The Return of The Return of The Return of Red Dwarf

[Si Hunt]

I've heard the criticism of the Space Corps Directive gags before, and I just don't get it! Growing up with these seasons, we loved them and to be fair there are never more than one or two per show (not excessive surely?). And they are surely very funny indeed! Though obviously that's a matter of opinion.

I think it would be fairer to say there was an over-reliance on cheap 'comparison' gigs, where Lister or someone would say 'we're deader than flares', 'we're faster than two priests in a skoda' etc. Some of them were good, others less so.

I agree that Series 7 is the poorest. They totally lost the momentum, the extended episode count leads to several very resource-strapped episodes, and whatever possessed them to make it look 'glossy' I'll never know. Surely the whole POINT of "Red Dwarf" is that it looks cheap?!

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

I'm one of the few who enjoys series seven - there are some classic episodes there, like 'Tikka To Ride' and 'Blue'... plus Rimmer actually gets some character development!

[SiHart]

But on the downside there's Duct Soup.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

It's probably under-rated - "Beyond A Joke" is excellent, "Tikka" and "Nanarchy" are quite good too. But there's a niggling feeling, especially with "Stoke Me A Clipper" (which nevertheless has an excellent plot) that it's all not quite as funny as it thinks it is. Also, sorry Pip but I find "Blue" an awful episode, same with "Duct Soup". The "Rimmer Dance" feels like something lots of people would find hilarious but I just don't.

It's not a good season for Kryten either, he seems to be a bit over the top and a caricature of himself. He used to be the member of the team that held them all together, someone who was funny because he was a little pompous. But he clomps about this season like a neurotic mother hen, and Rob Lewellyn seems to be revelling in playing him a little too much.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

It's not a good season for Kryten either, he seems to be a bit over the top and a caricature of himself. He used to be the member of the team that held them all together, someone who was funny because he was a little pompous. But he clomps about this season like a neurotic mother hen, and Rob Lewellyn seems to be revelling in playing him a little too much.

I can see your point, he does become a bit whiny, but that's another example of character development to me, as Lister continues to help him break his programming. Plus, for Kryten, the dynamic shifts as Rimmer (Lister's pain in the arse) is replaced by Kochanski (the object of Lister's affections). Kryten's pretty much Lister's best friend (the Cat's too selfish), but when Kochanski appears on the scene he's distracted, so you can see why he'd be whiny.

[Si Hunt]

That's another thing - I'm sure you straight boys "appreciated" Chloe Annett, but her performance in Series 7 is dreadful! Some of us still have nightmares about her part in the "Duct Soup" debacle.

Si.

[Pip Madeley]

I like the Xtended Duct Soup. It's nice to take time out and hear some backstories.

Although it was a last minute replacement for the lost episode 'Identity Within' which was heavily based on the Cat - there's an excellent Chris Barrie-voiced version of the episode on the series VII DVD.

[Darren]

I just love "Out of Time", I think it's a great script.

They literally were out of time. The cast were reading their lines off bits of cards hidden on the set. It felt as though it was a mish mash of two or three different stories to me.


As far as Series 7 goes, the three mistakes were shooting without an audience, giving it that glossy look as someone said, and miscasting Kochanski. Chole's Kochanski even thinking about dating Lister 3 million years ago, is a stretch of the imagination. And she was immensely unlikeable. CP Grogan should have been brought back.

And ofcourse, the departure of Rimmer completely buggered up the dynamics. Lister needs Rimmer like Harold needs Albert (Steptoe & Son).

Tikka To Ride is extraordinary, though.

[Andrew Curnow]

I'm a bit shaky on my season numbers - was 7 the last one, set back on Red Dwarf with the crew and all? And 6 the first one with the revived Kochanski, and Rimmer leaving partway through?

Either way, I felt the last series to be an interesting attempt to reinvigorate the format, but it never quite worked - an opening three-parter was an odd idea, especially for a sitcom. And the last episode was just a mess, and worse, an unfunny mess.

