Brand new smegging red dwarf

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:45 pm

I was very pleasantly surprised, especially after the shambles that was Back To Earth. I particularly liked the retro special effects. Will say more later.

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 9:08 pm

Didn't realise it was due so soon... well, good to hear something positive. Suppose I'd better give it a whirl over the weekend or will get spoilers in the office...

Thunderwave · Post by **Thunderwave** » Thu Oct 04, 2012 10:43 pm

Huh. I need to find this.

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:02 am

Having had a good night's sleep, my overall thoughts

Apart from fat Lister, old Rimmer and a couple of USB sticks, this could have been made the day after they finished shooting back in the 90s. I loved the ships; were they genuinely models, or just CGI done to look like models? The sets were slapped together with office chairs and joysticks from PC World, the jokes refused to change with the times . . . I loved it. Absolutely brilliant. Hilarious throughout, going from clever to stupid every other line. Perfect.

Danny John-Jules does not age!

My only downside; no Holly. That was a real shame.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 05, 2012 7:37 pm

What on Earth was wrong with the Kryten costume? Llewelyn doesn't look that different in real life to how he did when he made the last one, so why does the character look like he's got several spare tyres? Could they not make one that fitted? Both he and Rimmer looked like the photo Danny John-Jules must have in his loft.

Not a bad episode though, shame the post season 6 backlash has seen everything get turned back so far all character development from the moment Kryten joined the crew has been ignored, but there's some nice gags ("It's a moose") and unlike most of season VIII an attempt at a plot.

It was mildly odd to have Red Dwarf as part of a wider community with a fully functional space corp and all android shopping. Feels like a big departure from the days they'd run into an odd Gelf village every now and then. Despite a token "Last man alive" line it does feel like the original isolated alone in space format has been completely dropped now, even more than when they brought the crew back.

The whole thing was a bit Last of the Summer Wine as well, basically doing the same thing it always did in a nice and safe way to keep us old ****ers happy because we can't handle modern edgy comedy. Like Miranda.

EDIT: The ships were models, apparently their second attempt as well after chucking out what they originally filmed (Starbug being the only one left over from the failed sessions as they didn't have the budget to redo it and it's not used very much this year).

borg72 · Post by **borg72** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 4:44 am

Well I enjoyed it. possibly not the riot of laughs some of the better early episodes have been, but certainly not the 'unfunny' of back to earth (caveat: i did actually enjoy back to earth, red dwarf has always been more than a sitcom, so it was nice to see it lean on its drama-crutch, if only temporarily).

I do tyhink the moose is fast going to become a repeated 'classic' amongst fans in the way all good red dwarf jokes/gags do, which i think is a testament to to the fact this is a grant-naylor production... the series was always at its comedy peak when the two were working together.

side-note RE the PC World chairs... I'm fairly certain the rear-facing control panels in the random control room on the 'dwarf were knitting machines off of the 80's.

also, it occurs to me that i was six when red dwarf first aired. I used to be allowed to stay up on a friday night after 9pm just to watch it because it didn't have any graphic violence or smegging swearing lol (bedtime back then was 8pm - later 9pm - plus an hour or two for reading in bed). watching this reminded me of those earlier seasons, and is now totally making me feel old (my 30th is coming up, but before you all moan that 30 isnt old, i have the body and general poor health of someone twice my age, so i'm amazed i've made it this far)

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Sun Oct 07, 2012 11:27 am

inflatable dalek wrote:
EDIT: The ships were models, apparently their second attempt as well after chucking out what they originally filmed (Starbug being the only one left over from the failed sessions as they didn't have the budget to redo it and it's not used very much this year).

I caught it again last night (one good thing about Dave, you don't have to wait long for a repeat) and could tell they were models, albeit excellent ones.
Hopefully the overabundance of other ships won't be overdone. It was nice to see Rimmer's brother, anyway.

Neuronutter · Post by **Neuronutter** » Tue Oct 09, 2012 8:22 pm

I really enjoyed that as did my wife! As stated it felt like an old-school episode, something in line with season 6 and it was all the better for it.

Sure the plot was hokey, but when was it not. Having Rimmer's brother turn up was a little forced but they played it well enough. And the best thing was that the episode was actually funny! And what a relief that was! The 'it's a moose', the stir-master, and Lister being on hold for an eternity were all funny.

borg72 wrote:I do think the moose is fast going to become a repeated 'classic' amongst fans in the way all good red dwarf jokes/gags do, which i think is a testament to to the fact this is a grant-naylor production... the series was always at its comedy peak when the two were working together.

Actually, my wife and I have already yelled 'it's a moose!' at each other several times in the last few days. As for Grant-Naylor, I didn't see Rob Grant's name on the credits at all. Was he involved because Doug Naylor was the writer and director.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:47 pm

It was a nice return to form. Didn't push any boundaries but was a solid half hour of entertainment with the already mentioned by everyone great gag. Danny John-Jules nailed the delivery of it, too.

