The Boys Are Back In Town News Posted by Ian Symes on 3rd May 2019, 18:18 Well, then. We’ve been fairly cynical about the prospect of new Red Dwarf happening any time soon. Everything went very quiet for a very long time, and it seemed like once again, circumstances had somehow conspired to kill off any momentum and put the show back into the past tense again. We refused to get excited a couple of months ago when the cast went for a curry together, given that it’s not too unusual for a group of people who’ve known each other for thirty odd years to meet up for a bite to eat, but Danny John-Jules has tweeted a picture today, and… I would of course have to kill you … #TodaysOffice #OldGitsDoLunch #fiftyshadesofgrey ???????????? pic.twitter.com/vVMIzAKYBq — Danny John-Jules???????? (@DannyJohnJules) May 3, 2019 Yep, it seems like something is happening. All four cast members present and correct (I’d recognise Robert’s bald patch anywhere), in what looks suspiciously like a production company meeting room, with bits of paper in front of them. Doug’s even there, although he doesn’t look massively thrilled about it. Now, this isn’t necessarily Series XIII. There’s still been no official announcement about that, despite what less reputable sites like Den of Geek or Digital Spy will tell you. It could be something to do with the long-proposed live show. It could be a meeting about future merch or something. It could just be them going for a coffee in the world’s worst-decorated Cafe Nero, and we’re reading too much into it. But finally, things are starting to look a little more positive…
Red Dwarf Unplanned! And we missed it because it wasn’t advertised. Huh. I guess next time they should plan it properly.
Craig mentioned the meeting as he played Tongue Tied last night (we all know about that, right?), but didn’t elaborate. So we’re as in the dark as we all already were. Because there is, of course, no way they could possibly just have been meeting up for a drink and a bite to eat…
It was an SF-based playlist for Star Wars Day. Tongue Tied was the penultimate track, saved for five to midnight, when sensible types had already popped off to bed.
They wanna Remaster all 6 seasons by replacing the original performances with new redone performances using Greenscreen with Craig, Robert, Chris and Danny Doug always felt the original performances were not funny enough, and while its a highly technical thing to pull off they gave Doug the chance to do it on the cheap and he couldn’t say no.
Looks like Danny’s getting his teeth moulded. Either he’s trolling us to a spectacular degree, or something *is* happening…
It seems relevant here that UKTV Play will not be showing Taskmaster a week ahead of its Dave broadcast this time round.
I don’t think size was the problem with the XI-XII set. On another note, the royal baby is named after Kryten’s penis.
Was going to mention the ‘week ahead’ thing finally being dropped by UKTV! I am now in zero doubt that this is preproduction for the tour. Cat wouldn’t need new TV teeth making so soon, but he would need a more hardy tour set making up. Likewise, Robert Llewellyn would be getting a different kind of mask planned, probably back to latex and perhaps closer to the ones French & Saunders wore as the Fat Men on their 2007 tour (made by Millennium who did XI & XII) or the slipon they use in scaled down productions of Shrek The Musical. I am glad that this tour seems to be happening though because it was in danger of becoming another Movie. Partly because I want to go and see it, partly because it might wake up this narcoleptic bloody brand from another undignified slump. If I’m wrong, the only other thing it could possibly be is something to do with the UK launch of Britbox in the Autumn. And it’d be weird if they were doing readthroughs for something like that.
Hopefully if its the live show they’re making they will record it and put it on Britbox similar to the Bottom live shows. Though I’d much rather a XIII/XIV announcement.
A tour for what? wasn’t the idea for the stage show that it would be at the O2 for as long as people went to see it? Either way its odd that they haven’t announced anything yet and stuff is i guess happening. Maybe all this is for a secret welcome back Rob Grant Party? right? RIGHT?! *cries*
I am now in zero doubt that this is preproduction for the tour. Cat wouldn’t need new TV teeth making so soon, but he would need a more hardy tour set making up. Likewise, Robert Llewellyn would be getting a different kind of mask planned, probably back to latex and perhaps closer to the ones French & Saunders wore as the Fat Men on their 2007 tour (made by Millennium who did XI & XII) or the slipon they use in scaled down productions of Shrek The Musical.. “You can tell all that just from a photograph?”
