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Amazon.co.uk Review
Notoriously, and entirely appropriately, the original outline for Doug Naylor and Rob Grant's comedy sci-fi series Red Dwarf was sketched on the back of a beer mat. When it finally appeared on our television screens in 1988 the show had clearly stayed true to its roots, mixing jokes about excessive curry consumption with affectionate parodies of classic SF. Indeed, one of the show's most endearing and enduring features is its obvious respect for the conventions of SF, even as it gleefully subverts them. The scenario owes something to Douglas Adams's satirical Hitch-Hiker's Guide, something to The Odd Couple and a lot more to the slacker SF of John Carpenter's Dark Star. Behind the crew's constant bickering there lurks an impending sense that life, the universe and everything are all someone's idea of a terrible joke.
Later series broadened the show's horizons until at last its premise was so diluted as to be unrecognisable, but in the earlier episodes contained in this box set the comedy is witty and intimate, focusing on characters and not special effects. Slob Dave Lister (Craig Charles) is the last human alive after a radiation leak wipes out the crew of the vast mining vessel Red Dwarf (episode 1, "The End"). He bums around the spaceship with the perpetually uptight and annoyed hologram of his dead bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie, the show's greatest comedy asset) and a creature evolved from a cat (dapper Danny John Jules). They are guided rather haphazardly by Holly, the worryingly thick ship's computer (lugubrious Norman Lovett). --Mark Walker
DVD Description
Contains all the episodes from Series 1-4 of Red Dwarf:
Series 1:
- 1. The End
- 2. Future Echoes
- 3. Balance of Power
- 4. Waiting for God
- 5. Confidence and Paranoia
- 6. Me 2
- 2. Future Echoes
Series 2:
- Better Than Life
- Thanks For The Memory
- Stasis Leak
- Queeg
- Parallel Universe
- Thanks For The Memory
Series 3:
- 1. Backwards
- 2. Marooned
- 3. Polymorph
- 4. Bodyswap
- 5. Timeslides
- 6. The Last Day
- 2. Marooned
Series 4:
- 1. Camille
- 2. DNA
- 3. Justice
- 4. White Hole
- 5. Dimension Jump
- 6. Meltdown
- 2. DNA
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I can say with complete conviction that this is my all time favourite series of Red Dwarf by a long way. All of the episodes in this series are worth watching from the hilariously funny holoship ("Lister to Red Dwarf, we have in our midst a complete smegpot), to the ever so slightly disturbing Terrorform ("I've been stripped, oiled, licked, chained, humiliated and almost had a knobbly thing the size of a Mexican Agave cactus jammed up where only customs men dare to probe"). Buy this, watch this, laugh, watch it again, and again, and again, get upset when the disc melts from you watching it 400 times.
Also, not only do you get the shows, you also get a selection of highly enjoyable extra features, and if that weren't enough, with this special collectors edition, you even get a little model starbug to play with. What more could you want?
Buy this and I promise you won't be disappointed, especially at this price. I've seen the DVD on it's own for sale in shops for more than this. This is a fantastic item for any Red Dwarf fan, and if you haven't seen Red Dwarf, then this is one of the best series to get you hooked on it - this series is the one that got me hooked.
Happy watching!
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Make no mistake; Red Dwarf was one of the best ever British sitcoms. But whether this DVD set is for you rather depends…
If you are the sort of person that loves extras such as cast and crew interviews, loads of background detail on how things were made, stuff about character progression, that sort of thing, then please don’t buy these. You will do much better with the original release DVDs which feature all sorts of stuff like that.
If on the other hand you’re like me, and perhaps you’ll look at one or two extras just because they’re there, but the reason you want Red Dwarf is to see the episodes then don’t hesitate – buy this set now.
I was looking for series 4 when I found this set - sold my old 1 2 & 3 DVDs here on Amazon and bought this instead. Worked out cheaper for me; and some people who would appreciate the extras much more than I have the full discs. So that’s a result all round I reckon.
Anyway, a thoroughly-deserved five stars. The episodes are here in all their wondrous glory. Truly magnificent British comedy. Just don’t expect any extras!
33 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This boxset lacks the dazzling array of special features available on the individual DVD releases but makes up for it with probably the best value laughs you can possibly buy for £25.
The first 4 series of Red Dwarf sum up everything that was right about BBC 2 during the late 80s and early 90s - ground-breaking, original comedy that was experimental with drama, comedy, genre and featuring new, young, talented actors (Chris Barrie as the acerbic Rimmer and Danny John-Jules as Cat were revelations). With this boxset you can see the evolution from a cheap, studio space sitcom into a lavish sci-fi comedy-drama featuring such brilliant characterisation that you wish TV comedy could stumble across its own stasis leak and rediscover this kind of programme. The first four series are also characterised by a tongue-in-cheek irreverence that never really takes itself too seriously - a factor sadly lacking in the later incarnations of Red Dwarf. (A good example is the Star Wars-style intro to series 3 that explains away the ending of series 2 as they obviously rewrote it as a totally new series - George Lucas could learn a thing or two!)
Laden with the best one-liners in the last 20 years and gleefully celebrating its own ingenuity with episode after episode of classy comic timing, character acting and brilliant scripting, Red Dwarf 1-4 are some of the most brash and confident comedy series ever produced by the Beeb. This gets 5 stars from me and it is thoroughly deserved;
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not impressed.
I thought that I was on to a bargain when I ordered this Red Dwarf V 2-Disc DVD set. Unfortunately when it arrived I removed the wrapping only to find a disc (and the disc tray)... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Ian Fleming
Mr. Flibble's very cross...(Red Dwarf Series V: 2-disc DVD)
Call me a Smeghead but I am just getting round to collecting Red Dwarf on DVD (there's no sign of a pointless blu-ray release yet - thank goodness). Read more
Published 2 months ago by Sticky paw
Good when you're younger
Loved this show when I was younger, still love it as it partly because of what it reminds me. Some of my other friends though that didn't see it when they were younger don't see... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Tomas the Tank Engine
Red Dwarf vols 1-4
The whole family are enjoying seeing these shows again. Our 12 year old son who never saw them the first time around is finding them a hoot. Read more
Published 16 months ago by K. Partridge
Red Dwarf 1-4 Just Shows
Great shows my favouite is series 1 but all are good,
just bought series 5-8 because i liked it so much
brilliant
awsome
fantastic
great
the list... Read more
just bought series 5-8 because i liked it so much
brilliant
awsome
fantastic
great
the list... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Time Dwarf
One of the best series!
The series in which Rimmer finally realises "Why he's such an insufferable prat!" I'm going to rate these individually, even though as a whole, it's 5 stars. Well, it had to be! Read more
Published 20 months ago
Smeggin' fantastic!
As a big Red Dwarf fan I can only praise them for this top quality comedy thats got me through many a rainy day and cheered me up on those 'down days'. Read more
Published 21 months ago by NicNic
fun in the sun.
Here you have the first 4 series of Red Dwarf, with no fancy director's commentries, not 'making of' features, just the shows as they are. Read more
Published 23 months ago by M. Pye
Classic Series
This is sci-fi and comedy at it's best. Another brilliant series from red Dwarf and you also get a starbug with which is cool. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Ben Nicholson
Great sertes with a starbug
This is sci-fi and comedy at it's best. Another brilliant series from red Dwarf and you also get a starbug with which is cool. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2010 by Ben Nicholson
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