Series V DVD review

Written by Blake Neale
Posted on 21st November 2004 @ 1:58 AM

Waiting for the November releases of the Red Dwarf DVDs is always going to be a torturous affair. Let's face it - a nine-month gap between the February release and the November release is just far too long. But this pent-up excitement, mainly fuelled by the official site's sporadic DVD updates, really does make the release seem all the more magical. Especially with a series as well crafted as Series V.

Packaging

The Limited Edition Gift Set is essentially the 'normal' release bundled together with a highly detailed Corgi model of Starbug 1. The model comes mounted on an individually numbered piece of card, which masks the actual DVD case from view through the plastic window of the box.

When I first heard of this release, I thought it a bit odd that the Starbug model was to be included and not one of the mothership. This curiosity existed mainly because Series V was set on Red Dwarf, where Series VI was set entirely on Starbug. Still, looking at this as a one-off limited edition release, it makes more sense to include Starbug because its colour works better with the underwater/Esperanto theme of the packaging. (That and the fact that Starbug ventured deep underwater in Back to Reality - the episode that the cover art theme derives from.)

The box itself, particularly the plastic window, is rather flimsy. So credit goes to Royal Mail for seeing that my copy arrived in immaculate condition. Sadly, I have heard that others were not so fortunate, which is a great shame considering the box looks truly stunning.

The Limited Edition Gift Set is exactly that: limited. But worry not, for the content on the actual discs and packaging/cover art remains the same as that of the 'normal' release - right down to the "Includes NEVER RELEASED footage from the Red Dwarf USA pilot" sticker on the cellophane wrapper.

Case, cover art & disc art

The cases are different to those of the previous series; disc one is situated in a folding 'flap', and disc two in a more standard fixing underneath. The advantage of this is that the Collector's Booklet isn't loose in the case, so you don't have to move it out of the way to access each disc. Not the most important of details, but a nice touch all the same.

The cover art looks fantastic, and it's again amazing how much better the design looks with the foil logo instead of the dull grey one shown on the official site.

The spine lines up nicely with that of Series IV and as a set now reads: "Re Dwa".

As for the discs, they follow the design of the last two releases, this time it's the 'high' Lister & Rimmer on each disc.

Collector's Booklet

As always, very well put together. My only criticism (which also applies to the booklets of the previous series) is the name. To me "Collector's" isn't appropriate for something that comes standard with every set sold. Admittedly though, this really is nitpicking and doesn't degrade the overall quality of the release in any way.

Amongst the typical information there is an illustration by Ruth Latchford, a lucky fan who featured on the Fan Commentary track. Now, I don't approve of fan inclusions on the DVDs, as I prefer content to stay 'official'. But the illustration is really good and is a pleasant inclusion because she also featured on the commentary track.

Animated menus

Deluxe Digital have excelled themselves yet again. Fair enough, the 'body' of the menus is that of Series IV. But the added character through the use of the 'high' and 'low' themes works really well to make the menus belong to Series V.

The movement to each sub-menu is smooth with a capital "smoo". I lost count of how many times I moved back & forth to the Episode Selection sub-menu from the Drive Room/main menu of disc one. But mark my words: The transition and accompanying music is incredible. (It gives me a pleasant tingle down my back every time.)

To avoid cluttering the screen, the Bonus Material sub-menu on disc two is split in half. I like this for the reason it was intended, but I also like that added interactivity when moving through the ship.

Episodes

I've always regarded Series V very highly. Don't get me wrong, I adore each of the eight series for very different reasons. Despite belonging to an on-going story, in my view each series is its own. (Look at how far Series V has come since Series I.) It's just that Series V has a quality that makes it stand out all the more for doing everything so perfectly.

The excellent blend of science fiction with action probably has a lot to do with this - Series V manages to balance the two effectively, but above all, remains genuinely funny at the same time. Somehow this breathes a new lease of life into Red Dwarf. Not that the series (as a whole) ever felt dead - regardless of when I watch Series V it always seems fresh.

But enough of that, as I'm sure that most of you are already familiar with the episodes.

Cast Commentary

Craig Charles was absent from the Series V commentary recordings due to illness. A handful of fans have praised this because of previous comments that he's made about the fan community. I am not among these fans and felt that the commentary just wasn't the same without him. That said, the commentary tracks have seemed overcrowded since Series III, so Craig's absence allowed Danny John-Jules and Hattie Hayridge to speak up more than usual. It also gave Chris Barrie the opportunity to converse with Craig via his vocal impression of him, which was very funny and oddly accurate.

The insight into production and offerings of amusing anecdotes never displease. From time to time the cast do tend to sit in silence just watching the episodes. This is the case with a lot of commentaries that I've watched/listened to (not just for Red Dwarf), which shows spontaneity and a natural, unscripted flow. Most of the time this comes across as annoying, almost as if you've been cheated in paying for the commentators to be silent. The difference with the Red Dwarf commentaries is that, especially if you are a hardcore fan, it's the next best thing to having them sitting in your living room watching the DVD with you.

Fan Commentary

Winners of a competition ran by the official site got the chance to talk about Back to Reality in a special 'Fan Commentary' track. I'm in two minds as to whether I like this feature or not: It's good to know how other fans view such a highly regarded episode. But having not worked on production (or indeed post-production), they couldn't possibly offer up any new information to us. I'd much rather Andrew Ellard, or better still, Rob Grant & Doug Naylor themselves did a commentary of the episode (if not the entire series) on their own. But then if this were possible, there probably wouldn't have been a fan commentary in the first place.

