Whose Dwarf Is It Anyway?

News

Well, this is interesting. The February edition of SFX carries the following small news item:

Craig Charles has divulged more about Dave’s Red Dwarf revival. “We are going to do Red Dwarf: Unplugged, which is just the four of us – and some chairs – trying to improvise, or rather trying to remember, classic scenes,” he said at the recent Collectormania Glasgow.

!!!

A mention of Red Dwarf: Unplugged was added to Wikipedia a few weeks ago, by person or persons unknown. We’d dismissed it as idle shit-stirring, but if Craig is shooting his mouth off about it, it seems pretty genuine.

Personally, I think it’s a bloody good idea – it sounds like it could be a lot of fun, and extraordinarily cheap, which is good news in terms of stretching the budget. The term “the four of us” is interesting – it almost definitely refers to “Chris, Craig, Danny and Robert”, which suggests that none of the recreated scenes will involve Holly or Kochanski. But we shall see. Also, it sounds like a format that could do with a host, to introduce the challenges and give the scenes context. Again, we shall see. I’m really looking forward to this now – this certainly is a “serious difference” to the standard clip show format, and promises to be much more satisfying.

Thanks to Si Bromley for posting this story on the forum. Also, kudos to Phil Reed for figuring it all out back in September!

In other news, Robert Llewellyn seems to have confirmed in his Twitter feed that the specials will be recorded in front of an audience. To quote:

We are making 4 new episodes of Red Dwarf, with original main cast, 2 eps recorded in front of audience. Not seen scripts yet.

Well, huzzah and hurrah, frankly. However, I’m a bit confused by the “4 episodes, 2 of which have an audience” thing. Surely Unplugged will have an audience? It’ll be as flat as a fart otherwise. Maybe they’re shooting the main two part episode in one audience session? Or maybe they’re shooting bits of Unplugged in and around bits of the main episodes?

Whatever happens, everyone keep ‘em peeled for ticket details…

Thanks to SoundableObject for posting that one.

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40 Responses to Whose Dwarf Is It Anyway?

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  1. James / January 11, 2009 at 2:55 pm / #

    With special guest Boris Johnson?

    Reply

  2. Dave / January 11, 2009 at 3:50 pm / #

    >Whose Dwarf Is It Anyway?

    It’s mine

    Reply

  3. James / January 11, 2009 at 4:06 pm / #

    I think it’s clever that Robert has been allowed to leave little comments like this. The internet moves faster than any other media, and this is the best way to spread the word of the new Specials.

    Reply

  4. Chris / January 11, 2009 at 4:27 pm / #

    Hummingbird:

    Still puzzled re how this ties in with Craig?s comment about playing lots of different roles.
    Of course, it could be the 2 eps he was referring to.

    (Taken from forum thread, figured might as well post here.)

    Another thought occurred to me. Maybe they’ll be playing each others roles. A bit of reversal etc, in the spirit of Bodyswap. ;)

    Reply

  5. si / January 11, 2009 at 5:50 pm / #

    Oh yes, tickets please. I’ve never recovered from being invited to the audience screenings of Red Dwarf VII in late ’96, and my mum not letting me go to London on my own. :’(

    Reply

  6. hummingbird / January 11, 2009 at 5:53 pm / #

    > Another thought occurred to me. Maybe they?ll be playing each others roles. A bit of reversal etc, in the spirit of Bodyswap. ;)

    I wondered about that, too. I’d love to see them do it.

    Reply

  7. Phil / January 11, 2009 at 6:44 pm / #

    >Surely Unplugged will have an audience? It?ll be as flat as a fart otherwise. Maybe they?re shooting the main two part episode in one audience session?

    That’s what I figure, though I admit the “2 of 4″ phrasing Bobby used is extremely misleading if that’s the case.

    I like the idea for Whose Dwarf is Unplugged Anyway, but, as you say, without an audience it’d be pointless. Also, I wonder who they’ll get to host it.

