Customer Reviews

Red Dwarf VII - Byte One [VHS]

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When I heard that Chris Barrie was not going to star prominently in the seventh series I almost refused to watch it. I figured I could never enjoy Red Dwarf sans Rimmer. Happily, I was mostly wrong; I do enjoy the seventh series, although I don't find it as fantastic as the preceeding six seasons. Furthermore, Rimmer's absence is not truly felt until the latter half of the seventh series. He is featured in all three episodes of Byte one.

Tikka to Ride is hilarious. Also, it's nice to have a plot focus on the U.S. for a change of pace. Lister's weakness for curry leads him to alter one of Kryten's spare heads, take the crew time traveling, and mess up the course of important historical events. After making Rimmer the butt of most jokes it's pretty cool to see Lister getting pummeled in the end.

Stoke me a Clipper is Rimmer's swan song. Although Chris Barrie returns for the 8th series, the Rimmer who traveled and cowered under tables with the crew for six subsequent seasons is gone. Ace Rimmer returns to help give him a very appropriate send off. Red Dwarf is incredibly skilled at portraying solemn moments with a high degree of humor.

Ouroboros covers a lot of ground in half an hour. The history behind Lister and Kochanski is explored (the Altered history, as anyone watching the series from the beginning will notice), Kochanski is brought on board Starbug as a regular crew member, and Lister's origins are discovered in a wildly twisted manner. This episode is very skillful in revealing a great deal while maintaining its lightheartedness.

The seventh series seems to generate a high degree of mixed reviews among Red Dwarf fans. Certainly, it differs dramatically from the earlier seasons. However, the continual evolution of this wonderful show is part of the draw for many. I highly recommend checking it out for yourself.

I think a lot of people don't really like series 7 of Red Dwarf is because they had to wait to long for its release. The build up of anticipation was too much for many of us. Then to top it off there isn't a laugh track added (which I don't mind personally, but it can kill certain scenes that are very funny). There is also the departure of Rimmer which people point to as a major blow to the series, but if you never lose Rimmer for a short time then you never get that wonderfully funny scene in "Blue" of series 7 byte 2 where Lister finds himself actually missing the smeghead. If you need someone to blame I would point the finger strongly at the unfunny addition of Kochanski. If you haven't ever seen Red Dwarf definitely don't start with this tape, however, if you're a fan this is a must have.
The first episode "Tikka to Ride" - this has some good laughs, but overall isn't something you're going to watch over and over again. Curry is the root of all evil.
The second episode is "Stoke Me a Clipper" - this is the controversial episode where Rimmer leaves for a time. In this episode Rimmer realizes and accepts his destiny as Ace Rimmer and leaves the Dwarf.
The third episode is "Ouroboros" - the curse of the very unfunny Kochanski is very alive is this episode, but despite her better efforts to ruin the series somehow they make it through this series.

Let me tell you what your missing out on if you choose to ignore the much critised series 7: A breathtaking episode called "Stoke me a clipper", which can only be described as BacktoRealityEsq in terms of genius! Two of the funniest Red Dwarf scenes EVER in "Blue". Some thrilling scifi in episodes "Tikka to ride" and "Beyond a joke". A wonderful character episode called "Duct Soup". A zombie gross-out in "Epideme", laughs by the second in "Ouroboros" and the return of the original Holly in "Nanarchy". Also Red Dwarf 7 has superior direction and performances to the other seasons(with the exception of RD6- which is possibly the best ever).

I was so impressed with this series, and really hate to hear people insult it. I thought the addition of Kochanski was brilliant- so much so that it made up for the absence of Rimmer. People should give it the credit it deserves- after all, without series 7 our favourite heroes would be dead. Smeg on...

I loved this video because it's RED DWARF but I was a little shocked that the laugh track was not put in. I never realised how much I miss it. Otherwise, it's still the smeggest show around.