Customer Reviews

Red Dwarf - Series 3, Byte 2: Body Swap [VHS]

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This is a great place to start if you're interested in getting your first taste of Red Dwarf. Although I would recommend starting with Byte 1 of this series just so you get to see series three in its entirety. I would recommend you wait for the DVD release of series three, which should be soon. Series I and II are already on DVD and are great. If you don't have a DVD player and are looking for a good excuse to buy one Red Dwarf is it.
The first episode is "Bodyswap" - What are friends for when you're dead and a hologram other than a bodyswap? Rimmer manages to weasel his way into Lister's body for a short agreed upon term so that Lister can lose some weight. The time that was to be short grows, as does Lister's belly while Rimmer rediscovers the joys of a real live body again.
The second episode is "Timeslides" - Here the crew manage to find some mutated film developer and use it to time travel. Very interesting concepts in this episode along with a great final punch line.

The last episode in series three is "The Last Day" - The crew find out the Kryten's time number is up, but manage to scare him enough into doubting the existence of Silicon Heaven. They scare him so bad, in fact, that he decides to break his programming to put off the inevitable.

Another tape from the peak time of Red Dwarf (series' 2-5).

"Bodyswap" - Rimmer and Lister switch bodies a couple times. Poor Craig Charles has to dump gravy all over himself.
"Timeslides" - After finding some mutated developing fluid, the crew travels through time to places and times that they have pictures of. Very funny even if the idea behind it is somewhat ludicrous.
"The Last Day" - It's time for Kryten to go to Silicon Heaven, but after a night of drunken debauchery, he decides he's not ready. Very nice story that challenges modern religious notions.

The third season of Red Dwarf often seems to suffer from technical difficulties. The camera work was sometimes rather shoddy, with a streaming effect going on as the characters moved. Luckily, the brilliance of the scripts and the actors made up for this unfortunate underbudgeting.

Timeslides begins with Lister in a very bad mood. It's about time his situation got him down...he's marooned with the self-obsessed Cat, Kryten the workaholic and...Rimmer ('nuff said). This episode makes fun of time travel and causality; a common theme in Red Dwarf and one that never goes stale.

Bodyswap is terrific. Chris Barrie and Craig Charles get to play one another (with the help of voice-over work) as Rimmer convinces Lister to swap bodies for a week or so. Trouble is, Rimmer doesn't relish the idea of becoming a hologram again...

The Last Day centers around Kryten and his belief system. A fun gibe at Christianity is taken. Features Lister's best line ever, "Don't give me that Star Trek crap, it's too early in the morning!"

I can't recommend Red Dwarf enough. This is a hilarious British Sci-fi comedy series.