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It you thought that you couldn't get anymore blood out of
the Red Dwarf stone, think again as the BBC present
you with the four disc The Body Snatcher Collection...
Disc
one contains The End: The Original Assembly which is
the first episode of the show before it was seriously revised,
replacing two-thirds of the script, after watching it you
can understand why. The audience reaction to the show is muted
at best, mostly because at this point the show is frankly
not very funny, the cast, who obviously haven't yet got a
handle on their characters, deliver their lines in a flat
and lifeless way. The show has a commentary by Rob Grant and
Doug Naylor.
Bodysnatcher
is another try at the first show that was never made. The
script was finally finished in 2007 and is presented as a
set of storyboards with Chris Barrie performing all the vocals.
The show also has a commentary by Grant and Naylor as well
as an extended audio version. Barrie does a great job at simulating
the voices of the original actors.
It's
Cold Outside is a seventy minute, documentary about the
making of the second series with contributions by the main
cast and creators. To complement this there is The Beginning,
another seventy minute documentary about the genesis of the
show. Fans of the show will love this stuff as it is full
of the minutiae and insights of the show's creation and its
difficult continuation.
Disc
two has the re-mastered versions of Series One, including
The End, Future Echoes, Balance of Power, Waiting for God,
Confidence & Paranoia and Me2. All of the episodes
have a text track which points out the changes that have been
made and the first and last episodes have a commentary track.
If that wasn't enough there is a twenty-one minute documentary,
Re-Dwarf, about the re-mastering of the show and the
reasons behind this - basically they were so naff in a number
of areas that the show would generate no overseas sales.
However,
rather than just tarting the show up, they went back and completely
re-imagined the show altering pace and changing some of the
gags. If that was not enough for you the disc also contains
bonuses in the form of a picture gallery and the slightly
more interesting Red Dwarf Mobicode, which is the show
in an animated form. There is only a single clip and in truth
is more of an advert. Whether you enjoy the re-mastered episodes
is going to be a very personal choice, there will be those
that feel precious about the originals and so will hate any
changes. For the average watcher the changes go a long way
to making the show less dated and more amusing.
Disc
three contains the re-mastered versions of Series Two
including Kryten, Better than Life, Thanks for the Memory,
Stasis Leak, Queeg and Parallel Universe. Once
again all the shows come with an on screen text to point out
where the show has been improved and commentaries on Kryten
and Better than Life. The disc also contains four deleted
scenes and for a bonus you get Raw FX Footage, which
is a compilation of the CGI, including stuff that never made
it into the show; a history of the Tongue Tied song;
Original Model Shots; and Grant and Naylor's interview
with Alan Titchmarsh, which also has a commentary.
On
the fourth, and last, disc we get the re-mastered versions
of Series Three which includes Backwards, Marooned,
Polymorph, Bodyswap, Timeslides and The last Day.
Once again each show has text which highlights the changes
and Polymorph and Bodyswap have commentaries.
On the Bonus side we have some original 8mm film and the two
promos for the re-mastered editions. There is also four -
Dad, Lister's Father, Infinity Patrol
and Rimmer's Dummy - lost script extracts which are
presented as storyboards with Chris Barrie once again doing
a fine job providing all the vocals.
Well,
what can one say except that this collection offers a hell
of a lot of bang for your buck. Sure some of the stuff has
been available elsewhere; however it still represents a pretty
comprehensive package of the first three series with two hundred
and fifty minutes of commentaries, five hundred and thirty
minutes of actual show and three hundred and forty minutes
of bonus material. It is, without a doubt, the most complete
retrospect that I think I have seen for any show and deserves
a high mark for that if nothing else.
 
Charles
Packer
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£37.49
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