In possible the most exciting move in the history of everything ever, Dave have revealed the episode synopses for Back To Earth. Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough, they’ve just thrown in a shot of A COMPLETELY NEW BUNKROOM for good measure.

If you’re sensitive to spoilers, don’t click on this link, and don’t read this article or the comments. My personal policy is that things that are put out there by the production team and/or the channel don’t count as spoilers, as they’re things that we’re supposed to know at this stage. Nevertheless, it’s pretty mind-blowing stuff…

I’d settle down with a cup of tea if I were you – this is one of the longest news stories G&T have ever done…

Let’s look at this episode by episode.

Back To Earth – Part One
Nine years later the Red Dwarf crew are older but still none the wiser. Lister’s busy day of annoying Rimmer is interrupted by the discovery of a dimension-hopping leviathan in the ship’s mile-deep water tank.

Excellent. For starters, confirmation that the action will start several years after Only The Good. Also, a leviathan, eh? Some kind of squid? Now, from this point on, things get a little bit confusing…

Back To Earth – Part Two
Rimmer’s replacement, Katerina (Sophie Winkleman), is determined to guide Lister back to his home planet. But Earth in 2009 is not everything the boys had expected, and Rimmer has no intention of being replaced.

Right, Earth in 2009. Hence the visit to a contemporary comic shop and all the rest of it. Presumably the dimension-hopping elements of the aforementioned leviathan are in play here. Interesting that Katerina isn’t mentioned until Part Two – is this when she turns up for the first time?

All sounds fairly straight-forward so far. Let’s just read on a little bit…

Back To Earth – Part Three
Knowing they are destined to die, the Dwarfers – in best Blade Runner traditions – track down those responsible for their creation to plead for more life.

WHAT THE MERRY FUCK?

OK. Breathe. So, it looks like confirmation of the metafictional elements that we’ve been anticipating since the Coronation Street pictures emerged. Hence all the Dwarf stuff in the comic shop – they get back to Earth and find out that they’re all fictional characters. Bloody hell. Blade Runner? Sounds more like The League Of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse to me.

So much to take in here. What does this mean for the long-term future of the show? If this is going the way we think it is, then it’s going to completely change the scenario forever. But then, people said that exact same sentence in 1992, when details of Back To Reality emerged. So is this some sort of despair squid/unreality bubble/all a dream thing? If so, with the Dwarfers-as-fictional-characters thing, it’s a bit too close to the bone. But then again, all the way through this production, we’ve been constantly told that we don’t know what the fuck is going on and how it’s all going to play out. I guess that’s still the case.

Also – track down those responsible for their creation? Who’s going to play Rob and Doug, then? I’ll put a fiver on Colin Baker and Seb Patrick respectively.

Well, that’s all the excitement for one day. Oh no, I forgot – IT’S A NEW FUCKING BUNK ROOM. My first reaction was utter shock, but after about three seconds of adjusting to it… well, it’s bloody beautiful, isn’t it? A mixture of the architecture of Series III onwards, and the details from the Series I and II era Drive Room. Plus, there appears to be a TARDIS console in the middle of the room, which is always good. This really is brilliant – a tribute to Mel Bibby’s style, without just being an impersonation.

That’s the general view out the way – let’s all open up the big version and dissect it to fuck, shall we? Firstly, the malfunction message on the far left. Is that where Holly should be, do we reckon? Lister’s bunk – alongside the classic London Jets poster, pics of Jim Bexley Speed and Lister’s gran, plus a Mugs Murphy postcard (a beautiful touch), there are a fair few pictures of Kochanski Mk II. She is so dead. On top of that, there’s a picture of a woman in a white dress riding a horse. Impeccable attention to detail.

Rimmer is reading a …For Dummies book. We can’t see what it is, but it’s got to be Astro-Navigation, hasn’t it? Again, a brilliant touch. On his bunk, you can just about see a revision timetable too. Oh bloody hell, I’ve only just noticed the costumes! Kryten seems to have just returned from a trip to Hawaii. As you do. Lister’s in his now familiar posh get-up, and Cat’s all bedraggled and pissed off, which we’ve seen glimpses of before. Presumably, this still is from the first episode, given that there’s no sign of Katerina – has Cat just been having a fight with the big leviathan?

And, providing the gentle early-hours-of-Sunday-morning comedown from the all-night-rave that was the synopses and the picture, there are details of what’s going to be shown over the weekend. As well as an airing for the broadcast version of Smeg Ups, we’ve also got repeats of Gunmen, Quarantine, Tikka, Polymorph, Emohawk, Back To Reality and Marooned. All fine choices – even if you’re not a Series VII fan, you’ve got to admit that Tikka is a fine example of the time-travel-twistiness that only Dwarf can do, and your casual viewer isn’t going to be too bothered by the plot inconsistencies that drag the episode down for the hardcore.

And finally, the Making Of will now be shown on the Sunday, directly after Part Three, and all four new half-hours will be repeated on Monday night. Excellent. I can’t even begin to comprehend how utterly excellent this weekend is going to be.

