Read All About It

And Look at the Pictures - by Andrew Ellard

26 October, 2007

Enjoyed that special preview of the DVD menus? Thirsty for one more update? Oh, go on then...

Every main series release of Red Dwarf has been accompanied by a Collector's Booklet. A few more titbits of information that just couldn't be crammed in anywhere else.

For The Bodysnatcher Collection we've got a bit of that... and a little something extra, too.

The 20-page booklet provides a little background on Bodysnatcher and The End: The Original Assembly, then talks you thought the DVD content - so far, so typical. But on top of that are three nifty new additions.

Firstly, we'll be showcasing the original remastered VHS cover art by artist Mark Wilkinson (whose website you can visit here). These are the six nifty spacescapes that appeared on the 1997 VHS sleeves, presented without all the video blurb and logos - just take in the detail.

Which leads us to the second cool thing by Mark. Aside from presenting the clean sleeve art, we'll be showing you some of Mark's original design drawings for the remastered episodes themselves. Mark created the various 'cat history' images used in The End: Remastered and Waiting for God: Remastered, and here you'll see how those came into being.

Finally, there's a deleted scene from Bodysnatcher.

When Rob and Doug came to polish up - and, okay, finish - the script they're now genuinely describing as 'one of the best of the early series', there was one sequence that just made no sense to include. A Lister/Cat scene featuring a vending machine, a tape of a London Jets Zero-G football game... and no plot whatsoever.

The removal of this scene was the only major change to the script (more minor ones are discussed by the writers in their commentary), but we couldn't let it die completely, so the text has been included here. By all means impersonate the characters as you read it aloud.

Finally, as an extra-special treat, fans of the remastered sleeve art will be pleased to know that all six backgrounds are now available from the desktop wallpapers section.

November 12th is almost here. You know the full DVD content, you've even had a glimpse of Rob and Doug in action. It's so close you can smell the cellophane wrap.

Ladies, gentlemen and GELFS of indeterminate gender - we give you The Bodysnatcher Collection.