Red Dwarf X is GO. Some things are Blogged and Tweeted and Facebooked News Posted by Jonathan Capps on 29th November 2011, 20:19 As you are no doubt aware, as of Monday 28th full production on Red Dwarf X is HAPPENING, so we’ve got a few things you’ve probably already seen to round up into a pen. First up, Bobby Tweeted about yesterday’s schedule, which apparently included readthroughs: Just finished 1st read through on #RDX. Very funny stuff. Nerve wracking though. And yes, there are Range Rover issues. Ho hum. Later, we got a nice little blog update. We are making 6 new episodes to go out on Dave in 2012. Yeah, yeah, only stupid people don’t know that already, AND WE ARE MAINLY UNSTUPID, BOBBY. It’s very likely, if not definite, they will also be shown in the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand too. But I hate these countries! All the original cast are appearing, Craig, Chris Danny and myself as Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Kryten. Other casting and roles not yet known. And here we have the first proper confirmation (along with the picture posted on the official Red Dwarf Facebook page* and in this very article) that we’re unlikely to see Holly this series, at least not in the episodes they were reading for yesterday and it seems unlikely that Holly would only be in a few episodes. Poor Hattie. We all gathered at Shepperton Studio’s today, had a read through of the first 2 scripts, had a look around the sets in the cavernous studio we’ll be working in for the next 9 weeks or so, had a bit of lunch, then worked through the first script in detail. Right, so, it’s a safe assumption that these two episodes will be the ones filmed on the 16th and 23rd of December. Doug had previously Tweeted saying he wasn’t sure on the recording order so we’re not sure where these will sit in the series, but I imagine one of them will be episode 1 since it’s likely that was the first one to be written. Now, to avoid quoting the whole bloody blog, I’ll spin on: I’m obviously not going to say anything about the storylines, no spoilers, but I can safely say they are seriously funny. Comforting words about the funniness of the scripts from Beyond a Joke’s Robert Llewellyn, there. Meanwhile, in techy land, a nice chap by the name of Ed Moore has the honour of providing us the fist images from the set in the shape of some cables that are definitely exciting. A few days ago, he also posted a picture of a steadicam they’re testing for the show. Is that a RED, then? Also, some wood. And that only leaves today’s heartless and terrifying trolling by Danny John-Jules: Baby Duane’s passport photo. I am not at liberty to say anymore. Possibility 1 – This is real, the teeth selected for ‘Young Duane’ are deliberately too big, Danny was either given permission to post the picture or went rogue and we’re all fucked. Possibility 2 – He’s pissing about his son and an old pair of Duane teeth. I’m currently not *entirely* convinced this isn’t Possibility 1, but it’s almost certainly 2, and for that we should be eternally thankful. That’s yer lot for now, then. We’ll be keeping an eye on things and report anything interesting here, but in reality we’ll probably just end up feeding like leeches from your posts on the Forums. * Oh yeah, Red Dwarf has an official Facebook page now. EDIT: As SoundableObject so rightly points out, I forgot about Doug! On Twitter he’s described the sets as “Retro Season 5 feel but probably best look ever” and that it’s “Ingenious the way it fits together.”. when asked whether the series will be set on Red Dwarf or Starbug, he replied “both”. Very exciting and encouraging comments, there. It’s nice that the series will have the mobility that Starbug provides. I think the series set on both crafts have the best set up, with the possibility of an episode just milling about the ship, or going out to DO SOME BIG ADVENTURES. I’m really looking forward to seeing how all the sets fit together at the recordings and I hope Starbug gets one to itself, even if it’s just the cockpit area.
> Also Doug confirmed it was set on both Red Dwarf and Starbug on his twitter page. Fuck, I knew I’d forgotten something.
Also Ed Moore, the second unit director of photography mentioned on twitter that it is filming on K Stage at Shepperton. Twice the size of the stage (G) they used for Series VI!
And another little bit from Ed Moore, don’t know if people are interested, they are filming in Red Epic cameras. The Red Epic seem to be more technologically advance than the Red One camera they used on BTE.
Brilliant to hear about Starbug and that the show will take place on both ships. Though, if I were a person who indulged in the odd wager now and then, I’d guess the majority of the series will be set aboard the ‘bug. Doug mentioning V is good enough for me! (that’s series V, not the show ‘V’, neither the original nor the (what the eff were they thinking??) new incarnation)
Could get some interesting stories out of Red Dwarf being without its CPU though. …or them repairing the system mid-series. You never know!
