Cutting It Fine

Back In The Edit - by Andrew Ellard

18 July, 2003

With a wealth of material available, the editing of the new DVD documentaries has stretched from being a short job to being... well, a much longer one. Facing a titanic struggle with time and volume - not to mention an edit suite that has chosen this particular moment to crash more often than a ZX81 - Doug Naylor, myself, and editors Robin Harris (pictured working) and Mark Wybourn (pictured sleeping) have wrestled the beast and are emerging victorious.

First up, and by far and away the most important bonus extra, we have the documentaries. Series III's All Change and Series IV's Built To Last feature a total of 13 interviews with key cast and crew. Running at a final time of 75-80 minutes each, with on-screen animated captions from Chris Veale, these two programmes really are the GELF's danglies.

Both docs are split into sections - an intro and a discussion of each episode individually - which will be separated into chapters. If you've got a short attention span and would prefer to watch just the section about the making of Marooned, no problem! An option from the main disc 2 menu will offer you chapter points for each episode.

These two documentaries improve massively on the already-pretty-smegging-good Series I and II DVDs, but they have created one interesting problem - they're so comprehensive that it's made the collector's booklets a lot harder to write! Not to worry, though - the tightening of the docs in the edit (one rough cut ran well over two hours!) has allowed a few crumbs to fall from the table. Rest assured, if it didn't make the grade in the cut, it may still make an interesting curio for the booklets.

One of the best things about the interviews was that we were able to ask everyone about their memories of the late Mel Bibby. Mel's contribution to the look of Red Dwarf is immeasurable - hence the title of our tribute, Building a Better Universe - but he was also a key part of the Dwarf family. The tribute, which includes some wonderfully personal memories of working with a brilliant creative mind, will appear on the Series III disc.

Also currently in the edit are the two new featurettes. Following on from the previous music-based montages Drunk and Alternate Personalities are Food (Series III) and Lurve (Series IV). The songs being used - which we can't currently reveal - will once again be both a little diverse, as well as suitable to the themes. You can take a guess, or even suggest ideas for next time, within our Webboard forum.

Away from the edit, chapter points have been selected for Backwards-Forwards, the entire episode of the show presented as the reverse inhabitants of Backwards Earth experienced it. From the Cat's experience behind the bushes, through bar fights and crash landings to the Wilma Flintstone conversation, this is Backwards as you were probably never meant to see it. Sixteen chapter points have been selected to take you to the key backwards scenes and lines.

There's more to talk about - but it can wait until next time.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

You can pre-order the Series III DVD from the Red Dwarf Shop.