Ha. I’m quite interested in stuff like this and I’ve pondered the practicalities for a while. TV/film teeth last foreeeeeveer as they are proper long-life dentures, for example in the League of Gentlemen reunion specials, those are the original character teeth from 1999. Danny would only need new ones made if the existing ones were unsuitable for a new purpose. (Or lost/destroyed, which you never know with Danny, to be fair.) And they would have to do the Kryten mask/costume differently because technical requirements for stage prosthetics are very different. Application/removal time would need to be reduced for cost/union reasons, the costume would need to be as light as possible and essentially a big velcro jigsaw over a cooling system, and it would need to be very resistant to melty stage lighting, as well as compliant to a different set of H&S regs for stage effects. Prosthetics are a bit of a curse to the theatre and there are good reasons you don’t see them on stage often. When Michael Crawford fell seriously ill as a result of performing in them for The Woman In White (and less restrictive ones than for Kryten), he was younger and fitter than Robert is now.
Forgive if I’ve missed something, but have we seen anything about Robert getting a new mask/costume? There seems to be an awful lot of extrapolation being done here from one set of teeth.
I don’t think there’s any other extrapolation possible to take, though. Unless you think they’re having The Cat on Fully Charged.
They’re reshooting the whole of III and the back half of V so they can be on the Blu Ray in the correct quality.
They’re reshooting the whole of III and the back half of V so they can be on the Blu Ray in the correct quality. Nobody’s thinking evil enough. They’re retconning Hattie. (I hate that I just thought that, even as a joke. I made myself sad.)
I’m really enjoying Darrell’s arc from “Red Dwarf is literally dead forever I have proof” to “Red Dwarf is definitely getting a live show, here’s my proof.” Really excited to see where the next season of Reaching takes us
You’re just being a twat to me now, Ben. Stop it off. The fuck have I actually done? In the ‘Almost XIII news’ thread, virtually every other sentence I’ve written is ‘but doing a live show remains an open option’. Which is exactly what I think this is. Live tour, via Phil McIntyre. As mooted fucking years and years ago. Prove me wrong, frankly. I also haven’t changed my opinion that Dave have definitely axed us and they just haven’t announced it publically, nor have I changed my opinion that GNP have badly neglected the brand over the last 18 months or that Doug’s stubbornness cost us a now-lost-forever 30th anniversary celebration that could have brought more pleasure to the fanbase than 18 months of sweet fuck-all and a broken box set did. All my speculation is based on what I know about the world outside of Red Dwarf – which doesn’t exist in a vaccuum, clearly – and what that would tell us about the future of Red Dwarf. Speculation is what a fansite is for, and is a large part of the fun and sport of it. And to be honest, mostly what I’ve done in *this* thread is share esoteric knowledge about prosthetic make-up I’ve picked up during my years of chronic autodidacticism about showbiz, that I thought would be interesting to gabble out. People seem to be getting really angry when I’m speculating about stuff lately. I’ll happily fuck off again if you all want.
I love Red Dwarf, and the fact that something seems to be happening is exciting. I’m happy to just wait and see what it all turns out to be. It seems like there are lots of possibilities at this point and we’ll just have to wait to learn more. Which is fine – it’s nice that we’re getting these teases at all. I definitely don’t think it needs to be something we argue over. The speculation is all part of the fun while we wait for something more concrete.
I also haven’t changed my opinion that Dave have definitely axed us and they just haven’t announced it publically […] or that Doug’s stubbornness cost us a now-lost-forever 30th anniversary celebration that could have brought more pleasure to the fanbase than 18 months of sweet fuck-all and a broken box set did. That all sounds depressingly plausible.
I also haven’t changed my opinion that Dave have definitely axed us and they just haven’t announced it publically […] or that Doug’s stubbornness cost us a now-lost-forever 30th anniversary celebration. What stubbornness? Have I missed something here? Genuinely curious.
