Customer Reviews

Red Dwarf: Series V and VI

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are the last two series of Red Dwarf written by both creators. There are several hilarious and highly innovative episodes in these two series and I still enjoy all of these episodes after many repeated viewings. Episode synopses are included below, but I've tried to avoid spoilers that would ruin any of the great plot twists in some of these, especially Back To Reality, which is certainly one of the best episodes of the series ever.

Red Dwarf Series 5 is filled with wonderful character exploration and insightful social commentary, yet delivers the same hilarious and dense level of humor as the series that came before it. Holoship gives a wonderful, humanizing look at Rimmer beyond the annoying exterior and Back to Reality is a tremendous look at the motivations and inner workings of all of the major characters in one of the funniest Red Dwarf episodes ever; it also delivers a delightful plot twist the first time you see it. Series 5 reveals a great comedy show delivering some of it's very best writing yet. Episodes include:

1. Holoship - Rimmer leaves Red Dwarf to go to the Holoship Enlightenment where he must compete with the best of the Space Corps to remain aboard. Everything he wants is on this ship. Will he make the cut and find true love as well?

2. The Inquisitor - The Inquisitor travels time and erases the unworthy from existence and the Red Dwarf crew, having not led the most productive lives, are on his list.

3. Terrorform - Rimmer becomes a prisoner of his own nightmares and must be rescued by the rest of the crew.

4. Quarantine - Contagion from a viral research centre causes Rimmer to force the rest of the crew to spend twelve weeks in quarantine. But who is really infected?

5. Demons & Angels- When the crew meet their evil doubles, things get unpleasant and the actors get to play interesting twisted versions of their usual characters.

6. Back to Reality - In a great plot twist that I won't give away here, the crew of Red Dwarf find that all things are not as they seem. Will life ever be the same?

Extras features include: Cast Commentary, Fan Commentary on Back To Reality, Fan Profiles, "Bad Guys" Music Featurette, Photo Gallery, Raw Effects Footage, "Heavy Science" Series V Doco, Weblink, "Dwarfing USA" featurette, The SFX of Red Dwarf, Deleted Scenes, Smeg Ups, TrailersBBC2/Skutter Channel idents, Lister Intro To "Best Episode Ever", Isolated Music Cues, Dave Hollins Radio Sketch and 3 Easter Eggs Including an Animated version of Back To Reality.

Red Dwarf Series 6 is the last written by both of the creators, Grant and Naylor and the humor is as sharp as ever. In this series, the ship Red Dwarf is itself missing (literally, the model had been stolen) and so the crew are living aboard Starbug searching for their home, which in the story arc of the series has been taken by parties unknown. The part of the Cat is significantly increased in this series to great effect, although the trade-off is that Holly is missed. The episodes are terrific and highly creative with new situations and dense, seemingly endless jokes. This is Red Dwarf at its apex of creativity and humor. Episodes include:

1. Emohawk, Polymorph II- The crew need to trade with GELFs in order to get a vital piece of equipment, but will Lister survive his wedding night?

2. Psirens- Like the crew in The Odyssey, the Red Dwarf crew must escape the call of "Psirens" if they are to continue on their journey. Can the crew resist the temptation of their dearest desires?

3. Legion- The crew meet a marvelously talented entity who is very helpful, and very dangerous as well. The writers give the character of Rimmer new possibilities and more to do when he acquires a "hard light" body, but will the crew escape their host in order to take advantage of it?

4. Gunmen of the Apocalypse- A great "western" episode that also explores the fun of roleplaying and virtual reality. Fantastic, innovative and funny!

5. Rimmerworld- Rimmer escapes a disaster and ends up stranded alone for a very long time. What will the crew find when they finally catch up to him?

6. Out of Time- The crew meet up with very dislikable future versions of themselves. Will they be able to escape a time paradox that will cause them to become people they despise?

The first time I saw Red Dwarf Series 6 I was truly amazed at the freshness and quality of the writing, and it still makes me laugh out loud after repeated viewings. This is great comedy as well as terrific parody of many science fiction concepts. Highly recommended.

Like the Series V DVD, this set is loaded with extras like outtakes ("Smeg Ups"), deleted scenes, making of featurettes and more.

Honestly - if you enjoy one episode of Red Dwarf you must watch them all.

I watched Seasons 1 - 2 on various channels when I would see them - but mostly never got a chance to see Seasons 3-8 until I bought them on amazon.

