Red Dwarf Remastered

Red Dwarf Remastered was an attempt in the mid-1990s to bring the earlier series of TV comedy Red Dwarf up-to-date. A collaborative effort between BBC Worldwide and Grant Naylor Productions, it was hoped that remastered versions of the old episodes would prove more appealing to broadcasters in international territories. Due to various circumstances, only Series I-III were remastered before the project was abandoned.

Changes

The CG version of Red Dwarf, which is darker and longer than the original.

Some of the changes made for Red Dwarf Remastered included:

• Replacement opening credits for Series I, II and III. These retained the initial image of Lister painting the outside of Red Dwarf, but featured a new attempt to realise the original intention to pull-out from a close-up of Lister to the entire ship in one uninterrupted shot. This was followed by a new fast-paced opening montage similar to those created for Series III to VIII. To distinguish between the (now almost identical) opening sequences of each series, a CGI tin can (as an ejected item of rubbish), was added to the opening pull-out of the Red Dwarf model, featuring the words "series one", "series two" and "series three" respectively.
• All new computer generated special effects of Red Dwarf flying through space. Whilst the original series simply featured Red Dwarf flying through unadorned starscapes, the Remastered version attempted variety with such background effects as burning suns and icy moons. The nebulae were given colour, the dust storm recreated, and attention was given to the speed of Red Dwarf racing through space, rather than to its vast size and emptiness as before.
  • To coincide with these alterations, the starscape outside the windows of the ship interiors was edited, where possible, to match the new special effects. This was attempted only when the camera was locked-off, rather than following characters around the room.

The CG version of Blue Midget, which has arms and legs replacing the caterpillar tracks of the original.

• The other model shots of crafts in space being likewise almost completely replaced with computer generated special effects. For the craft Blue Midget, as with Red Dwarf itself, these modifications amounted to a complete redesign, and matched those that would appear in Series VIII. By Series VII Starbug already had backwards-facing legs so it was too late.
• New computer generated transitions being inserted between scenes to provide an effects sequence where previously there had been none. These include an extended introduction for the polymorph through the Red Dwarf air ventilation system, a "time hole" journey to backwards earth, and various shots of elevators in lift-shafts and that. The final episode of Series II was boosted with the addition of a still image after the credits, featuring the Cat holding up a placard with the following words digitally added: "A great series, and a superb end to the best Red Dwarf Sitcom there ever was! Twelve marks!" Other minor CGI visual alterations include those added to live-action scenes, such as a grey opening and closing 'hatch' being laid over what was, in the original scene, a swinging flip-top bint.
• Additional bluescreen model elements being applied to particular scenes, especially during "The End". These included Skutters for the foreground of the scene introducing Lister and Rimmer, and (via a caption camera) floating heads added into the foreground of the McIntyre funeral scene.
• Additional front projection elements being applied to particular scenes, for example where Rimmer is seen to "Queeg" in the episode of the same name, and when Cat's make-up needed to be replaced with an unformatted version throughout Series II. The technique was also utilised to introduce some Series VIII style "gurning" to the more serious character scenes.
• Replacement music and audio effects being applied to all scenes: the show in general was given a more detailed soundscape, a new stereo mix (replacing the original mono) with fully remastered foreground and background effects. Additional laughter was added, in particular to series one where the original audience reaction did not match the desired response. Changes were specific as well as general: Rimmer's mother was ludicrously re-voiced by a different actress in Polymorph, for example; Rimmer was heard to crash into pots and pans after falling through the Cat in The End (despite his holographic status); and in the same episode the Cat was supplemented with a tiger's roar as he made himself "look big". Throughout Series III, the Cat was given a "chattering teeth" sound effect to emphasise his various performances of fear. Finally, some dialogue was altered in order to alleviate continuity problems that would emerge with subtle character alterations made later in the programme's history. The Cat was now to have a strong sense of smell, for example, from the very first episode, rather than only from Series VI onwards.
• All videotape work being filmicated to give the impression it was shot on film.
• Cropping of the top and bottom of the original picture to leave a 14:9 "widescreen" picture. (Some versions only.)
• Occasional close-up scenes with Holly in Series I being re-filmed with actor Norman Lovett. New jokes with the character were added to several episodes. Hattie Hayridge's performance in Series III remained the same as the original, however.
• Trimming of some scenes, such as the removal of Cat's fantasy mermaid girlfriend and the "Black card/white card smeg". Performed partially for pace reasons, and sometimes due to dissatisfaction with the writing or performance quality.
• Minor cuts to dialogue, for example, Cat's references to "Robbie Rocketpants" in The End.

Reaction

Most of these changes were felt by existing fans to be quite astoundingly pointless. Some of the new effects shots appeared less convincing than the original model work, in particular those featuring Red Dwarf herself. Historically, many fans have grown to consider Red Dwarf Remastered as representing for Red Dwarf what the remixed "Jaaaaam" series was for the Chris Morris project "Jam". Its distorted visual and aural effects have been acknowledged as an interesting experiment, despite all else, in making the experience of the first three series of Red Dwarf much like that of a haunting dream.

Detractors have expressed an outcry at the changing of some dialogue, such as Holly's joke about "Felicity Kendal's bottom" being replaced with a similar joke about "Marilyn Monroe's ass" — a change made because GNP felt US audiences wouldn't know who Kendal was or what "bottom" meant.

Internationally, Red Dwarf Remastered was met with profound success - finding fresh audiences who were unaware of its remastered status. The availability of isolated audio tracks for language dubbing allowed the programme to reach more foreign-language broadcasters.

No further series were remastered after the inital three series. Most recent UK reruns and the DVD releases of the show have been of the original untreated versions (It's notable the remastered episodes have occasionally appeared on UKTV G2 (although the originals are more commonly seen), and in early 2003 the remastered "Marooned" incongruously appeared during a repeat run of the series on UKTV Gold that otherwise consisted of the original versions). Despite this, the most recent series of Red Dwarf retains the CGI model of the ship created for the Red Dwarf Remastered. This was acknowledged in Series VIII with dialogue about how the ship had changed shape, being "identical to its original design plans, before it suddenly became more stubby with the un-remastered series IV".

Other remastering

For the release of the Series VII DVD, the first episode "Tikka to Ride" was remastered. This only consisted of replacing the rushed CGI effects from the original broadcast with up-to-date 2005-standard CGI and the original episode was also on the DVD. The result is almost universally considered an improvement .

DVD releases

Remastered episodes as definitive Red Dwarf releases outside of UK

Remastered episodes have found their way onto DVD in continental Europe as the definitive Red Dwarf releases. Localised releases in Poland, France and Benelux all contain the remastered episodes. The remastered episodes were also released in Japan with some heavy cutting of the episodes, but these editions are now deleted. The Japanese version of pilot episode The End (which is based on the remastered edition of the show) was included as a bonus feature on the English language DVD release of Series I, featuring significant edits, different title and credit sequences and Japanese dubbing.

Specific DVD release of Red Dwarf Remastered as historical artifact

The remastered episodes of Series I–III were made available on DVD in the UK on 12 November 2007. A 2008 release is planned for Australia. The box set includes all 18 episodes, alongside documentaries concerning the Remastering project and the making of the original Series I and II (as these were absent from the original DVD release of these series).

The special features include what has been called the "original assembly" of the first episode of Red Dwarf, plus a lost episode, known as "Bodysnatcher", which has been created in the same style as "Identity Within" for the Series VII DVD. The title for the box set has been announced as The Bodysnatcher Collection after this feature.

The release will also feature commentary and interview contributions from Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf. Until now, Grant has had no involvement with Red Dwarf since his departure after Series VI.