Merry 10th to The Bodysnatcher Collection

“Homo Rimmer” was a slow burner that made me laugh progressively harder for about twenty whole seconds, because it sounds like “man who licks other men’s buttholes”, dunnit. Fnarr fnarr.

There are some good bits, yeah, but overall it’s rather dull, and I wouldn’t get rid of any of the Series I episodes they ended up making to make room for it.

Yeah, it’s a fantastic collection of things and I’m glad it exists, but I’ve seen them all before except Bodysnatcher itself (thanks, YouTube). Although interestingly I’ve only ever seen The Worst Interview In The Universe Ever with the commentary because that’s the only version that’s online, lol. That beach in paradise deleted scene really does look fucking freezing.

Still amazes me how much stuff there is on this set, stuff we thought we’d never get. Doug and Rob commentaries – including on an unproduced episode finished 20 years after it was abandoned, the Titchmarsh interview and the original version of The End (all in themselves quite remarkable). The best doccos of the lot (prior to “We’re Smegged”), with all their lovely, lovely rushes clips. The pictures of the Series I rehearsals. The test model shot for the Movie. Robert Llewellyn’s first day. Howard’s original version of Tongue Tied. The recreated script extracts – ALSO with Doug and Rob commentary. The Spitting Image Easter Egg.

Can you IMAGINE what a similar release for another show could contain? I would kill for Eric Saward giving a commentary over the abandoned version of ep 14 of The Trial of a Time Lord. Or Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong realising the version of Peep Show S3 which ends with Mark finding Johnson has committed suicide. Or a documentary to the standard of The Beginning or It’s Cold Outside about the IMMENSELY troubled production that was the BBC’s Robin Hood, or the third series of the original Robot Wars. Or a look at the live studio rushes for Have I Got News for You or Would I Lie to You.

We were so lucky to get The Bodysnatcher Collection.

Yeah, it has to be said, boxsets of this variety are very few and far between. I bought it on release without really considering that it wouldn’t always be available. I almost took DVD extras for granted back in those days.

I used to love following the DVD updates section on the official site. That said, I was still amazed by just how much content was on Bodysnatcher. It was a wonderful couple of evenings spent with it. And because it’s the most recent release, it’s still the one I’ve seen the least of, extras-wise, so there are plenty of lovely things that don’t seem overly familiar in there.

And yes, much as I dislike the pencil, that movie test shot is something I have played many, many times.

This was an amazing and much anticipated release back in 2007. I cracked open the cider and gloried in the three main documentaries and then watched Bodysnatcher and all the commentaries over the next few days. Great days they were, great days. It definitely felt like the end as well – surely there was no where to go after this? So amazing to finally see Bobby’s first day having read about it 15 years earlier.

You realise, of course, that I now need to go and revisit all these extras I’ve not watched for a good two or three years.

Damn it, I’ve had this page open for so long before i replied that International Debris beat me to it.
*Shakes fist*

65 quid, fucking hell, hope you enjoy it mate

The Bodysnatcher Collection is amazing, and even though I waited too late and had to pay through the nose for it – around £40 IIRC – it was worth it.

I regret that in 2007 I was completely oblivious to the online Dwarf fandom despite being super into Red Dwarf itself, so I had no idea the Red Dwarf Remastered project or Bodysnatcher even existed. So even though I saw the set many times in HMV, I just assumed it was a compilation of the individual Series I-III releases, that “Remastered” just referred to it being at DVD picture quality, and that “Bodysnatcher” was just a random, quirky name choice.

I wonder how many other less-news-following fans passed over The Bodysnatcher Collection like I did?

I didn’t bother as I didn’t see the value in the remastered versions of series I already had. I knew there was a lost episode in storyboard form (but not that it was narrated by Chris), but that didn’t justify the purchase price at the time.

I think it was more expensive than 1-8 as well?

Oh God, that 50th Anniversary Who boxset was infuriating because it was immediately limited to far fewer pieces than people who wanted it. I think I’m right in thinking that the F(ish) Doctors is otherwise unavailable on disc? Instead I’ve got Day of, Time of and Adventure as separate DVDs, taking up more space and lacking in that utterly brilliant daft one-off, because… I don’t know. I can’t fathom why they made it so limited. They’d make a lot of money from selling more because so many people still want it.