I would have to say that the best Red Dwarf is found from Seasons 2-6 hand down. Season 1 is raw and good - Seasons 7-8 have totally diff production styles and other concerns from fans - but some prefer the last two Seasons. /shrug.

Either way - these 2 DVDs hold up with great additional features including some discussion on the US Pilot creation and then the re-shoot of the US pilot. The US Pilots are not included (unless in some secret Easter Egg) but they showed some scenes from the original US pilot but not the reshoot in the bonus material. When BBC makes DVDs of the shows they don't slack on bonus material good for them.

After the wrap up of Season 6 there was a 3 year production gap before Season 7 started back up.

These DVD series are awesome. It's worth buying if you are fan of Red Dwarf. The price is reasonable because I rarely see used Red Dwarf dvds in a used store. I own all 6 DVDs that is written by Chris Barrie. All are worth watching and I think starting the next episode is different writer. I am not sure about the rest of the series but DVD 1 through 6 is deffinitely worth keeping.

Not yet been to Rimmerworld? Never met the Inquisitor or the Psirens? Don't know who Legion is (and how he changes Rimmer's life forever)? If you're a Red Dwarf fan, this is "Don't Miss" stuff! And if you're not convinced yet, the ingenuity of "The Gun Men of the Apocalypse" (the Red Dwarf crew in the wild, wild west) is worth the price alone! Have fun!

Season 5 of this incredibly funny sci-fi Britcom is just about the funniest season the show ever produced! Season 6, although still very good, began a downward slide from which the show would never recover. As I said, this was a good and funny season, although it was becoming obvious that the writers had 'shot their wad' as far as fresh, original and even remotely believable and engrossing material. They needed to throw some changes in to save the show. The writers decided to leave The Dwarfers stuck in Starbug because Lister lost The Red Dwarf, and they spend all of season 6 chasing after their mother ship. A couple of running gags develop in this season, such as tuning in on the fact that Cat should have a greater sense of smell than humans. Also, they play up the fact that Rimmer finally got a hold of The Space Corps Directive Manual, and after a sad attempt to memorize it, constantly misquotes directives in his attempt to rule the ship. Kryten is constantly called upon to correct him. My favorite is when Kryten tells Rimmer, "Space Corps Directive 5795224? Let's see, 'Any officer caught sniffing the saddle of the excercise bike in the women's gym will be immediately discharged without a trial'? That is indeed a good law, sir. But, I hardly see how it helps with our current problem." There is at least one of these misquotes in almost every episode. Once again, season 6 is very funny, but the struggle to maintain a good show starts to become apparent as this series progresses. Season 5, however, is the best season the show ever did. I don't want to break it down epidode-by-episode. There are probably other reviews that do that. But, the show really caught a wave of smegging brilliance here! Whether facing 'their good selves vs. their bad selves', or white holes that spew time back into the universe, or mad hologramatic doctors that want to kill them, "Dispair Squid" who want to induce suicidal fits with hallucinagenic ink or rogue androids that want to erase them from history all together, their quest for survival and the perfect curry continues. These two seasons go good together, and they are a great addition to your Red Dwarf collection. Only a total smeghead would miss these two funny seasons of one of the best Britcoms ever!

The product was shipped and arrived extremely fast! Not one thing wrong with it, no damages! Brand New in it's original wrapping. Mint condition! Great special effects, sound, clarity! Extras & much more! We kept missing it when it was being aired on TV. This way we are never at a wrong time to view our favorite show! A great buy! Very Happy with our purchase, and we've completed our collection now!

I like the extras and features. Much easier to play each episode than series 1 and 2 DVD's.

Great series... everyone should watch! even the extras dvd is great!!!

Anyone who has followed the show from series one will already have noticed how much it chages, but in the past those changes have been undisputedly for the better, culminating in series 4. Now however, the show takes a much sharper turn away from its roots, and begins to take itself too seriously. Plus, you'l notice something very diffrent about the quality of the picture (not neccecarily better or worse, but very diffrent)

Despte all this, no true dwarfer, or sci-fi but, or britcom fan, should miss this without "sevre punishment!". It remains one of the funniest shows on TV. (or off TV, as it were)

I've bought series III. I bought series V and VI and expect to continue buying until I've seen them all. This is typical British style comedy at its best. British TVs, no matter how ridiculous or weird they are, contain wonderful scripts and solid contents. It is very different from many U.S. TVs or films where a lot of emphases were put on pretty settings and big name stars. As a result, US productions are usually expensive, good looking, predictable but little else. Red Dwarf will get you laughing loud and surprised so you really wouldn't mind the minimal backgrounds.