Friday’s Red Dwarf X update has landed, and this week we’ve been treated to a *gorgeous* panoramic view of the new bunk room set.
Ain’t she a beauty? There’s a whole heap to pick apart here, so let’s DO THIS.
The sets for Series X are the work of production designer Michael Ralph and they’ve been one of the more highly praised aspects of the new series by fans who attended recordings. The bunk room is obviously the centrepiece of a whole suite of new sets, including the Red Dwarf drive room, [REDACTED], the [REDEACTED] [REDACTED] and of course the [REDACTED] [REDACTED] from episode [REDACTED] that [REDACTED].
I really, really liked the bunkroom from Back to Earth, but I absolutely *adore* this one. The bright white officer’s quarters have had a good run, but it was definitely time for a visual refresh, and here we have a bunk room that’s equal parts new and instantly recognisable, matching as it does the various bowels of the ship we’ve seen over the years but styled in a way that’s quite unlike bunkrooms that have come before it.
On the left we see the main entrance, which is connected to a corridor that separates this and the drive room set. Unlike previous series, the action is able to move seamlessly between the bunk room and the corridor and this feature is used very effectively in a number of scenes. It’s worth reiterating how confident Doug’s directing is this series, and the sets have certainly allowed him to do some interesting things.
The various keyboards and monitors scattered around Red Dwarf and Starbug in previous series are one of the few things that can date any one episode visually (coming as they do from fairly recent technology), and the monitors here are very clearly modern home appliances. In fact I think the large TV is exactly the same as the one we have at home. One thing we *don’t* have at home, however, are upside-down keyboards. The looping graphics on the screens are various lines of code displayed in variously impractical ways, all accompanied by a distracting swirling pattern in the background. It would be a miracle if any actual work was done on those consoles.
The bunk beds themselves are a little less prominent than they’ve been in the past, but the fine attention to detail remains. Lister has a picture of Hannah, his gran, a Mugs Murphy card, a tiny London Jets shirt, a picture of him meeting Jim Bexley-Speed and GNP have also been kind enough to lend him some publicity shots of Kochanski. The picture in the top left is puzzling me a bit, but if I was to guess I’d say it was a picture of the Tongue Tied scene from Parallel Universe. On Rimmer’s bunk we have the newspaper clipping “Arnie Does it Best” and “ARNOLD: LIVING LEGEND” and I’m willing to bet there’s a revision timetable somewhere in there. The art department clearly had a lot of fun here.
The sofa is a little unusual as it seems odd that Rimmer would allow such a hiddeous thing in his sleeping quarters as it’s something you;d be more likely to see in Lister’s quarters from Legion. The steering wheel controller shows that Lister is currently going through a bit of a retro phase with his choice of computer games (and monitors by the look of the CRT suspended from the ceiling), especially considering there’s about fifty AR machines kicking around the ship.
Tucked away on the right hand side of the set we’ve got a nice cameo from Lennon and McCartney (although I never once spotted them during recordings) and what appears to be a food and drink preparation area (it appears that way because it in fact *is* a food and drink preparation area).
After two weeks of photo updates coming from Dave, it seems next week we’ll be getting another trailer, which is very exciting, but not as exciting as the sudden realisation that series X will most likely be airing next fucking month. Quite where the time has gone is something I’m not keen to think about too much, but when the reward for the ever quickening journey towards your own inevitable death is a new series of Red Dwarf, well… it’s not so bad, is it?
si / August 10, 2012 at 12:22 pm / #
GORGEOUS.
Absobloodylutely beautiful.
MANI506 / August 10, 2012 at 12:40 pm / #
Nice picture of Lister’s dad on the top bunk. This is what the iPhone zoom mode was created for.
Carlito / August 10, 2012 at 12:43 pm / #
Fantastic set. One thing I noticed that carries over from BTE is how small the actual bunks look compared to the series 1-8 sets. It may just be on a comparitive scale due to the size of the set but I thought the same at the recording I attended. Were there any scenes recorded with Rimmer/Lister actually in or sat on the beds?
Adam Bailey / August 10, 2012 at 12:57 pm / #
Those photos are quite interesting. I see Lister with the twins in his arms, and is that both versions of Kochanski?
performingmonkey / August 10, 2012 at 1:03 pm / #
Brilliant!! It’s a shame it looks a little dull in the trailer, due to the way the show’s been shot, but that can’t take anything away from how amazingly…right this bunkroom set is!
‘Arnie Does It Best!’ :D
Squeaky Gibson / August 10, 2012 at 1:13 pm / #
Very lovely set and it’s nice to see a revamp of BTE set, that looked very clean. it’s amazing what a redress cannas fresh paint scheme can do. Its neat to see the return of Lennon & McCartney after their brief appearance in VIII. the images of Kochanski appear to be head shots from VIII when she’s in her Canaries outfit. what is the picture between Hannah and Listers Gran? it looks like famous promo shot of boys in cockpit of Starbug from V.
bossk / August 10, 2012 at 1:23 pm / #
It does look good. The muted colours/drab and red make it feel more right to me than the cream sets and prefer the bunks directly above (not slanted). The only thing I’m nitpicking over is the retro car couch. It reminds me a bit of the bike sitting in the BTE set, just a bit over the top and out of place? (for me anyway)
p2p_productions / August 10, 2012 at 1:28 pm / #
You know how I feel about Miltary Grey…
Carlito / August 10, 2012 at 1:37 pm / #
That actually kinda looks pretty good! I do love the red but if that was the set, I’d still be happy.
Brayds2006 / August 10, 2012 at 1:37 pm / #
You know, I sometimes wonder if p2p has timeslide tech and a paint tin.
p2p_productions / August 10, 2012 at 1:39 pm / #
WHO TOLD YOU ABOUT THE TIN?
Reece Walsh / August 10, 2012 at 1:40 pm / #
Just spotted Lennon and McCartney at the far right.
Seb Patrick / August 10, 2012 at 1:58 pm / #
Fucking hell, Rich. Just FUCKing hell.
You know you’ve got to do it in series IV-style cream, now. Also maybe green.
Paul Muller / August 10, 2012 at 2:10 pm / #
Oh God, I think I like it even more in grey…
si / August 10, 2012 at 2:19 pm / #
*patiently waits for Danny’s G&T Bunkroom Header*
Adam Bailey / August 10, 2012 at 2:22 pm / #
That gray looks fantastic, the red set is good and marks a new stage in the show, but the gray version looks like a modern version of the original bunk room.
Kris Carter / August 10, 2012 at 2:28 pm / #
The grey version looks CLASS. But I do so love the red version. It’s a really good rendition of the sleeping quarters. Although I too was wondering how big the bunks actually are – they looked positively child-size in real life.
bossk / August 10, 2012 at 2:31 pm / #
Forgive me if I’m being thicker than the offspring of the village idiot and a TV weathergirl, but what is this ‘grey version’ that keeps getting mentioned?