I imagine Hattie suddenly reappearing mid-series would get a similar audience reaction to that of Norm at the end of series VII. But bigger. Obviously.
Or Whoopi’s hat. Doug always seemed to be ‘not keen’ on writing for Holly to me – more so than Rob. I’d love to see her back though. No.1 prayer now – NO two parters!!!!!
I’m not sure that’s the case – it was Doug that brought Holly back in VII and VIII, even when he had absolutely nothing to do.
I wouldn’t say Doug had nothing to do – he was writing, producing etc etc. He was likely fairly busy. Fnaaar.
It seemed to me that Doug brought back Holly at the end of 7 because of Rimmer’s departure – anchor the show with another of It’s elder cast. And then when Rimmer came back In 8 anyway, he might of just thought – sod It, with them being In the prison, and with Kryten more concerned with Kochanski rather than driving the plot, Holly can have some decent material.
You never know, they might still be figuring out what to do with Holly. They can always have somebody read his/her lines on the day and then insert filmed footage of her/him later for the broadcast.
or they could have done what happened with BTE and kept us all completely closed off from any news regarding holly until recording/transmission…
i really want hattie inthis new series. I cannot stress this enough… More so than bloody duane or ace.
i really want hattie inthis new series. I cannot stress this enough… More so than bloody duane or ace.
I highly doubt either Duane or Ace will appear. Their inclusion would smack of desperation IMO. It’s not like the viewers are waiting for them like a punchline. Unless there was some great little story reason to feature Ace I would say a huge no to seeing him again.
I’m sure I’ve read that Hattie is on tour in January. I would like her in the new series if they could get her.
Of course, Hattie’s at the SFX Weekender in January – with Craig and, er, Norm. So that’ll be interesting.
>Unless there was some great little story reason to feature Ace I would say a huge no to seeing him again. Considering the fact that our Rimmer WAS Ace for a while (and maybe still is, depending on who the current, BtE Rimmer actually is) there could very well be a good Ace story in there, different from the three we’ve had before. (Well, two really, but he featured, in Emohawk albeit he wasn’t central to the episode.)
If the original Rimmer is still Ace then the only reason for him to come back into their lives would be to steal away another Rimmer to become Ace because he’s dying. And I never want to see that happen again. I’m hoping for at least a few episodes without callbacks to the rest of the series. It’ll be more entertaining to see original stories and also better for those who never got into it originally to gain interest in it. I do, however, think they need to run into the Cat civilization eventually. You’ll remember, one of the arks that left full of cats followed the holy writing and flew straight into an asteroid, but what of the other ark?
If the original Rimmer is still Ace then the only reason for him to come back into their lives would be to steal away another Rimmer to become Ace because he’s dying. And I never want to see that happen again. Or he could have failed.* Or just bumped into them by chance like the first Ace did. So far we’ve had three Ace episodes, and only in one of them was Ace on a recruitment drive. (So to speak.) There’s lots of reasons they might meet aside from finding another. I’m hoping for at least a few episodes without callbacks to the rest of the series. It’ll be more entertaining to see original stories and also better for those who never got into it originally to gain interest in it. I agree with that. An episode or two with ‘callbacks’ would be welcome, (I think continuity can be an aid to creativity as long as it’s not used lazily) and I’d like some suggestion of how they got out of their predicament in Series 8 if only in a brief mention, but new original stories would be favourable overall. I do, however, think they need to run into the Cat civilization eventually. You’ll remember, one of the arks that left full of cats followed the holy writing and flew straight into an asteroid, but what of the other ark? Something I’ve often wondered and I’d like to see. *Actually from what Doug Naylor suggested in the commentary, I think BtEs Rimmer is the Rimmer who became Ace, so likely he already failed. I’m just describing other possibilities. I think it would be amusing if the latest Ace turned out to be the human version from series 8, wanting revenge on the hologram who tapped him on the head and left him stranded with a dodgy wig super-glued to his head.
