Warning! - long review ahead.

If like me you find the “Bonus” material on DVD packages to be, by and large, a total waste of time, you may well find the release of Red Dwarf “Just The Shows” to be a real tonic. For the price of about two of the individual episode bundles, you get all the episodes from the first four series. You get no bonus material whatsoever – it is, as it says, just the shows. Hurrah!

The packaging is minimalist but stylish, with a four-way folding DVD holder in a compact box. The DVD menus are there to give you what you want with the minimum of fuss – access to each episode and a “Play All2 function. What more could you possibly want?!?


Overview

On board the mining ship Red Dwarf are two highly trained technicians… well, soup machine attendants really. After ending up in stasis for three million years, one finds himself on a ship only inhabited by himself and a hologram of the other technician – who has managed to wipe out the entire crew. A creature that evolved from the ship’s cat is also onboard, though he’s not exactly used to humans… Oh yeah, and there’s a ship’s computer with an attitude…


Series Overview

In series one we see the characters introduced and the action mainly takes place on the ship. Despite these two factors the pace starts off quickly and never slows down, and the jokes come as thick and fast as in any other series. Watching the pilot episode, it’s easy to see why Red Dwarf quickly developed a cult following in the UK.

Series Two differs from the first in that much of the action takes place on various planets instead of just the ship, and Holly (the ship’s computer) is probably more mobile in this series than any other. The plots are clever and inventive, making good use of the new scope for exploration beyond the ship. The best episode, though, is the one based entirely on Red Dwarf…

When Series Three emerged, the show had gained significant popularity and had a far bigger effects budget. This really showed in the production quality, but it was still the hilarious scripts and brilliant acting that made this so wonderful. The first series I ever saw and still one of my favourite – though that’s an impossible decision.

Series Four was one I hadn’t remembered being particularly good, but when I watched it again I found myself rolling on the floor laughing. (Not quite literally, but nearly.) Many of the episodes I’d remembered being in series Five were actually in Four… Even though the series is in many ways much more adventurous than the previous three, it remains true to its essence and the best episodes are still those that explore the main characters’ psyches.


Meet The Crew

Dave Lister - the last human in the universe, though some would say he doesn’t really meet the criteria for a human being. To Lister, hygiene is a mystery, a good diet consists of three vindaloos daily (in case vindaloo is a uniquely British word, it means an extremely hot curry), and life generally consists of bumming around and annoying Rimmer. Don’t get the wrong idea though – he’s a nice guy at heart and actually becomes the social conscience of the crew. (Which doesn’t say at lot for the rest of them…)

Played by: Craig Charles

Arnold Judas Rimmer - a hologram of the crew member whose laxness was responsible for the accident that caused the deaths of the entire crew, Rimmer annoys everyone he ever meets. He repeatedly fails exams, has never had a serious relationship in his life, has a collection of photographs of twentieth-century telegraph poles (and cannot understand why nobody ever wants to see them…), and likes elevator music. (See I even used an Americanism! I’m so good to you…) In short, he’s a complete loser and the last person in the universe you’d want to spend the rest of your life with. Often known as “Goalpost Head” and regarded as a “sad, pathetic weasel of a man”.

Played by: Chris Barrie

Cat - a creature that evolved from Lister’s cat 3 million years ago. (Hey this is science-fiction after all…) Just like a cat he is totally vain, self-obsessed, and always preening himself. Interested in nobody but himself, Cat gets many of the funniest lines in the show. Over the course of the four series he gets progressively less cat-like but never completely loses his origins. You know he’s ill if he talks about wanting to wear paisley suits…

Played by: Danny John-Jules

Kryton - a series 4000 mechanoid with a head shaped like the unsharpened end of a pencil, Kryton only appears briefly in series 2 before getting a makeover and becoming a full member in series three and thereafter. Originally a subservient droid capable only of doing what he is told to by human masters, Lister succeeds in breaking his programming (or some of it). Kryton gets some hilarious lines that are even funnier because you don’t expect them of him.

Played by: Robert Llewellin (the only original cast member to feature in the awful US Pilot of the show)

Holly - the ship’s on-board computer. Laconic in the extreme but highly intelligent – at least at some point in time. Star of one of the funniest episodes ever (Queeg). After he meets his female counterpart in Parallel Universe, he decides to take her form in Series 3. Holly is never as funny in series 3 and 4 as in 1 and 2, but not a complete disaster.

Played by: Norman Lovett (series 1 and 2), Hattie Hayridge (series 3 and 4). If I remember rightly, Holly reverted back to his old self and was played by Lovett again in series 6 (though after 5 it was never anywhere near as good).