UPDATE : So apparently, Dave weren’t supposed to have posted the plot synopses. Whoops. Good job they took them down before any fansites reproduced them in full, eh?

141 comments on “Synoptic Enhancer

Scroll to bottom

  • Sounds metaphysical. Or maybe like Star Trek IV.

    And if Dave are happy to air a show where the cast plead for more life… maybe they’re thinking about granting that wish :)

  • Oh, and I don’t know this site’s policy’s on spoilers, but that episode 3 synopsis reads like a spoiler to me. Maybe a warning or something? Or maybe not.

  • Also, ask John and Tanya – I totally called this. First episode being “classic” Dwarf setup/plot, with the second/third episodes doing the “Back to Earth” stuff. I WIN.

  • The synopses, to me at least, make the shows seem pretty bad. I`m not saying they will be however, but just that these very short descriptions of them probably won`t do them justice.

  • Ive been screaming at the monitor for ten minutes!

    That picture is FUCKING GORGEOUS! We’ve got a fantastic look going on here. AND A BUNK!

    The plots are all promising, and theres plenty of dwarf to be watching that weekend by the looks of things.

    Id be quite happy now If there were no-more revelations in text or in pictures. Im literally counting the hours now. What a brilliant birthday present!

  • Love the pictures of Kochanski, Lister’s nan and Lister with Jim Bexley Speed in Lister’s bunk. This is looking and sounding better and better every week.

  • Some thoughts on the image :

    – “Astronavigation for Dummies”, right?
    – That is so clearly a TARDIS console reference
    – The font on the “Malfunction” sign IS SO RED DWARF

    And I can’t take credit for spotting them, but check out the pictures on Lister’s bunk…

  • >i hope they dont do a sort of.. oh know we are gonna die unless we can get the creators to make more red dwarf and carry on our adventures idea

    i have to agree there .. if part 3 turned out they had to have a meeting with doug and dave executives to decide weather they make a new series .. would be pretty naff .. im looking forward to it all and i dont mind what the story is … as long as they dont realise that they are in a tv show

  • > i hope they dont do a sort of.. oh know we are gonna die unless we can get the creators to make more red dwarf and carry on our adventures idea

    To me, the plot synopses make it all sound a lot more serious and ominous than something like that. But I can see why you’d think that might happen and, for the record, I’d hate to see it too.

  • i hope they dont do a sort of.. oh no we are gonna die unless we can get the creators to make more red dwarf and carry on our adventures idea

    :(

  • >Some thoughts on the image :

    >- ?Astronavigation for Dummies?, right?

    Yup, I seed it with my own eyes :oD

    It looks great, it’s so full of detail and now it’s gone public I can say I got to look around it shortly before it was taken apart. Thus I win! YAY!

  • Best part for me, Kryten wearing that shirt. This is just, just, just, well it is just.
    One thing that I am wondering is how do the simulants fit into all this, are they the people on the underwater ship, are they the people who are going to kill the gang, are they both.

  • it’s Mugs Murphy!!!! it’s great they have brought him back since his last appearance waaay back in series 2. love the new set, I wonder what quartes this will be, we’ve had crew/officers quarters before, could this be the science officers quarters, some where which didn’t get flooded.

  • The brown book in the middle of the console, isn’t that the one Lister is reading in that picture revealed a couple of weeks back?

  • LOVE the new bunkroom. It’s like they’ve crossed over the Series One bunks with the Series Six Starbug Mid-Section. Beautiful.

    Synopses aren’t exactly filling me with confidence, though. Does sound a bit LoG’s Apocalypse.

    >So is this some sort of despair squid/unreality bubble/all a dream thing?

    God, I hope so.

    But hey, doesn’t that picture just feel… Dwarf?

    :-))))))

  • My only nitpick, and it’s quite the pathetic one, is most of the images on the bunk are infact press images, and not ones that look like they’ve been taken by the people themselves.

    But other then that highly unimportant factor it’s looking gobsmackingly beautiful! :P But the question does beg, which grey are we looking at? Military or Ocean? I’m going for a new 3rd shade perhaps, to add to the legacy.

  • Is this simply the greatest photograph in Red Dwarf’s history?

    Please, please, please can we get all the production team to DJ so we can form an orderly queue to lavish them with praise.

    There’s one thing I don’t like about that Bunkroom. It’s that it’s not the Officers Quarters set from Series III onwards. However it was never going to be so it’s pointless complaining.

    Me and Ian were talking a while ago that everything had a ‘Greatest Hits’ feel to it. This still reeks of that. The bunkroom looks like Officers Quarters merged with the original Bunkroom. It’s grey! Yet it’s white. Pictures of Krissy right next to a London Jets poster. The ‘Malfunction’ sign – As pure Series II Dwarf as it’s possible to be. Rimmer with his hard-light tunic. This is how you do backwards referencing.