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 9:50 am

Episode 2; Not quite as good, but still pretty funny. The stuff with Lister being his own dad was excellent, and a nice way to use an old idea. The new computer was irritating and unfunny, and the Chinese Whispers thing seemed like it was forced in from an entirely different show.

Next one looks good though. I laughed at the "Jesus" bit.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 7:20 pm

Pretty much on the money, the computer stuff was basically a cross between Queeg played straight and Rimmer's bonkers enforecement of the rules in Quarentine and I didn't really get the whispers thing at all. Very forced, and the voice of the Taiwanese vending machine was pretty much full on racist. Ah so (though looking at the credits, he and the doctor were played by the chap who played the Joker in the BBC version of Knightfall. And, in a crossover with another thread, Judge Cal in their Judge Dredd stuff as well IIRC).

But the Lister stuff was great, which was surprise as the whole idea of him being his own dad was deeply stupid at the time (mainly because he continued to try and keep shagging his own mother afterwards). Now so much because of the scripting (which was fine but a bit obvious) but because of Charles' pitch perfect comic timing.

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Fri Oct 12, 2012 11:25 pm

inflatable dalek wrote:The BBC version of Knightfall.

The what in the what-now? That sounds like something I should be all over.

(mainly because he continued to try and keep shagging his own mother afterwards).

I'd never thought about it. That is a bit weird. . .

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sat Oct 13, 2012 7:32 am

Summerhayes wrote:The what in the what-now? That sounds like something I should be all over.

I only mentiond it recently! Why don't people hang on my every word?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Batman-Knightfa ... 472&sr=8-1

Michael Gough as Alfred, and everyone else pretty much played by the same people who were in the Beeb's contemporary Superman stuff.

borg72 · Post by **borg72** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:10 am

Neuronutter wrote: As for Grant-Naylor, I didn't see Rob Grant's name on the credits at all. Was he involved because Doug Naylor was the writer and director.

just checked the end credits on episode 2. and not at all because i like to sing along to the theme tune. yup, its a grant-naylor production, though you're right, he doesn't appear anywhere else in the credits.

loved this one. i actually quite enjoyed the use of some established lore, as its quite a rare thing for a show that loves to make most of it up as it goes, usually ignoring whats gone before. it was a clever use of a throwback, without getting stuck hip-deep in any of that 'sci-fi smeg' beyond what was needed for the running gag to work.

i'm also going to fall into the camp of those who thought the racism joke was actually funny. though it could have done with a slightly better payoff, i also liked the stupidity of the idea of 'asking around' on a spaceship with four crewmembers.

also, red dwarf is serving as an excellent replacement for doctor who until christmas. my wife is a huge fan of both, and we were missing having anything to watch together on a saturday night while munching on some english chocolate from our local import shop (we're in america). goodness knows what we'll do in the new year.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Sun Oct 14, 2012 3:23 am

borg72 wrote:just checked the end credits on episode 2. and not at all because i like to sing along to the theme tune. yup, its a grant-naylor production, though you're right, he doesn't appear anywhere else in the credits.

That's been the case since Grant left the show after series VI though, their joint production company continues to make it despite his lack of involvement.

From his point of view it must be the best of all worlds- He gets a credit and the money from new episodes of a continually successful sitcom (at least in terms of what channel it's on), but at the same avoids all blame for any bad episodes of it.

Heinrad · Post by **Heinrad** » Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:42 pm

Can't wait to see it.

And as a quick veer back to BBC's adaptations of Knightfall and The DayThe Law Died, Kerry Shale voiced Az-Bats and Joker in Knightfall, and William DuFris voiced Judge Cal in TDTLD.

If you liked those, look up the Superman series that they did, as well as The Amazing Spider-Man. And if you like the Marx Brothers, they did a good version of Flywheel, Shyster, and Flywheel.

And the director/writer of all this wonderful stuff also brought us the Tertiary, Quandry, and Quintisential Phases of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Nice thing about working in a factory. Listening to audio plays on the old iPod.

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:42 am

Well, the Jesus stuff was pretty funny. And I like the way they've finally given up on Rimmer and Lister reverting to hating eachother every series; they genuinely seemed like mates this time around when they were winding Kryten up.

Post by **inflatable dalek** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:37 pm

A really fun episode. With the best gag being the one about what Kryten keeps in his fridge.

With Kochanski having been mentioned in every episode this far, there's no way she's not showing up at the end is there?

Summerhayes · Post by **Summerhayes** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:28 am

Undoubtedly. And I wouldnt be surprised to see another new actress, tbh.

Post by **Denyer** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 7:08 pm

Alright, but felt like more of a greatest hits lite than the previous two.