I was inferring the stubbornness I brought up from what Nick Briggs publically said about the hard no to Big Finish that GNP gave. It’s not unreasonable to take that as evidence of a wider picture of Doug smothering the brand with overprotectiveness, as it’s wholly consistent with – for one prime example – the unbecoming way he now talks about his experiences with the VII co-writers. He has developed what seems almost like a pathological fear of delegation which has put everyone, from cast to casual fans, at a net loss. In 2019, that Red Dwarf is still so conspicuously alone, hapless and small-fry, in a pop-cultural world of sci-fi worship, merchandise millions and high-profile sitcom revivals which seems tailor made to hold it aloft and plaster it all over high street shops, is a problem which is having wider repercussions for the health of the show/brand and a problem which points a bloody obvious finger of blame to one man’s inability to let go.
In 2019, that Red Dwarf is still so conspicuously alone, hapless and small-fry, in a pop-cultural world of sci-fi worship, merchandise millions and high-profile sitcom revivals which seems tailor made to hold it aloft and plaster it all over high street shops, is a problem which is having wider repercussions for the health of the show/brand and a problem which points a bloody obvious finger of blame to one man’s inability to let go. Who do you think, Pat Boone?
I’m really not sure that’s a fair charge to level at Doug, especially when we have basically no idea what his plans are for the show or the brand as a whole. Just because nothing’s been announced, doesn’t mean there’s nothing in the works. I do agree that people are very quick to slap down any speculative discussion of future Dwarf on here, and as someone who’s been hanging around here for about 15 years, I can tell you that meandering, groundless speculation is a big part of what initially made this site so engaging and fun. Along with graphic language, poor taste jokes about crack & samurai swords, John getting extremely angry at the boosters on the Remastered Red Dwarf ship and recurring mentions of foaming twats.
You get my point though, which is that nowadays, a situation where a cult TV show with a big and hungry fanbase has an 18 month activity blackout and merch drought, including for the duration of its entire 30th anniversary year, is actually much harder to contrive or achieve than one in which they pair up with some licencees, get a high street presence again and do a few nice PR stunts to keep up media momentum. Someone actively has to be putting effort in to be *suppressing* that stuff, which in this day and age is occurring on an almost organic basis for every other adjacent property. Stuff *is* clearly going on behind the scenes, but it seems to be all antimatter. And it’s fairly obvious to me that a bizarre zealousness is driving these decisions. I don’t think I’m being too unfair on Doug. This is the guy who was so unable to fully delegate he once started doing customer service shifts on Twitter for the Sandbag shop after it opened.
Yeah, I get your point, and can understand your frustration, but without knowing more about what’s going on behind the scenes, I’m hesitant to blame Doug. After thirty-odd years of guiding the show through all it’s iterations, tirelessly (and sometimes fruitlessly) working to keep it alive during the quiet years, it would seem rather out of character of him to suddenly start declining opportunities and actively stifling avenues for promoting the show/merch/licensing/new adaptations etc. It’s equally possible that he’s been trying to get projects off the ground the whole time and for reasons beyond his control, they just haven’t come to fruition. Anyway, as I said, there’s nothing at all wrong with speculation – I just think it’s rather premature to get angry at Doug on the basis of some quite large assumptions, and without knowing the full story.
I think there’s some truth to that, but I don’t think the Big Finish thing is necessarily related. I doubt Doug has the time or energy to oversee a potential Big Finish range himself, which would mean handing over entire responsibility of a show which he’s co-created and worked on for 30 years – with characters and a universe that he’s personally developed – to somebody else, possibly even a team who he doesn’t know. We’re all aware how much the show change after it lost the voice of one of its creators, even Doug knows that. Lose Doug himself and it stops being Red Dwarf. It’s not a show like Doctor Who which was made my committee for much of its original run. Not to mention his believe that generally performing in front of a studio audience is part of the chemistry of the show, which is something Big Finish don’t do. He might also genuinely not be a fan of them in general. And he might not want an audio range to interfere with the ongoing TV version. So I think the suggestion that it’s stubbornness or overprotectiveness is somewhat unfair and doesn’t take into account a number of realistic objections Doug could have.