    I kinda wish we hadn’t had the episode synopses, merely as they seem a little spoiler heavy, but then that sort of stuff has to leak out sometime.

    God I hope the plot and gag quota can live up to how beautiful this looks.

  • Just realised, the new DVD, the cover, will this bunk be the cover because I certainly hope so.

  • > It looks great, it?s so full of detail and now it?s gone public I can say I got to look around it shortly before it was taken apart. Thus I win! YAY!

    Did you a) sneak more pics and b) steal a bit of it? If yes to both THEN you win ;-)

    Additional: I’m finding Cat really funny in that pic. The bedraggled appearance combined with the look on his face.

  • >Also – track down those responsible for their creation? Who?s going to play Rob and Doug, then? I?ll put a fiver on Colin Baker and Seb Patrick respectively.

    If Colin Baker was in Red Dwarf it would just be the greatest thing ever, my two favourite worlds coming together but alas no, it is immpossible, Colin was doing BFA: The Lost Stories while they were filming Red Dwarf, why am I explaining this.

  • >Additional: I?m finding Cat really funny in that pic. The bedraggled appearance combined with the look on his face.

    I love how in EVERY PICTURE SO FAR, Chris has been pulling a Rimmer-ish face.

  • If Colin Baker was in Red Dwarf it would just be the greatest thing ever, my two favourite worlds coming together but alas no, it is immpossible

    Yeah, he’d never work with Craig and Danny.

  • Oh my god. I can die happy. (ideally after I?ve seen these episodes, obviously)

    That can be arranged.

  • >Is this simply the greatest photograph in Red Dwarf?s history?

    No, that’s still this :

  • Not sure if anyones mentioned this but is it looks to me like Rimmer isnt wearing his H. Could be the angle but possibly not. Could explain a few things

  • > Not sure if anyones mentioned this but is it looks to me like Rimmer isnt wearing his H. Could be the angle but possibly not. Could explain a few things

    I think he might be right n’all. Bloody hell.

  • But then…we’ve already been told the aging because of lack of holo-services thing. So maybe not.

  • Sounds great! Think the reason we can’t see a “H” is down to the angle Rimmer is sitting at.

    By way (am not here to plug another site), on another forum I use, they have a member who posts on behalf of Dave the channel and he posted the news on the site. He finished by saying “I’ll be back next week with more enormo news… next week will be BIG!”

    Wonder what is bigger than this news!

    hello by the way :D

  • I’m really not keen on the stuff concerning ‘begging their creators for more life.’ I didn’t mind that happening in The League of Gentlemen Apocalypse, but not in Red Dwarf.

    It might not be quite what it appears though. They mentioned a ‘dimension hopping leviathan’ in the water tank. (That’s where they get their water supply by the way. Just thought I’d say that as there was mention of ‘underwater ships’ above.[/snigger mode] )

    I think it might be the Back To Reality illusion scenario too. Since Katerina plays a role in getting them back to Earth, could she actually be the creature in disguise?

    In a sense I’d rather they do the illusion scenario than REALLY break the fourth wall. That way you could have fun with the whole meta-fiction stuff but still keep their universe self-contained. Only trouble is, the false reality stuff has been done before.

    I’m also not keen on back to Earth being in our time-frame, as, again, that’s sort of been done before. I was hoping for Earth 3 million years in the future, or at least the Dwarfer’s (22nd/23rd century) time period. That might have been beyond the budget though.

    Still, we’ll see.

    That really is a lovely photo of the bunk room though.

  • Despite the worries expressed in the post above, I’m still very much looking forward to this. The sheer enthusiasm expressed by Andrew and Robert Llewellyn gives me hope.

  • I’m so glad this is a PROPER Dwarf story. It sounds like Doug has really gone to town here. I think this is the kind of thing we all wanted, isn’t it? To me it harks back to Back To Reality, Gunmen and Tikka. Who woulda thought?

    I can’t see the metafiction stuff being for real. Maybe if you take the Corrie scenes and comic shop into consideration, it really does seem that Red Dwarf is going to be ‘revealed’ to be a TV show. Maybe they go to the Corrie set to prove that Lister is in fact played by an actor who’s now moved on to another programme. OR it’s twisted further and they are actually in the Corrie universe. But this is the REAL future for Dwarf, ‘it was all a show’. The League film works because it’s within a bubble, like the Dwarf movie would have been.

    God I’m so excited about this weekend. Is anyone going to hold off and watch all three at once on the Monday? Didn’t think so…

  • I have said this once and I will say it again, if the budget is “teeny” how can the set and costumes look so good.

  • > if the budget is ?teeny? how can the set and costumes look so good.

    Talent.

    Seriously, this is the very definition of a tiny ‘sitcom’ budget. The statement you make can be applied to most series of Red Dwarf – it always looked ten times what it cost – but it’s astoundingly the case here. Also, as Doug told SFX, a lot of very brilliant people on the crew agreed to work at far less than their worth for the chance to do Dwarf.

