Product Details

• Actors: Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Robert Llewellyn, Chloë Annett
• Directors: Ed Bye
• Writers: Robert Llewellyn, Doug Naylor, James Hendrie, John McKay, Kim Fuller
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: January 10, 2006
• Run Time: 240 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BVM1TQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,658 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Red Dwarf: Series VII" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

After a temporary bout of deadness, the Dwarfers find themselves solving one of the biggest conspiracy plots of all time, before Ace Rimmer drops in with the challenge of Rimmer's life. Meantime Kryten gets seriously tetchy and Lister has one of the hottest screen kisses ever. Pity it's not with the girl of his dreams. Pity it's not with a girl.
Running Time: 240 min.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not what it used to be, but still better than most other shows, November 7, 2005

By 

Valnastar "Man With No Name" (Deep 13, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Red Dwarf: Series VII (DVD)

Red Dwarf Series VII is very different than any Red Dwarf to come before it. Rob Grant, half of the team that till then had created and written all Red Dwarf episodes, left the show and the strain on remaining writer Doug Naylor clearly shows. Some of the writing slack is taken up by others, including Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), who has written a few successful books on his own, but the feel of the show is never the same from here on out. The humor is now less dense and arguably less sharp at times, and the situations in which the characters find themselves often do not have the same comedic quality of the older shows. Additionally, Chloe Annett is introduced as Kochanski. While competent, she is far different than any of the actesses that originated the part like C.P. Grogan, and her addition to the cast takes time away from funnier established characters, like the Cat, who is brilliantly played by Danny John-Jules. To add to the list of unwanted changes, Chris Barrie was not fully available for this series and so is absent much of the time.

That said, if you love Red Dwarf, you'll probably feel obligated to own these later shows anyway. There are still occasional brilliant moments, and the cast is still funny and committed to their roles, even if the writing is now very uneven. Series VII is better than Series VIII, which takes Red Dwarf even further away from it's original comedic fundamentals.

As in Series VI, in Series VII the crew are still living aboard Starbug and still chasing the trail of their larger mother ship, the Red Dwarf. Episodes in Series VII are:

1. Tikka To Ride
Lister ignores Kryten's warnings about the hazards of time travel and takes the crew on a quest for more curry that will change history.

2. Stoke Me A Clipper
Ace Rimmer returns to Red Dwarf to enlist the aid of Arnold Rimmer to continue his galactic fight for justice. Can Arnold actually be up to the challenge of becoming the greatest hero in the multi-verse?

3. Ouroboros
Lister discovers his true origins in a well-written episode full of paradox.

4. Duct Soup
Lister tries to make Kochanski feel at home and Kryten becomes a wee bit jealous, with expected comedic results.

5. Blue
Lister actually finds he misses Rimmer and Kryten invents a creative and hilarious solution to the problem.

6. Beyond a Joke
The search for spare heads for Kryten leads the crew to a dangerous encounter with Simulants and GELFS.

7. Epideme
A deadly and sentient virus infects Lister and drastic measures are needed to destroy it.

8. Nanarchy
Kryten's "nanobots" (microscopic robots) are found to be the culprits in the disappearance of their home ship, Red Dwarf, and may also provide a solution the disability with which Lister was left after the previous episode.

In spite of all the changes to the show after Series VI, Red Dwarf Series VII is still better than most anything else on television. It's only when one compares it to earlier Red Dwarf that it seems disappointing. Previous Red Dwarf DVD releases have had excellent extra features, with hilarious outtakes (Smeg Ups), featurettes, hidden features, deleted scenes, and more and this set will be no exception. There's also a "lost episode" called Identity Within, performed by Chris Barrie and raw footage included in the extra features, so Red Dwarf fans will find plenty to love on this release.

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stoke me a clipper - I'll be back for christmas... or maybe a little after, October 29, 2005

By 

Iain Leggate (Reno, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Dwarf: Series VII (DVD)

So Red Dwarf 7 is almost upon us, this one being one of the most debatable ones of the entire series. Grant Naylor becomes half the man he used to be in this series (Grant Naylor is a made up person from Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, the two writers of Red Dwarf who have a bit of a spat and split up so only one of them writes this series), Rimmer decides to leave (Chris Barrie was in others things and decided to leave) and Kochanski comes back, but in a different form (Claire Grogran was on MTV and they get Chloe Annette instead).

This doesn't sound a great start to begin with, and to be honest with you I do think this is the weakest series so far. However I do think they other series are all fantastic so being the weakest means this is only good (of course I should point out I am a major fan!)

The episodes are:
1. Tikka To Ride
2. Stoke Me A Clipper
3. Ouroboros
4. Duct Soup
5. Blue
6. Beyond a Joke
7. Epideme
8. Nanarchy

This series takes Red Dwarf in a different way to the rest - of course it would have to with Rimmer leaving and Kochanski coming back - but I still enjoyed it.

The depressing thing about this series is that after this one we only have the final series 8 to look forward to and hope that they manage to finish the film by the time that is out so we can enjoy more Dwarf!

Overall 4/5, less then the other series (5/5 for all the rest IMHO) but still very funny and better then most other series out there.

My favourite episodes are probably the Tikka to Ride, where they run out of curry and travel back in time to Dallas, 1961 and beam into a book depository... (not saying any more then that - you can watch it to find out) and Blue just for the Arnold Rimmer song (He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer Without him, life would be much grimmer He's handsome, trim, and no one's slimmer He will never need a Zimmer He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer)

In short, if you have all the other series, buy this one. If not... go buy them first, THEN buy this one :)

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent DVD presentation with terrific extras elevates these DVD sets., April 19, 2006

By 

Valnastar "Man With No Name" (Deep 13, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Red Dwarf VII & VIII (DVD)

Although Red Dwarf would slowly decline in Series VII and then rapidly do so in Series VIII, the terrific extras on these sets make them worthwhile for any Red Dwarf fan. Here are specific descriptions of each set.

