Red Dwarf VI
Considered by some fans to be the end of the “classic series” of Red Dwarf, the sixth season completes the total departure from the ship that gives the show its title. Red Dwarf, though mentioned on a few occasions as a ship that the characters have lost track of and are trying to relocate, is never seen even once this season, while our heroes are stuck in a Starbug shuttle whose inner dimensions seemed to be constantly growing to almost TARDIS-like proportions. And yet there’s always at least one bona-fide classic on offer (in this case, the International Emmy-winning Gunmen Of The Apocalypse) and the other five episodes are peppered with classic moments.
Once again, the four principal actors - Chris Barrie, Craig Charles, Robert Llewellyn and Danny John-Jules - are on hand with a commentary for all six episodes (the last time that the show would have only six per season), as well as appearing in a documentary covering the entire season and its place in the show’s history, The Starbuggers. (Also appearing in the documentary are Rob Grant, director Andy De Emmony, and other members of the behind-the-scenes crew, including a portly fellow who, whether he was occupying the GELF costume in Emohawk: Polymorph II or not, seemed to give his castmates the heebie-jeebies. The commentaries are entertaining, especially with Robert accusing several scenes that represent the last great hurrah of actual miniature model work in Red Dwarf of being CGI (which didn’t come into use until the following season, though arguably without spectacular results). The commentary and documentary also reveal just how late the script for the downbeat cliffhanger Out Of Time was - it was so late that the cast never even got a script, instead having to read their lines off of teleprompters during the studio sessions (!).
The jam-packed bonus disc is filled to the brim with features other than just The Starbuggers, however. An extensive feature on the work of series musical composer Howard Goodall (also a veteran of Blackadder, The Vicar Of Dibley and many others) is particularly entertaining, as he talks about the evolution of the show’s music from synthesized/small ensemble to the full orchestra of the seventh season, the genesis of the theme music (and he even plays/sings the “lost” verses!), and so on. Goodall’s music - including the classic score for Gunmen Of The Apocalypse - is also featured in the customary Isolated Music feature. Bloopers, quite a few deleted scenes, raw special effects footages, and more audio excerpts are also available.
It’s a nice package surrounding some decent episodes, but also some so-so ones as well - in retrospect, while I was quite fond of it upon first seeing it, Out Of Time can’t seem to decide what story it wants to tell, and somehow a Blake’s 7-style ending just doesn’t work on Red Dwarf, indicating that the show had finally taken a step into sci-fi-soap territory and was no longer, strictly speaking, comedy.