Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12163 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-10-18
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Formats: Box set, PAL
• Original language: English, Esperanto
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 720 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Notoriously, and entirely appropriately, the original outline for Doug Naylor and Rob Grant's comedy sci-fi 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 earlier episodes contained in this box set 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). --Mark Walker

DVD Description
Contains all the episodes from Series 1-4 of Red Dwarf:

Series 1:

• 1. The End
  
• 2. Future Echoes
  
• 3. Balance of Power
  
• 4. Waiting for God
  
• 5. Confidence and Paranoia
  
• 6. Me 2

Series 2:

• Better Than Life
  
• Thanks For The Memory
  
• Stasis Leak
  
• Queeg
  
• Parallel Universe

Series 3:

• 1. Backwards
  
• 2. Marooned
  
• 3. Polymorph
  
• 4. Bodyswap
  
• 5. Timeslides
  
• 6. The Last Day

Series 4:

• 1. Camille
  
• 2. DNA
  
• 3. Justice
  
• 4. White Hole
  
• 5. Dimension Jump
  
• 6. Meltdown

Synopsis
All twenty-four episodes from series one to four of the popular TV comedy: 'The End', 'Future Echoes', 'Balance Of Power', 'Waiting For God', 'Confidence And Paranoia', 'Me2', 'Kryten', 'Better Than Life', 'Thanks For the Memory', 'Stasis Leak', 'Queeg', 'Parallel Universe', 'Backwards', 'Marooned', 'Polymorph', 'Bodyswap', 'Timeslides', 'The Last Day', 'Camille', 'D.N.A.', 'Justice', 'White Hole', 'Dimension Jump' and 'Meltdown'.

Customer Reviews

As the name says, it's just the shows
Make no mistake; Red Dwarf was one of the best ever British sitcoms. But whether this DVD set is for you rather depends…

If you are the sort of person that loves extras such as cast and crew interviews, loads of background detail on how things were made, stuff about character progression, that sort of thing, then please don’t buy these. You will do much better with the original release DVDs which feature all sorts of stuff like that.

If on the other hand you’re like me, and perhaps you’ll look at one or two extras just because they’re there, but the reason you want Red Dwarf is to see the episodes then don’t hesitate – buy this set now.

I was looking for series 4 when I found this set - sold my old 1 2 & 3 DVDs here on Amazon and bought this instead. Worked out cheaper for me; and some people who would appreciate the extras much more than I have the full discs. So that’s a result all round I reckon.

Anyway, a thoroughly-deserved five stars. The episodes are here in all their wondrous glory. Truly magnificent British comedy. Just don’t expect any extras!

Excellent - British Comedy at its best
This boxset lacks the dazzling array of special features available on the individual DVD releases but makes up for it with probably the best value laughs you can possibly buy for £25.

The first 4 series of Red Dwarf sum up everything that was right about BBC 2 during the late 80s and early 90s - ground-breaking, original comedy that was experimental with drama, comedy, genre and featuring new, young, talented actors (Chris Barrie as the acerbic Rimmer and Danny John-Jules as Cat were revelations). With this boxset you can see the evolution from a cheap, studio space sitcom into a lavish sci-fi comedy-drama featuring such brilliant characterisation that you wish TV comedy could stumble across its own stasis leak and rediscover this kind of programme. The first four series are also characterised by a tongue-in-cheek irreverence that never really takes itself too seriously - a factor sadly lacking in the later incarnations of Red Dwarf. (A good example is the Star Wars-style intro to series 3 that explains away the ending of series 2 as they obviously rewrote it as a totally new series - George Lucas could learn a thing or two!)

Laden with the best one-liners in the last 20 years and gleefully celebrating its own ingenuity with episode after episode of classy comic timing, character acting and brilliant scripting, Red Dwarf 1-4 are some of the most brash and confident comedy series ever produced by the Beeb. This gets 5 stars from me and it is thoroughly deserved;

Does exactly what it says on the box
there have been a few coments about this pack lacking bonus features, but at the end of the day, that's exactly what it says... Just the shows.
If you're after the original four seasons on a medium that doesn't deteriorate at the rate of video, then this is for you. I for one love this pack, as I might only watch a special feature once, but this wil be rewatched many, many times.