First Red Dwarf XI Official Photo! News Posted by Jonathan Capps on 21st July 2016, 01:33 From, of all places, The Telegraph: So yeah, thanks for that, The Telegraph. When you decided to leak the picture all of G&T were either at work or fast asleep. Never-the-less, see our (or rather my) belated thoughts after the jump, as I mercilessly rip ownership of this placeholder post from John for my own nefarious purposes. I have mixed feelings. As you may have gathered from the Tweets last night, there are certain founder members of G&T that don’t like it at all but as always opinions are not matching up fully. Let’s do a layer by layer analysis of what we’ve got here: THE CREATURE KNOWN AS CAT: I think this might be the first time a costume of his has actually crossed the line into hideous. Like, to the point where I can’t believe even the cat thinks this is fashionable, although I guess old age can do strange things to your sense of taste. Other than that, it seems his hair in this picture at least doesn’t match up with the early reports of it being pube-like. He basically looks like The Cat, and with Danny John-Jules’ freaky non-aging trick he looks like The Cat has looked for many years now. BIG MAN: We’ve got some tweaks to the tunic here, but basically this is Dave-era Rimmer in a nutshell. Anyone caught saying the word wig will be reported to the police and fined five pounds. LISTY, LISTY, WISTY, LISTER: Again, not much change in the costume department (conceptually at least), but we do know from the set reports that the jacket is changed to a largish extent, and is possibly even a new piece entirely. His hair is also quite different, going back to a more marked step with more voluminous curls on top. What’s also notable here is that he’s also holding Mike Tucker’s big bazooka. The lucky man. TITAN: Oh, what a surprise, Kryten’s look is controversial. Among my INNER CIRCLE I’ve heard vastly different opinions on him. Some say he looks nothing like he does in the episodes, other say he basically looks the same, some say he looks shit, some say he looks fine. I definitely think he looks fine to good, and very close to what was on the monitors during the episode I saw recorded. The most important detail is the mask and I think the main advantage it has over X is that it’s been executed properly. In X you could see what they were going for but it almost looked saggy and ill fitting at times, often with a nose and mouth area that looked frankly bizarre. In this picture it looks to fit perfectly, but the look itself feels like a bit of a departure probably because there’s an almost uncanny amount of freedom of expression around the eyebrow area. However, this is the case for every single series. There are no two sets series that have any sort of consistency in the finer details, and what I see here is a new take on the mask, executed well, and likely to grow on people far more than its predecessor ever did. The suit is a similar situation; it’s always going to change between series and it will always be weird to adjust to, but in this picture at least it looks closer to the correct colour than it has in years, and the chest monitor is big and lovely. Kryten gets a pass from me. So, in general, I think the characters are looking good, but the publicity image as a whole feels inexpert and messy. We’ve already seen how nice the new Starbug looks, and we know how great the refurbished Dwarf looks as well, so it’s impressive that this picture does them so little justice. They don’t feel part of the image, more slapped on afterthoughts with little to no work done on integrating them into backdrop. I’ve also never been much of a fan of later Dwarf’s love of those nebula heavy starfields, and here it just contributes to far too much visual noise when the centre of attention should be on the great cast shot. As with X’s heavily processed publicity shot, expect to see this absolutely everywhere in the coming months, including on your DVD shelf later in the year. As with a lot of the publicity stuff that comes out of the UKTV, it would’ve benefited from a decent amount of extra polish, but what actually matters is the core characters and I honestly think they’re all somewhere on a scale from Fine to Great.
Really wasn’t keen at first. It’s not as bad as I first thought. Far from great, admittedly, but…okay. Just shared the photo on Facebook, with this text: Okay, so, Red Dwarf XI. Takes a bit of getting used to, but I’ve been looking at it for twenty minutes, and aside from Starbug looking like a toy stuck in the corner, it’s okay. Kryten looks a bit plasticy. But he’s a robot. If you don’t have an in-depth knowledge of how he’s looked in past series, that’s actually one of the best designs he’s had. Anyway. RDXI will be on in a couple of months. Which is a good thing. So.
Kryten looks like he’s from an alternate dimension where he’s still played by David Ross. Other than that no complaints, at least via viewing it on my smudgy phone.
