Red Dwarf XI episode list and synopses released News Posted by Jonathan Capps on 5th August 2016, 12:27 Well, this is a relief. After almost a week of ignoring the massive elephant in the room (an elephant that is now back online), Red Dwarf XI‘s full episode list has been officially sent out into the wild. Episode titles, synopses, they’re all there. Despite the unfortunate early release, it’s nice to get this information in this way rather than the previous method of rooting through BBFC’s bins. So, let’s take a look, shall we? To start with, I did not see any of the following episodes recorded so I know little to no details about their plot points or quality or anything. TOS confirms that this is not the original order of recording (something that was strongly suspected by people who were at the Twentica recording), but everything you see here was filmed in the first block in the latter part of last year. As always, if you were at any of these recordings please refrain from any spoilers, or even strong hints, as it’s just too much fun to speculate on the small amount of information we have here without some Billy Big Bollocks coming along and tapping his nose knowingly. 1. TWENTICA “The Dwarfers find themselves in an alternative version of America where modern technology is prohibited, making Rimmer and Kryten illegal. The Dwarfers infiltrate the tech savvy underground and try to bring down the authoritarian regime.” This is obviously the one episode title we’ve seen before and a chunk of this synopsis was also included in the general series summary. To me, this sounds like a barnstorming opener in the spirit of Tikka to Ride, and it actually feels like quite a brave move. 2012’s Trojan was very safe ground, with a good chunk set on Red Dwarf and a nice easing back in to the core premise. For your first episode to throw the audience into a very unusual situation – and one with such a strong core idea – is exciting. It seems this is one of the ones that got a lot of people excited last year, and I feel like there’s a very good reason why this is being shown up top. 2. SAMSARA “When the Dwarfers investigate a crashed ship at the bottom of an ocean moon, Lister and Cat become trapped together and Lister’s nightmare begins. Meantime Rimmer and Kryten discover the ship is controlled by a dark force.” Two episodes in a row with oblique and unknowable titles? While Samsara might be the name of the ocean moon, or more likely the ship, it’s currently nothing more than a standard sci-fi sounding word (edit: I’m an idiot, see comments for a better take on the word). That aside, though, I really like the sound of this episode, and it’s worth noting that this sounds like yet another off-ship adventure. We’re really starting to see real hints about greater ambition and scope in this production, and it’s incredibly exciting, even though the last time Lister and the Cat were trapped together it didn’t produce the most amazing results. 3. GIVE AND TAKE “After an altercation with a deranged droid Lister has his kidneys organ-napped. The only solution is to ask Cat, the most selfish creature in the universe, to give him one of his.” Gah, if only this episode used an ampersand, we could be claiming that this is a reference to Doug Naylor’s favourite website! SO CLOSE. Aside from that, it’s probably a safe assumption that the deranged droid in question is the one we’ve seen in this excellent production still, and it’s interesting to note this could be the second episode in a row with some more close Lister and Cat interplay. 4. OFFICER RIMMER “After a scandalous piece of good fortune Rimmer saves the life of a bio-printed Captain and is promoted, fulfilling his life-long dream of becoming an Officer. He immediately opens an Officer’s club, which is out of bounds to the lower orders, and uses the bio-printer to fill it with versions of himself.” Setting aside the fact that Rimmer has become an officer approximately 435678345835 times at this point, this episode features a concept that is very reminiscent of Me2. Presumably enough time has passed for Rimmer to forget what a nightmare that was for him, although there’s a great opportunity to show how much he’s changed since then and how that plays out with his clones. This synopsis has bags of promise in it, and bio-printing feels a good, solid, Dwarfy sci-fi concept to hang an episode around. 