Radio Blah Blah News Posted by Ian Symes on 27th January 2009, 19:50 Well, this has been quite a day, hasn’t it? I was going to give you a run down of all the press/blog/etc coverage, but then when I spotted that GMail had split my daily Google Alerts e-mails into two threads – which happens when a thread reaches a hundred messages – I realised that this wasn’t the most practical idea. Ah well, most of the interesting things are being picked up in this comment thread, thanks to our loyal band of excellent link-dumpers. Anyway, instead of a big pile of links, we offer you mp3 copies of today’s Dwarf-related radio interviews. Hooray! Craig Charles on BBC Radio 5 Live (mp3, 3.4MB) – Anita Anand discusses the Red Dwarf: Back On Earth with Coronation Street‘s Craig Charles. Craig seems to hold the script in very high regard – he’s got to say that, obviously, but it’s still nice to hear. He describes it as “mind-bending” and says “it feels like we’ve never been away”, which is good. Also, there’s a debate about which is the correct term to use for fans – Smeggies or Dwarfers? Ah, I remember this tedious debate from the pages of BTL circa 1993. I still don’t particularly care. Joanna Sharples on BBC Three Counties (mp3, 3.7MB) – TORDFC’s Online Co-ordinator and Publicist Jo Sharples (aka singingpotato1979 of this parish) discusses the news on local radio with an idiot called Stephen Rhodes. This guy doesn’t like Dwarf and talks a lot of shit about it, but Jo excellently puts him in his place. More local radio interviews should end with the guest insulting the presenter. On a personal note, I’d just like to note how utterly chuffed I am with the buzz and the attention surrounding the show today. I never thought I’d see a day like this for Dwarf ever again, and this is just the beginning…
Even as a Red Dwarf fan, I simply cannot believe the amount of coverage we’ve seen today. Long may it continue.
“Mindbending” plot. I seriously hope that Craig is a good judge and this critique means that this is comparable to “The crew discover that 4 days have gone missing” rather than “The crew play basketball against the Prison Guards”.
Depending of course on the quality of the episodes, all this attention bodes well for the possibility of a new series…
Yes – I mean it’s stupid – it’s been huge news today. Literally huge – you don’t get Most Read on BBC News for nothing*. How the hell the BBC ever thought it not worth bringing back, I don’t know. * When I looked this morning at half eight, the traffic to BBC News was also 40% above normal. And it was top. That’s a lot of readers.
Well maybe if these specials are successful they will start to be interested in the audience it attracts.
I really hope the fuckwits at the BBC who said Red Dwarf’s ship has sailed are kicking themselves now. Top story on BBC NEWS??? Ha fucking ha you fucking retards!!!!! Get in touch with your audience and give them what they want! RED DWARF!
I must say, Jo (nice voice, btw) did a really good job up against that utter knob DJ. Calling her ‘deranged’, if only in a half-jokingly way, for being in the Fan Club, and his general attitude is the kind of thing that makes my blood boil. Obviously it’s not worth stressing about, and she got her point across so well, getting a good dig at him in at the end too, which pissed him off no end! He then says ‘it’s a particular kind of person who watches a programme like that’ He really should get a job commissioning BBC comedy shows. Can’t believe how much Red Dwarf has been plugged today. It’s a shame it’s not on for 3 months when some of the hype may have died down.
>but they?ve got a bloody good start on it! Imagine the hype that can be accumulated in 3 months! That all depends whether it can sustain or not.
They’ve managed to think up ways to keep me attached to Dwarf for 10 years after it finished. Yes, I think they can.
>They?ve managed to think up ways to keep me attached to Dwarf for 10 years after it finished. Yes, I think they can. Sure, they’ve done a great job of keeping the fanbase hooked in. I guess the future of the franchise will stand or fall on those outside of the hardcore though and their interest may wain by the time the airdate rolls around. Either way, I’m just hoping for a quality couple of episodes, and if this is the big send-off, so be it. I think most of us had long since resigned ourselves to a Dwarf-less future, so whatever we get now, we’ll take gladly.
I was seriosuly worried when i heard about the lack of budget, and the lessening of the main cast. It all seemed to make out that it was just goign to be awful. But Robert seems genuinely happy with the script they’ve made, as does Craig, and i’d like to trust them on this. It’s looking promising.
Speaking of a new fanbase, I’m relatively new to anything RD (Thank you, Netflix! Better late than never :-/), so I’m totally excited that there are going to be new episodes, esp. since I just discovered the series. I’m not deranged, obsessed, or fantical. You either get it or you don’t. Apparently Mr. Rhodes doesn’t. Sad for him, he sounds like he needs to sprout a sense of humor.