Episode Guide

Series One

The End

It all begins (ironic, huh?) The characters are introduced and not a great deal happens (unless you count 3m years passing, the extinction of the entire crew, and the emergence of a new life-form as nothing…). Holly plays a starring role, especially as he tries to explain to Lister that all the crew are dead. (“They’re all dead, Dave” has never sounded funny before this…)

Future Echoes

The brilliant imagination of writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor is given an early showcasing here as the crew witness future events when the ship breaks the light speed barrier. “From this point, things are going to get just a teensy bit complicated”, announces the head of a future Rimmer… and it does.

Balance of Power

Rimmer is a genius at failing exams. His constantly trying to pull rank over Lister leads Dave to take the Chef’s exam, which if he passes will give him a higher rank than his hologrammatic cabin sharer…

Confidence and Paranoia

Herring rain pours down as a strange mutated virus makes anything possible on Red Dwarf. Things really become interesting when Dave’s confidence and paranoia become anthropomorphic personifications… and Rimmer is siding with Paranoia…

Waiting for God

A strange unidentified pod is discovered, leading Rimmer to conclude that aliens are afoot. But then that’s what he always thinks, and he’s always wrong… or is he?

Me2

Rimmer creates a perfect partner for himself – him. But he finds out just how annoying he is and quickly gets on his nerves…

Best of the series: Confidence and Paranoia


Series Two

Kryten

Red Dwarf receives a distress call from a ship containing three females (a life form not encountered very often by the crew of RD). Rimmer is determined to make a good impression, but he’s in for a bit of a shock… Kryten is introduced in this episode but is not the finished article, and doesn’t appear again in this series.

Better Than Life

A really cruel episode! The crew play the new game “Better Than Life”, a total immersion video game where you are, to all intents and purposes, actually there. Sadly, Rimmer’s psyche can’t accept anything nice happening to him, and things start to go wrong – not only for him, though.

Thanks for the Memory

After celebrating the anniversary of Rimmer’s death (not uncommon for Holograms to celebrate, apparently), four days simply appear to have vanished from everyone’s memory. The crew set out to discover what happened… (An excellent episode, only just pipped for best of the series.)

Stasis Leak

A stasis leak on one of the lower deck allows the crew to go back in time three million years and visit their old crewmates. Another example of Grant & Naylor’s creativity with the whole time travel concept.

Queeg

Holly is found wanting in his role as the ship’s computer. So wanting, in fact, that the emergency back-up computer, Queeg, assumes control. The crew fail to really stand up for Holly but soon wish they can get him back as regulations are enforced mercilessly…

Parallel Universe

Holly creates the “Holly Hop Drive”, which enables them to visit a parallel universe. A funny satire of the battle of the sexes ensues, though Cat’s equivalent in the parallel universe is not quite what he expects…

Best of the series: Queeg


Series Three

Backwards

Red Dwarf manage to return home, but something’s wrong – everything’s going backwards. While this seems to hold certain advantages over the way we’re used to, things can’t possibly last. Some truly disgusting moments here.

Marooned

Lister and Rimmer find themselves marooned on an ice planet with only pot noodle and dog food for Lister to survive on. (“Well it’s obvious what’s going to be the last thing to be eaten… I can’t stand Pot Noodle!”) They each find out that they have more noble characteristics than either thought possible in the other… well, nearly…

Polymorph

A shape-shifting, genetically mutated monster that sucks the emotions out of its victims roams free on Red Dwarf. Soon the crew have very different characters than previously…

Timeslides

In the obligatory series episode to deal with time travel, Kryten discovers that the developing fluid has mutated. Photos become alive, and the crew can actually enter them. Hitler’s briefcase is stolen (briefly), and suddenly anything seems possible – including a way out of his futile existence for Lister. But will his previous self listen to his ingenious plan?

The Last day

Poor old Kryten discovers that he’s nearly reached his expiry date. Firmly believing in Silicon Heaven (Lister’s interpretation is being opposite Bridgette Neilson in a packed lift) he is not worried, but Lister tries to break his programming. However, as Kryten so aptly puts it, if there’s no silicon heaven, then “where do all the calculators go?!?!”.

Best of the series: Polymorph


Series Four

Camille

A Genetically Engineered Life Form causes havoc with the crew’s emotions, with Kryten especially affected – despite the fact that he’s not really programmed to have emotions. A hilarious spoof of the classic film Cassablanca ensues…

DNA

On finding an alien ship, the crew decide to explore. But should Cat really be messing around with controls that he doesn’t understand? Particularly when they’re the controls of a DNA alteration machine… Uh-oh. Among other things, a Vindaloo monster emerges that can only be vanquished by one thing… (One of the funniest lines of the series, but I can’t quote it here in case it spoils the moment for you.)

