Notoriously, and entirely appropriately, the original outline for Doug Naylor and Rob Grant's comedy SF series Red Dwarf was sketched on the back of a beer mat. When it finally appeared on our television screens in 1988 the show had clearly stayed true to its roots, mixing jokes about excessive curry consumption with affectionate parodies of classic SF. Indeed, one of the show's most endearing and enduring features is its obvious respect for the conventions of SF, even as it gleefully subverts them. The scenario owes something to Douglas Adams's satirical Hitch-Hiker's... Guide, something to The Odd Couple and a lot more to the slacker SF of John Carpenter's Dark Star. Behind the crew's constant bickering there lurks an impending sense that life, the universe and everything are all someone's idea of a terrible joke. Later series broadened the show's horizons until at last its premise was so diluted as to be unrecognisable, but in the six episodes of the first series the comedy is witty and intimate, focusing on characters and not special effects. Slob Dave Lister (Craig Charles) is the last human alive after a radiation leak wipes out the crew of the vast mining vessel Red Dwarf (episode 1, "The End"). He bums around the spaceship with the perpetually uptight and annoyed hologram of his dead bunkmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie, the show's greatest comedy asset) and a creature evolved from a cat (dapper Danny John Jules). They are guided rather haphazardly by Holly, the worryingly thick ship's computer (lugubrious Norman Lovett). On the DVD: Red Dwarf I arrives in a two-disc set, with all six episodes on the first disc accompanied by an excellent group commentary from Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John Jules and Norman Lovett. (There's also a bonus commentary on "The End" with the two writers and director Ed Bye.) The 4:3 picture is unimpressive, but sound is decent stereo. The second disc has an entertaining 25-minute documentary on the genesis of the series with contributions from the cast, writer Doug Naylor and producer Paul Jackson. Navigate the animated menus to find a gallery of extra features, including isolated music cues, deleted scenes, outtakes ("Smeg Ups"), a fun "Drunk" music montage, model effects shots, Web links, audiobook clips, the original BBC trailer and even the entire first episode in Japanese. --Mark Walker [show more]
Amazing British comedy on such a (noticeably) low budget. Never an easy thing when the setting is on a spaceship in the future. But the original Star Wars did it and so does Red Dwarf. Of course, the two are incomparable in many ways but I'd rather watch Red Dwarf any day of the week.
This first series gives the roots to the story and manages to replicate the book well, including many of the smaller jokes too. A true classic, which should be watched by anyone who enjoys comedy and especialy the fans of Douglas Adams.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play The complete first series of the popular television comedy sci-fi series &39;The End&39; sees a radiation leak wipe out the crew of Red Dwarf leaving only one survivor - Dave Lister In &39;Future Echoes&39; Red Dwarf breaks the speed of light leaving the crew experiencing visions of their own futures &39;Balance Of Power&39; sees Lister about to take his chef&39;s exam and if he passes he will be able to have Rimmer replaced as the ship&39;s hologram In &39;Confidence And Paranoia&39; Lister gets a mutated virus which makes his hallucinations come to life leaving the ship beset by herring rain amongst other things &39;Waiting For God&39; sees the ship&39;s computer Holly find a pod floating about in deep space and Lister pleased to learn that he is a god In &39;ME2&39; Rimmer creates a duplicate of himself all seems perfect until they both find themselves in a conflict that only one can win
All six episodes from the first series of the popular sci-fi comedy. In 'The End' Dave Lister (Craig Charles) awakes from three million years in suspended animation to find he is the last living human being. 'Future Echoes' has the crew start getting glimpses of the future when Red Dwarf breaks the speed of light. 'Balance of Power' finds Rimmer (Chris Barrie) unsettled by the possibility that Lister might attain a higher rank than him. 'Waiting for God' sees Lister take on the mantle of a God, and discover that he is responsible for a huge war. 'Confidence and Paranoia' has Lister's pneumonia mutate in such a way that his hallucinations become solid. Finally, in 'Me 2', Rimmer creates a duplicate of himself - and although the honeymoon period is blissful, the relationship eventually takes a rather bitter turn.
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