how can I play a video tape on my new Matsui HDTV DVD?

I bought a new TV recently, a Matsui HDTV DVD and was assured I could use my old VHS recorder to play tapes. However, despite connecting it up exactly as on my old analogue TV it won't play my videos. It keeps showing 'no signal'. My husband, who uses videos a lot, is very upset about this, and so am I. I feel as if I have been misinformed, or perhaps they did not think it was worth bothering with videos anymore, despite the fact that we have not all progressed to higher things yet.