Your next box set: The A Team

For much of the 1980s, the A-Team were everyone's lunchbox heroes. The team's quartet of lively, preposterous characters were perfect for kids reliving episodes in the playground: George Peppard as "Hannibal" Smith, the cigar-chomping leader of the pack; Dwight Schultz as pilot "Howling Mad" Murdock; Dirk Benedict as Face, ladies' man and con artist; and of course the show's breakout star, Mr T's BA Baracus. Goofy and action-packed, it was perfect teatime entertainment. Each episode opened with an elaborate, bombastic intro: "In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to military prison for a crime they didn't commit . . . Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire . . . the A-Team." Looking back at it today, with the big-screen version about to hit cinemas, The A-Team is patently a daft proposition. How exactly did you get in touch with them? Was it really a good idea to rely on a pilot who had to be broken out of a mental institution every week? And why didn't flying-phobic Mr T ever get suspicious when he was handed yet another "glass of milk" near a plane? It also contained four key ingredients of the 1980s TV show: catchphrases ("I love it when a plan comes together"); a cool vehicle (a black GMC van with a red stripe); a pumped-up theme tune from Mike Post and Pete Carpenter (also responsible for the intros to Magnum PI, The Rockford Files and many, many more); and a stack of star cameos, including Isaac Hayes, Hulk Hogan, Rick James and – yes! – Boy George. You've just got to love a show whose heroes spend their time helping a farmer getting his produce to market before it starts to rot, defending lobster beds from the perils of being overfarmed, and giving protection to a bunch of drunks – with Hannibal disguising himself as a homeless man called Jim Beam.