Now, let me begin by saying that it can’t have escaped anyone’s attention that things have been getting rather quiet around here of late. It’s no secret that updates are thin on the ground and we’re relying on the Forum to break important news. So, I’ve decided, if it’s all right with you, to appoint myself update officer and set myself the task of doing a bit of an old round-up. Any objections? Well, tough.
Mangled quotes aside, this week is going to be a biggie, and I’m going to state the reason for that in my next paragraph, pretending for a moment that every single one of you doesn’t already know everything I’m about to say.
Trailer? I hardly know her!
First, Doug informed us of the existence of a 48 second trailer, to be launched mid-July. Then, the fruits of his loins mentioned that we’ll all have seen the trailer once he returns from his week’s holiday. Finally, Doug informs us he’s looking forward to this Friday. Conclusion? Well, we’re either getting the trailer this Friday, or this is a Naylor family prank designed to make prancing fools of us all, and the only thing on Friday that Doug’s excited about is the fifth episode of Britain’s Secret Treasures.
For sake of argument, let’s assume it’s the former and OMG THE TRAILER IS BEING RELEASED THIS FRIDAY. Details of the exact time and place have not been divulged, but presumably Doug will be the one to keep an eye on for any extra pre-Friday information. Whatever the case may be, we’ll be on hand to tell you exactly what to think once it drops, so for God’s sake don’t panic.
So, apparently Red Dwarf X is now finished
In news that you’d rightly expect any semi-competent fansite to feature the very moment it occurred, all six episodes and DVD bonus material has now been signed, sealed and delivered to UKTV, hence Richard Naylor swanning off on holiday, the vain man. It’s seems like a lifetime ago (but I still remember the shit like it was yesterday, tho’) since the new series was shot, so it’s weird to think that it’s now all finished.
DVD-wise, the most interesting part is certainly the Behind the Scenes documentary which, according to Doug, will run at around 140 minutes, which is just the right side of fucking insane. What’s even more interesting is Doug describing the BTS documentary as having “teeth” which does suggest a certain amount of candid detail about the various production problems we’ve seen Doug hint at over the past few months.
Previous documentaries have always been very up-front about troubles in the production, especially Juliet May in series V, and Dwarfing USA had great big bastarding teeth. The difference is, though, they were made well after the fact, and while the Back to Earth docco lightly nibbled at Norman Lovett from time to time, it didn’t feel as brutally honest as other documentaries have been. We’re told to expect the release in November, so the exact size and ferocity of the BTS’s incisors will be revealed then.
MILD CLOSING CREDITS SPOILERS
Meanwhile, in the land of G&T members who actually do useful things, our very own Danny Stephenson ran this picture of Doug Naylor and BTS director Nathan Cubitt, taken by production exec Roopesh Parekh, through his impossible brain and worked out what the subtitles actually say on Doug’s screen. In case you’re physically afraid of clicking on links, the full text is “Trying to replicate the iconic Closing Credits shot without a Motion Control Camera, Deane has to run around the studio to operate the Epic without creating a shadow.”. Well, well, well. If we’re correct, this tells us that the closing credits will, for the first time since series IV, include the ship flyover using a physical Red Dwarf model, which is obviously very pleasing. The Deane mentioned is presumably Deane Thrussell, Digital Imaging Technician on Back to Earth, and it sounds like he had quite a job on his hands to get the required shot without the use of motion control. We know that the first model shoot, to put it mildly, didn’t go very well so presumably this comes from the more successful second shoot, but it’ll still be interesting to see whether this lack of motion control will have a negative effect on this or any other model shot in the series. Basically, the whole model situation still makes me a little nervous.
PODMAX
And finally, a new Red Dwarf Podcast is in town and its name is Ganymed… oh, no, wait, The Red Dwarf Introcast! The premise is simple: a TV and sci-fi literate American couple (Heath and Angela) have never seen Red Dwarf and know basically nothing about it. Week by week, they’ll be watching every episode while two Red Dwarf fans (Sarah and Shane) provide context. It’s a nice idea and I’ve really enjoyed the first two episodes, especially Heath and Angela’s surprising first reaction to The Cat, and their amusing theories about what happened to the rest of his race. So, yeah, if you haven’t already, check it out.
I think that’ll be *quite* enough for now. Now, go away, rest up, and prepare yourselves for the Series X trailer. Go on. Get fucked.
GO AWAY NOW PLEASE.
MANI506 / July 17, 2012 at 8:19 pm / #
Ha ha – PODMAX. The name will never be used or written down (podmax).
I miss Adam and Joe.
I’ve listened to that podmax and it is an interesting perspective from the newbies. Counting the seconds until the trailer of course!
MANI506 / July 17, 2012 at 8:19 pm / #
Loved the Out Of Time tribute as well.