  • Seriously, this is the very definition of a tiny ?sitcom? budget. The statement you make can be applied to most series of Red Dwarf – it always looked ten times what it cost – but it?s astoundingly the case here. Also, as Doug told SFX, a lot of very brilliant people on the crew agreed to work at far less than their worth for the chance to do Dwarf.

    Quoted for making me grin from ear to ear.

  • I haven’t read the synopsis or comments so as not to have any spoilers (beyond what I’ve already heard about the setting and new character, which was more than I meant to know, really), but I must say, while the new set looks awfully flash, I have to wonder why there would be a massive control panel in the sleeping quarters – it looks a bit like the old TARDIS in there!

    (Having just skimmed the comments to see if anyone else concured, it’s apparent I’m not alone in that observation; didn’t think I would be, as it’s a pretty striking resemblance…)

  • >> It looks great, it?s so full of detail and now it?s gone public I can say I got >>to look around it shortly before it was taken apart. Thus I win! YAY!

    >Did you a) sneak more pics and b) steal a bit of it? If yes to both THEN you win >;-)

    a) No, I’d have been kicked off the set
    b) No, I’d have been kicked off the set.
    c) I got to be an extra

    :oP THUS I WIN!

  • but I must say, while the new set looks awfully flash, I have to wonder why there would be a massive control panel in the sleeping quarters

    I wondered that too. I can see it as something that was built in the 9 year period. Doesn’t make a whole lot sense when you consider there are dedicated control rooms, but considering the size of the ship, and erm… laziness, maybe that’s why. (Mind you it takes effort to build the thing too, but, maybe they left Kryten and Skutters to do the work. Or Lister got bored…)

  • Beautiful set. The only thing that looks a teeny bit cheap is the buttons on the desk. I hope they at least light up or something, from that picture they do just look like a sticker or something.

    Otherwise, bloody brilliant :)

  • > Will Andrew be making a guest appearance as himself I wonder?

    I did get to spend on evening as an extra, as a matter of fact. And if you freeze-frame, I’ve so far made the rough cut…

  • This already looks to have more of a classic RD vibe than any of VII or VIII.

    Also glad to hear that they apparently won’t reach Earth until episode 2. Sounds like there’ll be plenty of time for shenanigans.

  • The bunk room is quite luvverly.

    I’ve not read any of the article. I’m not going completely spoiler-free, but I really don’t want to know the plot at this point.

  • interesting reading the sfx article where doug says the reason for the earth setting was to do with not having the original red dwarf model.. surely they will be using the series 8 dwarf cgi thats been polished ?? the original dwarf footage would look to old for these new episodes .. or maybe a completely new style red dwarf is on the cards

  • interesting reading the sfx article where doug says the reason for the earth setting was to do with not having the original red dwarf model.. surely they will be using the series 8 dwarf cgi thats been polished ?? the original dwarf footage would look to old for these new episodes .. or maybe a completely new style red dwarf is on the cards

    Well, in the article, he talks about the origins behind initially coming up with the idea – but as more has come out bit by bit, it sounds like the special has basically grown and grown from a “let’s do a little celebration of Dwarf” thing to a full-on three-part story that’s probably much closer to “classic” Dwarf than was originally planned. I mean, the announcement about splitting it into three came pretty late, but those synopses, with their clear and distinct (but each linked together) plots, make it sound like it was the plan all along…

  • Incidentally, I still don’t get why people are so down on the whole “meta” idea, if it’s true. I keep seeing reference made to the League of Gentlemen movie, which I haven’t seen, but I don’t see how one example means that Dwarf will definitely be crap at it. I could show you a load of examples (most of them written by Grant Morrison) to demonstrate how metafiction can be one of the greatest things in the world.

    So long as it (a) is *funny*, and (b) features dialogue and character material that *feels* like the Red Dwarf we know and love, then I honestly embrace any such venture that it looks like doing. Especially as these synopses would seem to demonstrate a perfectly legitimate potential in-universe explanation (and subsequent get-out-clause) for it happening.

    And I know I’ve been relentlessly positive ever since the Carbug picture, and maybe I’m setting myself up for a fall, but there has not been a single image released that hasn’t increased my level of excitement.

    SO THERE.

  • I liked the League of Gentlemen film. I liked the idea of character meeting that actors that play them, a good sci-fi concept if you ask me, it has great comedy potential.

  • Nice point that occurred to someone on the Webboard :

    A console in the sleeping quarters? Was this a cost saving exercise so all RD scenes could be filmed in the same room or is there another reason why that console is there?

  • > those synopses, with their clear and distinct (but each linked together) plots, make it sound like it was the plan all along?

    I think this summarises precisely why Doug felt this was the right way to go. There’s no question that the three-ep duration was, in the end, the best possible way to tell this story – it just felt right as soon as we reached that point.

  • A console in the sleeping quarters? Was this a cost saving exercise so all RD scenes could be filmed in the same room or is there another reason why that console is there?

    I was thinking the exact same thing. “Why are there bunks in the Drive Room”. However it *is* a beautiful set.

