THAT glossy US soap Dynasty has a lot to answer for - shoulder pads, a revival in Joan Collins' career and Howards' Way.

Whoever thought that a family sailing soap about water not oil, and set under the cloudy skies of the British coast would be successful must have been mad. Or a former Spitfire pilot named Gerald Glaister, who conceived this "boats, boardrooms and bedrooms" saga that sailed across BBC1 screens from 1985 to 1990.

He also created Colditz, Secret Army and, more importantly, The Brothers about a family haulage business. Howards' Way was a damp version of the latter that we can now relive thanks to the miracle of DVD.

Howards' Way - "the first Thatcherite soap" as some wag called it - found redundant aircraft designer Tom (Maurice Colbourne) spending his golden handshake on investing in a boatyard in financial trouble.

His wife Jan (Jan Harvey) is rarely without a glass in her hand and a man in a blazer by her side. Never mind that Tom has lost his job and won't be able to support her penchant for white trouser suits and floral blouses. She has more pressing domestic matters. "You could at least have stacked the dishwasher," she tells him. She decides she'll have to work full-time although her medallion man boss Ken (Stephen Yardley) is more likely to find a use for her on top of the desk than behind it. When she rings him, she notes that he sounds muffled, probably because he has a naked blonde on top of him. He apologises for "a little bit of interference" and says he'll "give the receiver a bang". It's not the phone that gets a slap. He also swears like a trooper ("hell's teeth") and delivers his philosophy for life in the following terms, "Women dress to impress other women and only undress to impress us."

Tom, meanwhile, is getting to grips with nautical life, well nautical terms, as he talks of having "to trim out our sails".

Howards' Way, not to be confused with Howards End or any other part of Howard, is entertaining in a camp and kitsch way. Another Maurice Colbourne series new to DVD is more serious stuff. Gangsters ran on BBC1 from 1976-8 after the main character, ex-SAS officer John Kline debuted on a Play For Today by Philip Martin.

Now he's working for a DI6 agent Khan (British TV's first ethnic leading man, Ahmed Khalil) in the Birmingham underworld. Chinese triads, pimps, whores, extortionists, terrorists, drug-pushers and illegal immigrants are all part of the scene and proof that nothing much has changed in the Midlands or anywhere else. The series ran into trouble because of its graphic violence. The first episode shows a man having his hand shut in a car door and another being hit with a baseball bat. All very mild by today's blood-and-guts standard but apparently shocking back then. Philip Martin's dialogue is neat enough. "All I owe you is two fingers from a fast-moving train," says Kline, rejecting a dodgy job offer. And later, "you're in excrement creek without means of propulsion".

Of course, it looks as dated as - and very similar to - an episode of this year's big TV hit Life On Mars but is well worth a look. The release also includes a documentary on Gangsters from the Open University, studied as part of the popular culture course.

The first series of Casualty, another new DVD release, has a certain nostalgia and cultural value. This dates back to 1986 when Charlie Fairhead (Derek Thompson) looked young, drove a yellow Beetle and smoked (cigarettes, nothing stronger). Megan and Duffy were on duty too. And so was Baz, with whom Charlie would form an intimate attachment in later episodes.

Some things never change. There were worries about staff in casualty being overworked and underpaid. "Casualty gets more violent every night. Staff get paid a pittance and work long hours and no one thanks them," moaned the hospital administrator.

Never mind the crisis in the NHS today, back then Holby A&E was under-equipped and borrowing essentials from other departments. They had no choice. "You try telling a 6ft drunk with a Stanley knife you've run out of swabs," it was explained.

And just like today's Casualty, there was a disaster waiting to happen. "Some sort of leak" - as opposed to a giant leek - at the East Docks meant a trolley-load of injured people were wheeled in. Unlike today's Casualty disasters, the number of patients didn't run into double figures.

At least it meant a bit of variety for Charlie on top of the routine list of "one shingles, one poisoning and one golf ball on the head".

Casualty, series one, is released to buy on DVD in a four-disc box set (£29.99). The complete Gangsters series (£39.99) and Howards' Way, series one (£15.99) are also available to buy.