Search - Red Dwarf: Series VII on DVD

Not what it used to be, but still better than most other sho

Valnastar | Deep 13, USA | 11/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Red Dwarf Series VII is very different than any Red Dwarf to come before it. Rob Grant, half of the team that till then had created and written all Red Dwarf episodes, left the show and the strain on remaining writer Doug Naylor clearly shows. Some of the writing slack is taken up by others, including Robert Llewellyn (Kryten), who has written a few successful books on his own, but the feel of the show is never the same from here on out. The humor is now less dense and arguably less sharp at times, and the situations in which the characters find themselves often do not have the same comedic quality of the older shows. Additionally, Chloe Annett is introduced as Kochanski. While competent, she is far different than any of the actesses that originated the part like C.P. Grogan, and her addition to the cast takes time away from funnier established characters, like the Cat, who is brilliantly played by Danny John-Jules. To add to the list of unwanted changes, Chris Barrie was not fully available for this series and so is absent much of the time.

That said, if you love Red Dwarf, you'll probably feel obligated to own these later shows anyway. There are still occasional brilliant moments, and the cast is still funny and committed to their roles, even if the writing is now very uneven. Series VII is better than Series VIII, which takes Red Dwarf even further away from it's original comedic fundamentals.

As in Series VI, in Series VII the crew are still living aboard Starbug and still chasing the trail of their larger mother ship, the Red Dwarf. Episodes in Series VII are:

1. Tikka To Ride
Lister ignores Kryten's warnings about the hazards of time travel and takes the crew on a quest for more curry that will change history.

2. Stoke Me A Clipper
Ace Rimmer returns to Red Dwarf to enlist the aid of Arnold Rimmer to continue his galactic fight for justice. Can Arnold actually be up to the challenge of becoming the greatest hero in the multi-verse?

3. Ouroboros
Lister discovers his true origins in a well-written episode full of paradox.

4. Duct Soup
Lister tries to make Kochanski feel at home and Kryten becomes a wee bit jealous, with expected comedic results.

5. Blue
Lister actually finds he misses Rimmer and Kryten invents a creative and hilarious solution to the problem.

6. Beyond a Joke
The search for spare heads for Kryten leads the crew to a dangerous encounter with Simulants and GELFS.

7. Epideme
A deadly and sentient virus infects Lister and drastic measures are needed to destroy it.

8. Nanarchy
Kryten's "nanobots" (microscopic robots) are found to be the culprits in the disappearance of their home ship, Red Dwarf, and may also provide a solution the disability with which Lister was left after the previous episode.

In spite of all the changes to the show after Series VI, Red Dwarf Series VII is still better than most anything else on television. It's only when one compares it to earlier Red Dwarf that it seems disappointing. Previous Red Dwarf DVD releases have had excellent extra features, with hilarious outtakes (Smeg Ups), featurettes, hidden features, deleted scenes, and more and this set will be no exception. There's also a "lost episode" called Identity Within, performed by Chris Barrie and raw footage included in the extra features, so Red Dwarf fans will find plenty to love on this release."

Stoke me a clipper - I'll be back for christmas... or maybe

Iain Leggate | Bristol, UK | 10/29/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"So Red Dwarf 7 is almost upon us, this one being one of the most debatable ones of the entire series. Grant Naylor becomes half the man he used to be in this series (Grant Naylor is a made up person from Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, the two writers of Red Dwarf who have a bit of a spat and split up so only one of them writes this series), Rimmer decides to leave (Chris Barrie was in others things and decided to leave) and Kochanski comes back, but in a different form (Claire Grogran was on MTV and they get Chloe Annette instead).

This doesn't sound a great start to begin with, and to be honest with you I do think this is the weakest series so far. However I do think they other series are all fantastic so being the weakest means this is only good (of course I should point out I am a major fan!)

The episodes are:
1. Tikka To Ride
2. Stoke Me A Clipper
3. Ouroboros
4. Duct Soup
5. Blue
6. Beyond a Joke
7. Epideme
8. Nanarchy

This series takes Red Dwarf in a different way to the rest - of course it would have to with Rimmer leaving and Kochanski coming back - but I still enjoyed it.

The depressing thing about this series is that after this one we only have the final series 8 to look forward to and hope that they manage to finish the film by the time that is out so we can enjoy more Dwarf!

Overall 4/5, less then the other series (5/5 for all the rest IMHO) but still very funny and better then most other series out there.

My favourite episodes are probably the Tikka to Ride, where they run out of curry and travel back in time to Dallas, 1961 and beam into a book depository... (not saying any more then that - you can watch it to find out) and Blue just for the Arnold Rimmer song (He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer Without him, life would be much grimmer He's handsome, trim, and no one's slimmer He will never need a Zimmer He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer)

In short, if you have all the other series, buy this one. If not... go buy them first, THEN buy this one :)"

Not quite as good as whats gone before

Stephen east | 12/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"What with
1.Loss of writer
2.Loss of one major character
3.Effects and models problems
4.Not filming infront of a live audience
5.A 3 year gap between series

It was really inevitable that series would be different to what we are used to.As a comedy in its own right its good and very funny but as series 7 in red dwarf its not as good as whats gone before

Chloe annett as kochanski i did not mind but for me plot wise its obvious that she is far to uptight and posh a kochanski then compared to clare grogan.And i would jave thought lister would not like a person like that.

The extras are great with a fantastic read through by chris barrie of the lost episode identity within and a great making of which is worth the price alone.

In the end its still a funny series duct soup in my opinion being the stand out episode
Just do not buy this expecting it to surpase previous series"

YOU WOULD PROBABLY ONLY BUY THIS IF YOU LOVE THE SHOW

S. Wegzyn | Seattle, WA USA | 02/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...Which isn't to say that it is necessarily "bad." It just means that, all arguments aside, the only people who would be buying the Red Dwarf DVD's are fans anyway, so you probably have your own opinion of the this season. With that being said, I originally had planned to stop buying the season's after Series 6 (my favorite, along with Series 4). I always felt the show should have ended after Series 6, with the irony of the crew killing themselves. But anyway... After talking with my girlfriend, another life-long fan, I decided to pick up Series 7 to further complete my collection.

Regardless of how you feel about Series 7, I gave the item 5 stars because it is put together fantastically. There are tons of extras, including extended, remastered versions of three episodes... So much stuff that they had to make it three discs. So yeah, if you like Red Dwarf and Series 7, then this DVD set is worth the money. I'm not going to comment about the quality or changes in Series 7, since everyone else before me has already pointed out all of its pros and cons just fine."