    Reply
  10. G&T Admin

    Jonathan Capps / January 11, 2009 at 7:05 pm / #

    p2p, Ian already linked to that forum thread in the new article.

    Reply

  11. p2p_productions / January 11, 2009 at 7:37 pm / #

    Cool – didn’t see it at first. Posted so that all links to previous threads would be in one place.

    Reply

  12. Somebody / January 11, 2009 at 11:53 pm / #

    We are making 4 new episodes of Red Dwarf, with original main cast, 2 eps recorded in front of audience. Not seen scripts yet.

    Well, huzzah and hurrah, frankly. However, I?m a bit confused by the ?4 episodes, 2 of which have an audience? thing. Surely Unplugged will have an audience? It?ll be as flat as a fart otherwise. Maybe they?re shooting the main two part episode in one audience session? Or maybe they?re shooting bits of Unplugged in and around bits of the main episodes?

    I would venture to suggest that it’s more likely that the “proper” eps will be audience-free, and RDUnplugged and “This Is Your Dwarf” (or whatever the “clip show with a difference” turns out to be) will have the audiences…

    Reply

  13. hummingbird / January 12, 2009 at 12:47 am / #

    It would be shame not to have the 2 eps in front of an audience.

    > and RDUnplugged and ?This Is Your Dwarf?

    I think these are one and the same. Wasn’t the fourth show going to be a ‘making of’?

    Reply

  14. performingmonkey / January 12, 2009 at 1:34 am / #

    Recording the Unplugged thing in front of an audience could be an unmitigated disaster. Can you imagine twats from the audience shouting out? It wouldn’t be good at all. The best thing would be if they’re just shoved in front of a black screen for a while and edit it down to the good bits.

    Honestly, I still have a bad feeling about the whole thing. I just want the two new episodes to be as good as they can be and without this Unplugged idea maybe messing it up due to it’s pissing about nature. I’m probably just being a Negative Nancy and a Moaning Michael combined… or a Stuttering Stanley…STUTTERING STANLEY! STUTTERING STANLEY! STUTTERING STANLEY!

    Reply

  15. Chris / January 12, 2009 at 2:57 am / #

    Recording the Unplugged thing in front of an audience could be an unmitigated disaster. Can you imagine twats from the audience shouting out?

    That could be a problem, but other such shows seem to manage ok. Maybe they do more than one take like they do with the usual showings (that would remove some of the spontaneity, but these celebrity quiz things aren’t quite as spontaneous as they actually appear are they?)

    Apart from that, they could just record it without the audience and show it to an audience for the laugh track later.

    Reply

  16. Ben Paddon / January 12, 2009 at 3:31 am / #

    This sounds like Can’t Smeg Won’t Smeg, but without the cooking – just the actors playing the characters without any real direction. Very interesting.

    Reply

  17. Mr Flibble / January 12, 2009 at 7:08 am / #

    Tony Hawks should present it.

    Reply
  18. G&T Admin

    Jonathan Capps / January 12, 2009 at 5:49 pm / #

    It’s not impossible that Bobby has his lines crossed about what episodes will be in front of an audience, but I can easily imagine the recording of the episodes and Unplugged merging together to reduce the amount of days the cast have in costume.

    Or, if Unplugged requires some lengthy costume changes, maybe they’ll record it without the audience and show us the finished version at one of the audience days to record the laughter?

    Reply
  19. G&T Admin

    Jonathan Capps / January 12, 2009 at 5:52 pm / #

    Oh, also:

    > Tony Hawks should present it.

    Abso-bloody-exactly. The presence of a host will really help this thing come alive, and I genuinely can’t think of anyone better for the job than Tony. Or perhaps Lee Cornes, on the strength of his excellent hosting of past DJ nights.