5. KRYSIS “Kryten has a mid-life crisis and changes his body cover from Mech grey to Ferrari red. The posse try and show him how much he’s achieved in life by taking him to visit a mechanoid from his old fleet.” This is probably the episode I’m now most fascinated with. That first sentence sounds like the setup for a terrible episode (post-VI Kryten drama is never a good sign) but the It’s A Wonderful Life sounding premise of the second sentence sounds great! By “old fleet” do they mean the Nova 5? And could this be the long awaited episode where everyone becomes a mechanoid? Out of all of these episodes this is the one that feels on a knife edge between brilliant and balls, and it’s an Episode 5 to boot. 6. CAN OF WORMS “Cat takes time off from being in love with himself to fall head over heels in love with a lady Cat with a big secret.” Considering this is clearly an episode that’s been anticipated for years now (and was almost made with Identity Within) then I can see why it may merit the Episode 6 slot. The Cat hasn’t had a true episode dedicated to him since Waiting For God, but since then it’s sort of become received knowledge that the character isn’t at his best when he’s the focus. He’s a side character that enhances the comedy of others’ storylines, and while we were all very glad to see that role return to proper form in Series X, it’s encouraging to know something different is being attempted with the character. All that’s needed is to not make this purely about him getting his end away, and we might end up with a bit of a sleeper hit out of a premise that, on the surface, doesn’t seem massively promising. Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but that has got me incredibly excited. Contained within these six synopses is a lot for fans to latch onto, and within a few weeks we’ll be starting see them all come to life. This is a new series of Red Dwarf and it’s happening pretty damn soon. And you know what? After this we’ve got another. If you fancy seeing Twentica a little early, then TOS has revealed there will be a BAFTA screening on the 12th September, tickets for which are available from this afternoon. Personally, I’m saving myself for the broadcast date so I can watch it along with the rest of you smelly, common oiks. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact I’ve swapped London for the deep, dark Pennines, and can no longer easily go to fancy London events with all the soft, Southern twats. We’ve got a busy few weeks ahead of us, so stick around and we’ll make it worth your while.
This is what I was looking forward too seeing the episode names list plus information on all. Exciting very exciting. I would have thought Twentica would have been the last episode with the reviews I saw but they want to start with a bang. Kinda find it strange a Cat episode being the last one focusing on losing his virginity. Would expect a bigger ending episode than that but they know what they are doing. They must be confident in the quality of the episode. So it is looking like late September to be aired with the screening on the 12th. On the count down very excited.
I’ve given this much thought and I am guessing that the recording order for this series was Give And Take, Can Of Worms, Krysis, Officer Rimmer, Samsara, Twentica. I went to no recording – just demonstrates that I literally think about Red Dwarf all the time.
I’ve given this much thought and I am guessing that the recording order for this series was Give And Take, Can Of Worms, Krysis, Officer Rimmer, Samsara, Twentica. I went to no recording – just demonstrates that I literally think about Red Dwarf all the time. Hmmm Samsara sounds interesting to start off with and Twentica to finish off with
Great to see the list of titles officially released – though am I the only one disappointed this article wasn’t titled “To Ganymede & Titles…”? = P I’ve given this much thought and I am guessing that the recording order for this series was Give And Take, Can Of Worms, Krysis, Officer Rimmer, Samsara, Twentica. I went to no recording – just demonstrates that I literally think about Red Dwarf all the time. On other forums I’ve certainly seen “Give And Take” and “Krysis” confirmed as recorded 1st and 3rd respectively, so it sounds like you’ve at least made a pretty solid guess! Looking forward to seeing a confirmed list of recording vs. broadcast order at some point in future – it’s always fascinating to see how episodes have been swapped around. Reminds me, on an off-topic note – has the shooting order for the Series VII episodes ever been confirmed?
I’ve given this much thought and I am guessing that the recording order for this series was Give And Take, Can Of Worms, Krysis, Officer Rimmer, Samsara, Twentica. I went to no recording – just demonstrates that I literally think about Red Dwarf all the time. I went to just the one recording from XI but based on the set reports I totally agree with this recording order. The preview screening is 12th September so we know the series will be aired after this date, maybe later that week???