Heavy Science - Series V

This documentary is utterly brilliant in every possible way. It runs for a shocking one hour and sixteen minutes (and fifty-one seconds), crammed to the brim with talking heads, rushes and episode excerpts.

The Craig Charles/Chris Barrie talking heads about Chris going to a gym for the Rimmer oiling scene in Terrorform were most amusing.

And Robert Llewellyn mentioning 'trench humour' brought the memories of his old website flooding back.

Deleted scenes

A whopping forty-eight minutes and forty seconds of deleted/alternate scenes were unearthed by Grant Naylor Productions for this DVD, most of which were excised purely for time and pace. As such, the quality of gags can not be faulted.

Admittedly some of the scenes don't work for technological reasons, and a handful of these omissions are time-coded. But it's fantastic being able to see this previously unseen material, time-coded or not.

Smeg Ups

Still as entertaining as when they first featured on the Smeg Ups tape, this compilation of outtakes and on-set tomfoolery is guaranteed to amuse.

Eeeeeeeextraordinary.

Dwarfing USA

When this feature was announced it came as a great shock. For years it seemed that getting the rights to release the US pilots in any form was too costly. Bootleg VHS/VCDs have been readily available for a number of years, but the quality of those I've seen and in fact own are very poor. So DVD quality excerpts are most welcome indeed. What's more, talking heads of Doug Naylor, Robert Llewellyn et alia make great viewing.

This is probably the most valuable insight into the infamous pilots to date. And it's good to hear Rob Grant getting a much-deserved mention too.

Bad Guys featurette

I enjoy watching the clips from across the fifty-two episodes cutting back & forth to each other, as in many ways the experience is quite nostalgic. But on the rare occasions that I'll watch any of these featurettes, I'll be doing it with the volume turned down. Not so much because I dislike the tracks used, but because they're not actually anything to do with Red Dwarf.

The SFX of RDV

Running for thirty minutes, Mike Tucker does an excellent job of commentating on his awe-inspiring behind-the-scenes footage, which includes the creation of the SSS Esperanto, Despair Squid, Self-Loathing Beast and Holoship among others.

Trailers, Idents and Episode Introduction

The first of four trailers features the Cat's response to Rimmer being taken in Holoship: "Quick, let's get out of here before…". The second similarly advertises the airing of the series, but uses a montage of clips from Back to Reality.

The third and forth trailers both advertise video releases of Red Dwarf. The first is shared with details of Blake's 7 and Doctor Who releases, and the second with The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The latter is far more effective in my opinion.

Incidentally, the graphics of the fourth trailer (above) could have been used in Back to Reality where the deleted '2D' effect failed.

I am surprised that the Best Episode Introduction was included here, as I would've thought it'd be an easter egg on the first disc somewhere. Still, a fine inclusion it is, even if a bit pony.

The idents are those lovely animated Skutter/BBC2 logos shown between the promos and actual programmes of Red Dwarf Night in 1998. It's really good to have them on DVD, but perhaps they belong on the Series VII disc instead?

Raw FX footage

The clips here are truly breathtaking. Watch them in slow-motion for added pleasure.

Isolated music cues

Although you probably wouldn't want to 'watch' these scores on your television, you'd be missing out if you didn't bother watching them at all. I'm not a great music lover, but each piece sounds incredible even to me. Often in the episodes you can't get a proper feel for the music, as it's cut short or dialogue/action is heard over it. So having these isolated scores allows you to get the best out of each piece.

Dave Hollins radio sketch

This sketch makes interesting listening, especially if you've not heard it before. Considering Son of Cliché has never been released, it's unlikely that you have heard it before.

Photo gallery

There is a multitude of fine pictorial content here. Most of the publicity shots have been seen on many an occasion, but there's a fair deal of 'new' photographs too and they look great.

My only criticism with the photo gallery is the absence of the reverse side of the US VHS sleeves. Why aren't they on any of the DVDs, I wonder?

Weblink

When used in a DVD drive on a computer, the weblink launches your default Internet browser, taking you automatically to the official site. This is most useful if you're too lazy to manually type in the URL, or if you are even lazier and can't be bothered to carry out a simple search.

Subtitles

From what I've seen, the subtitles seem fairly accurate. Most of the extras are subtitled too.

Easter eggs

It took some doing, but I eventually found the three easter eggs. For instructions on how to access them, highlight the 'blank' area below:

The animated interview was the most obvious of the easter eggs and is located on the Episode Selection menu of disc one. Simply select the time gauntlet in the middle of the screen and enter the three-digit code that Kryten shouts out to Lister in The Inquisitor. ("Gamma, delta, one four five.")
Also on disc one: Go to the Episode Selection menu and select Quarantine. On the second chapter screen, move to the Menu option, press up to select the Mr. Flibble illustration, then hit enter.
The Accent Question easter egg took me absolutely ages to track down. Go to the subtitles menu of disc two, press up then enter.

Conclusions

Each newly released series of Red Dwarf on shiny disc greatly improves on the previously released series. Series V is no exception; Grant Naylor Productions have surprisingly managed to gather an even bigger plethora of content than ever before. But then, such a fine series deserves an equally spectacular DVD release anyway. Just look at the fabulously in-depth Heavy Science documentary and the incredible array of deleted scenes for examples of this. That's not to mention The SFX of RDV and Dwarfing USA - and in fact, every feature included on the discs.

This truly is an astonishing, jaw-droppingly fantastic DVD release. Hats off to Grant Naylor Productions and all else involved for such a wonderful piece of kit.

Red Dwarf V is now available to buy on DVD from all good video/DVD shops. And most bad ones too. It's mega!

Order yours here from Red Dwarf Shop UK.