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British Shows on DVD & Blu-ray for January

Believe it or not, Doctor Who is not the only British sci-fi/horror program on the air. I know, I know; It came as a shock to me, too. In fact, there are several really great, really nerdy shows from across the pond and four of them are out on DVD and Blu-ray this month! Let’s take a gander, shall we?
Red Dwarf X
There had been a gap of thirteen years since the last full series of Red Dwarf, the staple of sci-fi comedy of the late-’80s and ’90s. Last year, a brand new series of six episodes featuring the four main cast members aired and was pretty much a return to the kind of weird, situational comedy fans of the show had hoped would return. These six episodes were filmed in front of a live audience and feature really fantastic-looking sets and special effects work. Some of the storylines include hologram Rimmer coming to the aid of his hologram brother, Lister dealing with the fact that he’s his own father (yeah, it’s weird), and evolved humanoid cat Cat and mechanoid Kryten starting to do everything in unison thanks to being quantum locked.

Special features include a feature-length documentary called “We’re Smegged,” about the making of the tenth series, deleted scenes and outtakes. Available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Misfits Series Two
Misfits is a show I absolutely adore. It tells the story of five young people on community service who get imbued with superpowers after a freak storm. Lots of other people have powers too, and some of them become bad guys. Of course, our main characters aren’t the best people alive on the best of days. Series two sees all the main characters from Series One returning and introduces the mysterious “Superhoodie,” a person who seems to know everything about them and is always around when bad stuff is happening. Superhero black comedy at its best.

Extras include bonus scenes, a featurette about the making of the show, and some behind-the-scenes stuff. Available on DVD only.
Being Human Series Four
While the North American version of Being Human (which I quite like) heads into its third season, the original one from the UK finished up its fourth, which is now out on DVD and Blu-ray. Lenora Crichlow as ghost Annie is the only main series cast member to remain regular (that sounds weird) in year four, but she’s joined by a new vampire and a new werewolf to keep the balance of supernatural all the same. A whole bunch of them attempt to stay sane while ancient evils attack, but that’s pretty par for the course for this show.

Special features here include a trailer, some prequels, a sequel, some deleted scenes, interviews with the cast and crew, and some various behind the scenes stuff. On Blu-ray and DVD.
Merlin Series Four
And wrapping up today, we have the fourth and penultimate series of the popular medieval action/fantasy program, Merlin, about the titular wizard’s young days. Here, he is tasked with protecting young Prince Arthur from assassins, monsters, and other assorted deadly things, not to mention the machinations of Arthur’s half-sister, Morgana, who is now all about the evil. There are some excellent stunts sequences and quite good CGI as well.

Features here contain a making-of, cast and crew commentaries (finally, one of these has commentary), deleted scenes, outtakes, storyboards, and photo gallery. On DVD and Blu-ray.

See? So there’s plenty of Brit-tinged genre stuff for us who aren’t content when there’s no Time Lords about.

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Comments

  1. Fernando says:

    This was a jarring reminder than most British shows have very unattractive casts.

  2. Derek D says:

    On Red Dwarf, Cat is not a mutated cat, he is the descendant of Lister’s cat, Frankenstein, which had kittens in the ships hold. Lister was in stasis for three million years and over the time, the cats evolved to humanoids. Watch the first season, it is very funny. The cats have a religion based on Lister and things he said to his cat, but blurred over the years. It’s a great show.

  3. J.Smith says:

    Misfits can be found on Hulu. The first season is one of the best things I have ever watched.

  4. Collins says:

    Misfits is something everyone should really check out