Red Dwarf : Complete BBC Series 8 [2003] [DVD] [1988]

RRP: £22.99
Our Price: £2.63 (subject to change)

Not at all entertained
Review date: 2010-07-10 Rating: 2 out of 10

The Entire and Extended Series - what a joke - I had been looking forward to re-wathing RDVIII for years. Having been without RD for many years, and having watched series I to VII recently I settled down to watch RDVIII. The first disc in this set; fine and well worth watching. The second disc; fine and well worth watching. The third disc however has only only the bonus features and other dross. WHERE IS THE EPISODE PETE 2 AND ONLY THE GOOD. Have I paid a packet only to be left up in the air. Having read all the other reviews I note that no one else had mentioned difficulty finding these episodes; is this a rogue set or are the last two advertised episodes so hidden as to be imposible to find? Maybe someone could enlighten me as to were they are to be found.
If there was a faulty batch of DVDs perhaps the batch number could be published to avoid someone else being rooked.

Reviews

Still Better Than The Yanks Could Ever Manage!
Review date: 2009-07-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

I always felt that things went a little down hill from season 7 onwards. The plots weren't as tight, the humour not so sharp and the overall feel wasn't quite the same. This is where my criticism ends though, because I've just had the misfortune of seeing the pilot of the American version. How they could of got it so wrong, I'll never understand, but it has made me a whole lot more appreciative of season 8, despite all it's shortcomings.

Hated then and now, but really not that bad
Review date: 2009-04-22 Rating: 6 out of 10

True, Red Dwarf 8 fails on more than one level. The stories are overlong (Pete, Back in the Red), the jokes are fewer, Holly has NOTHING to do, and the "prison" plot overstays its welcome by a long shot.

And don't get me started on the stupidity of that cliffhanger ending; Doug Naylor clearly did not learn his lesson after the near-death of the show after series 6's cliffhanger aired. Why they abandonded a fully-filmed and likeable ending for the crew, included here, is bizarre at best. It's also strangely not even mentioned in Naylor's book on series 8, when talking about the need to avoid a downbeat ending. Was he hoping we would never see it?

However; the premise of resurrecting the crew, the return to audience filming, and the tone of the series make this one better than series 7- and a more entertaining experience- for me. It's usually OK, pretty good in places, and doesn't deserve its poor reputation amongst many Red Dwarf fans.

Better than 7 but still not the same
Review date: 2009-02-05 Rating: 6 out of 10

Starts slow with a lot of generic repetitive gags which are taken from previous series. However, the series does improve and I did enjoy Krytie TV and the last episode alot. Its clear that the re-introduction of the old crew plus Kochanskys character inclusion simply does not work. It does not seem like either a film or another series is likely so there will not be a fitting end to a classis series. Series 7 was a write off, 8 is not bad but I will only watch 1-6 more than once going forward.

The Tank
Review date: 2008-12-15 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Series -

No this is not Red Dwarf at its best and it is not of the same style as previous series but I wouldn't have it any other way, Red Dwarf VIII changes its setting and story telling style moving from the confines of Star Bug to the confines of jail in the form of The Tank.
Sadly Series VIII suffered from budget, this forced 'Pete', a story originally concieved as a one off episode to be changed into a two part story due to the great cost of the T-Rex. Again the series suffered from 'Back in the Red' being changed from a two part story into a three part story, this led to padding through the story. The adding of two episodes to the series as previously mentioned led to the episode 'Earth' to be cancelled, this episode was part two of a two part story starting from 'Only the Good', after the episode was cancelled the rushed ending to 'Only the Good' occured which leaves the viewer on a cliff hanger luckily soon to be resolved with the Dave Red Dwarf Specials.

The Extras -

Commantary - These are done by nearly all of the main cast on all eight episodes, these are really funny and well worth a listen, the chemistry between the cast is so good.

Back in the Red Xtended - This feature is availible on disc one, it puts together the three episodes as well as adding several deleted scenes and also takes the odd scene out, this story flows much better than the original three episode format and I highly recommend this, especially to people who have not seen 'Back in the Red' yet, I emplore you to watch this first. It is as close to the Red Dwarf: Movie as we will ever get.

Comedy Connections - This is on disc 1. Anyone familiar with comedy connections will know how good their episodes are, this 30 minute episode tells the story of how Rob and Doug came to start Red Dwarf and how the cast came to join the show.

Pete Full Length - This is on disc 2. Not as good as the 'Back in the Red' feature, no scenes are added but the story is better to watch as one story as originally concieved.

The Rest of the features are on disc 3 -

The Tank - This is a 90 minute documentary featuring newly filmed interviews with the cast and crew accompanied by clips from the series as well as the odd picture here and there and a bit of archive footage. This documentary is split to an introduction then into the stories and then into a conclusion. It is an interesting watch and tells you exactly what was going behind the scenes, the problems that caused many stories to be padded out or re-shoots to be forced. Probably the most interesting part of this documentary is the very last part with Doug Naylor saying he will probably give up on the Movie and attempt to make a new series or some specials, anyone not in the know, well Red Dwarf has some specials on the way in April 2009.

Deleted Scenes - Several of these feature in the 'Back in the Red' Xtended but still this features some great gags that mainly because of time were removed, still most of this is bits were you just know why they were removed. This selection features the original ending to Series VIII, a much funnier ending too, I won't spoil it for you though.

Smeg Ups - Out takes from the series, well worth a watch or two, almost as good as the episodes.

Trailers - Features trailers, PBS scenes and a children in need sketch, well worth a watch, some great scenes feature in here which I was really surprised at not seeing before. Most of them are set aboard Blue Midget.

FX footage - Features the CGI scenes used through the series, not really for a casual viewer, more for fans of the CGI in the series, if you are it is a great view of the work in Series VIII.

Super Models - A look at some of the monsters made for the Series.

Dave Hollins Radio Sketch - This is a sketch which led to the creation of Red Dwarf, well worth a listen.

All in all this is a fantastic package and is worth it alone for the 90 minute 'The Tank' documentary.

Product Details/Specifications

Actor(s):
Craig Charles

Creators:
Craig Charles (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

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Recording label: 2 Entertain Video
Manufacturer: 2 Entertain Video
EAN: 5014503169329
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 3
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-03-27
Aspect ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 240 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1988-02-15
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: Esperanto (Original Language)