> I?m not deranged, obsessed, or fantical. >You will be. Well, okay, I already am, but for different reasons. I’ll just add this to the list.
I can imagine this being quite Lister-centric so it’s no wonder Craig is really chuffed about the script. It’s interesting that he said when he saw it he just had to do it, as though he was maybe considering turning down a Dwarf return. I suppose it’s worth praising Coronation Street again for being generous with his time off. Main soap actors hardly ever get chance to appear in anything else while they’re on the show. The ITV soaps in particular because they sign ITV exclusive contracts, I think. Maybe Craig didn’t take that contract when he first joined Corrie because he knew there could be a possible Dwarf escapade in the near future. Whatever, people are gonna be turning over to Dave and saying ‘look, it’s that bloke from Corrie!’
> Whatever, people are gonna be turning over to Dave and saying ?look, it?s that bloke from Corrie!? God, that is weird. But true.
Doug seems to write more for Lister and Kryten. I’m not complaining it is just an observation. I think they need to give Cat a good bucket full of jokes in this special, since Series VI he has become like Holly in series III-V, under used.
>Whatever, people are gonna be turning over to Dave and saying ?look, it?s that bloke from Corrie! As long as they *are* turning over, even if it’s just out of curiosity, it’ll boost the ratings. BTW – Hi there, Blisschick.
> Doug seems to write more for Lister and Kryten That’s mainly because Rimmer was only in part of VII and it was resurrected Rimmer in VIII which probably made it more limiting. With it being back to just the four core cast members I’m sure they’ll all get their fair share of lines.
>Doug seems to write more for Lister and Kryten. Last Human disagrees with you. (the discussed-elsewhere quibbles about the family retcon notwithstanding, there’s some excellent Rimmer character material in that book’s closing act. And if you didn’t cry at the end you’re a fucking robot.)
>Hello, Blisschick. Good nickname. Thanks! Oddly, I wasn’t even aware of the coincidence in name until just now. NO, I’m not a bliss freak, it’s just my name (and as in “happieness is”, not ignorance, as my DH informed me when we met. *rolling eyes*)
> there?s some excellent Rimmer character material in that book?s closing act Including my favourite bit of Rimmer writing ever, where Kochanski clambers up a telegraph pole…and inside Rimmer’s head he’s disgusted by her willingness to do things herself. If only she’d bark orders at him and insist he climb the poll while calling him a maggot. At least then he’d respect her. That’s just brilliant, officious, lunatic logic.
>I suppose it?s worth praising Coronation Street again for being generous with his time off. Definitely. I remember thinking when Craig became a regular on there, ‘Well, that’s the nail in the coffin for RD’. >I think they need to give Cat a good bucket full of jokes in this special I think they need to give Cat a plot, instead of him just chipping in here and there with inconsequential stuff. >It was resurrected Rimmer in VIII which probably made it more limiting. Surely the aim of having resurrected-Rimmer rather than Hologram-Rimmer was the reverse of that. Kind of how the Hologram thing gradually became less and less of a consideration, especially from Legion onwards.
But resurrected Rimmer had none of the character development nor shared history with the rest of the crew that the previous Rimmer had.
> But resurrected Rimmer had none of the character development nor shared history with the rest of the crew that the previous Rimmer had. But skip forward ten years and this ceases to be a problem.
> But skip forward ten years and this ceases to be a problem. IMO it still wouldn’t feel right. This Rimmer didn’t experience the first VII series’. Part of the Red Dwarf premise is that he IS a hologram, even if he is hardlight. It would be like the Cat becoming human, even though he would basically be the same it would still take away from the unique nature of the show. Just realised I put ‘the Cat’ instead of just ‘Cat’. For some reason I used to prefer it when they called him ‘the Cat’ like in earlier series’, even if they didn’t all the time.
Doug wasn’t very nice to Kryten in ‘Last Human’. First an alternative Kryten gets an arm lasered off then Kryten gets spitted on by loads of GELFs and then Kryten gets his leg lasered off by a GELF and then evil Lister attacks him. Doug is so mean to such a nice character, what has Kryten ever done to Doug?
>> Doug is so mean to such a nice character, what has Kryten ever done to Doug? > Slept with his wife. You can’t blaim Kryten for that, I mean Doug did write his groinal attachment that big.
>BTW – Hi there, Blisschick. OHAI! Sorry I missed you before, I promise I wasn’t ignoring you. Love your rabid waffle bunny!
> > Doug is so mean to such a nice character, what has Kryten ever done to Doug? > Slept with his wife. I thought that was Rob?
Blisschick has no idea what she’s gotten herself into… OHAI! Sorry I missed you before, I promise I wasn?t ignoring you. Love your rabid waffle bunny! Is that what he calls it? Oh ho ho ho. But seriously, welcome.
