Red Dwarf Remastered
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 the BBC and Grant Naylor Productions, it was hoped that remastered versions of the old episodes, combined with the recently completed seventh series of the show, would make an attractive syndication package for the U.S. market.
Contents |
[edit] Changes
Some of the changes made for Red Dwarf Remastered included:
- Replacement opening credits for series one and two. 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.
- 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.
- Replacement music and audio effects being applied to some scenes: the voice of Rimmer's mother was dubbed, for example, Rimmer was made to crash into pots and pans (bizarrely, considering his holographic status), and the Cat was supplemented with a roaring noise as he made himself "look big".
- Additional computer generated elements being applied to particular scenes, especially during The End. These included Skutters for the foreground of the scene introducing Lister and Rimmer, and shuffling rocks to give depth to the McIntire funeral scene. The final episode of series 2 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!"
- All videotape work being filmized 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.
- Specific close-up scenes with Holly in series I and II 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.
- Minor cuts to dialog, for example, George McIntire's speech in The End.
[edit] Fan reaction
Most of these changes were felt by the fans to be unnecessary. Some of the new effects shots appeared less convincing than the original model work, in particular that of Red Dwarf itself.
There was also 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 — apparently because US audiences wouldn't know who Kendal was.
The remastering process was halted after the completion of work on Series III. Most recent 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" bizarrely 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 the JMC made all its cutbacks".
[edit] 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 and sub-par 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.
[edit] DVD releases
The remastered episodes of Series 1-3 will be available on DVD in the UK sometime this Autumn. The DVD will contain 4 discs, one for each series and a bonus disc of special features (including lengthy documentaries not included on the current Series 1 and 2 releases).
Remastered episodes have found their way onto DVD in continental Europe. 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 a truncated title sequence and, of course, Japanese dubbing.
The release will also feature contributions from Rob Grant, co-creator of Red Dwarf. He has had no involvement with the franchise since his departure after Series 6.
The official Red Dwarf website has confirmed that the special features will include a lost episode, created in the same style as Identity Within for the Series VII DVD. The episode is known as Bodysnatcher.