Yup, I think Mani has it nailed. A little uninspired by some of those titles. Twentica isn’t bad, Samsara is fine…and Krysis is -ok-. “Give and Take” and “Can of Worms” could be Birds of a Feather episodes.
Just a funny thought – if Mani’s guess at the recording order is 100% correct, the series’ broadcast order is almost exactly the reverse of the recording order, with Give And Take’s position as the sole exception…!
Krysis loving that title. Perfect. Although the suit sounds a bit krytie tv It also sounds justified and could be a good ep. Where as officer rimmer sounds like part 4 of me2 terrorform rimmer world with a bit of balance of power thrown in. Hasn’t it been established? Or hinted? In set report discussions that The multi kryten teased ep is in XII though? Or am i misremembering Thanks for this article confirming though that all of block 1 is series XI And block 2 series XII as I was wondering if they had switched anything in from the second six recording block. The fact they havnt shows no major production problems on the scale of Dear Dave / were Smegged with any unsolvable delay in finishing for series XI.
When Doug said the titles were being released today, for some reason I was expecting the opening titles… a nice 30 seconds of clips. D’oh…
I’m not convinced about some of these, but I hated Lemons as a title when I first heard it and now it’s one of my favourites, so I’ll give them time to simmer in my head.
Hasn’t it been established? Or hinted? In set report discussions that The multi kryten teased ep is in XII though? You might be right, actually. It just shows how little I know about any of these episodes, really.
Just to mention, Samsara is a Sanskrit word meaning endless cycle of reincarnation, or something like that. I’m wondering if it’s in a reference to the nightmare or a ‘dark force’ instead of a moon or ship. Maybe a time repetition of some kind…
Samsara, rather than being a made-up sci-fi word, is in fact an ancient Indian word for the circularity of existence. More interestingly than that even, it is literally a synonym for “ouroboros”.
Beaten to a comment I’ve waited a whole bastard week to post. I hate you all. The other thing I’ve noticed is that after X was incredibly Lister/Rimmer-centric, it’s looking like the Cat and Kryten get unprecedented amounts to do in XI.
By “old fleet” do they mean the Nova 5? Nova 6 or summat? Any chance the other mech is played by David Ross? Just to mention, Samsara is a Sanskrit word meaning endless cycle of reincarnation, or something like that. I’m wondering if it’s in a reference to the nightmare or a ‘dark force’ instead of a moon or ship. Maybe a time repetition of some kind… It’s Kerry Shale in brownface.
“He immediately opens an Officer’s club, which is out of bounds to the lower orders” is such a beautifully Rimmer idea that it has me very excited. Overall this looks good. If Kryten is handled in X style then I don’t have much trouble with Ferrari red, but I have to admit I did have horrible Krytie TV flashbacks too upon reading it.
With Ourobors being Our Rob Or Ross, as I read the word Samsara I just thought Sam / Sara. …I like David Renwick. He does this a lot.
I don’t know why everyone cringes with Kryten episodes. The Last Day was a brilliant episode. It’s funny that the SAMSARA episode is the one episode that wasn’t mentioned but it sounds like one of the best one’s. It sounds like a typical old school Red Dwarf episode with a element of Series 3 Marooned in it with a dark twist to it. Like someone else said somewhere else I don’t think a Cat losing his virginity episode as a final episode hardly sounds like a cliffhanger.
Cappsy; Johnny Caps! Johnny; Old Copper Balls! Capps; Capps! Setting aside the fact that Rimmer has become an officer approximately 435678345835 times at this point, this episode features a concept that is very reminiscent of Me2. Presumably enough time has passed for Rimmer to forget what a nightmare that was for him, although there’s a great opportunity to show how much he’s changed since then and how that plays out with his clones. I’m thinking more of 600 years on Rimmerworld, the last time he made a load of clones of himself. Which (unless this Rimmer is a mix of a RDV-era backup & the VIII recreation and consequently doesn’t remember the Starbug Years of VI & VII) doesn’t seem like something you’d forget. lanjk78: I would have thought Twentica would have been the last episode with the reviews I saw but they want to start with a bang. Kinda find it strange a Cat episode being the last one focusing on losing his virginity. Would expect a bigger ending episode than that but they know what they are doing. Clearly, they’re most interested in ending with a bang.
