All eight series remain available on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4, with each release from Series III onward being accompanied by an original documentary about the making of each respective series, and a bonus disc filled with extra material. The DVD releases have been praised for their particularly extensive bonus material, which includes cast commentaries, exhaustive deleted scenes, raw effects footage, previously-broadcast one-offs and specials about the show, outtakes and much more, including — in one instance — a special audio/part-animated version of an unmade episode, performed by Chris Barrie. In all of the DVDs there are hidden extras among the menus, known as Easter Eggs. These include extra animated interviews with Grant Naylor and Ed Bye, as well as other model shots and unseen footage.
There are also various country-specific releases, usually without extras, across the globe.
Regions 2 and 4 have also seen the release of two Just The Shows, digipack boxsets containing all the episodes from Series I–IV (Volume 1) and V-VIII (Volume 2) with static menus and no extras. In October 2006, meanwhile, an Interactive Quiz DVD entitled Red Dwarf: Beat The Geek was released. The quiz allows "hardcore fans" to compete against casual viewers, in addition to offering general knowledge questions for friends/family not au fait with the series.[4] The DVD is hosted by Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge, both reprising their roles as Holly. It is currently only available in regions 2-4, and in region 2 the initial release also included an internet treasure hunt competition called "Geek Chase",[5] with a prize of £5,000. (Now expired, though the game itself remains available online.)
The Region 1, 2(UK) and 4 releases of series 1-3 are the originally aired versions of the show. Some European countries such as Poland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and The Netherlands have localised releases which contain the Remastered versions of Series I-III. Bonus features on these DVDs vary. An earlier release in Japan featured the NHK versions of the show - remastered and dubbed, but with significantly altered title sequences and shorter running times, reflecting the fact that these edits were originally created for showing on commercial television.
In December 2006, it was announced[6] that a DVD boxset of Red Dwarf : Remastered was being prepared for release in October 2007. It was subsequently announced in April 2007[7] that the name of the boxset would be Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection rather than Red Dwarf Remastered. The new title highlighted one of the set's other main bonus features: a storyboard construction of "Bodysnatcher" (the "lost" episode from series 1, performed by Chris Barrie as for the series VII extra "Identity Within"), notable for being an original 1987 script "finished" by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor in 2007, working together for the first time since 1993. The intention of the boxset retitling to was to ensure that no buyers or reviewers would mistake the set for a 'vanilla' edition of the 1997 Remastered series (akin to the Just The Shows sets) or even a new 2007 Remastering of the series. It was felt by GNP that the renaming would focus attention onto the array of bonus features that had not been financially viable when the early series were originally released on DVD.
On Friday 24th August, 2 Entertain confirmed that another Red Dwarf DVD would be released by the end of the year. 'Red Dwarf: Just The Smegs' contains the original video releases of 'Smeg Ups' and 'Smeg Outs' (Out-takes from Series 1 - 6), plus the half hour version shown on 'Red Dwarf Night' and the Series 7 & 8 Smeg Ups released on the original series video releases. The Region 2 DVD will be released on November 5th in the UK.
