Red Dwarf - Series 7 DVD > Reviews > Back To Life

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Some incredible special features included on an extra bonus disc .
Disadvantages:	The menus can be hard to navigate .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Several years passed between Series 6 and 7 as the shows creators had to get the cast to agree to come back for another round of space adventures. Sure enough, they agreed and 7 was made.

---THE EPISODES--

The series starts with 'Tikka To Ride' An episode that explains how the crew of Starbug avoided the fate that awaited them at the end of Series 6, and also gives a completely new twist on one of the biggest conspiracy theories of all time, the assassination of Kennedy. Could a simple trip back in time for a curry put mankind on the brink of extinction?

Next on the menu is 'Stoke Me A Clipper'. Rimmer faces a big change. Can the biggest coward in the whole of space and time accept his fate and become a space warrior, fighting for the good of the entire universe? When his equivalent self from a parallel universe, Ace Rimmer, is killed, it's up to Rimmer to put himself to the ultimate test.

The third episode of the series is 'Ouroboros'. Lister makes a startling discovery about himself from when an old flame makes an appearance on the scene from (another) parallel universe. Not only was he put on earth to create an everlasting circle of life that could never be broken, but he could well be his own father!

'Duct Soup' is the fourth episode from Series 7. When Kryten gets jealous of Kochanski's return to Starbug, he attempts desperate measures to get back at her. Lister has to face his fear of claustrophobia when Starbug's generator goes out and the crew have to crawl through miles of air ducts to get control of the ship before it flies right into a burning sun.

Next up, 'Blue'. How could Lister REALLY be missing Rimmer since he left Starbug? It appears so as we take a journey though some of Rimmer and Listers better times together. Kryten and Kochanski battle eachother to try to help Lister get over it before Kryten masters it by creating a hilarious song and dance scene from Rimmer himself.

'Beyond A Joke' sees Kryten finally blow his top after feeling unappreciated when making a special dinner for the crew. In an attempt to replace his blown-up head, Kochanski, Cat and Lister board a simulant vessel, only to have the body of Kryten kidnapped by an evil simulant and a G.E.L.F. When their own mechanoid fixes Kryten, he learns the shocking truth about his own creation and why his new brother, Able, has lost all his self respect and become a mechanoid junkie.

The penultimate episode of Series 7 is 'Epideme'. The crew seemingly rescue a woman trapped in ice on a ship for millions of years, only to find that the life signs actually came from a killer virus she contracted 3 million years before, which has now been passed on to Lister. The crew have to come up with a way to rid Lister of the virus before it kills him and wipes out humanity forever!

The final episode is 'Nanarchy'. Lister is trying to come to terms with losing his arm, with a little help from an over-protective Kryten. When Kryten finds his long lost Nanobots (an intelligent self-repair unit), he orders them to replace Listers arm, and rebuild the ship they stole, the city sized Red Dwarf.

The episodes Tikka To Ride, Ouroboros, and Duct Soup can be viewed either as the original episode that aired on BBC2 when the series was screened, or as the special extended versions with deleted scenes.

--SERIES 7 IN GENERAL--

It was wondered for a while after Series 6 finished, if there was to be a series 7, how they would explain that they came back to life after being blown up at the end of 6. To be fair, they explained it very well and the first episode of 7 is a fantastic look at, not only how they came back, but the drastic action they take to get over the loss of all the ships curry. Tikka To Ride is my favourite episode of Series 7 by far.

As well as the usual crew all returning, there was a new addition to the ranks for 7 - Chloe Annett playing the love of Listers life, Christine Kochanski.She took over the role from Claire Grogan, who cameo'd as Kochanski in all the other series. Chloe seemed to take the role of Kochanski well, and brought a lot of cockyness to the character, which we had never seen before. Grogan had never had the chance to portray her in this way, as a spoiled rich girl who always gets what she wants.

The biggest shame of series 7 is the loss of the hologramatic Arnold Rimmer. Since the beginning of Red Dwarf, he has been an ever present entity, making everyone elses life a misery with his sarcastic, humourless, cowardly, brown-nosing ways. But those characteristics are what make the fans of Red Dwarf love him so much. Although he featured strongly in episodes 1 and 2 of series 7, we only see him as a cameo in Blue for the rest of the whole series. We missed his space corps directives and belittling comments to the rest of the crew!

The biggest cheer of Series 7 comes at the end of 'Nanarchy', when the ships computer, Holly, makes a long overdue return. Norman Lovett had not been seen since as Holly since the end of series 2, when Hattie Hayridge then replaced him for series 3, 4 and 5.But he's back for Series 7 and he's, in his own words, "kicking bottom or what!".

--THE BONUS FEATURES--

Out of all the Red Dwarf DVD's so far, 7 has the most special features. There's a fantastic documentary about the making of Series 7 called 'Back From The Dead' which I'm sure the majority of Red Dwarf fans would learn a lot from. I only put it on because the episodes had finished and there was nothing else to watch, but I really enjoyed it.

There's the usual deleted scenes and smeg-ups that accompany the other DVD's as well as commentary from the cast. Also, weblinks if you are watching through a DVD-ROM drive, and a photo gallery.

Probably the most unique feature on this DVD is the lost episode of Red Dwarf, 'Identity Within'. The episode was never filmed but was supposed to be an episode based around the Cat. This episode is presented in storyboard format and is narrated by Chris Barrie who plays Rimmer.

There's a bonus section entitled Fan Films, where they show the submissions from fans after a challenge was set from the makers to the fans, to make their own Red Dwarf episode. Fan Films also features a highly comical awards ceremony to the winning submissions.

Other bonus features include a video diary from Rob Llewellyn (Kryten), episode trailers, a featurette entitled Burning Rubber which shows that the crew cannot be trusted with any vehicle in their possession, humourous radio sketches of another Rob Grant / Doug Naylor comedy show which Red Dwarf was based on, and a special effects presentation.

The 3 DVD set also comes with a collectors booklet with lots of information, funny facts, and bits to watch out for when watching the DVD.

--MY RATING--

8/10. I loved it, but the episodes on 7 are not as good as series 3,4, 5 and 6. However the bonus features are much better.