Right on, baby News Posted by John Hoare on 29th June 2007, 20:46 Andrew. Webboard. “Now, I can’t say much more than this for now, but there’s significant talk at GNP Towers regarding plans for the 20th Anniversary of the show. You all, I’m sure, recall the 10th Anniversary. A whole night of Dwarf TV. And I’m not saying such a thing would happen this time (or, for that matter, that it wouldn’t). But I would be interested in people’s feelings on the upcoming anniversary and the ways in which it might be handled.” We have our own ideas, which we’ll expound upon in the next few days, but what thoughts have you got? Start writing… now:
Well, as I’ve voiced many times, I want BBC2 to spend the entirety of the anniversary year, all 52 weeks, showing every episode. One a week. Friday nights, preferably.
Obviously episode repeats on BBC2 over the year if possible. Perhaps a sort of ‘mini’ Red Dwarf night entitled something like ‘Red Dwarf – 20 Years Of Smeg’ (please don’t think I made any serious effort thinking of that title), maybe Norman/Hattie doing some new links, could reshow the Dwarf Comedy Connections, or possibly a new half-hour doco. Then, of course, we would have the new hourlong special episode called ‘The Beginning’ (which ends with the title ‘The End’, signifying the very end of Red Dwarf *wah*). All that’s just fluff though. What we really want is some form of BOOK to mark 20 years of Dwarf (perhaps ‘Smeg – The Red Dwarf Story’ would be an appropriate title…). Maybe if…say…the movie was definitely over with (and if it isn’t then great) the script could be published, or the idea Mr Ellard suggested of a *begins to wet pants* full cast audio dramatisation of the screenplay or… *definitely needs to clean self up* an ANIMATION!!! Regardless of all that, my dream would be anything new involving the cast, whether it was just links or whatever. But would the BBC care?
Yes, I mentioned the ‘book’ on the webboard… I’ve always felt that encyclopedia type books based on shows are left too late.. As with the ‘Python Autobiography’ and ‘Reggie Perrin’ book, released years after the event, some of the info is questionable and the compilation relies on hazy memories and often conflicting views of events.. Ok, this is going to happen to a degree anyway I guess, but Dwarf is almost unique in some respects at this point in time.. Hot off the back of the DVD’s, every avenue of Red Dwarf history has been explored and the information is there thanks to the efforts of Andrew and the team and Dwarf is very much ongoing.. I suppose with the possibility of more Dwarf to come, a definative account of Red Dwarf may seem a tad premature but what better time than the 20th anniversary? As with the guide books, we know a second updated edition could be done a couple of years down the line to include the movie and a section on Andrew Ellards knighthood for services to geeks etc ;-)
Excellent idea I agree with Seb, a year of dwarf. I want the whole series shown over 49 weeks with extended remasterd Tikka to ride, extended Duct Soup, and the Feature Lenght versions of Back in the Red and Pete all replacing the original episodes. Each presented with a new comedy moviedrome style intro from cast, characters and crew. And a new episode special in week 50. Failing that a red dwarf clip show.
No clip shows. I like the Simpsons, but I’d prefer that their seasons were 23 rather than 24 with a clip show. I don’t want one for Dwarf.
No clip show. No re-run of some of the appalling dreck that was Red Dwarf Night. A documentary wouldn’t work as the extensive DVDs have already covered everything (or will do soon…) OBVIOUSLY… A one-off episode to wrap up the cliffhanger of series eight. Just a three quarter of an hour eppy. No audience. No canned laughter. Obviously no jokes – this IS Doug Naylor we’re talking about. Just the resolution of the story. I’d probably buy series seven and eight if it the whole thing had a satisfactory conclusion.
No clip show. No re-run of some of the appalling dreck that was Red Dwarf Night. Appalling dreck? The only misfire I can think of is the A-Z. The rest was great. Although I agree that a re-run would be rather boring. A documentary wouldn?t work as the extensive DVDs have already covered everything (or will do soon?) Not sure I agree with this. The DVDs doccos are *marvellous* – but they’re also done on a DVD extras budget. A Dwarf documentary for broadcast would have a far higher budget, and be able to so things that were impossible on the DVDs. OBVIOUSLY? A one-off episode to wrap up the cliffhanger of series eight. Just a three quarter of an hour eppy. No audience. No canned laughter. Obviously no jokes – this IS Doug Naylor we?re talking about. Just the resolution of the story. I?d probably buy series seven and eight if it the whole thing had a satisfactory conclusion. I can’t tell if you’re joking or not here! If you are, then please forgive me. If not, though… I don’t watch Red Dwarf for the plots. I watch it for the jokes.
>I can?t tell if you?re joking or not here! I had the same problem. I decided he must be at least partly joking. The question now becomes, which part?
>Appalling dreck? The only misfire I can think of is the A-Z. The rest was great. One for the poll, methinks. Didn’t mind Universe Challenge, thought Can’t Smeg, Wont Smeg was embarrassing. The A-Z, despite being 90% cruddy clipshow, did at least have a few soundbites from people not usually interviewed (this does not included Eternal).
