rental, Gateshead — and this week they're going nowhere fast.

Films that make you want to go on an adventure. Three each. Castle in the Sky, Dersu Uzala, Big Trouble in Little China up against The Goonies, Romancing the Stone, and Total Recall.

Miyazaki versus Spielberg. Kurosawa in Siberia versus Kurt Russell in Chinatown. James makes the case for a 1975 Soviet-Japanese co-production as the greatest adventure film ever made.

Which tape earns its place on the Ultimate Dead Format VHS Rental List?

Pull up a chair. The hum is back.

James and Matt are back behind the counter at Dead Format VHS Rental, Gateshead — and this week somebody is getting dust in their eye.

Films that make you cry. Five films between them. Rocky II, Cool Runnings, Grave of the Fireflies, Godzilla Minus One — and one they both chose independently without knowing. The Return of the King.

Which tape earns its place on the Ultimate Dead Format VHS Rental List?

Pull up a chair. Bring tissues. The hum is back.

James and Matt are back behind the counter at Dead Format VHS Rental, Gateshead — and this week the subject is film soundtracks.

Three films each. One coveted place on the Ultimate Dead Format VHS Rental List.

Which scores, themes and needle drops have stayed with them? Which films would be nothing without their music? And which tape makes the cut?

Pull up a chair. The hum is back.

Welcome to the Haunted Video Shop — episode one. James and Matt throw open the shutters on Dead Format Rental, a video shop that only exists in their heads (and hopefully soon, in yours too).

First up: Duvet Day films. The stuff you reach for when you're calling in sick, wrapped in a blanket, and want cinema that asks nothing of you except company. James and Matt dig into their personal picks, why they work, and what makes a proper duvet day watch versus something that's just... a film.

Grab a snack, pull up a shelf, and welcome to the shop.