Yeah, as we said in the other thread recently I think there’s a risk of blaming Doug unfairly in conversations like this. It’s easy to be an armchair-Doug and claim that he could have done everything so much better, but the truth is that none of us has full visibility of what’s going on behind the scenes, and I’d hesitate to start throwing around negative claims without knowing 100% what I was talking about. I get that it must be frustrating to look at Red Dwarf and wish it was something more, or that something specific had happened to celebrate the show in a specific year, but I think as soon as you start holding it to these subjective personal standards it becomes more about what you wish was happening than what’s reasonable to expect, or even possible. I’m at the stage where I’m more than happy with what we’ve had over the years, the Dave era has been a nice surprise that’s given us a lot more of the show than I ever expected, and anything else will be a bonus.
I don’t know much, but I can tell you I have zero interest in a Big Finish version of Red Dwarf, since that’s not even remotely a next step for a studio-based TV sitcom. That’s not Doug being stubborn, that’s Doug saying “That’s not what I want to do with Red Dwarf”. Slapping the Red Dwarf label on something that clearly isn’t Red Dwarf will tarnish the brand, not elevate it. And if it take momentum away from the direction that Doug wants to take it, it’s completely counter-productive.
Agreed. I can’t really begrudge Doug for turning down Big Finish, looking at some of the stuff they’ve turned out over the years. Maybe ten years down the line when there’s no feasible chance of still producing the TV show, that might be a way to carry on the story…
I always got the impression that Nick Briggs was never a fan of Red Dwarf, and that might have been a barrier to BF doing anything with it. It’s the same reason why they’ve been working with Tom Baker for eight years now and they’ve only just got round to recording stories set in Season 18 with him.
I was inferring the stubbornness I brought up from what Nick Briggs publically said about the hard no to Big Finish that GNP gave. GNP probably said no because, as mentioned above by several other posters, Red Dwarf Big Finish audios would be absolutely shit. That’s not stubbornness on Doug’s part, that’s just a wise decision to not do something that would be pointless and unenjoyable. What would you even do with Red Dwarf Big Finish audios? The Adventures Of Kill Crazy? Either way, I really don’t see the logic here. Doug is stubborn for refusing to make crap audio plays? Basically what Pete Part Three said, but I started writing this before I read his comment. Oops
To be fair, it’s important that Red Dwarf hold on tightly to its three most famous attributes – its rigidly unchanging format, its having never been adapted loosely across other media, and it always having been the sole artistic creation of a single auteur. Because the 1990s never happened.
To be fair, it’s important that Red Dwarf hold on tightly to its three most famous attributes – its rigidly unchanging format, its having never been adapted loosely across other media, and it always having been the sole artistic creation of a single auteur. Because the 1990s never happened. These things happened in the 2000s too though? The mobisodes, the Prelude To Nanarchy comic, the mobile games etc. I really don’t see your point. Red Dwarf should have some really shit audio plays because…?
Would seem more likely that Naylor wouldn’t want to hand off Red Dwarf to other writers and/or risk encroachment on his own ideas while the show is still happening (in some form) rather than being repulsed by Big Finish specifically. Unless their pitch actually was doing an hour long drama with side characters from a sitcom born out of a radio sketch show rather than, oh I don’t know, a 30 minute comedy. The makers of the Prelude to Nanarchy comic didn’t get far with their interest in making more Red Dwarf content either.
