Commentary Recordings

Selected Episodes - by Andrew Ellard

4 May, 2007

Ascent Media in London is where we put the full Red Dwarf cast together for their first, anarchic commentaries. Back and back we went, at least until our cast grew bigger than the room...

Wednesday, April 25th saw a brief return to this excellent facility as we returned for the recording of six very special DVD episode commentaries.

At the start of the day, director Ed Bye was joined by editor Mark Wyborn, sound editor Jem Whippey and CGI creator Chris Veale to lay their dulcet tones over The End: Remastered in a commentary specifically tailored to the remastering process.

It's a one-take session that took us all by surprise, being exactly 612% funnier than we were expecting, as well as providing the expected discussions of sound effects, picture enhancement, computer animation... and added skutters.

But then - ah, well, then we made a little bit of history, with Doug Naylor and Ed Bye providing commentary for five more episodes. The boys set themselves down with the remastered versions of Me², Kryten, Better Than Life, Polymorph and Bodyswap - and really, really delivered.

It's a curtain-lifting set of commentaries that cover the original production from a fascinating angle. Ed and Doug are at their most anecdotal, veering off into topics old and new. Want to know how Spitting Image influenced the little-known Grant/Naylor break-up of 1987? Or what Doug now thinks of the remastered ending to Polymorph? Now's your chance...

Our favourite little moment, though, was this snippet from the Kryten commentary:

Ed: "When we first saw the skeletons Ruby [Wax, Ed's wife] was up in the gallery watching the show being made with us. And when the skeletons first appeared she turned around to Doug and said...?"

Doug: "'And they said you couldn't write for women.'"

More DVD Details will follow soon...

Red Dwarf: The Bodysnatcher Collection will be out in the UK on October 22nd.