I can’t fathom why they made it so limited.

I didn’t take its limited edition status seriously unfortunately. I thought it would be one of those instances where they make a bazillion units with shiny numbered stickers on.

The only time I rushed to buy a limited edition Doctor Who DVD boxset was when the Key to Time set was originally released, because I love that season and I was horrified by the prospect of it selling out. Guess what, once it sold out they re-released it in a not-limited edition version that had THE EXACT SAME DISCS IN but came in a different cardboard outer.

This experience meant I basically thought I could take my sweet time picking up a 50th boxset. I was wrong.

I was but a young lad with little money to my name and so I couldn’t justify the cost. However, one day I just thought fuck it – and I’m glad that I did. So much amazing stuff in that collection.

Sadly I fear I wouldn’t have had the pennies for it back then, even if I had known it existed. Certainly I’m fascinated by the sound of all the extras, but I’d want to have them all in a physical box on my shelf rather than rummaging around on YouTube or elsewhere for fragments.

How limited was the 50th anniversary box?

6,000 BluRay and 4,000 DVD, I believe. Which doesn’t seem that limited, until you realise how many fanatic Whovians there are out there. It still sold out within a matter of weeks.

Guess what, once it sold out they re-released it in a not-limited edition version that had THE EXACT SAME DISCS IN but came in a different cardboard outer.

Actually, the releases were 26 months apart. By the time the second one came out the original releases was selling well into the three figures range on second hand sites.

I’m guessing some people were impatient (although as it was midway through the peak of the classic range releases, I can’t see why you would be), or thought that a re-release wasn’t happening (which is daft).

They genuinely planned to have six Who serials out of print while the rest were available? Crazy bastards.

To be fair, they outright said a Key To Time re-release *wasn’t* happening and later changed their minds.

Ah, that completely explains my uncharacteristic haste in picking it up!

I must’ve read that it was definitely limited edition. No wonder I was cross when I saw it re-released with a different cardboard outer, even if it was 2 years later.

Crazy bastards indeed. Or at least I think that’s what the Watcher called them…

Lily, the 2-disc DVDs were £19.99 I think, maybe a couple of quid cheaper through Play.com. Not sure about the 3-disc VII & VIII, I didn’t bother buying those for a few years until I saw them in a sale.

I used to get everything on Play.com back then, usually a quid or two cheaper, arriving the weekend before release date. Them was the days.

Yep, I-VIII were £19.99, Just The Smegs was £15.99.
As great as the set was, £49.99 was as indefensible then as it is now.

Conversely:

Bodysnatcher Collection = 14 hours of content = 6p per minute
Series I = 264 minutes of content = 13p per minute
Just the Smegs = 100 minutes of content = 16p per minute

“Indefensible”? I’d say it’s better value than any of the previous releases!

Also, nine hours of the Bodysnatcher set runtime is made up of I-III Remastered.

For a product with niche appeal, I think it’s fine.

I had no qualms paying what I did the other week. Ever since it was released I’ve heard nothing but how great it is and with it being rare to come by these days (unless I’ve been unlucky in my searches), I’d rather spend what I did when I have it on it rather than risk not being able to get it for ages. I pounced, basically. I decided I couldn’t pass it up.

Really looking forward to finally watching Bodysnatcher itself, as well as the I & II documentaries. I had the Remastered VHS of The End/Future Echoes/Balance of Power back in the day but have never seen the remastered versions of the rest of I-III. Now, whether or not they’re any good is immaterial, they’re version of Red Dwarf I haven’t seen so I need to see them. It’s fun to play spot the difference too.

An early Christmas present to myself.

I spotted mine on musicmagpie for £25 quid and snapped it up there and then. When it did finally arrive (took about 3 weeks) I went on their website to see how much they pay for it: £2.50. Someone sold it for £2.50. Even CEX who pay nothing for their stock buy it for 19 quid (they’re currently selling them for just under £40). Insane really.

If anything on MusicMagpie comes up at over two quid, do *not* sell it to MusicMagpie. Get it up on Marketplace.