![Red Dwarf - Series 1-8 [DVD] [1998]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71cTXOqUPtL.__AC_SX300_SY300_QL70_ML2_.jpg)
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![Red Dwarf - Back To Earth - Director's Cut [DVD] [2009]](https://images-eu.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81v-jdWB3oL._AC_UL165_SR165,165_.jpg)
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After several years of indecision in terms of whether the BBC series of Red Dwarf would ever be released on Blu-ray format, finally in the thirtieth anniversary year an upscaled box set was announced. Admittedly, there was a delay from October 2018 to January 2019 for it to finally be released and that was annoying, but is the box set finally worth buying?
Firstly, in terms of the actual episodes themselves everyone knows that the BBC series contains Red Dwarf in its heyday. The petty, pompous and cowardly Arnold Rimmer combines supremely with the slobby, lazy Dave Lister and vain, narcissistic Cat (and senile ship computer Holly) to produce all sorts of insanely funny one-liners and gags. In fact, series 1 - while the stories were not really sophisticated yet - is mostly just the four of them talking in space with all the witty banter, one-upmanship and personality clashes fuelling such first-rate dialogue and conveying the loneliness of deep space 3 million years into the future. However, series 1 - while continually comical - was the foundation and series 2 became the benchmark with more prominent sci-fi ideas being used making the usually stilted genre much more fun. Between series 3 to series 6, Red Dwarf became more thrillingly action-based and more adventurous but anything from the beginning of series 2 until the end of series 6 must be Red Dwarf's late 1988 to 1993 glory days. The 1989 addition of Robert Llewellyn's capable - who provided more of the "best guess" exposition from now on than Holly - but quirky (due to breaking his programming) Kryten only makes the Red Dwarf party even more sensational and Rob Grant and Doug Naylor's characters are even more fantastic because they can be funnily identified with.
However, there is one series that is a personal favourite and that is the last one to be co-written by Rob Grant - series 2 to 6 are all vintage and perfect but 6 is ultra-perfect with its high jokes per minute writing style and heavy but hilarious sci-fi. The giant five finest Red Dwarf episodes ever must be Polymorph, Dimension Jump, Quarantine, Back to Reality and Gunmen of the Apocalypse but any episode from series 2 to 6 is at the very least excellent and generally all spellbinding sci-fi situation comedy and watertight scripts.
Series 7 and 8 were the first to be written mostly by Doug Naylor alone with the occasional co-writer (often in 7) and it can be sensed that the departure of Rob Grant from their "gestalt entity" writing partnership took half of the greatness of Red Dwarf away. The inclusion of Chloe Annett's Kochanski as part of the main cast was a bit alienating too because although Rimmer was arrogant and snobbish also, this Kochanski really is capable and clever unlike Rimmer's humorous incompetence which made her look more awkward although she is better written and more likeable/settled in series 8. But with series 7 becoming more drama based and series 8 returning to comedy with a live audience and the original crew being resurrected by Holly's nanobots then they are both surely half-successful evolutions of the show with - despite some weaker episodes - some exceptional ones that are of the quality of the earlier series.
But in terms of these new Blu-ray versions of the BBC-era Red Dwarf, are they actually an improvement on the existing DVDs? The answer to this is a bit mixed because while some episodes are not much better, some others even in the earlier series are a significant improvement. For a start, there has been some fuss about the 4:3 aspect ratio of these upscales but that was definitely the optimum choice because in 16:9 parts of the picture would have been lost which would have been surely even more unpopular. It is true that it does not fill the entire screen, but it is only small parts at either side that are empty, and the rest of the image is rather large and superior for being in its natural screen size.
