Installing the libdvdcss sorted it out straight away. thank you
so much!

Just another quickie... how do I make it so that VLC is my default
media player? I don't really get on with Totem - I hate to say it, but
I know how to do it in Windows, but can't figure it out in Linux. The
"Preferred applications" would be my guess, but I just don't know how to
do it.