Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1263 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-06-15
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Formats: Box set, Director's Cut, PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 75 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
It was a long time coming, but finally the crew of the Red Dwarf were reunited for what could be the last time with Back To Earth. And it proved to be a bit of a mixed blessing, with the three parts of show--all of which are brought together on this DVD--throwing up moments of absolute genius, alongside parts where you couldn’t help believing that its best days are far behind it.

The idea behind the show is quite ingenious. Back To Earth takes place after the supposed season ten of Red Dwarf, and the crew find themselves thrown through a portal, whereupon they realise that they’re all just characters from a TV show. Furthermore, they’re characters from a TV show who are going to all buy it in the final episode. The only solution? To track down both the actors that play them (including a trip to the Coronation Street set!), and the creators of Red Dwarf itself.

This opens the door for plenty of postmodern gags and situations, but arguably it’s only when things get back onto a more comfortable Red Dwarf plain do things start to gel a little more. And when it works, you can’t help but enjoy the fact that the crew are back together.

Will this be the last voyage for Red Dwarf? Quite possibly, and there’s little doubt that it’s far from the show’s peak. But it’s still a fun send-off for the crew, and while a little patchy, it still manages to be both funny and entertaining. It’s also, thanks to the DVD, far better to watch it all in one advert-free block.--Jon Foster

DVD Description
Back to Earth takes place after ‘series ten’. Kochanski is dead and the crew are hurled through a portal and discover they are just characters from a TV series. Knowing they will die in the final episode the Dwarfers, in best Blade Runner traditions, decide to track down their creators to discover how long they have left to live. First the crew attempt to track down the actors who play them in the series and their metaphysical odyssey begins…

• Bonus Features
• Cast Commentary
• Director Commentary
• All-New Exclusive Documentary
• The Making of Back to Earth
• Deleted Scenes
• Smeg Ups
• Featurettes
• Trailers
Web Videos
• Photo Gallery
• Easter Egg
• Features both a Director's Cut version of Back to Earth and the original televised version.

Customer Reviews

The team are back together and not as bad as I expected.
I am a huge Red Dwarf Fan and hearing there was a new recently made mini series, I was really looking forward to see these actors reunited.

We live in an age of remakes and sometimes surprise returns of well known series/actors trying to recapture the peaks of glory. Many attempts in recent years of making a huge comeback of recreating nostalgia or continuing a series/franchise put to rest long ago , have been a mixed bag of decent effort and Epic Fail. So one has to keep an open mind nowadays and except returns of old greats to differ greatly from it's past success.

Luckily for Red Dwarf fans, things aren't that bad because many of the people behind the show are still involved , as well as the 4 main actors ! Infact my heart gives a huge salute to see them back together. It's actually very heart warming to see them play the same roles again without problems after such a long period of absence.

Unfortunately even though it's great to seem the old team back , it's not among the best Red Dwarf stories told. It gets a while to get into it ( Well with Red Dwarf having left us years ago , that's a given ) but later on it shows to have the makings of the more classic style of Red Dwarf Formula and the series classic trademark humorously confusing yet clever scientific explanations and twists.

This is still a great adventure with some fresh new twists, along with the usual great stuff you'd expect from Red dwarf.
One thing to note is that special effects are greatly improved and amazing to watch ..... which is a big step forward from the humble days of bad special effects budget BBC that we loved and gave great charm to the older series.
There are a few scenes that are particularly enjoyable to watch thanks to these modern advances .

Also without spoiling too much .. the location of this new adventure leads to funny new situations , although the general idea/concept does seem to be somewhat of a recycling of a past well loved classic episodes. but I don't mind so much since it's being told in such an exciting new way.

As a big Red Dwarf fan I'd still recommend this especially to loyal fans alike. This is one of the better comeback shows/titles that capture the spirit of their former endeavours without sacrificing too much for modernisation.
There are still many laughs to be had after all that's said and done.
This was not as bad as I expected and I very much enjoyed this recent return despite my cautious nature of modernising classic titles.

Although compared to the caliber of the shows in the past, I have to sadly give it an average rating. But that doesn't mean I didn't greatly appreciate the effort to bring one of my favourite comedy series back for one last farewell party.
All hardcore Red Dwarfers should still give it a try though and not be too harsh . But I think it might actually impress and entertain casual Red Dwarf fans alot more than the die hard ones.

I Thought It Was OK
I'll just get this out of way - BACK TO EARTH is NOT the greatest RED DWARF ever made. It's nowhere near as brilliant as the first six seasons of the TV show. But I enjoyed it more than the disappointing Season VII and the unspeakable travesty that was Season VIII. At least they got rid of the resurrected crew and they sort of got rid of Chloe Annett's Kochanski, who was unfunny and wooden (Clare Grogan will always be the best Kochanski).

I wasn't really that bothered about the lack of audience laughter in the special nor the visual effects look (this is the year 2009, you know). The four Dwarfers themselves have aged very well. It's almost as if those ten years had not even passed by. And I love the references to BLADE RUNNER (1982).

I was a bit disappointed that Holly wasn't in it - maybe Norman Lovett was upset about the fact that in Season VIII, he had nothing to do except usher out unfunny dialogue.

So, BACK TO EARTH is OK. Not the best, but decent in some ways. If they ever do another RED DWARF, maybe co-creator Doug Naylor should re-unite with Rob Grant, because when these two writers wrote together, they truly did create comedy heaven.

Reviewer: Ben David W

I was worried...but...
I started watching Red Dwarf when I was 9 years old, way back in 1993, and have always loved it. I was more than a little dissappointed when the show disappeared after series 8 and always hoped it would return one day.

So I, like many Red Dwarf fans, worried that after 10 years the show wouldn't be able to live up to the expectations of so many over enthusiastic fans. I therefore made a point of watching Back to Earth with an open mind, trying to ignore my bias as best as I could. At first, I was worried, especially when they actually went back to earth and attempted to break down the fourth wall, but the twist and turns in the final episode made it completely worth it and harked back to the same plot devices that made series 5,6 and 7 so successful. Sure, it's different to the original 8 series (after 10 years what do you expect?) but Back to Earth showed that the boys from the Dwarf and the sparkle that made me love the show is still there.
Some will be disappointed, but this is mainly because their expectations got carried away. Watch it with an open mind and you are sure to be pleasantly surprised. I thought it was a great comeback and I will be happy to put this addition to the series with the rest of my treasured collection.

The DVD is sure to help these episodes (no ad breaks will certainly help keep the pace of the plot)and there are bound to be plenty of extras.