One for the poll, methinks. *Excellent* idea! Didn?t mind Universe Challenge, thought Can?t Smeg, Wont Smeg was embarrassing. I’ve really grown fond of it in recent years. It has some dodgy bits – Danny seems to have forgotten how to play Cat (although he’s great at Duane), and the Kochanski material is terrible – but overall, I actually enjoy it more than any episode in VII or VIII – including Tikka and Cassandra. The Harvesters joke cracks me up every time. The A-Z, despite being 90% cruddy clipshow, did at least have a few soundbites from people not usually interviewed (this does not included Eternal). It’s almost worth it just to see Noel and Mr. Blobby talk about Red Dwarf. But yeah, the amount of clips just ruins it for me. What was needed was a proper half-hour documentary.
I can?t tell if you?re joking or not here! If you are, then please forgive me. If not, though? I don?t watch Red Dwarf for the plots. I watch it for the jokes. Series seven and eight have no jokes. They have no plot, either. He strived for both and achieved none, so I think it’s one or the other, and Naylor can’t write for comedy without his partner. Last Human worked better as a piece of dramatic sci-fi than as a comedy. If Naylor’s going to conclude the story, he should just concentrate on telling a story with a few jokes. I believe that’s where his strengths lie. Otherwise, it’ll end up contrived, childish and unsatisfactory. And I want RD to end on a high and not with people wearing funny wigs and pulling silly faces.
Its really time for some new Dwarf. I would rather Doug give up on the movie, and get Dwarf back on TV. Its been WAY too long. Btw it NEEDS an audience, not canned laughter but a REAL audience. Please please please have a 20th Anniversary special episode, or series, or Feature-length Episode (perhaps movie length???). With all the sci-fi on tv these days, I simply cannot believe how hard it is for Dwarf to come back. Its madness! Saw the Red Dwarf corgi ‘pencil’ in ‘The Entertainer’ yesterday, which is a toy store.
Is a ‘final’ special beyond the realms of possibility? The viewer potential is enormous, the BBC have a remit for new stuff and Rob is lurking once more in the framework..However unlikely, I would love to see it and Doug has to make that movie desision some time. A re-run of Red Dwarf night would be something of a cop out and a total 52 week run of episodes may not have the interest now given the DVDs and UK Gold etc… On the other hand with a possible audiance of millions, whilst the DVDs sell around the 2k mark (I think), much of the doco stuff could be used on the night and still be fresh for the masses. The Beeb could see this as way to shift some more… Who knows, I’m sure there are many tricks up many sleeves and I just hope it’s special. One thing we shouldn’t forget though is that one mans meat is another mans poison and GNP have a habit of trying (and suceeding) to produce something for everyone…
Well, they’ve done This Life, Goodies and Allo Allo specials of one sort or another in the past year and a bit (probably more, but I forget them). This is before we consider the cannibalisation of Only Fools and Horses. Really, if GNP can get the cast together to do it, there would need to be something We Don’t Know About for them NOT to do it if offered, surely on recent form, since Red Dwarf was a long-running, successful show for BBC2 [which, as far as I can see, got a couple of million over the aforementioned This Life at the latter’s peak…]
on the red dwarf night poll, can we have a ‘i didn’t watch it’ option? Maybe with ‘cunt’ in it somewhere?
Well, they?ve done This Life, Goodies and Allo Allo specials of one sort or another in the past year and a bit (probably more, but I forget them). This is before we consider the cannibalisation of Only Fools and Horses. The Goodies and ‘Allo ‘Allo specials were something I meant to mention mysel, yeah. Both had problems – but done well, and with a few problems with the format fixed, they would be a beautiful celebration of Red Dwarf. I’d love to see something like that. on the red dwarf night poll, can we have a ?i didn?t watch it? option? Maybe with ?cunt? in it somewhere? I can’t edit polls after they’ve been posted sadly – the software resets the votes. I’ll bear it in mind for next time, though.
I think the thing that I would want them to avoid is a situation of having each character being cheered as they came on set as happened with Allo Allo. The worst possible finale for Dwarf would be just to wheel out Ace, Dwayne etc. get them to do their catchphrases and then have them leave the set again. I actually much preferred the way that The Royle Family returned (even though I thought that episode was far from perfect) as it didn’t feel like a greatest hits show at all.
Im not sure a Red Dwarf reunion alike Allo Allo is a good idea atall. Just a one hour episode, or the sodding film at a tv film. Tbh, GNP have given us all far more than we deserve. The DVD’s are truly outstanding! And btw, so is the website. How many defunct shows have regularly updated official sites??? So having a re-run or a slapped together clips show or just SOMETHING is better than nothing.