    Anyhow, all looks really good, I’m really excited and enthused now, I’m sure it’s going to be brilliant.

    Wish I hadn’t read the synopses though. I didn’t think they’d be *that* spoilery.

  • > Wish I hadn?t read the synopses though. I didn?t think they?d be *that* spoilery.

    Thank you for saying that – I was almost going to give in and read them.

  • Oh no….no no no no…I knew I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up over the cool pictures and the fact it’s been 10 years. It’s going to end up being a ‘we’re not real!!’ storylines and basically a rip-off of the LOG movie synopsis. I think my poor little heart just broke :(

  • Oh no?.no no no no?I knew I shouldn?t have gotten my hopes up over the cool pictures and the fact it?s been 10 years. It?s going to end up being a ?we?re not real!!? storylines and basically a rip-off of the LOG movie synopsis. I think my poor little heart just broke :(

    Oh for God’s sake, you can’t tell either the specifics about the meta stuff, *or* whether it’s going to work, from the information we have.

    It might be great. It might be shit. It might be merely mediocre. But let’s not pretend that anyone knows for sure how the fuck this is going to turn out.

  • Sorry John – I don’t mean to come across as being ‘certain of the shitness’. I’m still going to watch it, we all are. It’s the only way to make a proper judgement – watch the thing and then decide. But as the whole metafiction thing was already done by The League Of Gentlemen, it doesn’t sound promising that another BBC comedy show has copied the format. If that is, indeed, what has happened. As you so accurately point out, nothing is certain at this juncture. But I am starting to feel like my enthusiasm was premature :(

  • > as the whole metafiction thing was already done by The League Of Gentlemen

    Not saying this is at all an accurate comparison to BTE – cos it’s not – but it’s not like the League did it even remotely first, or even the most successfully…

  • Knowing they are destined to die, the Dwarfers ? in best Blade Runner traditions ? track down those responsible for their creation to plead for more life.

    It could be the actors looking to who their characters are based on. For example, Craig Charles looking for Daver Lister. Rather than the other way around.

  • Kryten gets lei’d, fantastic.

    New quarters looking very good and plot sounds proper exciting, if not just for this:

    “Lister?s busy day of annoying Rimmer is interrupted…”

    Hoorah.

  • I’ve had a think and maybe there’s another possibility: ‘Dimension Jump’ meets ‘Back To Reality’. They went to the effort in the synopsis of telling us it was a “dimension-hopping leviathan” that’s in the water tank, not just a big ass whale. So this brings up the idea of something having the power to cross dimensions and possibly take the Dwarfers with it.

    Then we have what seem to be references to the whole ‘metafiction’ idea. Perhaps there is a reality out there, in the context of the Red Dwarf universe, where they are fictional characters. This dimension that we inhabit. So rather than the Dwarfers discovering themselves to be fictional characters, it turns out the show has always been set in an alternative universe to our own and by coming into this one they discover the fact that a universe exists where they are fictional.

    The word leviathan itself brings back immediate memories of the ship from ‘Back To Reality’ but I think that’s just coincidence.

    I don’t know…my brain is running away with itself with ideas as to what all this might mean!!

  • As I said before, the League film was completely different because it didn’t affect the series one bit. It wasn’t set during a specific time or anything, and the characters were like characatures of their series versions, in terms of how they looked and acted. If Dwarf did this and it was part of series canon then I’m sure that would disappoint everyone. That’s why this won’t be the case. I’m guessing it’s just gonna SEEM like it, but in the end the crew will have been spun a lie, or it’s an hallucination, though that’s not likely, considering that’s what happened in BTR. The similarity of the titles Back To Reality and Back To Earth is a possible hint to the outcome.

    OK we’re probably thinking about this too much…the long and short of it is, if it’s funny, if it’s entertaining, if it feeds our Dwarfy nostalgia as well as giving us something new and exciting, then I’m damn sure we can accept where the story takes us. We’re hardly even worthy of Doug’s efforts. He could have just said ‘no…yeah…no, I’m putting Dwarf to bed, no special, that’s it’. Thank the Lords of Kobol he didn’t, and now, in 2009, we have new Red Dwarf and, oh yes, new Doctor Who to look forward to in the same blummin’ weekend. A few years ago I would have laughed in someone’s face if they’d told me that!

  • just reading SFX and doug seems to think this will be not only the best looking red dwarf ever but also best story

    in my appinion it could still be a good story, but i really cant see how them knowing red dwarf is a tv show wouldnt seem abit cringe worthy

    esp the part where they go to coronation street… to proberly find craig charles

    remembering in early interview him saying he plays several different roles

  • performingmonkey / Wed, 2009-03-11 20:46 / #

    OK we?re probably thinking about this too much?the long and short of it is, if it?s funny, if it?s entertaining, if it feeds our Dwarfy nostalgia as well as giving us something new and exciting, then I?m damn sure we can accept where the story takes us. We?re hardly even worthy of Doug?s efforts. He could have just said ?no?yeah?no, I?m putting Dwarf to bed, no special, that?s it?. Thank the Lords of Kobol he didn?t, and now, in 2009, we have new Red Dwarf and, oh yes, new Doctor Who to look forward to in the same blummin? weekend. A few years ago I would have laughed in someone?s face if they?d told me that!

