Disc 1
Disc 2
Overall Verdict

Series II of Red Dwarf was almost exactly the same as the first. No, I don't mean the stories are the same, but Series I and II both have the same look, feel and comedy style. This makes the 2nd series just as memorable as the 1st. Of course, with more budget on this series it enabled new models to be created, the characters to venture off the ship, and more colour inside the ship. The introduction of a large, yellow, inflatable bannana in the guy's room; reds, blues and greens added to various sets; and even the rivets in the bunkrooms were painted sky blue. The second series was much more confident than the first. In the first series, none of the audience knew what they were watching, which lead to many hilarious scenes not getting a laugh. In the second, everybody had seen the first, and knew what they were watching. This lead to bigger laughs.
This is also the series in which the mechanoid Kryten is introduced (played by David Ross). Although he is only in the 1st episode, the character would return for Series III onwards, this time played by Robert Llewellyn.

All episodes of Series II on this disc is presented in its original format. This means no butchering for the re-masters and no crappy CGI effects. Even the last episode, Parallel Universe, comes without the main opening sequence as it did when first aired on TV. This didn't even make it onto the VHS version of the episode. This truly is a very special DVD.

The picture quality is basically the same as on the Series I DVD. The production of both Series were very close and the same cameras and film were used. It's not the best picture transfer ever, but it gets the job done. Red Dwarf is now as sharp as when it was first aired on TV. There are no clear edge enhancement cases that I have noticed.

Again, sound quality is no Dolby 5.1, or DTS. Just the plain and simple 2.0, but that is how the fans like it. It's much clearer than VHS had to offer.

The menu screens on disc one are the same ones used for the Series I DVD, only certain details around it have been changed to fit in with Series II. There is now the Holly Hop Drive, Holly's watch, and even triangular VHS (obviously more enhanced than DVD). The Skutter's zoom around doing different things (like playing Cowboys and Indians), and there is even the addition of the very attractive pink skutter.

The cast commentary is probably what you are all wanting to read about. As with the first, it is superb! It includes all the same cast as the Series I commentary; Craig Charles, Chris Barrie, Danny John-Jules, and Norman Lovett. Listening to the commentary, you get the impression that both commentaries for Series I and II were done back to back, one after another. This is because the Series II continues conversations from the first Series' commentary. Yes, they still comment on Norman's hair, and Mac's weight. You learn some interesting facts through this commentary, like many of the cast didn't get on at the start, and Craig Charles was nearly written out of the Dwarf!!! Conversation also goes on about Norman's spot/mole/third eye, and a line which the cast believe was cut. It is deffinatly worth a good listen, but I recomend you take on the Series I Audio Commentary first.

On the first disc is the one and only Series II easter egg. It is similar to the easter egg from the Series I DVD with Rob Grant, Doug Naylor and Ed Bye discussing Series I and the episode Future Echoes. This time their conversation moves onto the episode "Queeg". This easter egg is not as long as the one for the Series I DVD, and also not as knowledgeable, but it is still worth a look. To access it, go to the main menu and select the down button twice until the watch with Holly on it is highlighted. Now press enter and you will be taken to the Holly Hop Drive.

There are now two options, the Start and Stop buttons. If you press Start the easter egg will start. I think you can work out the rest yourself. It's pretty straight forward.

The second disc is packed full of special features. With the first series I was a bit disappointed that a lot of the material had been seen before. But for this one, I knew what to expect.

The photo gallery has some interesting pictures. Many had been seen on RedDwarf.co.uk before, but is still nice to have them permanently on disk. There are a few pictures that are new to me, and images of the VHS sleeves. A nice collection of pictures.

The Isolated Music Cues were something that I was looking forward to. I have always wanted a music soundtrack of all music composed by Howard Goodall for Red Dwarf. This was the closest I was going to get. I enjoyed the music on the Series I DVD, and knew that the music on Series II was much better. A great listen!

The Smeg Ups are nothing we haven't seen on the Smeg Ups/Outs tapes. I would still like to see the Smeg Ups and Smeg Outs converted to DVD in the near future, but for now the fluffs I get on these DVDs are good enough to keep me going.

The model shots, as with the Series I DVD, still come with no sound. It's still interesting to watch though, but there isn't anything you can't see during the episodes.

I was very disappointed with the trailer. I was expecting something like the trailer for Series I with various scenes in a compilation, as you normally get with a trailer. All this trailer had was a big BBC TWO presentation at the beginning, then a cut to the "Dog's milk" scene, then back to the BBC TWO presentation. That was about it. Pretty boring if you ask me!

The Alternate Personalities Featurette was a great little compilation of scenes from all 8 series. Watching them really made me want all the series on DVD! However, once it has been watched once there is no need to watch it again.

Chris Barrie's reading of Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers gets another two chapters on the DVD in the Talking Book Chapters.

Of course the deleted scenes are probably what most of the fans were after. The scenes are a very enjoyable watch and some I even wonder why on earth they were cut (even though they tell you why they were cut before they're shown). My favourite is the Cat and Talkie Toaster duet. Although Talkie Toaster has no voice in this clip, you can see how funny it would have been. It would have been great if they got John Lenahan to do a voice over for it. The deleted scenes were much better than the scene trims for Series I. This is because most of Series I's cuts were because of poor audience reactions and poor scripts. Series II was much more confident and had a much better audience, which allowed the deleted scenes to be great.

The Doug Naylor interview is an interesting watch and gives some great insight on how the series was created, and his thoughts on it. It is defiantly worth a watch, but it will only be the die hard fans that give it a 2nd watch.

Tongue Tied is my all time favourite Red Dwarf song! It is hilarious. I am so glad that the full video has made it onto the DVD, and without the clay models of the cast. This is something fans can watch and watch again and never get tired of it. I was expecting this to be on the DVD anyway, and couldn't wait to watch it. I can now even pause the frame on Craig Charles' face on the "Reproductive system, baby" part!

The main special feature on disc 2 is the Red Dwarf A-Z. This has been seen many times before on Red Dwarf Night, and on the Series 7: Byte 3 VHS. It is still nice to have it on DVD though.

The Collector's Booklet was the same as the one for Series I, only of course updated with information with Series II. It is a very interesting read and gives some juicy information and facts. The only thing I found wrong with it is the first "Classic Dwarf" bit, which states it is Series II which Hollister which tells Lister he will cut up his cat. This was also on the Series I booklet, so I'm guessing they just used the same booklet template for Series II and just changed the text (missing out that bit).

My biggest disappointment with the Series I DVD was that most of the special features had been seen before. Although that is similar with the Series II DVD, it is the stuff that people would like to watch again and again. The stuff never seen before was superb. I laughed just as hard at the features as I did with the main episodes.

The transfer to disc was as good as could be, and the sound quality was as expected. The features are great and worth watching, even to the closet Red Dwarf fans. It wasn't better than the first Series' DVD, but it defiantly wasn't any worse. I'll have to give it the same...

OVERALL 9/10
ROCK 'N' ROLL!!!