Justice

Another pod is discovered that either contains a beautiful woman or a psychopathic android. What a dilemma. The answer seems to be to take it back to the penal colony it was launched from – if it turns out to be the woman they can release, if it’s the android they let the prison take care of it. Just one problem… when they enter the prison, the crew themselves find themselves on trial…

White Hole

Cat: “So what is it?”
Kryten: “I believe this is known as a white hole. Black holes suck time out of space, white hole put it back in.”
Cat: “So what is it?”
Kryten: “I believe we’ve encountered this time stream before.”
Cat:“So what is it?…
…
Only kidding!”

Dimension Jump

There is a theory that each decision is played out in a different dimension. There is in fact a dimension where Arnold J Rimmer was a hero. When he pilots a craft designed to break the speed of reality and enter other dimensions, he meets the Arnold J Rimmer that we know and… well, we know. He’s not impressed…

Meltdown

Kryten discovers a machine that can instantly transport people to any point in time and space.

Best of the series: Justice


Humour

I guess it’s fair to say that the humour is very British, so if that will put you off it would be a big factor against you getting this! Much of the humour stems from the relationship between Lister and Rimmer; Cat and Kryten provide funny one-liners but their characters are basically incapable of meaningful feelings. The science fiction element is used to the full for humour, but some episodes rely entirely on the human element, and this isn’t to their detriment. Though the humour never really stops, there are many moments in different episodes that are actually quite poignant. The balance is, as far as can realistically be achieved, quite perfect.

Overall Rating

Each episode is worth 8, 9, or 10/10. There really are no bad ones, and the best are absolutely priceless. There is a bit of crudeness in it admittedly but unless you’re really easily offended it’s not a big problem. I’ll put the full rating details below anyway for your information.

If you like comedy sci-fi, this is about the pinnacle, with only Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy being as good. Perhaps the absolute best series is series five, which I shall review individually later, but every series from one to four is brilliant in its own right. I can’t recommend it enough to fans of comedy sci-fi. The success of the show is remarkable considering how much difficulty Grant & Naylor had even to get a pilot episode aired.

Other Details

Starring: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn, Norman Lovett, Hattie Hayridge.

Written by: Rob Grant & Doug Naylor.

Produced by: Rob Grant, Doug Naylor, Ed Bye.

Directed by: Ed Bye.

Executive Producer: Paul Jackson.

Subtitles: English SDH

Sound: Dolby digital stereo.

Regions: 2+4 PAL UK

Total running time: 674 mins approx.

Rating Information

Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over (UK and Irish rating)

Theme / Other: Mild drug references
Language: Some mild, implied strong
Sex / nudity: Some moderate references
Violence: Infrequent, mild


Related Links

Top Ten Sci-Fi Series
Futurama Season One
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – TV Mini-Series
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – The Book



Inspirational?!?!

This was an entry to JanKp’s Artistic Inspiration Write Off. Possibly an unconventional type of artistic inspiration but then I’d hardly describe myself as normal!

Red Dwarf, along with The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (The book and the TV series – never heard the radio play) provided much of the inspiration for my own comedy sci-fi series, Captain Disaster, and some other comedy sci-fi I’ve written. I think the main inspiration was the way it takes genuine scientific principles or theories and turns them on their heads, or creates hypotheses so bizarre that it turns you on your head. I have tried (with varying degrees of success!) to incorporate this sort of thing in m own writing, though in some ways what I’ve produced is even more surreal than Red Dwarf. A good example of this is episode 6, “Timedrive”. I guess some of the inspiration for this idea originally had its murky origins in the Hollyhop Drive of “Dimension Jump” in series two.

Despite providing my warped brain with some inspiration, however, both Red Dwarf and Hitchikers are infinitely superior to my own creation because they create their own universes and humour, whereas mine relies heavily on parody for humour in most episodes. Still, I hope that a certain resonance of the quality of these two comedy sci-fi legends manages to shine through in my own writing. Funnily enough I’ve never actually read any of Red Dwarf (I realise ho remiss of me this is!). I guess I’ll get round to it someday.



Read a Captain Disaster episode:

Episode 1 - "The Planet-Eater of Acturus"
Episode 2 - "A Beta Burger"
Episode 3 - "Wormhole"
Episode 4 - "Mecenaries"
Episode 5 - "A Newish Hope"
Episode 6 - "Timedrive"
Episode 7 - "Correctness, Politically Speaking"
Episode 8 - "Virgin on the Ridiculous"
Episode 9 - "Lighter Than Fast"
Episode 10 - "Do Androids Dream Of Electronic Beeps?"
Episode 11 - "How to cook an omlette in only 12 seconds"


Oh and thanks Shannon for adding this to the DB for me. :-D

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older