Red Dwarf VII - Series 7 - Xtended [VHS] [1988]

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.

Well the first problem is Rob Grant has left. And it seems he has taken half of the talent required with him. For now it is slapstick sci-fi, with little of the dry wit we had before. No, now we're depdant on Kryten's silly expressions and walks, Cat's occasional squeals and Rimmer's smarm for anything resembling laughs. Even Holly was dumped back in Series 6, but only now does it seem to really be taking effect. Okay, so effort is made in Tikka to Ride why Starbug seems so much bigger on the inside than out... but often the stories try to hard to be smart, and stop trying to be quite as funny.

The change became REALLY apparent with the departure of Rimmer. With Kochanski came too many forced lines, not enough wit... so before long he was back. But alas, "Blue" isn't here, and he wouldn't return properly until Series 8. No, here we have three episodes from Series 7, extended. Are they, then, any good?

No. Possibly the three worst episodes, Tikka to Ride, Ouroborous and Duct Soup are nothing short of tedious. Tikka to Ride at least has an amusing time-travel story, really just abusing the Out of Time story. Ouroborous is the introduction of Chloe Annett's lame Kochanski, and Duct Soup harks back to Series 1/2 claustrophobic humour. It doesn't, however, work this time, as Kryten's irritation value reaches an all time high, and we all cry for the return of Rimmer. Oh, if you haven't seen Stoke Me a Clipper, you won't actually understand where he's gone in Duct Soup. Very clever of the producers to do that, then.

The biggest problem, however, is the canned laughter. Or the lack thereof. Yes it's a cheesy device, but it's become a part of Red Dwarf, often accentuating jokes even further and just making them funnier. And here, not only has it been removed, but the post-joke gaps allowed for it have stayed. So after every amusing line comes a silence, a pause for the actors, as they wait for a riotous giggle and get nothing. If anything it just detracts even further from how funny it should all be.

So it's the weakest bits of Series 7, even longer and more drawn out than they deserve to be, reminding us that when Red Dwarf lost Rob Grant, Rimmer and Holly, it lost most of itself. I suppose the greatest sadness is that Series 8 lost the plot even further, was even less funny and didn't even have the claustrophobia anymore. So in that, Series 7 at least wins out.