Ian’s Newsround – ARGH!

Where do I begin? The official sitehas updated with three news items, all of huge importance and have been anticipated for months. Ippy-dippy, my spaceshippy, on a course so true, past Neptune and Pluto’s moon the one I choose is… the Series IV DVD cover. Hooray!

The full version (front and back) of the cover has been released, and top workaholic Andrew Ellard has posted an all-encompassing news article, covering all the speculation that’s been going on for the past few weeks. He revealed that it was Doug Naylor’s idea to break from the original plan of red-blue-green-red-blue-green-red-blue, and thank God for him. It would have been rubbish, thinking about it. Plus, people were bound to have been confused to see up to three damn-near identical covers in the shops. As for the image of Lister painting: hmmm. It doesn’t quite work, for me. What is he supposed to be painting, exactly? The cut-off is a tad messy, but Ellard does point out that this isn’t the final version, merely a draft. It could be fixed by Febuary, plus it’s not really fair to judge a pic as small as this. But still: hmmm. I do, however, agree with Ellard’s proposal of a combination of red and silver foil for the logo. As for what should be used for Series V – the Enlightenment, clearly. Finally, RDZ have excellently pointed out that the full extras list has been revealed by this picture. No surprises, but it’s nice to see. No idea what the word after ‘Can’t Smeg Won’t Smeg‘ is, though.

Norman Lovett’s website has finally been launched, two months after the original ‘Late June’ date. He may not be fast, but he gets there in the end. Thanks. The site uses image maps, and the ALT text does not reveal what is said on these images. Consequently, the site is useless to anyone who uses a speaking browser. Yes, it looks quite nice, but if some people can’t access it, what’s the point? Plus, I am legally obliged to point out that one of the quotes in the ALT text is a line spoken by Hattie Hayridge. As for the content itself, it’s rather good. Norm gives his definitive account of his Red Dwarf experiences, and promises to bring us news on the Movie. The latest: “I don’t know what is happening at the moment”. Great. The biography page seems very complete, but it would be nice to have some comments about the programmes he’s been involved in, rather than just a list. Hold on a minute… Norman wasn’t in The Goodies!. Oh, it’s a shop. The gallery is excellent, with some good snidey comments, and the family page is quite good. Norm’s missus is a babe. Fair play to him.

Next up, Brittas Series Two menu shots! These are excellent; amusing and highly original. I particularly love the main menu, which takes the form of a daily goal list, with the menu options included in the prose. OK, some of these are a little contrived, but it’s very funny and I haven’t seen this idea used before. Also, the chapter selection menu will take the form of Polaroids inside lockers. This idea was hinted at in an old DVD Details article, and Andrew confirms that Starbug’s lockers will indeed feature on the Series III and IV DVDs! I wonder if one of them will be a double Polaroid…

And finally, Mr. Flibble has interviewed Paul Grant, the photographer for Series III. I was hoping that the penguin would ask Paul why his photos could not be cleared for use on the official site until recently, but it never came up. Nevertheless, it’s a good interview.

This, then, is the last of my newsrounds. Under the new news system, launching next week, each individual story will be given its own article, rather than being lumped together in one big one. This will mean more updates and more space being given to each story. This is John Craven, G&T News, signing off. Goodnight.