Its better to live one day as a tiger than a whole lifetime as a Can of Worms. If ( and I’m not prejudging) episode 6 ends up being picked apart the most by fans after it airs at least it will have an ironic title!
Not that on-topic but I just realised that after XII has aired there’ll be more Dwarf episodes written without Rob Grant (37) than written with him (36), giving him a less than 25% stake in the catalogue. That’s a bizarre fact to take in. I still can’t get used to how fast all the momentum has picked up, it seems like only yesterday when those Coronation Street paparazzi shots turned up and suddenly there’s four unbroadcast Bytes’ worth to be aired. Hey, I’ve wondered about this, and given the volume of recordings and the financial canniness of the whole blocking system do you think that there might be some sort of additional broadcasts? I was thinking primarily a new Smeg Ups TV special (with BTE and X included they could do something strong and nostalgically akin to the old tapes), but it wouldn’t be unprecedented to air a Making Of either…
Considering how well the TV version of the Smeg Ups (still bafflingly with Patrick Stuart introduction) does for Dave in the ratings when it airs, I’m surprised they haven’t gotten Robert Llewellyn in and recorded a “series” of 30 minute Smeg Ups episodes with the Smeg Ups of all twelve series split up across 4-6 episodes. I would have thought it would be cheap and successful “new” Dwarf.
>>I’m thinking more of 600 years on Rimmerworld, the last time he made a load of clones of himself. Which (unless this Rimmer is a mix of a RDV-era backup & the VIII recreation and consequently doesn’t remember the Starbug Years of VI & VII) doesn’t seem like something you’d forget. This was pretty much the first thing that came to mind for me. I also agree that you’d *think* Rimmer would have definitely learned his lesson between Rimmerworld and Me2, but apparently has either forgotten, doesn’t have the memories, or is still craving some kind of elite company to the point he’s willing to forget the previous disasters. Whatever the reason, I’m fairly confident it’s going to bite him squarely in the ass.
Both Twentica and Samsara sound like classic BIG RD episodes, so I honestly don’t mind how the rest of the series plays out, as long as we get those two and they’re half decent. :D Those last 4 episodes sound pretty one-note with many repeated ideas, at least on the surface… So it’s all down to the comedy, the guest cast (particularly the female Cat) etc. to elevate them above the dodgier elements of X. The Rimmer episode is the one I’m most intrigued by. The likes of Dimension Jump, Better Than Life, Thanks for the Memory, Me2 etc. have always been my favourite episodes. Latter day Rimmer (if you can call post-1996 ‘latter day’…) hasn’t fared particularly well. Doug has much more of an affinity for Lister IMO, and Rimmer is often relegated to an almost cliched version of the past character. How much of that is due to Chris’s changing performance… who can tell?
Cappsy; Johnny Caps! Johnny; Old Copper Balls! Capps; Capps! Setting aside the fact that Rimmer has become an officer approximately 435678345835 times at this point, this episode features a concept that is very reminiscent of Me2. Presumably enough time has passed for Rimmer to forget what a nightmare that was for him, although there’s a great opportunity to show how much he’s changed since then and how that plays out with his clones. I’m thinking more of 600 years on Rimmerworld, the last time he made a load of clones of himself. Which (unless this Rimmer is a mix of a RDV-era backup & the VIII recreation and consequently doesn’t remember the Starbug Years of VI & VII) doesn’t seem like something you’d forget. lanjk78: I would have thought Twentica would have been the last episode with the reviews I saw but they want to start with a bang. Kinda find it strange a Cat episode being the last one focusing on losing his virginity. Would expect a bigger ending episode than that but they know what they are doing. Clearly, they’re most interested in ending with a bang. You call Cat losing his virginity ending with a bang. Your easily excited then.
