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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
With its scenario established, but refusing to ever accord to genre or TV formatting, the second series of Red Dwarf went right ahead and broke as many rules of taste and convention it could get away with! We're introduced to "Kryten" (although not Robert Llewelyn who was to take over the part late) as the gone-peculiar servant droid attending the literal skeleton crew of a crashed ship. When the lads expect to meet three attractive female officers, watch for the hilarious scene following the line: "We're not on the pull". Then in the game Better Than Life we learn all manner of awful historical Rimmer stories as his skewered psyche spoils an opportunity for everyone's dreams to come true. Last on the tape is an excellent piece of science fiction (oddly enough!) that has everyone trying to solve the mystery of four days missing in their memory. "Thanks For The Memory" is always to be remembered for its masterful recipe for a fried egg chilli chutney sandwich too! --Paul Tonks
Amazon.co.uk Review
The slipcase enclosing this box set of the first three Red Dwarf series proclaims: "New model sequences, new footage, new effects. Digitally remastered sound, digitally enhanced pictures and brand new wooshy [sic] noises!!". It's all a far cry from when the Beeb simply re-used their old Doctor Who tapes, to the fans' subsequent consternation. As it happens, the tarting-up of these earliest episodes from the only successful sci-fi comedy show ever is seamlessly unobtrusive. The premise of the show--a vast spaceship blundering through the cosmos, inhabited by the last human being in the universe, a hologram of his dead bunkmate and a Little Richard lookalike evolved from a cat--was, from the earliest stages, redeemed by its detailed and careful deployment of classic sci-fi plot devices--time travel, virtual worlds, genetic engineering, you name it--with all the care and attention of "serious" sci-fi. However, in Red Dwarf, these concepts are shot through with obfuscation, trivia and the unerring sense that everything is about to go terribly, terribly wrong. So it is, then, that in a parallel universe the crew have feminine counterparts, a new form of spaceship drive looks suspiciously like a large box with stop and start buttons and jigsaws are completed by mysterious forces, to cite but three of the endless highlights contained herein. --Roger Thomas
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The start of series VII. Looks fantastic, apart from a few dodgy, bright CGI shots, great acting, set design and effects etc. But are the episodes any good...
Tikka To Ride-
The cliffhanger is concluded logically. This episode is really quite serious. Not since 'Holoship' have I seen such an acomplished mix of comedy and drama. This is a commendable step forward. The 'time-travel save JFK's life' plot is inventive and thought provoking. The story is truly on a par with 'Gunmen Of The Apocalypse'. Funny in all the right places, and some lovely, character based subtle humour is injected too. Very, very nice. A great start. 4/4
Stoke Me A Clipper-
Series VII continues in sparkling form. This is a fantasically funny and poignant farewell to Red Dwarf's best character - Rimmer. The script is pure series 11 vintage, mixing hilarious gags with charming character study. Not since 'Thank's For The Memory' have the characters been this noble to each other. I like it very much. A fantastic pre-credits Ace Rimmer action sequence and CGI funeral scene highlight this absolutely incredible episode. 4/4
Ouroboros-
With Rimmer gone, for the most part, this episode was under close scrutiny. I'm pleased to say that it more than holds its own. Kochanski is a fine character, seemingly taking Kryten's straightman role while the robot takes up Rimmer's mantle as funniest guy on ship. The show needs a straightman, so this shift doesn't bother me. Very inventive plot, if a little wierd. Funny too, Rimmer's one scene is the best. There's a great Starbug chase sequence in this episode and also some nice character moments once again. Kryten's jealousy is very funny. So what if he whines - he's done it before - 'Polymorph' etc. Ultimately though, this episode proves that Red Dwarf can survive without Rimmer. 2.5/4
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
For 6 years Red Dwarf was one of the most consistently funny TV shows in TV history.
Perhaps Red Dwarf series 6 was beginning to show signs of running out of steam - too many repeating old gags (Dwayne Dibley and Polymorphs) and the same old space core directives over and over. Still funny though. After a long gap and the loss of one of the writers we finally got the return of Red Dwarf series 7. We can clearly see the difference in the two writers in the Red Dwarf books the writers wrote on their own. Doug Naylor's "Last Human" is a good story but not very funny. Rob Grant's "Backwards" is quite amusing but just recycles old TV episodes. Red Dwarf 7 is written by Doug Naylor on his own. Together the writers work very well but they seem to stumble when left alone.
Perhaps Red Dwarf series 6 was beginning to show signs of running out of steam - too many repeating old gags (Dwayne Dibley and Polymorphs) and the same old space core directives over and over. Still funny though. After a long gap and the loss of one of the writers we finally got the return of Red Dwarf series 7. We can clearly see the difference in the two writers in the Red Dwarf books the writers wrote on their own. Doug Naylor's "Last Human" is a good story but not very funny. Rob Grant's "Backwards" is quite amusing but just recycles old TV episodes. Red Dwarf 7 is written by Doug Naylor on his own. Together the writers work very well but they seem to stumble when left alone.
The first things we notice about Red Dwarf 7 are the new computer generated effects and lack of canned laughter. It's even filmed on cinema film rather than video tape for bright colors and an expensive look. The new effects were mildly shocking at first - a lot of the charm of the old series was that it was obviously filmed in the BBC canteen and the props were painted cycle helmets and old computers they found dumped in skips. It a whole new big budget Red Dwarf and a lot of fans remain unsure if it works. It's so different it's almost a different show altogether. It does look very good. Once you get over the shock of the new look the first episode Tika To Ride is quite interesting. We get a very good time travelling story with some funny moments. There are some amusing moments but it is not as funny as before. The story is the main focus rather than the humour which is strange for a so-called comedy show.