What the actual fuck is this? There’s far too much going on in the background for my tastes. What the fuck is that bubble thing around them? What the buggering hell is wrong with Kryten’s face?! It did not look like that at the recordings I saw. In summary: Nope. :(
Strangely, I don’t think Kryten looks as bad as he seemed to at the XII recording I went to. I remember worrying if I couldn’t get used to it, or it wouldn’t grow on me. But looking at him there, I think it will. I felt the same way with Rimmer (I know the costume is the same as Series X, but the hairstyle didn’t seem… “Rimmer-y” to me) and the Cat, too. But for whatever reason, they don’t look bad to me there.
Hmm. Not really liking the new Kryten mask, but this is only one photo. I’m wondering why Lister’s crotch is exploding blue. Hmm.
I like them! Well, some of them. Well one of them. Maybe. Actually, Cat, Lister and Rimmer look fine. But Kryten… THAT’S the best pic they decided to go with?! Yikes. The mask did NOT look that cack at the recordings. I mean, go look at Ed Moore’s B&W set pic where Rob is sitting in the audience… Ok, I’m nitpicking. It’s still great to see new stuff crop up. But I’m being an entitled nerd.
Wow, everyone’s growing their hair out. Even Kryten seems to be growing out some eyebrows, unless my eyes deceive me… Now for the big debate – is Chris wearing a rug?
Bloody awful background, far too busy. The Cat looks daft, not in a good way. Rimmer’s hair looks odd, otherwise fine. Lister looks fine. Kryten’s face looks horrible, nothing like it does in that black and white photo we’ve seen. His ear looks weird as well, and his hands remind me of the Fat-Handed Twat sketch in Big Train.
Now for the big debate – is Chris wearing a rug? I would imagine so, given that he doesn’t have anywhere near that amount of hair in real life these days. A convincing enough syrup from this angle. Kryten looks bloody terrible, however – presumably (hopefully) a botched, quick job for the publicity shot only?
Kryten is now played by Michael McIntyre. I wasn’t totally on board with his mask at the recordings, but it looks particularly awful here. His costume still looks foam-y and rubbish. Chris isn’t being Rimmer. Chris is being Chris. The rest of them are at least in character. >Now for the big debate – is Chris wearing a rug? This wasn’t a debate 4 years ago, it’s certainly not now.
Kryten is now played by Michael McIntyre. I wasn’t totally on board with his mask at the recordings, but it looks particularly awful here. His costume still looks foam-y and rubbish. Chris isn’t being Rimmer. Chris is being Chris. The rest of them are at least in character. >Now for the big debate – is Chris wearing a rug? This wasn’t a debate 4 years ago, it’s certainly not now. None of them are coming off as particularly natural, it has to be said. I think the advancing years can’t be ignored but again, hopefully the result of a rushed publicity shot yada yada…
I don’t think it would be nearly as bad if it wasn’t for the terrible background (Well Kryten is a letter scary looking) But if they had of just been against a bit of spaceship wall it would have been ok, there is so much…stuff going on it really threw me off.
Hopefully they’ll release a version at a decent resolution, as it’s impossible to make out any detail. The cast look alright to me, but that background is migraine inducing.
Kryten doesn’t look as good as the first released X picture (which was a still of the crew after Pree said ‘I know’), but it looks better than the ‘Brand new smegging series’ posters and indeed better than most of the X publicity shots. All the crew look great and Lister is evoking series III with that bazookoid. I’m sure the background is not reflective of how the show itself will look and I agree the ships don’t look their best here.
While i don’t mind a change of design for kryten since its not a bad thing to inject some freshness into the show after 20 something years but yeah he does look a little odd
Oddly enough, at the recording I went to, Kryten’s suit looked lighter and greyer, but maybe that was just the lighting. Anyway, I can honestly say that within about 2 minutes of watching Robert in action, you just get used to it. The bazookoid is nice, but technically shouldn’t it be labelled Bazookoid Mk3, as Mk2 was the stubby Series VII version? But, let’s face it, who cares.