Both Twentica and Samsara sound like classic BIG RD episodes, so I honestly don’t mind how the rest of the series plays out, as long as we get those two and they’re half decent. :D Those last 4 episodes sound pretty one-note with many repeated ideas, at least on the surface… So it’s all down to the comedy, the guest cast (particularly the female Cat) etc. to elevate them above the dodgier elements of X. The Rimmer episode is the one I’m most intrigued by. The likes of Dimension Jump, Better Than Life, Thanks for the Memory, Me2 etc. have always been my favourite episodes. Latter day Rimmer (if you can call post-1996 ‘latter day’…) hasn’t fared particularly well. Doug has much more of an affinity for Lister IMO, and Rimmer is often relegated to an almost cliched version of the past character. How much of that is due to Chris’s changing performance… who can tell? I thought exactly the same that’s why I thought them two TWENTICA and SAMSARA first and last episodes with character stories sandwiched in between. These are more like classic Red Dwarf concepts the first 2. With Give And Take and Officer Rimmer similar episodes from before. But I am intrigued by the Rimmer and Kryten episodes. The ones I am looking forward to seeing the most are Twentica, Samsara, Officer Rimmer, and Krysis.
If it wasn’t saying Cat is in love, I’d wonder if the female cat’s secret is that she’s Cat’s daughter and Cat lost his virginity years ago. She’s Cat’s daughter She’s Cat’s sister She’s Cat’s mother She’s Cat …from another dimension? She’s a man She’s Frankenstein She’s not a cat at all She’s Kochanski She’s from the future She’s from the past She’s dead She has a thing for Rimmer instead
>She’s a man I have to say this was my first thought when I read it was a sex-comedy plot about things not being what they seem. The Crying Game in space. But surely Doug wouldn’t do that. He must have been given a book about equality since the Taiwan Tony episode went out. So, no, I’d be surprised if it was this. “Can” is an American euphemism for bottom, isn’t it. And Cat is – is he? – American. Space American. And cats get worms… So perhaps he gets worms from another Cat’s bottom. Surely not…
Having seen one episode recorded – which was outstanding and which I now know is definitely confined to Series XII – and having read through these synopses, I am looking forward to these episodes more than ever. We know that most of them came away with glowing set reports and certainly the potential to be Series X betterers – I have everything very tightly crossed! The only title that bothers me, completely irrationally, is “Officer Rimmer”. It just feels weird in an ensemble show, even when they do have character-centric episodes, to put the name of one of the characters in the title. I know we had “Kryten” but obviously that was pre-Kryten, and I know we had “Dear Dave” but realistically only Kochanski calls him ‘Dave’, so that didn’t jar me as much. And yes, there was “Rimmerworld” (and, less memorably, “Krytie TV”) but something about “Officer Rimmer” just bugs me. A lot. For no real, sensible reason.
Just to mention, Samsara is a Sanskrit word meaning endless cycle of reincarnation, or something like that. It’s nothing to do with the Cat having nine lives, is it?
I keep thinking about the “big secret” in the last one… Feline AIDS? Philadelphia in space?? Surely not.
> Both Twentica and Samsara sound like classic BIG RD episodes Yeah those two sound as though they have the most potential to be properly epic. I really like the sound of Krysis but agree it could go either way. Most apprehensive about Can of Worms. > The Crying Game in space Tony Slattery’s in The Crying Game!