Do you think Doug Naylor owes you Big Finish audios? Looking at Big Finish’s recent output, they’d probably make 17 spin-off series about the adventures of Talkie Toaster, President Kennedy and Lister’s pea from Queeg, going on extremely bland adventures that you always feel like you’ve sort of already seen elsewhere
I don’t even listen to Big Finish audios. It’s not about “entitlement” because it’s not even what I specifically want – I have always tried to speak of the bigger picture. I said that there was no good reason to turn them down, and lots of good business reasons to partner up, and that this illustrates Doug’s newfound, pathological inability to delegate anything without micromanaging or taking over (what does he need to be sat in a fucking DVD grading suite for?) or distrusting the judgement of anybody that isn’t him, like a shit office boss, and that this is exemplified further by the insulting way he talks about the VII writing process now. He (and Rob) managed it in the 90s for the books, comics etc, and I refuse to believe that Big Finish are the only ones to approach GNP and get the door slammed. Nobody died because he wasn’t up til 3am every night personally inking the Smegazine panels. Apple Records for the last two decades under Neil Aspinall used to be diabolically managed. Every open goal missed, every wantlist scoffed at. Beatles fans weren’t annoyed about this because they were “selfish and entitled”, they were annoyed about this because the path to be taken was so obvious and the Beatles brand was being hugely shown up by its contemporaries. When Jeff Jones took over, everything worked (well for a while anyway, until the industry started toppling). The fans got what they’d spent a decade being told to fuck off and stop asking for and the company and brand both surged. Doug’s a great writer. He doesn’t also need to be a brand manager, production assistant, grading supervisor, customer service assistant, merchandise creator, copy editor, sous chef, car park attendant and cowpoke. Someone else can write a bloody radio play, or design a calendar, or knock up a spinoff book, or be left alone to score a TV series. He is not the sole competent in a world of incompetence. And glass houses, frankly. But I’m glad saying no to BF has been helpful to the longevity of our show. That show that didn’t get picked up for a series XIII. You know that one.
I’d also liked to point out that Doug’s awful, stubborn solo management of the Red Dwarf brand has led to a comeback three-part special as well as three full new six-episode series of the TV show being broadcast over the last decade.
I agree with some of your points, Darrell, just not the conclusions you draw from them. Doug’s micromanagement has been a concern specifically in the making of the TV show. I would say that was a huge problem with X’s production, where Doug performing three hugely important jobs (Production Writing, Directing) meant that none were done to a particularly high standard. IMO, those issues were considerably less apparent with XI and XII. I don’t think the quality of one was compromised by the attention spent on the others. There were issues – but probably not because Doug was juggling roles. I’d take Ed back in an instant, but not necessarily because I thought XI and XII were badly directed. In terms of Doug being in the grading suite. Well, he is the custodian of Red Dwarf so wanted to be actively involved like he was for the DVDs, and for Remastered. Maybe, he though that the BD project would help further Red Dwarf be made? Whether his presence served a functional benefit is, er, dubious considering the quality control… but fuck it…what’s he supposed to be doing instead of sitting ‘overseeing’ that for a few hours? Banging down doors at UKTV? Lstening to proposals from BF? ANYWAY, I just don’t get what Doug’s solo-management has to do with him being resistant to farming out the licence to make “Red Dwarf” to other companies. Yes, he signed off on the Smegazines, Role Playing Games and books written by other people years ago, but that’s not using the actors and effectively trying to continue the show in a different medium. That would effectively be jacking in any chance of Red Dwarf returning to telly. That may be realistic response; but I think Doug would try and get the show picked up elsewhere before admitting defeat on that front. The only medium Red Dwarf has worked in other than a studio, audience-based TV sitcom are the Novels. Which were written by Rob, Doug or Rob & Doug and did not require the services of the TV actors. I will reserve judgement if this “news” turns out to be this stage show, but my interest in such a venture are low. > I’m glad saying no to BF has been helpful to the longevity of our show BF pumping out some glorified fan fiction would not help the longevity of Red Dwarf, a TV sitcom. Just as Paul Alexander doing another Red Dwarf Survival Guide book wouldn’t satisfy anyone just because it’s NEW RED DWARF MERCHANDISE.
I remember Doug once said around 2004-7 that having a TV deal locked in place with the BBC who at the time really wanted a series 9 was a good thing to have when it came to trying to get the movie funded. presumably because it made it more attractive to get funding. if no one wants to make the show then why would anyone wanna make the movie? In that kind of thinking. its possible Doug may feel if they do Big Finish it may mean there is less chance of funding another series. especially if Fans are getting fed the show through other means.