    Agreed sir. As long as it’s funny and entertaining (which, for me, series 8 was certainly not) then it’s going to be worth it. And yes, new Doctor Who the same weekend!! We are indeed spoiled.

  • >I think this summarises precisely why Doug felt this was the right way to go.

    “Yeah… no… three episodes is *definitely* the way to go…”

  • i know that the main thing is that its funny BUT personally the idea of them finding out they are in a tv show would be rediculous unless it then turned out to be a dream or game ect ect but that sounds to much like back to reality ….i dont know .. but its going to be fun finding out

  • Then we have what seem to be references to the whole ?metafiction? idea. Perhaps there is a reality out there, in the context of the Red Dwarf universe, where they are fictional characters. This dimension that we inhabit. So rather than the Dwarfers discovering themselves to be fictional characters, it turns out the show has always been set in an alternative universe to our own and by coming into this one they discover the fact that a universe exists where they are fictional.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Prime

  • ?Yeah? no? three episodes is *definitely* the way to go??

    I wish you really were Doug, Seb.

    (Dear Doug, I wish you were Doug too)

  • > I?ve had a think and maybe there?s another possibility: ?Dimension Jump? meets ?Back To Reality?. They went to the effort in the synopsis of telling us it was a ?dimension-hopping leviathan? that?s in the water tank, not just a big ass whale. So this brings up the idea of something having the power to cross dimensions and possibly take the Dwarfers with it. Then we have what seem to be references to the whole ?metafiction? idea. Perhaps there is a reality out there, in the context of the Red Dwarf universe, where they are fictional characters. This dimension that we inhabit. So rather than the Dwarfers discovering themselves to be fictional characters, it turns out the show has always been set in an alternative universe to our own and by coming into this one they discover the fact that a universe exists where they are fictional.

    Yeah, I was thinking something along the same lines. Makes sense, doesn’t cheapen the history of the show as a few people are worried about, and is a fun idea for an episode as long as it doesn’t stick ie. this isn’t how the show ends forever, even if this is the last episode we ever get.

    > The word leviathan itself brings back immediate memories of the ship from ?Back To Reality? but I think that?s just coincidence.

    The ship in Back To Reality was the SS Esperanto.

  • Carl / Wed, 2009-03-11 22:54 / #

    The ship in Back To Reality was the SS Esperanto.

    Daaayym. So it was! What the hell was I thinking of then??

  • Seb Patrick / Wed, 2009-03-11 23:04 / #

    It?s the ship from Epideme.

    THAT’S the one!! There must have been a malfunction in my memory chip. Cheers :)

  • I’m still going with the possibility that Lloyd is played by Dave Lister in the street rather than by Craig Charles..Lister in another dimension is an actor!

    The comic/Sci Fi shop is intriguing, but it dawned on me that it could be a Sci Fi show based on the ‘real’ Red Dwarf rather than it turning out to be that Dwarf and crew are mere TV characters..

    Ok, the above is most probably a million miles away but there are any number of posibilities and I still think that nothing much as been given away. I’ve read a few negative views based on nothing but supposition and we’ve yet to see..

    The new bunkroom shot is wonderful, but somehow wrong in so many ways {not in a bad way)…

    Cat seems to have stubble to me!

  • Looking at the pictures on Lister’s bunk of Kochanski in her canary uniform has got me really worried. Why would there have been professional photographers in the Tank? Will these shows have no respect for continuity!

    Just kidding. All this looks to be shaping up great. Cant wait. And nice to learn about the new Dr Who. Didnt know about that.

  • Anyone think Rimmer might be alive as it opens and die in the first episode to emphasise the severity of the threat they face?

  • > Looking at the pictures on Lister?s bunk of Kochanski in her canary uniform…

    That got me thinking…

    Things we know:

    – It’s nine years on since we last saw them.
    – They are aboard the Dwarf (surely Starbug doesn’t have a mile-deep water tank)
    – Kochanski is dead.
    – Kochanski hasn’t been recast (the pics prove it).
    – Holly is temporarily offline.
    – Rimmer is there from the start (Lister is ‘busy’ annoying him)
    – Rimmer is a hologram.
    – There is some kind of dimension-hopping leviathan in the water tank.
    – Rimmer is, for some reason, going to be ‘replaced’.
    – Katerina is Rimmer’s potential replacement.
    – Katerina is ‘determined’ to get Lister back to Earth.
    – They get to Earth in 2009.
    – They visit a comic shop with Red Dwarf memorabilia.
    – They visit Coronation Street.
    – The crew are destined to die and need to track down their creators in an ‘I want more life, father-if-it’s-the-Final-Cut, fucker-if-any-other’ way.