> Both Twentica and Samsara sound like classic BIG RD episodes Yeah those two sound as though they have the most potential to be properly epic. I really like the sound of Krysis but agree it could go either way. Most apprehensive about Can of Worms. > The Crying Game in space Tony Slattery’s in The Crying Game! I was wondering if I was the only one apprehensive about Can Of Worms especially being the last episode. But I agree Twentica and Sansara sound classics and look forward to seeing Krysis. Kryten has always been my favorite :-p
What I like about this is that although it seems it’s going to be on a lot bigger scale than X, there are still plot synopses which are based entirely around characters – Krysis and Officer Rimmer look like they have their roots in the earlier series. I like having the balance of big scale episodes alongside episodes which are more self-contained character pieces.
I now know that I went to see Samsara being filmed. Really looking forward to seeing how it translates to the screen and what people’s of perception of it is!
“Kryten has a mid-life crisis and changes his body cover from Mech grey to Ferrari red” Surely the last part of that is just spoiling what would probably be a pretty good gag if you didn’t know it was coming?
So. Roughly speaking, looking at synopsis, and i know its never As clear cut as just one character focus, but seems to be looking… 1. Ensemble 2. Trapped in pairs. 3. Lister 4. Rimmer 5. Kryten 6. Cat
One thing I find interesting is how the synopsis for Can of Worms offers no new information, there are some even bigger plot points they are trying hard to keep us in the dark about.
Very interesting that the TOS article says the two new series “are very distinctly separate from one-another!” Series XII story arc? Could mean a number of things of course.
“Kryten has a mid-life crisis and changes his body cover from Mech grey to Ferrari red” Surely the last part of that is just spoiling what would probably be a pretty good gag if you didn’t know it was coming? I was thinking the exact same thing. I saw this episode filmed live and it was a good visual gag when it happened. Although I can imagine that part being used in the opening titles montage too.
I keep thinking about the “big secret” in the last one… Feline AIDS? Philadelphia in space?? Surely not. It all turns out to be one of Lister’s masturbation fantasies.
Very interesting that the TOS article says the two new series “are very distinctly separate from one-another!” Series XII story arc? Could mean a number of things of course. If memory serves me, the set reports of series XII episodes sounded like the episodes were a lot stranger then the ones made for XI….I could imagine that would create some of a tonal difference between the 2.
> The Beginning? Trojan? The way he is in Trojan just makes me cringe… sadly, nothing will ever beat how the character was from series’ 1-5 (unless XI and/or XII surprise me). The Beginning was much better, and had bags of potential…which was then IMO totally destroyed by the ‘revelation’ that his father was, in fact, not his father. It’s as though Doug is trying to tell us that all Rimmer’s moaning and resentment over the years is suddenly justified… I hates it forever!!! All for a cheap laugh. I may get over it one day….:p
I didn’t like the dad revelation as it felt like weak storytelling for the sake of being a comedic surprise revelation and while i have heard people say Dougs not implying Rimmer is the way he is because his father was just a gardener it certainly feels like that is what Dougs is getting at with couple of the jokes here and there. Its amazing how much we learnt from small portions of dialogue about Rimmers backstory from previous series and then we get to series X and Doug decides its time to start dissecting it.
The last ten minutes of The Beginning has made me tear up every single time I have seen it. Admittedly this is half due to ‘issues’, but still. It’s in my Dwarf top five largely for that reason. It’s not Doug saying Rimmer’s like that because he’s a gardener’s son, quite the opposite. It completely flips one of the central ideas of the show to say – actually, what’s *wrong* with being a vending machine repairman? Trojan shows that Howard (and probably the other two as well) has had his life ruined by an insanely single-minded upbringing just as Arnold has, and the revelation about his father relieves Rimmer’s guilt for the first time in his adult life. The moment where Rimmer’s blinkers come off and he realises he actually respects the man who he now knows to be his father is played completely sincerely. It never looks to me to be a joke as such – the “Dungo” nickname is only revealed so it works as a red herring to make the later character moment work. If you think about Dimension Jump, Ace (a Rimmer without the parental bitterness) genuinely respects the working people around him, and it completes a circle for Rimmer to shake off the worst of his class prejudice at that moment. I don’t think that’s a stretch either – the exam timetable callback shows just what history is being pulled back into play to make that character development happen. He’s quite a happy Rimmer anyway after Trojan, I’m continually impressed at how well that’s all executed, particularly given Lister’s story arc disappears off the cliff created by the production collapsing. I do love X, I’m probably more impressed by the last three than the first three because it’s so improbable that they even made it to air. And I like shows 4 and 5 as much as the rest. Honest. As for the timing of the revelation, it’s obvious from the title that The Beginning was designed to be a potential series finale to prevent another Only The Good situation. It works perfectly as a last-ever episode, and I’d be amazed if 12.6 doesn’t do something similar. I hope RD makes me cry at least one more time in what’s left of its future. It’s a satisfyingly appropriate feeling.
