Customer Reviews

RED DWARF, Series VII, Byte Two ~ 1997 Programs (Duct Soup / Blue / Beyond A Joke) [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

late late at night, I was reading and barely paying attention to what was on, when I heard Kochanski talking to the pipes, and I looked up to see her giving them that weary -- but angry and frustrated -- glare. Her insistence that the pipes could at least make their noise in sequence was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I was hooked. Since then, I've soaked up all things RD. Buy it, buy them ALL, if you can't find them here, search Ebay, but fill your life with Red Dwarf! It's smeggin' brilliant!

"Duct Soup": Kochanski is not adapting well to Starbug. Her room is next to the sewage processor, whose clapped out pipes squeak out the sounds I've put on the title on my review. She is close to breaking something, as she finds Lister's tennis shoes in the fridge and not cotton-cheese with pineapple chunks, and in a hilarious moment, Kryten tries to comfort the tear-stricken Kochanski by giving her... the Heimlich Maneuver!

Then the unthinkable happens. The generator overloads, goes out, and due to a safety precaution, the door to Lister's room locks everyone inside. They have twelve hours to avoid a meteor storm so they crawl through Starbug's service ducts, "two miles of ventways that wind through the ship like intestines."

We learn that Lister has claustrophobia, and Kochanski's attempt to take his mind off it yields another great conversation, as does his explanation to the Cat of what event that caused him to get claustrophobia. Memorable lines. Kochanski on the Cat and Lister watching her underwear spin in the dryer: "A couple of posters, some trailers from the World's Stupidest Stuntmen video, and take it from me, that laundry room will be packed." Kryten on the "Rusty Gate" anecdote relating to Kochanski: "Crossfile B for blackmail, A for anecdote, subcategory for S for so funny, you'll laugh till you're dead."

"Blue": In an attempt to get closer to Kochanski, Lister stops eating spicy foods, which gets on the jealous Kryten's nerves, as he now has extra laundry to do, such as tights, bras, skippy vests, and little socks.

An attempt to get Kochanski back to her dimension not only fails miserably, but gets Lister on her bad side. Lister then finds himself missing Rimmer, of which a wonderful heart-to-heart between Lister and Kochanski results. There's also an observation that it's certain faults and foibles that make people special and unique.

Memorable lines: Kochanski to Lister, in reply to whether she slept well: "I dreamt of a monkey being stretched across a tennis court. Were you playing the guitar last night?" The Cat describes Rimmer as "irritating, awkward, and unsightly. He's the human equivalent of a visible panty line." And when finishing up in the bathroom, Rimmer used three pieces of toilet paper: "One up, one down, one to polish." Continuity error: when aboard Red Dwarf, Rimmer never wore the blue uniform that he gained in "Legion" as seen in a reminiscence scene. The uniforms were actually khaki.

"Beyond A Joke": When the crew decide to play the Articial Reality game Pride And Prejudice Land, interracting with the Bennett family, Kryten, who has prepared a lobster dinner for the anniversary of his rescue, not only forcibly returns them to eat, but literally loses his head when Lister asks for some brown ketchup on his lobster. Fortunately, the ship where they found the AR game has spare mech heads. Unfortunately, a Simulant calls the ship home. As Able, another Series 4000 like Kryten explains, "he's a psychopathic killing machine, but he's got his good points." Able is addicted to Ultrazone, a liquid drug that corrupts circuit boards. "Well, that's what they say but where's the evidence?" A few seconds later, he says, "Have I just said that?" The title refers to what Kryten has evolved from, and a heartwarming conversation between him and Lister establishes that. Comment: Lister says he's not a cartoonivore, he won't eat anything's that's been a cartoon. Given his past diet, he clearly hasn't seen any Foghorn Leghorn cartoons. Love that techno music that's played when they enter the asteroid field!

This was one of actor Don Henderson's last roles before his death. Henderson (the Simulant) played General Tagge in Star Wars (1977). Again, the Simulant's ship is well-realized, as are the asteroids in "Joke" and more deep revelations about Lister, Kryten, and Kochanski make them fuller, richer, and lovable characters. Great stories!

These episodes are true classics. I have every tape there is and I can't wait for series 8!

I am a great Red Dwarf fan, which is why I was horrified by the way Series 7 went after Rimmer left. 'Duct Soup' must be one of the most boring Red Rwarf episodes ever written. What is wrong with these episodes is they lack the complicated and inventive plots of previous series, and the humour is very thin indeed. The characters are now just crude imitations of their former selves and they never seem to explore interesting locations like in older many episodes, just sit around moping. There are some good moments like the Rimmer theme park in 'Blue', and the guest appearance of Don Henderson in 'Beyond A Joke' certainly enlivens an okay episode. But most of this is all just dragged-out and nothing-special. If you're a die-hard Red Dwarf completist then this will be worth it, but just don't use it to show someone new to Red Dwarf how great the programme is.

it is the funniest show I have ever seen I watch it all the time on chanel 2 you will really injoy red dwarf I am true red dwarf fan.

I have followed Red Dwarf since its humble beginnings on the BBC. It just keeps getting better. The nano-bots was an ingenious move to explain the renegade Red Dwarf and how they just can never catch up to it. You must see this show to believe the incredible amount of humor packed into it. Keep it up BBC!