    Things we don’t know:

    – Which Rimmer it is.
    – How he got back, if he’s the original, or how he died, if he’s the VIII version.
    – Why and how Katerina appears.
    – Why Rimmer would need ‘replacing’.
    – How Katerina knows how to get back to Earth.
    – How they actually get back.
    – If it’s Earth proper or some kind of fakery.
    – How Kochanski died and when.
    – Whether the vending machines are still working.
    – How a comic shop in 2009 has Red Dwarf posters.
    – Whether they’re on the set of Corrie or actually in the Corrie universe, or neither.
    – Why the crew are destined to die, why they need to find their creators, and who they are (whether it means Rob and Doug, OR perhaps the actors themselves, OR is it c) something else?)

  • I would imagine, considering the went to Corrie, that by “creators” they mean the actors who portray them ie. they were on set trying to find Craig Charles. Doubt very much Doug Naylor would be THAT self-referencial as to extend this story as far as the writers, directors etc. I could be well wrong, but I’d expect for the purposes of an accessible storyline for ALL viewers, they mean the actors.

  • – Which Rimmer it is.
    – How he got back, if he?s the original, or how he died, if he?s the VIII version.
    – Why and how Katerina appears.
    – Why Rimmer would need ?replacing?.
    – How Katerina knows how to get back to Earth.
    – How they actually get back.
    – If it?s Earth proper or some kind of fakery.
    – How Kochanski died and when.
    – Whether the vending machines are still working.
    – How a comic shop in 2009 has Red Dwarf posters.
    – Whether they?re on the set of Corrie or actually in the Corrie universe, or neither.
    – Why the crew are destined to die, why they need to find their creators, and who they are (whether it means Rob and Doug, OR perhaps the actors themselves, OR is it c) something else?)

    And I kinda hope we don’t find out too many of those answers in the coming four weeks. I know more than enough now, as exciting as it all is. But I’ve got a feeling we’ll be finding out plenty more.

    If I didn’t co-run a fucking Red Dwarf news site, I’d at least try and avoid any more upcoming details. But I probably wouldn’t be able to resist it.

  • we must not forget that the simulants look to be somewhere in these specials with that screenshot from a week or so ago ( if it is a simulant).. i think these are going to be extreamly fast paced episodes.. looks like theres soo much to fit in

  • we must not forget that the simulants look to be somewhere in these specials with that screenshot from a week or so ago (if it is a simulant).

    Good point, and I’m sure it is a simulant. Having recently watched the three main simulant episodes (not including The Inquisitor, great though it is.) I can say the design is very close to the first simulant from Justice. It has the same metal plug thing (it’s not a monitor) and similar shoulder pads. (The right triangular pad sticks up more with the new sim.)

    I doubt it is the ‘leviathan’ as the term refers to a large creature. It is sometimes used to refer to large craft too, so it could be linked to the sim in that way.

    Either way, I wonder if the simulants turn out to be behind the whole fiasco. Much like those who transmitted the Armageddon virus.

    Despite my initial worries concerning the meta-fiction aspect of the new specials, I’m really looking forward to how it all turns out now. I don’t even mind the meta-fiction as long as it is dealt with properly.

  • Oh, and by ‘fiaso’ I’m not suggesting the specials will be rubbish. I mean it in the sense of the ‘trouble’ and (possible) chaotic situation the characters find themselves.

  • I didn’t actually think the thing from a week ago was a simulant. I also hope it’s not Simulants or Gelfs behind whatever happens, simply because that’s been done before.

  • I keep coming back to the thought ‘it’s been done before’ too with the various theory I and others propagate. However, I think that can be said about most things at this stage. I think the originality mainly comes from how these things are packaged and presented.

    And you might be right. It might not be a simulant, but the design is very very similar.

  • Despite what I said about originality, above, I’m not suggesting that Red Dwarf is all done now and shouldn’t be continued. There are still plenty of story threads that can be tied. But when it comes to threats, be it creature or phenomena, there is likely to be a certain amount of repetition. This isn’t a bad thing though, as long as it is presented right. Cassandra shared a lot of similar themes with Future Echoes, yet it is still a brilliant episode.

  • This is great.

    You hadn?t heard about it? What the Smeg!? Don?t be a GELF!

    Yeah, don’t be a genetically engineered life form!

    Also, does anyone know when The Peep Show is coming back?

  • That’s got to be the best photo I’ve seen this year. But what the shit is going on plotwise?! Excitement!

  • Also, does anyone know when The Peep Show is coming back?

    What’s the odds on them releasing it on DVD first, do you think? We know C4 only make it for that market now anyhow.

    According to Wikipedia, Olivia Coleman said it was in post last October, so I reckon it’ll be on over the summer in the quiet period.

  • Now that I have read all of the comments, the thought occurs: I hope it is not too similar to TLoGA (as much as I did enjoy that), and that it isn’t actually our earth. The further thought occurs: I bet simulant’s are behind it all, or at the very least play more of a role than “remember these guys?”

