Happy Dwarfday! News 1988. Margaret Thatcher is Prime Minister. The Last Emperor wins nine Oscars. The Only Way Is Up is Britain’s best-selling single, and on BBC-2, a brand new series starts. A series which features science-fiction, but is funny. A series set in space, but without aliens. A series that has already been turned down three times by the BBC, and then almost scuppered by a technicians strike, but which finally hits the airwaves on 15th February 1988 – the date which comedy goes beyond the final frontier. We will, of course, be marking the anniversary in our own way later today; our twatty pedantry prevents us from publishing it before the actual time of the first transmission. In the meantime, we of course look to TOS to guide the way. Unfortunately, the only actual update is a purely functional piece about some foreign DVD releases. Shame there’s not a lovely article acknowledging the anniversary, but we do get something very intriguing… A new splash screen has been added to the site (well, at least it has if you include the www. in the address – reddwarf.co.uk takes you straight to the normal front page) featuring a special 20th anniversary logo, the legend “Something’s Coming…” and a countdown. Crikey! We’ve no idea what this is counting down to, but it’s got to be something big in order for them to kick up this fuss – announcements of DVD releases and the like arrive with very little fanfare. Suffice to say, we’ll be hitting refresh constantly at 4:00pm on Monday, 25th February. (By the way, we’ve been trying to hunt for some significance to that date, but the only thing we can come up with is the 9th anniversary of Back In The Red (Part Two) first being broadcast. Hmm.)
Probably nothing significant to the date except that that’s when whatever relevant contract kicks in/NDA clauses expire/something like that. And http://reddwarf.co.uk/ now gives the 10d|1h|30m|etc countdown too.
Probably nothing significant to the date except that that?s when whatever relevant contract kicks in/NDA clauses expire/something like that. Yeah, I’m assuming it’s something they wanted to do for today, but couldn’t for whatever reason. The significance thing was just me showing off that I know transmission dates off the top of my head. And http://reddwarf.co.uk/ now gives the 10d|1h|30m|etc countdown too. Sorry, I was looking at the wrong panel.
Do I get a prize for recognising the use of Patrick Stewart’s introduction to Red Dwarf Night? One thing on that splash screen – its introduction stops you from accessing pages directly. I was trying to find the rest of the intro via Google, and clicked on a link for http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_7/aftermath.html – and I got the splash screen, which directs you to the main page. Using TOS search engine gives the same issue.
Look at the packaging art for the Benelux series II. On the spine the W in Dwarf looks like two crossed, over-lapping Vs, but on the cover itself the W in Dwarf is just a “normal” W. Is this some quirk of the Dutch? And why would the spine be lettered differently than the front?
One thing on that splash screen – its introduction stops you from accessing pages directly. I was trying to find the rest of the intro via Google, and clicked on a link for http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/deck05/series_7/aftermath.html – and I got the splash screen, which directs you to the main page. Using TOS search engine gives the same issue. That issue has now been fixed, so direct links and search results go to the ‘real’ pages and not the splash screen.
> Has that cake been made and if so can I have a slice?..I?m a little hungry. :P Yeah, I posted it in the “Anniversary” thread in the forum.
>Is this going to be a TOS relaunch or something? That’s what I’m thinking. It would be a little disappointing if that’s it though.
Because while the current design is a little dated, it’s perfectly functional for a site that is updated once a week.
Anniversary though? A website re-launch could have been done on the day, I presume. Something is coming? Does it smell good?