I think one of the things about the early series was about how subtle Rob and Doug wrote it, like with Rimmers relationship with his dad we got abit of information in better than life where Rimmer reveals he hates his father for his upbringing but actually still looked up to the man, and then there was that stuff in marooned with the chest his father gave him and in the inquisitor where Rimmers talks about his family and explains why he felt he turned out how he did and you could add all that stuff up and its almost a character study with layers that tell you everything. The beginning felt like it was adding to that but fell apart with the reveal, i mean Rimmers dad is made out to be cruel to Rimmer so we feel sorry for him but on the hologramme message his dad acts like both a dick with reminding him his real heritage is actually dirt but also acts as someone who may have actually cared about Rimmers upbringing as apparently he had always known Rimmer wasn’t his but didn’t tell him because he didn’t wanna hold him back? and only decided to tell him when he has reached all his dreams and wouldn’t care anyway? now that was probably there because Doug needed to make some excuse for it but either way what Rimmers dad wasn’t really a dick thing to do but thats not what Doug was trying to say, Rimmers dad is meant to be the demon that has been holding rimmer back which ends with Rimmer sorta getting over it, at least till the next series. its just there for the revelation and not the multi-layered thought process of the early series or even the novels which is a shame.
It’s because Rimmer’s dad wanted the credit/reflected glory for the success he egotistically assumed the association with himself – or at least his inflated opinion of his own importance – would grant him (plus he didn’t want his wife’s rampant infidelity made too public), without any actual fatherhood effort or love. Sending the holo-message was an act of complete self-interest, and was the ultimate act of cowardice far beyond anything self-confessed coward Rimmer had ever done, and a perfect inversion of how Rimmer was with Michael McGruder upon first meeting him (different reality I know, but same bloke). Makes perfect narrative and character sense to me. A similar trainwreck of an upbringing speaking here – I recognise most of the beats…
The “interesting” thing about the Rimmer reveal is that it’s both the most significant thing we’ve ever learned about him and at the same time, it makes absolutely no difference to the character whatsoever. I’m not sure if that’s clever writing or incredibly lazy, to be honest, but I think it worked *reasonably* well as a final episode revelation. Going forward, it’s practically meaningless though. Rimmer’s still the same ball of neuroses as before – with the same upbringing dragging him down – he’s just risen slightly further above his parental station than previously thought. By his own ingrained, demented standards he’s still a loser – that’s such a fundamental aspect of his character I doubt Doug will ever seriously alter that.
Very interesting that the TOS article says the two new series “are very distinctly separate from one-another!” Series XII story arc? Could mean a number of things of course. If memory serves me, the set reports of series XII episodes sounded like the episodes were a lot stranger then the ones made for XI….I could imagine that would create some of a tonal difference between the 2. There are some very subtle changes to the sets (just small cosmetic details) that split XI from XII.
There are some very subtle changes to the sets (just small cosmetic details) that split XI from XII. Now I legitimately am hoping the inflatable banana makes a return in series XII
You know that BAFTA preview screening of Twentica on 12th September? Well, SFX have got one on 24th August.. https://twitter.com/SFXmagazine/status/763740015759388672
