Red Dwarf Series 8

Red Dwarf VIII, the last Red Dwarf series produced for television, is so far off the original premise and comedic style of the first few series of the show that in many ways it seems like a completely different show. Having an entire ship full of people with whom Lister can interact really shatters the great comedic premise on which Red Dwarf was created, that being that Lister is the last human left in the universe. Personally, I've never enjoyed the premise of bringing back the entire crew and then putting the main characters in prison for nearly the full eight episodes. While amusing, I believe this series has a lot of unwelcome changes and writing difficulties compared to earlier series of the show. The humor is less dense and less clever, often relying on gags that do not even approach the level of razor-edged wit prevalent in earlier episodes of the show.

Nevertheless, there are a few bright spots in this series. Chris Barrie is back and the full cast of regulars is present for the entire series. And there is some occasionally inspired humor that still manages to make this better than most of the other shows on television. Cassandra particularly stands out as a good, "classic" Red Dwarf episode.

Finally, the extra features, as on the other Red Dwarf DVD sets, are terrific, with Smeg Ups, deleted scenes, extended versions of two episodes, a making of documentary, commentary tracks, and much more. The extra features alone are worth the price for any "serious" Red Dwarf fan. Based on that alone, I would recommend this set. Plus, what Red Dwarf fan can resist completing their collection? Sadly, as of this writing, Series VIII is the last Red Dwarf ever produced.

Here is a synopsis of the plot of each episode in this set:

Back In The Red Part I

Kryten's nanobots have recreated the ship Red Dwarf and the original crew as well, which is an especially good thing for Arnold Rimmer.

Back In The Red Part II

Rimmer uses a virus that enhances sexual magnetism to assist him with attracting female crewmembers, but this gets him into trouble when he dines at the captain's table.

Back In The Red Part III

Lister and his bunch face time in the brig for crimes against the Space Corps., so they escape to try and prove their innocence.

Cassandra

Lister joins a special military unit comprised of convicts, only to discover it's basically a suicide squad. Things get interesting when they face the all-knowing Cassandra. This episode is the one in Series VIII that is the most like a classic Red Dwarf episode from earlier series of the show; it is cleverly written and hilarious.

Krytie TV

Kryten's private TV station is most amusing to his fellow prisoners, but the jokes are at the expense of others, which gets him into a bit of trouble.

Pete Part I

Rimmer and Lister are forced play against the guards in a basketball game. They sabotage the opposition's half-time juice with a virility enhancement drug.

Pete Part II

The crew becomes the prey when a sparrow devolves into one of its large dinosaur ancestors.

Only The Good

Rimmer passes into a parallel universe where his other self is the ship's captain.

I originally bought this as a Christmas gift for someone. To be completely honest, I did not expect much prior to watching this. I had read about it and just admittedly decided it was something I would not, could not watch. That much was already made up in my mind.

Please, allow me be the first to ask you to give this series a chance. It is a really good series all things considered. Yes, some parts are boring and it drags in other places. I cannot go into details about every episode and what it contains, but I can say I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed this thoroughly. The person I bought this for had every season prior to this one. Once I showed even a tiny spark of interest in it, I was roped into watching them all. Definitely worth it!

Though this was purchased a while ago, I am just now getting a chance to review it. The packaging was great and it arrived quicker than I had imagined - in plenty of time for Christmas.

I definitely recommend taking the opportunity to watch it. You may find yourself like me: unexpected, yet pleasantly surprised.

After series 7, series co creator and writer Doug Naylor decided to take the show back to it's roots with series 8. First setting it back on Red Dwarf and reviveing the entire original crew. There are some great comedy moments in this season but most of the time i felt as though i was watching a half arsed version of the great comedy classic. You would think with Rimmer and Holly back along with the Skutters that the show would go right back to it's comedy roots but unfortunatly it all seems wrong somehow. The jokes don't feel as witty or as clever as the other series, in fact i found some of the jokes to be embarassing and painfully unfunny. All in all series 8 is a big let down. Thankfully the BBC appeared to have delivered the goods once again with the DVD extras so it's not all bad news and there are some good episodes in here such as 'Cassandra' and 'Krytie TV' which are two of my personal favourites from this season.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 30 reviews  4.4 out of 5 stars