Note: Updated, but still not quite finished (2.30pm, 23/2/05). I've still got to fill in some information about the bonus features. It won't be here for long as ultimately, I'll probably send it to BTL, but feel free to let me know what you think of my review, and if you agree with what I've got to say. Smeg on!
So, despite having to wait two (in some cases, three) more days than a lot of the other sad gits Red Dwarf fans who preordered their copies, my Red Dwarf VI DVD arrived later than expected, but safe and sound, on it's release date of February 21st.
So, what of it? Well...
As there's no Red Dwarf this series, there's a whole new opening sequence, made up from model shots from Gunmen and Psirens. This mixes to the CGI menu, entering Starbug, and into the mid-section. As usual, the scene has been wonderfully, and fairly accurately, realised from it's real-life counterpart.
From here, we get the usual choices (albeit accompanied by some very annoying music) - play all, select episode, commentary and subtitles on Disc 1, Bonus Material, The Starbuggers [the familiar series overview documentary, this one getting it's name from season six's original subtitle], plus the DVD Credits and subtitles once again on Disc 2.

Disc One
Once you opt to select your episode, you are taken to the cockpit, again, stunningly realised, where you can choose your episode, and then select the appropriate episode chapter from those laid out on the console, or play the whole thing.
These episodes are still as great as ever, with some brilliant gags and plots, although I am biased.
Although I had been a Red Dwarf fan for some years, Red Dwarf VI was the first series to be broadcast after I had become a Red Dwarf obsessive, and was the first series I had taped from the TV on it's first run. Through reading the Smegazine, I knew all the backstage gossip, and had some idea of what to expect from the series in upcoming episodes. I'd also read the script for Psirens in Primordial Soup, so it was a very exciting time to be a Dwarfer.
Having seen all the episodes so many times before, though, whenever I get a DVD, I always opt to watch the episodes with the cast commentary the first time round; it has to be said, I was far from disappointed! The opening minutes are among the funniest of any of these commentaries, with introductions from 'Chris Barrett', 'Craig David', 'Danniella Westbrook', and 'Roberta Lou-Ellen'!
All of these commentaries are very entertaining - even Craig Charles, who I have gone on record as not being a particular fan of outside of Dwarf, mainly due to his derogatory remarks about the fans, and his lack of appearances at Dimension Jump, is very funny this time round - maybe missing out on the series five commentaries made him funnier.
I find there are a fair few gaps in the commentary, as though it's been edited. And there a few erroneous suggestions of CGI, when series six was all model shots. Overall though, cracking stuff.
The fan commentary, it has to be said, isn't as entertaining as either the cast commentary (to be expected, I suppose), or as the fan commentary on the series five DVD. But maybe that's just me, still being bitter about not winning the competition. I will get on the series VII/VIII DVDs - my mini-movie will be brilliant...