Higher-res version: http://digitalspyuk.cdnds.net/16/29/1600×903/gallery-1469025104-red-dwarf-series-11.jpg
I agree with you Si. Also let’s celebrate that this photo signifies the imminent release of the new series.
I think the advancing years can’t be ignored I don’t think Craig comes off very well here. He looks as though someone’s just woken him up.
I agree with the general consensus here: Kryten definitely did not look that bad at the recording I went to. I don’t know how he can look so drastically different here, it’s mind-boggling. Also, the composition of the photo itself is an eyesore, as people have said. Looks like a 5 minute fan photoshop job with a stock background and some effects slapped on. Aside from that, the others look fine to me though.
Personally I think it looks pretty good. Cat’s suit is great, the bazookoid is great, Lister and Rimmer’s outfits are fine and Kryten looks much better than series X, and the chest monitor is back!
Another thought I’ve had; it would actually be nice to get away from the now standard faces that Chris, Robert and Danny use for these sorts of pictures. Something more neutral akin to what Craig’s doing would’ve been nice.
Beyond Michael McIntyre (with allopecia), here is some other facebook found insults thrown at Kryten, some more offensive than the usual mash potato. “John Culshaw impersonating Porky pig” “Mickey Mouse hands” “Pete Jones” “Has had a stroke” “Has had a face lift” “fisher price edition” “Face like melted wellies” “Detective Boyle from Broklyn nine nine” “Like those fake krytens you get on ebay” huh?
The problem is most of the insults being directed at the mask are along the same lines as things actual characters in the show would say to him.
Me personally. I dont mind the image, Krytens a little different again but didnt bother me too much at recordings and his leg design i found more distracting at first than his face, but that may just be in off camera angles. I just think in this photo he looks a little bit like pulling a face and reminds me of his guilt in back to earth moments, and more so his cheeky mode deletion in series VIII. I do think the pictures circle effect is odd makes this look like a 7 inch record sleeve made of thin paper thats become marked by the record inside the indenting from behind.
OK, the full-res version released on Twitter this morning is significantly better than the crappy leaked version in the Telegraph. The extra compression removed some of the detail from Kryten’s mask, and caused the background to blend into the foreground. However, I still think there are some serious problems with this image. It’s partly down to personal taste, and partly that some slightly unfathomable decisions have been made. I don’t like publicity shots to feel over-produced, and this one has had a thousand filters thrown at it. When we heard that the “first cast photo” would be released, I was thinking more along the lines of that Drive Room shot from X, as opposed to the similarly filter-heavy shot that ended up on posters and the DVD. I think a simple still taken on set works a lot better as a “first look” for Dwarf – look, it’s these four guys, they’re on a big spaceship, it’s just how you remember it, it’s like the good old days. But that’s largely personal preference. My main problem with the image is just that it’s not very well done. The centre of the foreground, ie Rimmer and Lister, is predominantly blue. The background is predominantly blue, especially around the centre. I can take or leave a nebula, but the one here is far too busy, with too much to distract you from the cast, which should surely be the focus. They do not stand out from the background at all. I think that three of the four characters/actors look good, but as for Kryten… I can’t believe that this has been signed off. It looks nothing like Kryten, or Robert Llewellyn. I don’t know if it’s a bad angle, or a Photoshop filter that doesn’t agree with him, but he looks significantly worse in this still than he does on screen. I can’t believe that the first official photo of XI-era Kryten is so unrepresentative. It’s frustrating, because I think the new series are going to be brilliant, but this doesn’t get that across. I mean, it’s a bloody difficult job to get right, as you’re always going to be fighting against the “but they look older than they did 25 years ago” twats, but this honestly doesn’t help. It’s somehow managed to make people who were already enthusiastic about the new series less enthusiastic about it, which is pretty much the opposite of what they were aiming for.
Really there is nothing wrong with krytens new look apart from the fact its a little different to whats come before and honestly i do agree with the attempt to create a new mask that stands out from the rest purely because its 20 years on now and its better to keep the show feeling young and fresh by updating and disguising the casts age rather then let the show feel tired They seem to be trying to change up designs this series to a certain degree and i am probably more bothered that there doesn’t look like there is a midsection attached to starbugs cockpit rather then krytens new look lol As for the cast… they are getting older, its 4 years since series 10 and there isn’t much you can do about that, i think since craig is holding a bazookoid he is attempting to look serious with it like some shit is about to come their way.