In series 7 we lose the character Rimmer and with him we lost both the funniest character, the whole group dynamic and all the relationships that the show was based on. Lister no longer had anyone to wind up and bounce off, Kryten didn't have anyone to belittle him, the Cat had no one to make fun of. The introduction of Kochanski as a regular character was another huge blow. Chole Annet (not the original Kochanski either) plays the character far too seriously and politically correctly and it was just no longer funny. How could the crew be funny slobs as before when they had a women to impress and fawn over?
On this video the actual episode where Rimmer leaves ("Smoke Me a Clipper") is missing!! To leave such an important episode off is bizarre to say the least. Unless you've seen it on TV you will have no idea where he's gone because it's just not mentioned. The second episode on this video (third in the series) is the introduction of Kochanski which is fairly good, with a great performance from Robert Llewellen and some interesting revelations about Lister's past.
The third episode "Duct Soup" is the first without Rimmer and with Kochanski in his place and it's not too great. The extras on this "Xtended" video are quite interesting, especially the hilarious Rimmer Munchkin song from "Blue". But it would have made more sense to put it on the video with the episode "Blue" on it... It seems to me that the running order of this video is wrong. Missing off "Smoke Me a Clipper" and replacing it with "Duct Soup" is stupid because when you buy the Byte Two video of series 7 then you'll have "Duct Soup" twice but not "Smoke me a Clipper" at all.
This video is OK. A lot of things that made the show great were now missing towards the end, but series 7 made up for it in part with some decent stories, especially towards the start. It is not nearly as bad as people say it is and it still has some funny moments. The first few episodes shown here on this video still hold the attention. However I recommend buying the standard video of Byte One of series 7 instead of this Xtended version. It makes for a more complete collection. The extras are not worth losing such an important episode as "Smoke Me a Clipper" for. I have no idea why they left that episode off this video. Maybe it's to make people buy both videos? Anyway, this video is not bad.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The second installment of Red Dwarf VII. Probably the weakest video available, but worth it for the Munchkin Song and some nice character moments.
Duct Soup-
A charming little character-driven episode. A contrived plot, but that is neccessary - we can delve deeper and find out more about Kochanski's character. This episode contains some wonderful stories that, while not as funny as those in 'Marooned' are very charming. It's such a pity the 'Squeaky Gibson Story' was left off. Some really funny lines in this episode. Negatives: the whole pipes thing at the start is irritating and certainly not genius comedy, the conclusion is also less than satisfying. 2/4
Blue-
An episode that suffers from some weak dialogue. However, the character scenes, including the Rimmer flashback sequences are delightful. The fantastic kiss scene being the best of them. Yes, The Munchkin Song is incredible and one of the highlights of the whole series. 3/4
Beyond A Joke-
Robert Llewellyn's episode is, sad to say, rather weak. A pathetic plot with gelfs etc. Are there no other monsters in the Red Dwarf universe? Some totally unsuitable music and poor dialogue. That Able guy is just sooo irritating. Some good lines however and the Tank sequence is funny, at least there's some action. There's also a fantastic scene in the middle between Kryten and Lister where they discuss the robot's creator. Good special effects and a nice turn by Don Henderson. 1.5/4
Most Recent Customer Reviews
red dwarf a personal mirical
well red dwarf a funny, intresting show sit on the sofa stick it in your vcr and your taken into the world of tomorrow even though red dwarf is an old show is is smegging ausum i... Read more
Published on 9 July 2004 by kris douglas
Beginning of the end
TV shows have a sell-by date. When half of the writing team leave (Rob Grant departed after series 6) and the cast start doing slapstick to replace the written gap, you know... Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2004 by "gazthefool"
Three of the best red dwarf episodes ever !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second tape and the last three episodes of series 2.
Stasis Leak, Queeg and Parallel Universe these 3 episodes are hilarious and i would find it hard to single one out as... Read more
Stasis Leak, Queeg and Parallel Universe these 3 episodes are hilarious and i would find it hard to single one out as... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003 by "jk004g9216"
The next installment of this amazing sci fi comedy
With Red Dwarf now firmly established we are given the second series. The first three episodes of series 2 Kryten, Better Than Life and Thanks For The Memory. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003 by "jk004g9216"
Red Dwarf the best comedy programme ever ?
The second tape and the last 3 episodes of series 1, is ok and again i prefer the original versions. The episodes are Confidence and Paranoia, Waiting for God, and ME 2 . Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003 by "jk004g9216"
the begining of possibly the best comedy program ever !!!!!!
I have been a fan of Red Dwarf for a number of years now, so i thought i would write a review. I don`t have a problem with the remastered versions of series 1 to 3 but in my... Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2003 by "jk004g9216"
red dwarf the best comedy program ever?
the first of many red dwarf videos, red dwarf I byte one the end
contains the first three episodes of this now classic program. Read more
contains the first three episodes of this now classic program. Read more
Published on 4 Nov 2003
Red Dwarf
Hilarious BBC sci-fi comedy. Very entertaining. There's a splendid mix of drama and comedy in all three epidodes.
Kryten, Better Than Life and Thanks For The Memory.
Kryten, Better Than Life and Thanks For The Memory.
Published on 12 April 2003 by Suzi
Some of the funniest Red Dwarf episodes ever
When Red Dwarf started it was mad eon a pittance, lacked Kryten for most of the first 2 seasons, and leant further towards comedy. And it was fantastic. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2003 by Martin
The Dwarf Dies
There's only one word to describe this series - Terrible. Not an easy word for a devoted Dwarf fan to utter but this series was truely the worst I have ever seen. Read more
Published on 18 Feb 2003 by Ms. L. Thacker
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