Disc Two
'The Starbuggers' is another excellent series overview, lasting 75 minutes. Featuring talking heads from the usual suspects, plus Steven Wickham (Lister's Gelf Bride), this is, as always, a great way to spend an hour and a quarter - although it would have been nice to hear from a few more guest stars, Ainsley Harriott or Denis Lill, perhaps. I would have especially liked to have seen Nigel Williams (Legion). Also nice to hear from producer Justin Judd (who can't seem to keep his head still!), who tells us, among other things, that Red Dwarf VI could have featured a guest spot from Kylie Minogue!
Selecting Bonus Materials takes us up the stairs to Starbug's sleeping quarters. This is pretty well realised, though a bit of artistic licence has been applied, to include a kitchenette in the corner of the quarters.
So, in the sleeping quarters, we first of all have a bazookoid leaning against one of the beds, housing the Raw effects footage. Almost fourteen minutes of beautiful model shots, stunningly shot, with wonderfully made models. One of my favourites here is the penultimate shot of Starbug, crashed in a ditch, covered in slime in other yuckiness - a marvellous scene. Also worth mentioning are the shots with the crew projected into the cockpit. It has to be said however, that the second of these, from the side, works a lot better than head on, as the size of the latter isn't quite judged correctly.
The Anti-matter chopsticks from 'Legion' sit in the middle of the floor, wherein hide the Deleted scenes, almost 45 minutes worth. A lot of these edits are merely the odd line cut for length, though there are a few scenes that just don't work, such as the Dwarfers' celebration - improvised, and awful. There's also an early scene where Robert Llewellyn stumbles over a line, which effects the rest of the scene. Other edits include the substitution of the word 'Welsh' with 'Albanian'...
There are some nice snips from 'Legion', including the 'original battering' (complete with vocal 'dinnngg!'s, for some reason!) of Rimmer, plus the original, inferior, final sequence, with the Stardrive.
I noticed too, that some of these scenes have the occasional rogue boom mic, and even dodgy camera work.
A dodgy gag from Emohawk is Lister's Port/Starboard confusion, which isn't funny at all, sadly. Although the original voice of the Translator is hilarious in it's campness! There's some good stuff too with Ace and Duane, as Ace prepares to snap Duane's neck...
Rimmer's extended log from Rimmerworld is pretty amusing, and the episode's original ending is interesting too.
A great quote from a cut scene from Out of Time is:
Rimmer: Kryten? If for any reason we don't pull through this, I want you to know... I don't like you, and I never have.
The original finale is here too, which features a surprisingly shocking clip of Lister lying dead, and Rimmer's 'Smeg, I'm a hero!' line.
So, basically, another pretty enjoyable batch of snipped scenes. A few dodgy moments, but for the most part, good stuff.
The O/G unit (Emohawk) sits on the other bunk, with the fascinating feature, 'Howard Goodall: Settling The Score'.
Meanwhile the monitor to the right Alerts us to the trailers, once again from fans' home videos, but of a reasonable standard.
A John Wayne loving Skutter keeps Robert Llewellyn's 'Return to Laredo' featurette.
And the Music Cues are, as ever, contained within Lister's guitar (here sadly broken, a la Emohawk).
By following the arrow, we turn to the kitchennette area of the room, passing the AR platform as we go.
The jar on the side contains not only Lister's future self (his Brain)(Out of Time), but also this season's musical featurette, 'Sick'.
The tin of Beanz,(Emohawk), meanwhile, hides the Smeg-ups.
The AR helmet is home to a three part Behind the Scenes feature: First of all, footage from the abandoned 'Making Of' project (which instead resulted in the 'Making Of' book);
Then an interview with Andy de Emmony from when 'Gunmen' won the International Emmy in 1994;
and finally, a silent, Black and white feature showing behind the scenes at the Visual Effects department, similar to that of the Mike Tucker feature on the series five DVD.
The breakfast materials house a Dave Hollins: Space Cadet radio sketch.
The Gallery can be seen by selecting Rimmer's light bee.
Once again, the makers of this DVD have produced some truly wonderful extras. A dream purchase for any fan.

Easter Eggs
As usual there are three eggs, although, unusually, these are all on the first disc.
The one we all know about, of course, is the 'Six of the Best' animated chat, the last of these - you have to wonder if Doug and Ed are going to do a couple more especially for the final two releases.
To find it, go to the first chapter select console for Gunmen. Simply highlight the Sherrif's badge and you're away.
Because we've heard them before, I personally only tend to look at these once or twice; I see them as a bit of a formality. However, as they're talking about 'Gunmen', they've really gone to town on this one! Doug Naylor is dressed as an Indian chief, complete with head-dress, Rob Grant is the mexican bandito, complete with Sombrero and comedy moustache, while Ed Bye seems to have drawn the short straw, being dressed as he is as one of the western showgirls! Well worth tracking down, just to see the costumes.
The second egg can be found in the Airlock: from the main menu, highlight 'Commentary', the press left to highlight the Airlock sign. Next to the airlock is a keypad with the numbers 1-9, and a note reading 'Ginger Toupee'. As any idiot knows, 'No member of the Corps should ever report for active duty in a ginger toupee' is Space Corps Directive #1742. Simply tap in those numbers to open the airlock to 'The Memory Man', AKA Danny John-Jules, here showing that his memory isn't quite what it was...
Having found those two eggs, I spent a good while searching the second disc for the final egg. I didn't find it, as it's on the first disc!
The third egg, the hardest to find, is actually the first thing on the disc! I was worried at first because of the short gap in the opening animation between entering Starbug and proceeding through the doors into the mid-section; it's here that the egg is hidden! The light at the side of the door glows red for a few seconds - at this point, press enter/play, to proceed directly to the scanner table for some classy astro-navigation!
A 3-D set-up (a la 'White Hole') shows a map featuring representations of Starbug and several planets; while the planets AJR1, RD128, AJR2 and LV246 simply reset the map, Starbug, SVC01 and SVC02 all have special features - three eggs for the price of one!
Starbug shows the cockpit footage (on film) used for the effect in the first model shot of the Raw effects footage - note the crew members moving around off-set on the far right of frame! SVC01 features Rimmer's Boot-up sequence from 'Psirens', while SVC02 features the title screens from the 'Gumshoe' and 'Streets of Laredo' AR games from 'Gunmen'. Nice stuff.

All in all then, another excellent Red Dwarf DVD. I only paid #12.99 for mine, but even at it's RRP of #19.99, it's brilliant value for money, with it's complete running time of over nine hours, including commentaries and audio bonuses.
Fantastic.