From deep space… News Posted by John Hoare on 8th June 2007, 11:18 Every time a DVD Details article is published, I go on about how fantastic it is. It’s getting embarrassing now. GNP should be Commander in Chief of the whole universe. Badly-adapted quotations aside, however – more details on Bodysnatcher have been released. And it looks, erm, “pretty good”. Of course, the most exciting thing about the article is the extract from the script itself. And what a brilliant scene it is. Clearly it’s one of the setup scenes to Rimmer going mad – but what’s interesting is that it’s played out as a standard Rimmer in anal mode, going through meaningless regulations (see the start of Quarantine). But whilst we haven’t got anything but a general idea of how the script develops, we do know that the episode is about Rimmer going mad – and all of a sudden, the scene takes a rather darker tone. I don’t think you could actually predict the way the script would go from there unless we actually knew he was going to go a bit Whacko Jacko. It’s a really, really interesting way of starting the plot. And the dialogue! “If everybody starts butting in every five seconds, we’ll never get anywhere…” You made me do a LOL! It’s just great stuff, from beginning to end. (The book gag feels like it should be a bit dodgy, but in context it just works.) The thing with Identity Within was that it was extremely interesting as a historical piece, and as an insight into VII. But… well, I don’t find much of VII funny at the best of times, let alone a draft script that never went into production. (That’s obviously not a criticism of the DVD, of course – it’s a problem inbuilt with the original script.). But Bodysnatcher looks like it will work on all levels – as a historical insight, but also as a marvellous piece of comedy in its own right. And I’ve got a feeling this might just become my favourite complete bit of Dwarf narrative since Out of Time in 1993. Because this is the Dwarf I love. The words just shine off the page – let alone when Chris gets to work with them. Speaking of which: “Working with Chris is a breeze. After a brief discussion it is decided that, as this is a Series I script, the recreated voices of John Lenahan and Tony Hawks would be great for Lister’s cheapo alarm clock (John) and the medicomp (Tony). Chris employs the impressions with aplomb, and it just enhances the flavour of the piece, the vibe. This is Series I.” Wow. That’s just incredible. Sure, people complain that they want the Movie, or a Series IX, or a Dwarf special. And hey, I’d like one of those too. But when stuff like this is being made… why be so obsessed with them? Concentrate on what wonderful stuff is happening now. It’s new Dwarf, it’s guaranteed to be fucking hilarious – and it’s got a Rob and Doug commentary, too. What more do you want?
God, yes, those extracts are brilliant. I was curious just how much like series 1 this episode was going to feel due to the context it’s been put in, but it feels so good. It’s going to be such an utter joy to perform series 1 Rimmer again, isn’t it?
It’s just wrong how much there will be to watch and do on these discs. and to think DJ will happen BEFORE this release and DJ is AGES AWAY!!!!! At the moment, DJ is just another way of saying, ‘when you’re there you’ve not got long to wait now…’ Although they will be showing us little snippety things at the event. But it’s been said time and time again, but this is going to be the best release of them all, and that really is saying something…
Who would have thought a few years ago that the release of the retarded… sorry, remastered episodes would be so anticipated! I cant wait myself!
Wait… when they cut to a model shot, is it going to be storyboarded, or are the S1 fly-bys going to be pulled out?
> Wait? when they cut to a model shot, is it going to be storyboarded, or are the S1 fly-bys going to be pulled out? Storyboarded. Dropping live-action footage in would clash horribly.
Sorry for the delay in this article, BTW. It should be up by tomorrow morning. Not that you NEED me to tell you how great this news is…
Excellent stuff. And those 2 pages show what a sad loss of good ideas, the scrapping of this script was at the time. I found them funnier than some scenes in Balance or Power or Waiting for god. But John I still NEED to know exactly how great this news is… Please fill us all in.
It’s coming this afternoon. Sorry, been really busy this weekend… EDIT: And done. Bet that was worth waiting for, wasn’t it?
The words just shine off the screen John. :-) I hadnt thought of the “Rimmer goes mad” context, I was just laughing at the scene in a similar way to the iradiated haggis scene. Rimmer insisting on proper process in a pathetic effort to make himself look important, commanding and getting to boss lister around still, even though with all the crew dead the official hierarchy has long gone. In this extract it’s all the more ludicrous an idea. But yeah it does indeed have a deeper context proceeding Rimmers turn to insanity. It will be interesting to see how this 2nd episode script brings up ideas/themes used in later episodes, especially during series 1. “Because this is the Dwarf I love” ahhh sweet.
Ah, of course – the irradiated haggis scene! I was desperately trying to think of a Series 1 example, rather than the Quarantine scene…
> Ah, of course – the irradiated haggis scene! I was desperately trying to think of a Series 1 example, rather than the Quarantine scene? It reminded me a lot of the Irradiated Haggis scene as well.
> Ah, of course – the irradiated haggis scene! I was desperately trying to think of a Series 1 example, rather than the Quarantine scene? It reminded me a lot of the Irradiated Haggis scene as well.