I just think there’s a lot of underestimating of ‘stuff going on generally’ and a lot of underestimating of ‘things being on shop shelves’. As for whether BF stuff would have hindered the TV series, it certainly didn’t harm Doctor Who. And one area in which it can’t be underestimated is the basic courtesy of it keeping the cast in regular paid work. Like I said, it’s a moot point now because we’ve got neither.
For what it’s worth, I don’t think you can infer much from the Big Finish thing other than Doug (and/or the rest of GNP) not thinking doing Big Finish was a good idea, but I do think it’s weird that a show of Red Dwarf’s success and popularity has had such a stop-start production schedule for so so long, and I worry that there’s something seriously wrong somewhere along the line that’s causing this. But I don’t know what that is, or even if there is anything to know.
How much of Doug doing 3 jobs is because he wants to and how much is it to save money? Does he get three salaries or does he get one which would be cheaper than paying three individual people?
It should be noted that when Doctor Who came back in 2005, the BBC were going to axe Big Finish’s license, and it was only because of RTD that they were allowed to continue. So there’s always the possibility that “oh but it’s already on audio” could be an influencing factor in not bothering to bring the show back. Regardless, I don’t want any new Dwarf material if it isn’t from Doug or Rob, anyway, but that’s just me.
RTD would have tried to bring back Doctor Who anyway, also. He wrote a Virgin New Adventures novel in the 90s and it was always on his agenda
I said that there was no good reason to turn them down My post above suggests a number of good reasons to turn to them down, many from a creative perspective. Giving writers you might not know free reign on a show which has only ever had two main writers, in a format that’s completely different from the show’s long-running format, at a point when the TV version is an on-going concern doesn’t make sense. And also he might think many of the Big Finish series are shit, or just literally have no interest in them. GNP in the 21st century has definitely been a mess, but Doug choosing not to take up options that don’t meet his own creative vision for the show isn’t really part of that.
To counter the fruity direction of my Doug reprobation I would at least like to remind everyone that I’m a consistent fan and defender of Doug’s solo writing, more than most here. But I would still rather jump into a wet skip than have him as my line manager.
(And I’d see a Dwarf BF range as a potentially enormous treasure trove of creative possibilities beyond just doing radio episodes of what we already know, even though those – audience included – would be more than possible. The differences in format, tone, writers they could experiment – these could be turned into advantages. As a thought experiment, imagine… okay, imagine a Cat People spinoff/prequel release, done in a straighter, non-audience style, with a black writer and an all BAME cast. In every possible way that would be Red Dwarf via a significant change in format, style and personnel, but in a deliberate way which lampshaded every change in a way which complimented, supplemented and worked in tandem to support and promote the ongoing TV series. That’s just one random example off the top of my head. Y’know – what is Red Dwarf missing? How could you purposely make it differently? What could you make a feature out of changing? How far could it stretch? If these were reasonable enough questions for the Smegazine team, I don”t see the problem with doing something similar, if Doug could put his trust in some other writers again. Also, Fox are happy to licence Alien audios, which do incredibly well. And they still make Alien films. And they’re a bigger deal than we are.)
I know where you’re coming from, but personaIly I just wouldn’t be interested in a Cat People audio spinoff, or an Ace Rimmer series, or a Hollister: The Early Years, or whatever else they would do with audio spinoffs. It just doesn’t hold interest for me and I don’t know that it would be good for Red Dwarf in general, it’d just be serving a very small subset of existing fans with more content to consume.
I’m just getting a Rogue One vibe here. An effort to set a story in a fictional universe – but with no attempt to recapture the tone of the original entries, while expecting fans to give a toss about some new characters due to their tertiary association to back-story. Things is, Star Wars actually bothered to “world-build” so that might have worked (it didn’t). Red Dwarf never has. It’s intrinsically tied to the dynamic of the central characters trying to navigate life in a mostly empty universe, and trying not to drive each other nuts. That’s the concept of a sitcom, and is the primary reason why it found an audience. Six more episodes of ‘Identity Within’? No, thanks. One was bad enough.