Of the previous season, I love Tikka to Ride - I remember when it first went out just being absolutely hysterical with laughter at the moment where Kryten, stood next to a pile of boxes marked 'Texas Book Depository' says something like "The assassin fired from the Texas Book Depository". I can't really say why, but it just slayed me! I don't think I've ever seen Blue, but I do like the 'Rimmer Fairground Ride' scene in whichever episode it is (He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer, etc); another sequence that always makes me laugh like a loon.

However, I'm on the traditionalist side of the Red Dwarf schism, in that I think the first two seasons are far and away the best - Queeg, Kryten, The End, etc, etc. Some superb episodes, which me and bruv videoed each week and literally watched over and over again. "Androids, everybody needs good androids..."

[Darren]

was 7 the last one, set back on Red Dwarf with the crew and all?

No, that was series 8.

[Pip Madeley]

I don't think I've ever seen Blue, but I do like the 'Rimmer Fairground Ride' scene in whichever episode it is (He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmer, etc); another sequence that always makes me laugh like a loon.

That's in Blue

[Andrew Curnow]

Is it? Oh - I thought 'Blue' was an episode where they spent most of their time wondering around ventilation shafts, and (possibly?) Kochanski turned up. Or is that 'Duct Soup' (which would make sense as a title now I come to think about it)?

Either way, it's probably true that he's also a fantastic swimmer.

[Fatso the wombat]

Oops! I ought to mention that I meant to say Red Dwarf 6 is somewhat overrated! I really like Red Dwarf in general. Honest!

Si xx

Nah, you're not the only one. It's got two really great episodes, two fairly average episodes, and two poor episodes, including that piece of over-rated toss Gunmen of the Apocalypse.

Out of Time & Legion are great, though.

[SiHart]

I couln't agree with you more, especially the choice of episodes there!

Si xx

[Dirk Gently]

I think Gunmen of the Apocalypse is seen as great by some fans because it is the casts favourite episode, but for completely different reasons than a viewer would have.
Duct Soup is a bit lame & is a 'non' story really. Rimmer not being in season 7was a problem & as Darren says Lister needs his foil of Rimmer to be funny.
I liked season 8 but the introduction of more cast diluted the humour a bit. I was hoping for another accident at the end of the series to reset the status quo. To have Rimmer, Lister, Kolchanski, Cat, Kryten & Holly in star bug & being chased by Red Dwarf & for the Cadmium explosion to happen all over again & the only real difference to series one being the inclusion of Kolchanski & the living Rimmer. Rimmer never really worked as a Hologram after series 3 IMO.

[WhiteCrow]

"Not even mr. Lister's guitar survived"

Thats one of my favourite scenes

[Jason Thompson]

I thought series 7 was poor in general, though I quite liked Duct Soup. Series 8 started well, but the second half of the series was generally poor, I thought. I loved Cassandra.

'Still, taking a bra off with me teeth? That's a hell of a sexy way to go.'
'Provided your teeth were in your mouth at the time, sir.'

Anyway, we're all striding off seasons ahead, and poor old Ant hasn't even got as far as episode 2 of series 1 yet....

[Pip Madeley]

Ah, Future Echoes, classic. From Ganymede to Titan, yes sir I've been around...

[Dirk Gently]

"Love is what seperates us from animals "
"No, Lister. What seperates us from animals is that we don't use our tongues to clean our own genitals. " - Lister & Rimmer

"What's it feel like?"
"Death? It's like being on holiday with a group of Germans." - Rimmer to Lister

[Si Hunt]

Series 8 was immensly frustrating for me. I liked the return to videotape, sitcom style episodes and so on, but the format felt straightjacketted by going back to Red Dwarf. I longed for them to get back out there and have adventures. To have them incarcerated for the whole time felt like the whole of the rest of the series had just been a dream.

