In 1998, on the tenth anniversary of the show's first airing (and between the broadcast of series VII and VIII), the first three series of Red Dwarf were remastered and released on VHS. The remastering included reformatting the series in 14:9 widescreen (albeit, only for the VHS releases. TV showings were in original 4:3), applying the same 'field-removal' film effect as Series VII, replacing model shots with computer graphics, cutting various small pieces of dialogue (and, in some cases, entire scenes), re-filming Norman Lovett's Holly footage, creating a consistent set of opening titles for use in all episodes, and updating music and ambient sound effects with a digital master. Grant Naylor explained:
“We're basically remastering the whole of the first six series for BBC Worldwide (the video company) who feel that they would be able to sell it more easily in Europe and America if there was a more unified look and feel to the whole of the series. What this means is ... consistent opening titles; it means that in places we can replace and improve the model shots.”
Red Dwarf Remastered was met with a generally poor fan reaction in the UK, but significant international broadcast sales - due mainly to the newer-looking visuals and the availability of isolated audio tracks for language dubbing. No further series were remastered and the later DVD releases of the same series reverted to the original versions; although the first episode of Series VII ("Tikka to Ride") would also include an alternative Remastered version, featuring upgraded CGI as the only difference to the original broadcast version.
The Remastered episodes are due to be re-released on DVD in November 2007, as part of the Red Dwarf : The Bodysnatcher Collection boxset.