I said earlier on Twitter that Kryten’s growing on me. If you zoom in on the high res version, you can make out the angles in his face more. In fact, I think it almost looks a bit series IV-ish in places
What’s with all the fucking gurning. Craig is the only one here who doesn’t look like either a self-parody or happy to get the work… though his hair isn’t great. Perched on his head like he’s Cosmo and Dibbs… And Kryten looks like Steve Pemberton.
I don’t think the show is, or should, disguise any of the cast’s ageing. In fact I’m willing bet not a single person on the production gives a solitary shit about it. I put the differing Kryten masks down to the fact that it’s obviously almost impossible to get the same results series on series.
I don’t think the show is, or should, disguise any of the cast’s ageing. In fact I’m willing bet not a single person on the production gives a solitary shit about it. I am sure to a certain degree they do, after all there are always gonna be people including critics saying the cast look old now and the show should have stopped a long time ago and its very likely doug would want to prove them wrong. they tried to disguise roberts under line wrinkles on krytens mask for Series 10 so they added lines under the eyes on the mask which looks like they may have got rid of those for the new series. But oh yeah they likely care.
It’s just a bad photo of Kryten. He looked fine at the recording. It was his suit I was more worried about, as it appeared to be a different colour. I think it’s a mix of digital manipulation and his facial expression that doesn’t do it any justice. As for the rest of them, they look fine to me, just older, but that tends to happen when you age. It is a shame that we have cartoony versions of Starbug and Red Dwarf pushed into the background. I suppose that adds to the cartoony effect of Kryten. This hasn’t spoiled my excitement for Red Dwarf XI. I’m confident it’ll be alright on the night.
I’ve just reacquainted myself with some of the marketing from earlier series. They were all in character. Here, they’re caricatures. Standing in front of a drawing. Awful.
I’d agree that the problem is in the composition, rather than the characters themselves. Seeing as they’ve gone to the trouble of recreating so much of the original III-VI aesthetic, reviving the sans serif logo, the bazookoids and Starbug etc – why not just recreate one of the original publicity shots? That one of the crew in the Starbug cockpit circa Series V is fantastic. It would also be a nice opportunity to show off a new set. I guess the idea is to shoot against greenscreen and then the assets can be re-used across different media, but….yeah.
Bit of a travesty… I hope they choose something different for the DVD/Blu-ray cover. Also, they need to put together a new promo pic asap. Whoever did this one needs to sit on the naughty step for one minute for every year of his/her life. :p
Some dickhead is actually giving Richard Naylor shit over this on Twitter :( Everyone calm down please. https://twitter.com/RichardDGNaylor/status/756141779246718977
Oh look, Terry Christian has let himself go. KD Lang has let herself go. General Ratko Mladic has let himself go. Kim Jong Il has let himself go. Paul Jackson has let himself go. Leonardo DiCaprio has let himself go. Roland Gift has let himself go. Todd Carty has let himself go. Ed Bye has let himself go. Ali Campbell has let himself go. Morrissey has let himself go. John Hoare has let himself go. David Ross has let himself go.
We sorta see the mask a couple of months ago so we always kinda knew it would be a little different https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cn5OxX7VMAAwJbb.jpg:large
Some dickhead is actually giving Richard Naylor shit over this on Twitter :( Everyone calm down please. https://twitter.com/RichardDGNaylor/status/756141779246718977 Thats what happens when you have a fandom for a 20 year old show they become a little sensitive to certain changes and the worst thing the producers can do is to react to it because if they think they will just get heap loads of love by the fans for whatever they do with the show than that probably won’t happen. I remember in 2012 someone was arguing with doug about the show not being funny anymore and doug was reacting to it in a way i thought was abit unprofessional as he is writing a show thats part of geek culture and its not gonna be kind, just ask steven Moffat.