Red Dwarf Series VII is very different than any Red Dwarf to come before it. Rob Grant, half of the team that till then had created and written all Red Dwarf episodes, left the show and the strain on remaining writer Doug Naylor clearly shows. Some of the writing slack is taken up by others, including Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), who has written a few successful books on his own, but the feel of the show is never the same from here on out. The humor is now less dense and arguably less sharp at times, and the situations in which the characters find themselves often do not have the same comedic quality of the older shows. Additionally, Chloe Annett is introduced as Kochanski. While competent, she is far different than any of the actesses that originated the part like C.P. Grogan, and her addition to the cast takes time away from funnier established characters, like the Cat, who is brilliantly played by Danny John-Jules. To add to the list of unwanted changes, Chris Barrie was not fully available for this series and so is absent much of the time.

That said, if you love Red Dwarf, you'll probably feel obligated to own these later shows anyway. There are still occasional brilliant moments, and the cast is still funny and committed to their roles, even if the writing is now very uneven. Series VII is better than Series VIII, which takes Red Dwarf even further away from it's original comedic fundamentals.

As in Series VI, in Series VII the crew are still living aboard Starbug and still chasing the trail of their larger mother ship, the Red Dwarf. Episodes in Series VII are:

1. Tikka To Ride
Lister ignores Kryten's warnings about the hazards of time travel and takes the crew on a quest for more curry that will change history.

2. Stoke Me A Clipper
Ace Rimmer returns to Red Dwarf to enlist the aid of Arnold Rimmer to continue his galactic fight for justice. Can Arnold actually be up to the challenge of becoming the greatest hero in the multi-verse?

3. Ouroboros
Lister discovers his true origins in a well-written episode full of paradox.

4. Duct Soup
Lister tries to make Kochanski feel at home and Kryten becomes a wee bit jealous, with expected comedic results.

5. Blue
Lister actually finds he misses Rimmer and Kryten invents a creative and hilarious solution to the problem.

6. Beyond a Joke
The search for spare heads for Kryten leads the crew to a dangerous encounter with Simulants and GELFS.

7. Epideme
A deadly and sentient virus infects Lister and drastic measures are needed to destroy it.

8. Nanarchy
Kryten's "nanobots" (microscopic robots) are found to be the culprits in the disappearance of their home ship, Red Dwarf, and may also provide a solution the disability with which Lister was left after the previous episode.

In spite of all the changes to the show after Series VI, Red Dwarf Series VII is still better than most anything else on television. It's only when one compares it to earlier Red Dwarf that it seems disappointing. Previous Red Dwarf DVD releases have had excellent extra features, with hilarious outtakes (Smeg Ups), featurettes, hidden features, deleted scenes, and more and this set is no exception. There's also a "lost episode" called Identity Within, performed by Chris Barrie and raw footage included in the extra features, so Red Dwarf fans will find plenty to love on this release.

Red Dwarf VIII, the last Red Dwarf series produced for television, is so far off the original premise and comedic style of the first few series of the show that in many ways it seems like a completely different show. Having an entire ship full of people with whom Lister can interact really shatters the great comedic premise on which Red Dwarf was created, that being that Lister is the last human left in the universe. The premise of bringing back the entire crew and then putting the main characters in prison for nearly the full eight episodes is contrived and limiting. I believe Series VIII has a lot of unwelcome changes and writing difficulties compared to earlier series of the show. The humor is now clearly less dense and less clever, often relying on low and obvious gags that do not even approach the level of razor-edged wit and originality prevalent in earlier episodes of the show.

Nevertheless, there are a few bright spots in this series. Chris Barrie is back and the full cast of regulars is present for the entire series. And there is some occasionally inspired humor that still manages to make this better than most of the other shows on television. Cassandra particularly stands out as a good, "classic" Red Dwarf episode.

Finally, the extra features, as on the other Red Dwarf DVD sets, are terrific, with Smeg Ups, deleted scenes, extended versions of two episodes, a making of documentary, commentary tracks, and much more. The extra features alone are worth the price for any "serious" Red Dwarf fan. Based on that alone, I would recommend this set. Plus, what Red Dwarf fan can resist completing their collection? Sadly, as of this writing, Series VIII is the last Red Dwarf ever produced.

Here is a synopsis of the plot of each episode in this set:

Back In The Red Part I
Kryten's nanobots have recreated the ship Red Dwarf and the original crew as well, which is an especially good thing for Arnold Rimmer.

Back In The Red Part II
Rimmer uses a virus that enhances sexual magnetism to assist him with attracting female crewmembers, but this gets him into trouble when he dines at the captain's table.

Back In The Red Part III
Lister and his bunch face time in the brig for crimes against the Space Corps., so they escape to try and prove their innocence.

Cassandra
Lister joins a special military unit comprised of convicts, only to discover it's basically a suicide squad. Things get interesting when they face the all-knowing Cassandra. This episode is the one in Series VIII that is the most like a classic Red Dwarf episode from earlier series of the show; it is cleverly written and hilarious.

Krytie TV
Kryten's private TV station is most amusing to his fellow prisoners, but the jokes are at the expense of others, which gets him into a bit of trouble.

Pete Part I
Rimmer and Lister are forced play against the guards in a basketball game. They sabotage the opposition's half-time juice with a virility enhancement drug.

Pete Part II
The crew becomes the prey when a sparrow devolves into one of its large dinosaur ancestors.

Only The Good
Rimmer passes into a parallel universe where his other self is the ship's captain.