In Praise of The Bodysnatcher Collection

Here are some things that are on the Red Dwarf DVD boxset The Bodysnatcher Collection (released 2007), which started out as a collection of the three Remastered series (versions of the first three series, originally broadcast in 1988 and 1989, digitally remastered in 1998 principally to replace all the nice model shots with crappy cheap CGI and add a film effect to a late-eighties studio sitcom that obviously wasn’t shot or lit for it – as you may have guessed, the Remastered episodes were not well received) but ended up as so, so much more.

• An unmade script from the very first series, realised with storyboards and cast member Chris Barrie performing the script. A few years previously they’d done a similar thing with an unproduced episode from 1996 from a freelance writer – but this is even more fascinating as an insight to the show’s genesis. Bonus points for the commentary track from writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor.
• They then go on to have Barrie and the storyboards bring life to four script extracts, ranging from a draft that was one third complete before being abandoned, to a thirty second unused joke. Also with writers’ commentary.
• The original version of the very first episode – it had to be recorded twice due to the first version being an absolute disaster, and most of the final product is taken from that second recording; this version only uses the footage from the first attempt. This wasn’t something that was just lying around in the archives – all the rushes were pulled out and assembled together.
• Two seventy-minute documentaries on the making of the first series. Every other series of RD already had something like this, but back when they released the first two series the budget wouldn’t run to something of this length and depth – so when the chance to release the Remastered series came up, they took the opportunity to make sure every series was covered in such detail.
• A text track on the Remastered episodes, covering all the changes made and more across the whole 9 hours, with plenty of additional trivia and more background on the production of the Remastered project.
•  An interview with writers Grant and Naylor from early nineties daytime television (being interviewed by Alan Titchmarsh). This sort of archive footage occasionally turns up on other shows’ releases, but what makes this really notable is the hilarious commentary track by Grant and Naylor themselves, on what the release itself dubs “the most embarrassing interview in the universe ever”. Is there any other release with anything like this?

And I haven’t even mentioned the commentaries on the Remastered episodes themselves, the deleted scenes (which, to cut a long story short, would have taken a lot of time and money to locate that wasn't available first time round), the model shots, the raw FX footage, the easter eggs, and plenty of other stuff. There's even a ten-second clip from an old video release they stuck on there because it should've been on one of the series sets but fell off somewhere. And this was for a sitcom that, at the time, had been off air for nearly nine years and most people had probably assumed was gone for good. The level of love and effort put into this release is something else – to be honest, in this post I’ve barely scratched the surface.

Can you imagine what a similar boxset for other TV series or even films could contain? It is a bloody shame that The Bodysnatcher Collection apparently didn’t sell well, and resultantly wasn’t reprinted after it all went a bit crispy in the 2011 riots. (Picking up a Region 4 copy is your best bet now, I think.) Special features (or value added material, or whatever you want to call it) are lovely things, but increasingly rare these days. I’ve written over a page in Word extolling the virtues of The Bodysnatcher Collection, but if we turn our attention to Peter Kay’s Car Share – a very popular mainstream, BBC One sitcom from last year – then I can sum up the extras as follows: Bugger all. The comedy drama No Offence actually has to advertise ‘contains bonus material’ on the front cover – I might be wrong, but is this because people are less expectant of any major special features these days? I know physical media is on the decline and all, but it’s a real shame that budget cuts mean we won’t see a release of the like of The Bodysnatcher Collection again. Anyway, it’s undoubtedly the best DVD I own due to all the love, care and effort clearly put into it, and I just thought I’d write a bit about it.