This Is The End

The Original Assembly - by Andrew Ellard

9 March, 2007

As any Dwarf fan knows, the first episode of the series was a tricky beast to wrangle.

The End underwent extensive reshoots before it finally arrived on-screen. Taking advantage of the cast's extra experience filming the rest of the series, the newly filmed scenes included some hefty rewrites... mainly to add some more jokes.

Now, digging through the archives, we have uncovered all the material from that original audience shoot - and created The End: The Original Assembly.

Fully two-thirds of The End as it was broadcast is reshoot material. Rimmer and Lister's opening scenes - corridor, bunkroom - Lister's entry into stasis, Lister's exit from stasis and the subsequent 'Everybody's dead, Dave' scene, Rimmer's resurrection as a hologram, the Cat's introduction... even the final 'look out Earth, the slime's coming home' scene.

If that sounds like... well, pretty much the entire episode, it's understandable. The End: The Original Assembly recreates exactly the show as it would have been had it not been re-filmed, and it's a very, very different show.

If you can't wait, check out the Red Dwarf Omnibus for the original script. Otherwise, you'll just have to hang on for November. This specially-created ep will be included in the Remastered series box set - along with Series I and II documentaries and the lost Grant/Naylor episode Bodysnatcher as performed by Chris Barrie.

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Red Dwarf Remastered will be released in the UK in November 2007.