That said, there were some great episodes when they came up with some individual stories - like Jason, "Cassandra" was my favourite and "Krytie TV" is very funny too. The seasons end is awful though, simply because it's so damn unmemorable. I don't recall a thing about it, except for some confusing stuff with an antidote and a mirror. What was all that about?

Si.

[Anthony Williams]

right... moving on:

Future Echoes

To be honest, I don't think that this is as funny as The End. Future Echoes comes across much more as an episode of a series trying desperately to find it's feet, in comparison to The End, which was setting up the series.

However, there is a nice amount of character development. Whilst Lister comes across as a genuine person, quite happy to admit that he's an utter slob, Rimmer is no different - putting on a facade to delude himself that he's better than Lister. This is most evident in the opening scene, where Rimmer is on his run.

Everyone's dislike of Rimmer is also highly amusing, especially when it obviously extends to the skutters, who beg Lister not to go into stasis, whilst they would be left alone with Rimmer.

Holly's practical joke on Rimmer is absolutely brilliant. The haircut, and the subsequent jokes in regard to it are genius, "and I look.... LIKE A COMPLETE AND UTTER TIT!!" - fantastic stuff! Holly's lack of self confidence when they hit the light barrier is quite amusing: "even with an IQ of 6000, it's still brown trousers time!"

The Cat's vanity continues to provide amusement, particularly his outrage when he can't take 10 racks of clothes into stasis. His continual feline behaviour still amuses, particularly trying to eat Lister's robotic fish.

The future echoes themselves provide an interesting and amusing diversion from what would otherwise be a relatively dull episode. Yet, from what I hear, most of them (other than the immediate ones) are never fulfilled within the series... I know that Lister's sons are dealt with off-screen in an episode that was scratched from series three.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with this episode... I'm just quite relieved that things pick up a little with the next episode!

Ant x

[Dirk Gently]

"I am Holly, the ship's computer, with an IQ of 6000, the same IQ as 6000 PE teachers." --Holly

"Look, I'm a tenth-generation AI hologramic computer. I'm not your mum."
"Yes, fantastic."
"What do you want this time? A hand with your homework? Or would you like me to sew little name tags in your PE kit?" -- Holly and Rimmer

"You're bucket's been kicked baby." -- Rimmer

"I'm going out like I came in -- screaming and kicking."
"You can't whack death on the head!"
"If he comes near me I'm gonna rip his nipples off!" -- Lister and Rimmer

[Pip Madeley]

I know that Lister's sons are dealt with off-screen in an episode that was scratched from series three.

Look out for series two...

[Jeff]

I bought all the series on DVD, and watched the first seven series again, which I had all seen on TV before. That has been awhile ago. Series 8, which I have never seen, I still haven't got around to watching... Really must do so some time. There's just so much other stuff I need to watch, first and foremost watching and clearing out some movies on the DVR to make room for Torchwood which will start airing soon.

Also, part of it is that once I watch it, there will probably never be any more new Red Dwarf for me to watch...

Plus, from what I've heard, it sounds like they would have been better off ending the show after series 7, at least as far as the conclusion is concerned, rather than leaving on a cliffhanger never to be resolved.

[Si Hunt]

Bad news...

BBC Two has decided not to make a proposed ninth series of cult comedy Red Dwarf, according to the show's official website.

Summarising a statement from co-creator Doug Naylor at the recent 'Dimension Jump' convention, Reddwarf.co.uk revealed: "Some time ago, BBC2 decided not to take up their option for a potential Series IX, instead they said they were keen to pursue other projects.

"They also told us that they weren't interested in buying the TV rights for the Red Dwarf film, despite liking the script, as they weren't convinced the film would be a success."

A big screen version of the show, which ran for eight seasons between 1988 and 1999, has often been promised, but struggled to secure sufficient funding.

Looks like they left it too long.

The end of Red Dwarf?

Si.