Synopsis
A haunted VHS rental shop that never closed, tucked away in your neighbourhood, is the only place left to escape to for a duvet day of favourite films—where the internet is down, and the films might just have a life of their own.
Each episode, your hosts (the shop’s employees) chat about films in a freewheeling, nostalgic, and slightly surreal way. Sometimes, a strange VHS turns up. Sometimes, the shop’s mysterious owner leaves cryptic instructions. And sometimes, a film might not end the way you remember it…
Publisher
The staff of the Dead Storage VHS Rental Shop in Gateshead
The Randometer has been found. The rules have been read. Nobody listened to the bit about Wednesdays.
This week James, Matt and Dicky let the spinner decide — and it had opinions. Matt is somehow tasked with defending Nicolas Cage in Titanic. James makes the case for Tilda Swinton in Die Hard. Dicky — with complete conviction — argues that Dustin Hoffman is the right choice for Back to the Future.
It gets worse. Gene Hackman, Steve McQueen and Kevin Spacey are recast in Three Amigos. Samuel L Jackson joins the Ghostbusters. And somewhere, in a parallel universe the Randometer apparently knows about, Bill Murray is on a plane full of snakes.
Whoever spins must defend what lands. No exceptions.
We are so sorry.
13 Oct 2026
Episode 8 : Films that Scared Us
This week on Dead Format, we go back to the films that got us when we were small — the ones that were supposed to be for kids and absolutely were not.
Matt brings Gremlins, Howard the Duck, and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. James brings Return to Oz, The NeverEnding Story, and Flight of the Navigator.
Six films that broke the promise children’s cinema is supposed to keep. We talk electroshock therapy in Disney films, horses sinking into swamps, Gene Wilder doing something genuinely terrifying in a tunnel, and a duck from another planet that nobody asked for.
You were not ready for these films. Neither were we.
29 Sept 2026
Episode 7: Character Crushes
This week on Dead Format, James and Matt get personal. We're talking about the film characters we properly obsessed over — the ones that got under your skin, shaped how you saw yourself, and maybe still do.
Matt goes cool and confident: Chevy Chase in Caddyshack, Steve Martin in Roxanne, and Steve McQueen in The Great Escape. Three men who always know who they are.
James goes somewhere else entirely: Marty McFly trying not to be called chicken, The Dude abiding, and Frances Ha failing gracefully in black and white. Three people still working it out.
The contrast says everything. Pull up a chair.
15 Sept 2026
Episode 6: Mud, Muscles and Miyazaki — Lesley Roley's Duvet Day Films
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.
1 Sept 2026
Episode 5: Baddies
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.
18 Aug 2026
Dead Format — Episode 4: Films That Make You Want To Go On An Adventure
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.
4 Aug 2026
Episode 3: Films That Make You Cry
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.
21 Jul 2026
Episode 2: Film Soundtracks
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.
7 Jul 2026
Welcome to Dead Format Rental (feat. Duvet Day Picks)
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.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Contact Dead Format
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Host of Dead Format?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