    I can see myself telling my friends to fuck off over this weekend though, even more so than when I assumed it would only be four half hours in four days. Ha!

  • Loving this comment on the Dave site:

    Hi I’m from czech republic .Will you put on-line Red Dwarf new episodes April 10th in 9 o’clock on this server ???Thanks (Sorry!! for mistakes ,my english isn’t well)

    It reminds me of Borat, who I saw last night telling Graham Norton about leaving a ‘romance explosion’ on some girl’s chest…

  • From Twitter.

    @bobbyllew outline of the RD plot is up at Dave’s webite looks like fun, but expect Qs about ep3
    about 4 hours ago from TweetDeck in reply to bobbyllew

    Then bobby’s interesting reply

    @Dugi_C oh dear. I will have to check what they have said in the morning.
    about 4 hours ago from Tweetie in reply to Dugi_C

  • > Sounds more like The League Of Gentlemen?s Apocalypse to me.

    My first thought also…

    > Oh no, I forgot – IT?S A NEW FUCKING BUNK ROOM.

    Isn’t it LOVELY!

  • Clearly it’s all a mass halucination as Wednesdays synopsis never existed, everyone was seeing things, how odd…

  • Ye, I just checked the Dave site and it says …

    “sdf?kjhsdfm%$5nfjhg – system maulfuntion – tygs!d?$fg5*4vjbdfg – spoiler error 654″. Errr, sorry about that. We’ll let you know about the new episodes soon. If you thought that earlier on this week we actually published the episode synopsis then you were clearly seeing things.”

    :S

  • ?sdf?kjhsdfm%$5nfjhg – system maulfuntion – tygs!d?$fg5*4vjbdfg – spoiler error 654?. Errr, sorry about that. We?ll let you know about the new episodes soon. If you thought that earlier on this week we actually published the episode synopsis then you were clearly seeing things.?

    I’d like to place a bet on what next week’s exciting update is…

  • >?sdf?kjhsdfm%$5nfjhg – system maulfuntion – tygs!d?$fg5*4vjbdfg – spoiler error 654?. Errr, sorry about that. We?ll let you know about the new episodes soon. If you thought that earlier on this week we actually published the episode synopsis then you were clearly seeing things.?

    They’re a real Mickey Mouse operation, aren’t they?

  • Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha.

    Having read this on Bobby’s Twitter page:

    Just checked the Dave site and just heard they ‘accidentally’ posted a synopsis of the new episodes. Gone now. Oooops

    I went and looked, and sure enough:

    Back To Earth ? Part One
    “sdf?kjhsdfm%$5nfjhg – system maulfuntion – tygs!d?$fg5*4vjbdfg – spoiler error 654”. Errr, sorry about that. We’ll let you know about the new episodes soon. If you thought that earlier on this week we actually published the episode synopsis then you were clearly seeing things.

    Oh dear, the fools.

  • You know, Si, you should really start reading the comments directly above yours. It makes it look like you don’t know what you’re doing!

  • Sorry. I was watching Red Nose Day last night, and wasn’t near said forums, and haven’t read them. I was only alerted to it by Bobby.

    I do look a reight prat, don’t I?

  • I love it, though I hope this doesn’t mean that future Dave updates won’t be tripple checked before going live

  • i wonder what the secret is, why take down the synopsis when its already out now

    i hope we dont end up getting it again as this wednesdays update, or even fridays update, its out now

  • They didn’t accidentally post a synopsis of the new episodes,
    they ‘accidentally’ posted them.

    I think it also might be a part of the plot like sfx cover and teaser trailers…???

    Boys are coming to our dimension and time, and maybe the ‘unplugged’ episode was supposed to be about them here and now, with us, directly. But instead they decided to tease us like this.

    (sorry, my english not well ;) )

  • > They didn?t accidentally post a synopsis of the new episodes,
    they ?accidentally? posted them.

    That’s an interesting idea.

  • >Boys are coming to our dimension and time, and maybe the ?unplugged? episode was supposed to be about them here and now, with us, directly. But instead they decided to tease us like this.

    wow if that turned out to be the case, then no wonder if was cancled

  • Yeah, I noticed the way Bobby had put it in quotation marks, as well. INTERESTING.

    It’s a nice way of getting people to make bloody sure they’re constantly watching out for news, anyway, isn’t it?

  • > They didn?t accidentally post a synopsis of the new episodes,
    they ?accidentally? posted them.

    You think?
    It’s far more likely that someone at Dave just fucked up.

  • I put it to you, how is it possible to release three episode synopses by accident? This is an entirely deliberate bit of marketing. And it’s excellent.

  • Maybe. But if it’s possible for Bobby to slip up about Unplugged being cancelled ….

    Or was that ‘accidental’ too?

  • Of course this deliberate bit of marketing, if that’s what it is, only works if people read the damn synopses.

    Which I didn’t.
    Thus, I win.
    Er …?

Scroll to top  •  Scroll to 'Recent Comments'

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.