With a title sequence that no mainstream show would ever dare use today, mid-‘90s British anthology series Chiller gets a long overdue release on DVD. The five contemporary supernatural tales are entertainingly played out with familiar faces from TV past and present cropping up to keep the entertainment quotient high.

The first episode, ‘Prophecy’, with Sophie Ward as the put upon British Museum employee who flirted with a séance years before, has Final Destination overtones as members of that fateful evening are bumped off in order (including a carbon-copy unexpected car crash moment and an Omen-like plate glass decapitation). ‘Toby’ has Martin Clunes (Men Behaving Badly) as a recently bereaved husband who cannot bring himself to believe that his newly pregnant wife is possessed by the spirit of their recently deceased child – whom they would have called Toby.

‘Mirror Man’ (as it is titled on the disc, though to give the piece its full title: ‘Here Comes The Mirror Man’) features a young John Simm (Life On Mars) as a spooked youth with a mysterious friend who goads him into murdering an elderly social worker. Our personal favourite, ‘The Man Who Didn’t Believe In Ghosts’, has a clear connection with the superb Ghostwatch as Peter Egan fools us into believing that a TV show (presented by Angela Rippon no less!) with spirit boxes and illusions is real, before denouncing it all as bunk. However, his scepticism is shaken when the new mansion he and his wife move into begins to exhibit supernatural goings on. The episode was written by Anthony Horowitz (who also writes the final episode) and the taught structure is readily rewarding.

The slightly confusingly titled fifth and final episode, ‘Number Six’, is also a highpoint, and is perhaps one of the most memorable to anyone who remembers the original show. It finds Kevin McNally (Pirates Of The Caribbean) investigating a child murderer who strikes when the moon is full and finds a harrowing connection to the next potential victim (number six) within his own family.

Criminally there are no extras whatsoever, which mirrors the lack of push that it got at the time as a prime-time Saturday night series on ITV back in 1995. That said, the fact that it has been released at all is fantastic news for fans and purveyors of this weird and well-acted show.

Released on DVD on Monday 28th February 2011 by Network.