I wasn’t thinking of using the FORMAT of Return of Allo Allo – there, they couldn’t do a proper episode for three reasons: 1) Some of the cast (e.g., the woman who played Ren?’s wife) are dead 2) Some of the cast (e.g., the guy who played Herr Flick) are unwilling to reprise their roles 3) The war was ended by the last episode, and they time-jumped forward to end the thing Absolutely. In terms of format – absolutely, I’d rather see something in the vein of This Life+10 or the Royle Family special – i.e., a straight 45-minute or 1-hour special. Just pointing out that they’re willing to pull “old stuff” out for a reprise.
I think the decision to go where they did with the ‘Allo ‘Allo special was definitely because of the issues you mention – but I also think it’s a valid format in itself. I didn’t mind the cheering really – however, I’ve got a feeling it would get *really* annoying with Dwarf. Don’t ask me why. I suppose it suits ‘Allo ‘Allo more because its far more theatrical than Dwarf. Would I rather have a final Dwarf episode, special, or series of specials? Probably – but weirdly enough, I’ve got an odd feeling I might enjoy something like the Return format more. After all, as I’ve been saying recently, I prefer Can’t Smeg Won’t Smeg to anything VII/VIII has to offer. But there IS a huge capacity for the Return format to be really annoying. Done brilliantly, it would be a glorious celebration of both Dwarf and fandom. Done badly – I’d be shouting at the telly within two minutes. But, then, the same could be said for a proper final episode, I guess.
I found the ‘Allo Allo’ special a bit sad, perhaps it was the missing cast members, I dunno, a valiant effort none the less… If there’s talk happening at GNP towers, clearly someones thinking about it, if someones thinking about it ideas are being mooted.. I’d love to be a fly on the wall.. Just how far are they going to push the boat out, are the Beeb involved at this stage and is Rob going to be involved.. So many questions…
The ‘Allo ‘Allo special had some wonderful stuff in it – and some awful bits. I thought the script for the character stuff was generally excellent, bar the odd dodgy bit – and I really loved the atmosphere the studio audience gave it, and the *recognition* of the audience being there. It was pure theatre – and I think TV should be taking its influences from the theatre far more than it’s doing these days. (We need more people like David Croft, who grew up working in theatre.) On the minus side, Gorden Kaye clearly couldn’t remember any of the script – his reading it off various bits of paper secreted around set was REALLY distracting. But that’s not his fault – and to be fair, the actual delivery of the lines was spot on. The documentary side of the show, however, was far too shallow – some interesting nuggets, and I’m a sucker for clips edited together to pop music – but it should have been so much more informative, considering the running time. Perfect setup for the show though – having everyone visit Rene. A similar setup wouldn’t work for Dwarf, though – so I wonder what situation you’d use? You also couldn’t break the fourth wall so completely in Dwarf, either. I’ve got a feeling a really great show could be done – but it would be very, very tricky getting the tone right.
There are a couple of things that I’ve seen recently that made me worry about the possibility of Red Dwarf doping that type of show. The first was watching one of the interviews that Chris Barrie did at a dimension Jump on youtube. Now every 5 seconds somebody would cheer in the most obnoxious way imaginable. I know that that sort of fan is in the minority but it would still make it painful viewing. Also I think that they’d have to be wary of the problem that Tough Gig faced on ITV recently. For example, seeing Dara O’Briain perform his comedy to a bunch of role-players sounds fine until you realise that nobody except the role-players is going to find the jokes remotely funny. Clearly a lot of the people who would watch a 20th anniversary special would be pretty big fans but it would have to be ‘uncliquey’ enough not to scare off partial fans and new fans as well ideally.
Ive just re-read my comment. Whoops! I’d just like to point out that I thought the ‘Allo’Allo reunion was highly entertaining… I genuinley loved it. A very nifty idea. All I meant was It wont work with Dwarf. As someone said, ‘Allo’Allo is very theatrical so it suits. If you have ever attended a studio recording, you will know that cheers are easily overcome. At the ‘My Family’ recording, all the actors were introduced before the show began so that everyone could applaud and get it out of the way (Also check out ‘The Story of Dibley’). You will find that only when something or someone is REVEALED during the recording, then the mess beings. Example: The Ace Rimmer clip in the doc shows everyone cheering, and then they re-shot it. Obviously he was hidden and then revealed as it was shot. Just keep Dwane and Ace out of the next ‘Dwarf’ episode, and we are sorted. OR Ed Bye could just shout at everyone “DONT FUCKING CHEER!!!” OOO Perhaps G&T could attend and do that! Btw for anyone wondering…the ‘My Family’ recording was great, but some actors did’nt wanna play :S
> The first was watching one of the interviews that Chris Barrie did at a dimension Jump on youtube. Now every 5 seconds somebody would cheer in the most obnoxious way imaginable It WAS painful. And we know who it was.
There are undoubtedly parts of Dwarf fandom that I find really, really irritating – and it tends to be the parts that gives us a bad name, as well. But I don’t talk about it much, because everyone should be allowed to enjoy the show in their own way – and it’s something that’s hardly exclusive to Dwarf fandom, either. It doesn’t stop me clenching my teeth at times, though…