The reason why there has been some disappointment and mixed attitudes towards this box set is probably because the promotion hyped up these versions as "glorious Blu-ray." These are in fact upscaled episodes from the inferior source material that is tape and are very likely the very best that they will ever appear and after all it had to be well promoted for it to sell. As stated previously, some episodes show a greater response to the upscaling and colour grading treatment but generally series 1 (as expected due to it being oldest and poorest source material) only shows a bit of improvement while the most spectacular has to be for the series 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 shows, which mostly look sharper and more vivid. In fact, the finest scenes in the three best transferred series (8, 5 and 7) appear rather stunning now and suited to modern TVs. Meanwhile, the first four episodes of series 4 are strong upscales - especially the most part of White Hole which looks very beautiful now - though Dimension Jump and Meltdown's improvements are disappointing. Additionally, I do disagree partly with the reviews that mention that the viewer must have a giant screen, as both a large screen and small one displayed an improvement from the DVDs with the best transferred episodes.
Meanwhile, the sound has also been upgraded for these Blu-ray versions and now some lines that could not be heard properly are now clearer. The menus of the Blu-ray discs are superior too because they load up faster than the visually attractive but annoying old DVD ones and individual shows can be accessed from a single press on a remote from the episode selection menu. Some people have complained that there is no way access a specific scene in an episode unlike the DVDs, but I prefer this as viewing individual chapters gave the episode's story away anyway before it was watched.
However, this box set was not perfect upon initial release because series 3 and the second half of series 5's episodes all had an encoding error. Although it was a shame that this was not detected during quality assurance, by July 2019 the BBC kindly started to issue replacement discs which rectified these frame rate faults. Series 3 presently - despite a slightly too dark colour grade - is clearer and more detailed and the last 3 episodes of series 5 look relatively fantastic now, especially Demons and Angels.
Ultimately, these Blu-ray versions of series 1 to 8 are surely worth purchasing, especially as it is at such a decent price. Admittedly, the extras discs are just the other exact same DVDs from the 2000s individual series releases but at least this box set possesses 19 discs. While some episodes see not much enhancement, there are a number particularly in series 2, 3, 4 (the first four), 5, 6, 7 and 8 which see a more substantial improvement. Hopefully by the time that I have edited this review today (28-5-20) the fixed series 3/5 discs should be included in all the newly sold copies of this box set and these are the best that Red Dwarf's series 2 to 6 golden era are ever likely to appear on our modern screens. Although a lot of the twentieth century, Rob Grant co-written Red Dwarf on these discs are the show's peak, the Dave-era, true HD material is well worth exploring for all Dwarfers who have not watched it yet too and well recommended as Doug Naylor finally became more confident writing on his own from series 10 onwards.
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This item: Red Dwarf - Series 1-8 [DVD] [1998]
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A Brilliant Series
“Smoke me a kipper! I’ll be back for breakfast.” (Ace Rimmer)It’s pointless trying to add anything to the vast number of reviews below that more or less, with little deviation, say that this series is absolutely fabulous. Before purchasing this box set I was a little unsure whether or not I’d enjoy the humour of this crew; but within minutes I was in stitches. The humour and the highly inventive scenarios they come up with in each episode are all staggeringly good. There is some debate as to the best series, etc. In short, I’d say there’s little difference between them, though if push came to shove then I’d have to say that series 1-6 standout as the best, classic Red Dwarf series, as they contain more stand out episodes compared to the latter series. In series 7-8, for example, many of the episodes are split into ‘parts’, which I don’t think worked so well, and, if truth be told, the only episode that really stood out for me here was Cassandra, a story about a computer being able to predict the future. Nonetheless, having said this, all episodes are all worth watching and each series, including 1-6, has its fair share of episodes that could be considered ‘just okay’. But, as a whole, the series throughout is very entertaining and funny. There is also a unique and wonderful chemistry between the actors of Red Dwarf.My favourite two episodes, however, from the series as a whole were: Better Than Life (Series II) and Gunmen of the Apocalypse (Series VI). There are others, but these two stood out for me as they contain all the elements of Red Dwarf at its very best. Sit back and enjoy!I hope you find my review helpful.
Top reviews from other countries
- GgfReviewed in the Netherlands on 23 December 2024
Fine set, absolutely must have for science fiction fans
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