Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2809 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-16
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Esperanto
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 180 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
By the end of this fourth year, Red Dwarf had completed its metamorphosis from a modest studio-bound sitcom with a futuristic premise to a full-blown science-fiction series, complete with a relatively lavish (by BBC standards) special-effects budget, more impressive sets and more location shooting. Despite the heavier emphasis on SF, the character-based comedy remained as sharp as ever. Witness the Cat's reaction to Lister's pus-filled exploding head; Kryten's devastatingly sarcastic defence of Rimmer; or, the classic scene that opens the series, Lister teaching Kryten to lie.

In "Camille", Robert Llewellyn's real-life wife plays a female mechanoid who transforms into something else entirely, as does the episode, which by the end becomes a delightful skit on Casablanca. "DNA" comes over all SF, with lots of techno-speak about a matter transmogrifier and a RoboCop homage--but in typical Dwarf fashion, turns out to be all about curry. "Justice" sees Rimmer on trial for the murder of the entire crew, while Lister attempts to evade a psychotic cyborg. Holly gets her IQ back in "White Hole", but wastes time debating bread products with the toaster. "Dimension Jump" introduces dashing doppelganger Ace Rimmer for the first time--he was to return in later series, with diminishingly funny results. Here his appearance is all the better for its apparent improbability. Finally, "Meltdown" goes on location (to a park in North London) where waxdroids of historical characters (played by a miscellaneous selection of cheesy lookalikes) are at war. Only intermittently successful, this episode is really memorable for Chris Barrie's tour-de-force performance, as Rimmer becomes a crazed, Patton-esque general.

On the DVD: Red Dwarf, Series 4, like its predecessors, comes as a two-disc set complete with full cast commentary for every episode, an extensive retrospective documentary (mostly featuring the cast reminiscing), deleted scenes and lots of other fun bits of trivia. --Mark Walker

DVD Description
Episodes:

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

Ace Rimmer arrives from an alternate dimension, Kryten falls in love and Lister’s curry tries to kill him in six more slices of classic Red Dwarf chaos.

Special Features

• Cast commentary with Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Danny John-Jules, Hattie Hayridge and Robert Llewellyn
  
• Built to Last -- Series IV documentary
  
• Smeg Ups
  
• Deleted Scenes
  
• Trailers
  
• Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg special
  
• Lurve featurette
  
• Ace Rimmer - A Life in Lame
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Talking Book chapters
  
• Isolated Music Cues
  
• Raw FX footage
  
• Weblink
  
• Easter Eggs
  
• Collector’s Booklet

DVD Technical Information:

• Subtitles: English SDH
  
• Audio: Stereo
  
• Region Code: 2, 4
  
• PAL
  
• Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  
• Disc Format: DVD-9 x 2
  
• Running Time: 165 mins approx.

Customer Reviews

Timeless and still number 1
Well, what can I say? This is one of the very few TV shows I could happily sit and watch continually all day. Red Dwarf is a cult classic and series 4 is the best of the 4 released so far.
I loved every episode on the DVD so I can't say which was my favourite, but each episode has a lot of cracking on liners.

Holy is still female, Lister is still a slob, the Cat is still vain, Kryten is still cuaght in his programming and Rimmer,...well...he's still a git (but girls, he's a damn fine looking git!)

Highlights of this series were (without trying to give things away) Kryten's 'new image', Rimmer's 'other half'-what a guy, Holly's regained IQ of 12,000, Lister watching the execution of a well known figure and Rimmer making Ghandi give him 50 press ups. "I'm watching you, Ghandi!"

Episode lists as follows: Camille, DNA, Justice, White Hole, Dimension Jump and Meltdown.

It's great when each new series is realeased but the day will arrive when the final series goes out and that's it. Just make sure, that when that time comes, you've got every other series to look back on. Red Dwarf is a classic show and up there alongside the other more coventional British comedys in terms of superiority.

Great DVD, hurry up with the rest you people at the BBC!
I love Red Dwarf! The first episode I ever saw was Camille (the first of this series), and made an effort to try and watch all the others on TV since then. Due to unpredictable repeat scheduling, that was made difficult, until the great day in history when some clever chap decided to release them all on DVD! But not just regular DVDs. DVDs with production values that rival those of most Hollywood DVDs, winning international awards for their content and presentation! Not to mention the fact that the series itself is an absolute classic!

So why single this particular series out for praise from the 6 currently available at time of print? Well, I admit that other series may be better made. But this one holds an element of nostalgia and I believe it is when Red Dwarf reached it's comedy peak, before venturing more into the territory of science fiction and less on comedy. Classic episodes have to be Meltdown and, most famously, Dimension Jump, in which we get to meet Ace Rimmer, a character who would return again in series 6 (unofficially, but you know it's him) and series 7.

As for the extras, everything you would expect from any DVD is present and correct here. Compared with the sparse offerings from the likes of Only Fools and Horses or Fawlty Towers, this shows what the BBC can do when they put some effort in! We've got:

a feature length documentary with all the principle cast and crew being interviewed;

a huge wealth of deleted scenes, more than you get for your average film, and most of which were trimmed for the sake of time, not due to lack of quality (that half hour episode deadline must be a killer for the writers!);

loads of outtakes with the cast messing around! Especially amusing is Chris Barrie's take on Kenneth Williams;

a themed montage of shots done to the tune of 'dizzy'. Nonsense and uninformative, but a laugh and in the spirit of the show;

numerous other features that I can't quite recall, but the most memorable has to be the Can't Smeg Won't Smeg comic relief special with Ainsley Harriott! This is brilliant and holds up as well as the episodes themselves for comedy value!

A brilliant set, the price is a bargain, you won't be upset you spent your pennies on this!

Better Than Smoked Kippers
Every TV series DVD should be like this.

If you're a fan, you're going to buy sets like these. Doesn't matter that the odd episode is relatively weak, or even that a whole series may be weaker than others.

You'll buy 'em coz you love 'em all.

And when you do, you ought to be rewarded for your loyalty (epecially if you bought 'em once on VHS. Hey, anyone remember those?)

The extras on Red Dwarf DVDs are second to none. Series Four is no exception. The smeg ups, the bits from Red Dwarf night that you've got on tape but your brother recorded Baywatch over the end of, the sort of short, punchy documentaries that you actually want to watch. Perhaps even more than once.

Product this good demands to be bought. Give in to that feeling...