I find it all very intriguing and really hope it?s something big.. It strikes me as a tad odd that there was a 10 day countdown thereby missing the 15th and cant help wondering if the previous weeks late update had anything to do with it! Whilst a site re-launch would be nice perhaps, it kind of goes against what Andrew has said recently about the need for. 4.00pm on a Monday also seems an odd time and nobody can find any significance with the 25th. I guess it could be a number of things and clearly GNP believe it to be worthy of a fanfare and considering past records that?s good enough for me. It is perhaps unlikely to be news regarding a movie or even stage show given how hard it is these days to keep things quiet and there would have to be a lot of people involved. One thing maybe that?s long overdue is a ?book? of some kind (isn?t Doug contracted for one more?), there?s also plenty of scope for an encyclopaedic ultimate Dwarf book but that?s just me hoping. I suppose something web related is the most obvious and some kind of ?chase the geek? game with a 20th anniversary slant crossed my mind. On the other hand it could be some kind of memento release which in true Dwarf style was slightly delayed! Either way, I?m quite looking forward to finding out unless it?s a quiz of course J
> ?chase the geek? Infinitely more productive than chasing the dragon. I’m predicting that when the countdown ends my DVD tray will open and a milkshake will be spat out.
I think a prize is in order for whoever guesses right. I’m saying a TOS refit with special features for the 20th anniversary.
I’d go with that apart from Fridays being the traditional update-announcement day although maybe, Monday may just be to throw us of the scent… If it’s not some kind of interactive enhancement to the site, I’m going book related….
Maybe it’ll be a mega box set with all eight series (which we’ve all already got) with a bonus disc. But that’s just me being bitter and twisted in my old age. 2entertain and GNP would never do that…
I should imagine it’s something big. The countdown seems to suggest that. The smallest thing it could possibly be is a site overhall. But even that would be massively disappointing. In fact, anything short of a Series 9 announcement will make me piss blood. Not really of course. Though it would be nice to have something.
Might be a new Dwarf novel, that would be nice. As would an audio adventure. How about a graphic novel of the collected Smegazine comics? Anything more than that and I will go Squeee.
Maybe it’s the announce a computer game for Xbox and PS3 where you play Lister driving the Blue Midget whilst pissed through a busy GELF city, and have to do as much damage as possible?
…or it could be a DS game like Cooking mama, except for Red Dwarf i guess it’ll be making curries and kebabs with tools from a medical unit!.
What about a Red Dwarf RPG? That way you can both have those as minigames (which you’d have to win to get each character’s Ultimate Weapon of Ultimate Kickass Uber-Ultimateness). Just think of the fun you could have, blowing away the same creatures over and over and over again to eventually level Rimmer to a Level 99 “almost competent human being”.
sounds cool, i’d be up for that!, have been thinking of red dwarf top trumps, guess lister would beat everone on age!…lol…..well maybe except holly!.
>What about a Red Dwarf RPG? Er… http://www.deep7.com/product.php?cat=reddwarf Or was this this “irony” thing I’ve been hearing about. Oh, a COMPUTER RPG. Gotcha.
>A series which features science-fiction, but is funny. Stewart’s delivery of this is awesome. His performance on RD Night was probably unintentionally funnier than his role in Extras.
Surely they could do some R.D based sims game???…not sure how but sounds kinda cool?…or maybe i have radiation sickness??…
got, you know in Sims castaway how you wake up washed up on shore..etc.. Well in Red Dwarf Sims you wake up out of stasis and have to get your bearings on board, find dispensing machines,sleeping quarters and go looking for the Cat,Rimmer or Kryten to improve your interaction score,could be a section for A.R machine……? could work??..
A RD themed “Gauntlet” variant would be fun. “Some stupid smeghead shot the curry.”, “Rimmer is about to die. Again.”
Well they did create that horrible sideways scrolling shooting game for mobile phones a while ago. Or theres an asteroids game (http://www.bluedwarf.co.uk/games/red-dwarf-squid-hunter)
A huge clue today despite the adamant “no clues”..Unless I’ve missed something of course which wouldn’t be the first time or indeed the last…
At the bottom of one of TOS’s Friday updates: Keep watching the all-new reddwarf.co.uk for more updates. Hmm.
>Dissapointed? Why? What else would you like for free? Fries. Lots and lots of fries. The guy who sits next to me in the prison cafeteria keeps on stealing them and saying that it’s really the person on the other side of me.