Rimmer, Cat and Lister are all great to my eyes. And the bazookoid looks lovely. My first look at the Kryten dazy eyed this morning when I got up made him look like a character of Wallace and Gromit. Looking closer at it all now I think it is pretty much fine. The mask seems to give more expression from Bobby and he happens to be pulling a face. The problem is he is used to having to overly contort in order to have the expressions show through the mask and it doesn’t quite seem like it is needed with this mask. I wonder if the people who saw an episode filmed can comment on how expressive Bobby was through the mask, whether it was more than previous series? The suit for Kryten is all about giving Bobby ease of movement and comfort. Considering how hard it is wearing the suit and at his age, I’m all for changes that make his job easier. The hands do look weird. Overall I’d put it ahead of the Series X cast shot that they used for everything.
Craig’s hair is actually like a longer version of the cut he had in Series 5. Also, what’s going on at the bottom of the image where there’s a harsh line near the bottom. Almost as if they were standing in front of a green screen and the camera caught the end of it or something.
I gather the starbug model shots will have the legs pulled back like in the remastered version… i dunno why that is something they like to do as it doesn’t look better for it.
Thanks SI, I had a zoom look after you posted that, and your right, it looks better larger and more like Robert when it’s a bit closer. Kryten expression is more like “Oh no what are we into now Sir’s” when you can see all the faces up closers. Are They supposed to be in a snow globe though? Lol. Is there a Citizen Kane tribute coming up again?
Are They supposed to be in a snow globe though? Lol. Is there a Citizen Kane tribute coming up again? Let’s just say, it’s lucky Lister saw every episode of “St Elsewhere”…
According to the “On This Day” app on my Facebook, the Series X trailer was posted four years ago today (well, yesterday now, technically speaking). Considering XI is airing a month earlier than X did in 2012, I’m wondering if a trailer will be coming quite soon? Maybe the new Kryten mask and look won’t look as bad in whatever clips they use?
Experimenting with the background a bit. Trying to see if it makes a difference. https://twitter.com/srmcd1/status/756269289032683520
“I can see I’m going to have to write a new chapter for ‘The Man in the Rubber Mask’ which goes into enormous detail about Kryten’s new head” Robert Llewellyn. Androids have feelings too.
All the criticism drew the attention of ‘The Mirror’. Must’ve been a slow news day for them. http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/red-dwarf-faces-backlash-fans-8464908
Fucking hell, the direct comparison between this mask and the one from X in that article… surely this one is a million times better? No?
>The bubble is a larger version of the one around the logo. I’m amazed it’s taken this long for anyone to spot this!
I gather the starbug model shots will have the legs pulled back like in the remastered version… i dunno why that is something they like to do as it doesn’t look better for it. To be fair though the pulled back legs on Starbug was first seen in series 5 in Back to Reality, and my issue with in in series 7 and remastered is less how the legs looked but how dodgy Starbug looked in CGI.
> Fucking hell, the direct comparison between this mask and the one from X in that article… surely this one is a million times better? No? Much, much better. But why is he mugging, Jonathan? Why?! It’s all gone a bit ‘Carry On Red Dwarf.’ (A bad thing.)
>The bubble is a larger version of the one around the logo. I’m amazed it’s taken this long for anyone to spot this! I noticed yesterday morning, but thought it too obvious to post anything
OK, my turn. Cat looks like a shit magician. “Ta-da!” Rimmer looks like he’s just stuck two fingers up his bum and is feverishly excited about sniffing the result. Lister: “Let’s get out there and twa- aww, sod it. Make me a cuppa and fetch me slippers. I’m well knackered.” Kryten looks like a child ruined their mother’s marigolds by blowing into them and as punishment had said gloves incorporated into their worst nightmare. I’m kidding. It’s not that bad. But considering the ‘wacky’ series 8 is generally the most universally condemned run of episodes to date, maybe Ker-azy Robot Meow Meow Outer Space Hyper Gun Fun Time wasn’t the vibe to go for to instill confidence in casual fans on the fence about checking out new episodes. In other words STOP GURNING. Also people would have got the bubble thing if it was remotely well executed or made the slightest bit of sense.
NEW PHOTO ALERT!! http://reddwarf.co.uk/news/2016/07/22/in-the-picture/in-the-picture-2-large.jpg (In lovely lovely Hi-res) I love it, especially the lighting. Looks very cinematic. Bobby’s mask looks better here too. Hell, once the hi-res version of yesterday’s photo came out I was getting used to it.