I’d like some suggestion of how they got out of their predicament in Series 8 if only in a brief mention, I loved the way that Back to Earth just jumped in with no explanation beyond that “nine years later” caption. In the case of BTE it was appropriate for the show to avoid getting bogged down in continuity-heavy explanations straight away – but is it time to address them now we’ve got a full series? I don’t think I’d ever like a complete, definitive explanation of what happened. Partly because it’s likely to disappoint in the same way that the opening of “Tikka To Ride” did, and also because I disliked series VIII so much that the less I’m reminded of it the better! For those reasons, it might be better to have bizarre, out of context hints about what happened that conjure up funny images but never give a complete explanation, like Calvin and Hobbes’ Noodle Incident (or Red Dwarf’s own pan-dimensional liquid beast from the Mogagon Cluster). Even more fun if some of the hints contradict each other! I do, however, think they need to run into the Cat civilization eventually. You’ll remember, one of the arks that left full of cats followed the holy writing and flew straight into an asteroid, but what of the other ark? Oh yes, a Cat-dedicated episode is one of the most obvious ideas that the series has never pursued. There’s “Waiting for God” and the version of “Identity Within” on the VII DVD, but that’s about it.
Anything involving more of the Cat would be great, especially after his relegation to basically a supporting roll in VII and VIII. I do think exploring the possibilities of a Cat civilization still out there somewhere would give a chance at maybe adding a little more depth to Cat’s character. Not to much, of course, he still needs to be the same guy (and shallow is his middle name….or last…or first….) but at least enough to make us care about him a bit more. Watching even in the latter part of the good series’ you can see him declining into nothing but a bucket of one-liner fashion jokes, most of them cringe-worthy at best.
Was it Identity Within that was going to have Duane turn up in one of Cat’s dreams? That wouldn’t be so terrible… I’d like a Cat episode but not Identity Within. In that form anyway. Gut the domestication idea from it and merge that with finding the ark, preferably ditching the “find pussy” or die aspect, GELFs, Garbagesque World, and avoid giving ‘Aura’ a proper name (more like ‘Kit’ in the Tongue Tied music video). The ending could be more or less the same when it’s time to part ways.
If Red Dwarf is filming on 23rd of December then how can Craig Charles be doing a gig in Leeds on the same day. It is over 3 hours away from Shepperton. Oh I see from TOS that his gig doesn’t start till 12. Still, he will be over an hour late for the gig if he leaves at 10 when filming is supposed to end.
The gig is doors at 9pm. And there is a band on before Mr C who is on till 3am. So maybe he starts at 1am. Or they could use the teleporter.
I’m sure it’s possible that Craig can/will leave early. Or a lookalike will do the gig…or the Dwarf episode…:D
Nowadays they can probably just do a CGI Craig…or have a crew member stand in as him, wearing a big hat…
from RD fb page: Fancy winning some tickets to a Red Dwarf Series X audience recording? We’ve got two up for grabs to next week’s recording on Friday 16th at Shepperton Studios (you’ll need to be there by 6pm at the latest). To enter the competition, head over to our Twitter profile @RedDwarfHQ at 12.30pm (GMT) today and answer a Red Dwarf question. We’ll pick a winner from the first 20 people that tweet us the correct answer. http://twitter.com/RedDwarfHQ
Nowadays they can probably just do a CGI Craig…or have a crew member stand in as him, wearing a big hat Unless he’s not in the Episode at all, and they just use a brain in a jar.
Robert has just confirmed that the first filming day is tomorrow. I’d have thought any pre-recording in studio would be done on Thursday, maybe this is location tomorrow. EDIT – Robert clarified that they are shooting complicated technical scenes so it would probably be studio based.
Interesting. That roughly follows the old schedule (I think pre-records happened on Wednesdays or Thursday with the rest of the day being rehearsals and then studio audience filming on Friday). Still no mention of locations.
If you didn’t see the separate thread I made in the main forum, model shots are back according to Doug Naylor on twitter. Also Nathen Cubitt, who is directing the behind the scenes for the new series mentioned that tomorrow they start at sunrise. Might that be a hint to location filming? Or just a hint to the fact that he’ll have to record Bobby getting his full Kryten outfit on in the morning.
>Oh I see from TOS that his gig doesn’t start till 12. Still, he will be over an hour late for the gig if he leaves at 10 when filming is supposed to end. Craig? Late? Surely not!