    Reply
  20. G&T Admin

    Ian Symes / January 12, 2009 at 8:04 pm / #

    Given the stripped down vibe, I imagined that Unplugged would have no costumes at all. (Cue Phil or Dave implying nudity.) In my mind, it would be the cast in their civvy clothes, with Robert unmasked. But either approach would work fine.

    Reply

  21. Mr Flibble / January 12, 2009 at 8:05 pm / #

    He could even do it in his green sparkly jacket.

    Reply

  22. Dave / January 12, 2009 at 10:22 pm / #

    >(Cue Phil or Dave implying nudity.)

    Demanding nudity

    Reply

  23. Somebody / January 12, 2009 at 10:24 pm / #

    *was thinking the same as Symes in terms of Unplugged costuming*

    Reply

  24. kakchriskak / January 13, 2009 at 10:59 am / #

    red dwarf unplugged errr i like the idea of the improvisation but not the stand up quiz show thing .. shud be kept in the red dwarf universe andnot become a quiz show … will be interesting to see though

    Reply
  25. G&T Admin

    Ian Symes / January 13, 2009 at 11:11 am / #

    What “stand up quiz show” thing?

    Reply

  26. Chris / January 13, 2009 at 11:26 am / #

    I suspect he/she means celebrity quiz shows. That often feature stand-up comedians.

    I wouldn’t mind a quiz show being set in the universe like Tikka to Ride was (sort of) but considering the blurb Craig spilled, it wouldn’t work for this particular format. (Reenacting past scenes, etc.) Not unless it featured some extremely weird timey wimey stuff.

    Reply
  27. G&T Admin

    Ian Symes / January 13, 2009 at 12:12 pm / #

    I wouldn?t mind a quiz show being set in the universe like Tikka to Ride was (sort of)

    WHAT THE HELL IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT?

    Reply

  28. Phil / January 13, 2009 at 12:48 pm / #

    I wouldn’t mind a celebrity dance program being set in the universe of Balance of Power (sort of).

    Reply

  29. Pete Part Three / January 13, 2009 at 12:53 pm / #

    I want a veterinary programme but in the universe of Back in the Red Part 2, with nods to the universe of Back in the Red Part 1 but with no ties to the universe of Back in the Red Part 3.

    Presented by Nicholas Witchell.

    Reply

  30. Chris / January 13, 2009 at 1:13 pm / #

    >WHAT THE HELL IS EVERYONE TALKING ABOUT?

    Bumfluff. Not you, the mistake.

    Can’t Smeg Won’t Smeg, or whatever it’s called. The Ainsley Harriet thing.

    They prepared a curry, and no doubt my mind cross-reference ‘tikka’ with ‘curry’ and… the rest is history.

    Sort of.

    Reply

  31. kakchriskak / January 13, 2009 at 6:42 pm / #

    well from the comment from roberts twitter and craig saying “which is just the four of us – and some chairs – trying to improvise” i think its all down to the teeny weeny budget . probably the reason why its not on bbc .. because if it was .. they would expect a doctor who type budget

    Reply

  32. scoodiddilyooter / January 14, 2009 at 12:57 am / #

    The show with the aliens made out of lightbulbs and plungers? ;)

    Reply
  33. G&T Admin

    Danny Stephenson / January 14, 2009 at 1:04 am / #

    The show with the aliens made out of lightbulbs and plungers?

    Mate, That was Pob.

    Reply

  38. scoodiddilyooter / January 16, 2009 at 3:38 pm / #

    I can kind of see the attraction, but there’s something very wrong with that young man. Apart from his disorganized breathing I mean. He’s in television for god’s sake, he should really get some kind of coaching for that.

    Reply

  39. SingingPotato1979 / January 17, 2009 at 4:54 pm / #

    >well from the comment from roberts twitter

    This keeps being mentioned – which comment?

    Reply

  40. cliff / January 30, 2009 at 12:09 pm / #

    Hail to such an amazing idea, the four of them are so funny offset i think it we be a great success…

    …just gotta try and sneak in to the audience now.

    Reply

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