But considering the ‘wacky’ series 8 is generally the most universally condemned run of episodes to date, maybe Ker-azy Robot Meow Meow Outer Space Hyper Gun Fun Time wasn’t the vibe to go for to instill confidence in casual fans on the fence about checking out new episodes. In other words STOP GURNING. THIS COMEDY SHOW NEEDS TO BE DEADLY SERIOUS!
But considering the ‘wacky’ series 8 is generally the most universally condemned run of episodes to date, maybe Ker-azy Robot Meow Meow Outer Space Hyper Gun Fun Time wasn’t the vibe to go for to instill confidence in casual fans on the fence about checking out new episodes. In other words STOP GURNING. THIS COMEDY SHOW NEEDS TO BE DEADLY SERIOUS! Yeah, that’s EXACTLY what I was saying isn’t it. I mean, there’s deadly serious or gurning. Those are the only two options.
But “gurning” isn’t just limited to series VIII! Frankly, I’d be disappointed to get a Red Dwarf promo shot in which they weren’t pulling daft faces.
But “gurning” isn’t just limited to series VIII! Frankly, I’d be disappointed to get a Red Dwarf promo shot in which they weren’t pulling daft faces. I wouldn’t class most of those faces as “gurning”, to be honest. Certainly not to the extent seen in the new cast pic, anyway. But luckily we can ALL forget that shot ever happened as the new new photo is much more like it.
>He’s done that in promo shots for about 25 years. Thanks! I sort of meant it as a jokey, rhetorical question but it’s a delight to see it answered. Bobby is certainly the earliest offender. Subtlety clearly isn’t his bag, and never has been, but it never bothered me before. Not until the other two started doing it. I think the unfortunate angle and the dodgy composition heightened everything. *Disassembles rifle and climbs down the bell tower steps*
Yes Seb but most of those photos existed before the internet was invented. Pre internet directive was that people just enjoyed photos. Post internet invention directive states we must judge them and criticize every pixel loudly. For example I think i saw that picture of Billy Doyle in a magazine in the 90’s and thought “I bet series V will be fun” now you’ve shown me it on the internet i think he’s looking like a baby about to take a shit in it’s nappy, and I’m convinced series V must be rubbish. In all seriousness, thanks for those, and the great new production still. Having just seen Kryten compared to Jimmy Krankie now. (and by that logic he must also look like the leader of the SNP here) I think Robert must be proud of out doing Chris Barrie in the impersonation stakes with just one photo!!!!! The fact the mirror recycled this all shows a new low in press standards for a limo artist that wasnt used to be higher than below itself anyway.
Oddly enough, at the recording I went to, Kryten’s suit looked lighter and greyer, but maybe that was just the lighting. Anyway, I can honestly say that within about 2 minutes of watching Robert in action, you just get used to it. The bazookoid is nice, but technically shouldn’t it be labelled Bazookoid Mk3, as Mk2 was the stubby Series VII version? But, let’s face it, who cares. The body is still identical to Bazookoid Mk2 seen in series 7, so I would like to think that maybe the Mk2 has swappable barrels.
Oh dear… http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/21/first-look-at-the-brand-new-series-of-red-dwarf-has-landed-6021289/ http://metro.co.uk/2016/07/22/red-dwarf-fans-cant-work-out-whats-happened-to-krytens-face-in-first-image-from-new-series-6021788/
>The bubble is a larger version of the one around the logo. I’m amazed it’s taken this long for anyone to spot this! Sorry, I’m clearly a terrible fan for not noticing sooner. I was distracted by the fact it looks fucking rubbish.
According to the “On This Day” app on my Facebook, the Series X trailer was posted four years ago today (well, yesterday now, technically speaking). Considering XI is airing a month earlier than X did in 2012, I’m wondering if a trailer will be coming quite soon? Maybe the new Kryten mask and look won’t look as bad in whatever clips they use? According to Naylor Jr: “Trailer likely to be mid-August.”
>According to Naylor Jr: “Trailer likely to be mid-August.” Boo. I was hoping for something sooner. Ah, well.