>As a thought experiment, imagine… okay, imagine a Cat People spinoff/prequel release, done in a straighter, non-audience style, with a black writer and an all BAME cast. “I’m trying not to. The last time I did that it took a week to dry the mattress.”
In all seriousness though, I can’t see how a a Cat People spinoff would be enjoyable in any way shape or form, and I’m fairly sure practically every other Red Dwarf fan on the planet would hate it too.
I still think adapting the novels would be a good start – it’d still be based on Grant Naylor material, even if someone else was adapting it. Get John Dorney or Jonathan Morris to do it.
As we’ve only seen Danny getting fitted for anything, it’s clear he is re-releasing an updated version of Tongue Tide and shooting a new video for it.
I still think adapting the novels would be a good start – it’d still be based on Grant Naylor material, even if someone else was adapting it. Get John Dorney or Jonathan Morris to do it. Yeah, this wouldn’t be such a bad idea, although I’m not sure how well Garbage World would come across in audio form. Chalk me up for another who wouldn’t be that bothered about spin-offs. Although I do like the idea of a rich expanded universe, I don’t think there’s actually much there to work from. An episode where they find a Cat ark – yes please. A series about life on the Cat ark – almost certainly tedious.
Utterly, utterly bizarre to hear somebody say Rouge One had “no attempt to recapture the tone of the original entries”, I mean… are you absolutely sure that’s what you think? To me it’s the only Disney Wars that got even close, despite VII’s pathetic attempts at rehash. It did have totally bland and forgettable characters though. But the space shit was cool. You can bet your ass I’d be listening to every single Red Dwarf Big Finish production they ever made, but I am perfectly content, and in fact happy to be in the universe where they chose not to go down that route. If I was Doug I’d probably have said nah too, for creative reasons mostly. I really, really don’t understand the angle that Doug SHOULD have done it, unless you think selling out your creative vision and potentially losing some of your bargaining chips is really cool
I was just thinking, I’m so bored of star Wars now, bored of the movies and bored of the discussion surrounding them. Let’s talk about Series VIII instead. I think it’s not that bad
I like Star Wars but Last Jedi is the only movie I’ve enjoyed this side of Disney. If I was going to licence a drama with Red Dwarf, it’d be from the Back to Reality game setting but that isn’t my requesting it. Futurama’s Radiorama episode was good. As I don’t dabble in audio much, are any of these Alien stories not adaptations..?
There are so many opportunities… The Waxworld Chronicles (all the way up to Meltdown) Justice World: Casefiles (aka CSI Space) The Adventures Of Smeg & The Heads (Scooby Doo style adventures as the band tries to get a record deal. And fails. Obviously) The Existential Angst of Spare Head 3 (like Ronnie Corbett telling stories except less happens) I think I’d rather watch Red Dwarf though.
I know it’s fun to speculate about the obscure Red Dwarf spin offs that Big Finish would create, but obviously they’d never do that. They’d just create a “Red Dwarf” series. They might do stories set at unusual points – like between Series VIII and Back to Earth – or adapt it into a more epic/dramatic structure, but they’re not going to produce The Further Adventures of Snacky. Doctor Who’s pretty much the only IP they have where they can get away with doing so many weird spin offs (or any spin offs at all), because they already release like 100 new core “Doctor Who” plays every year. That probably played into why GNP turned Big Finish down. Because whatever they made wouldn’t just be a spin off that could either be taken or left. It would be a major addition to the canon of the series, and that would be weird to start while Red Dwarf is still a “current” TV show.
What we like is complaining about the Red Dwarf we’re not getting during the rumble of new Red Dwarf approaching.
I want a prequel about how the chicken carcass got into the garbage pod. There’s got to be an amazing story to tell there.
Frankenstein: The Mimas Years Frankenstein was from Titan, though? In The End: HOLLISTER- Where’d you get it, Titan? LISTER- Yeah…
Frankenstein: The Mimas Years Frankenstein was from Titan, though? In The End: HOLLISTER- Where’d you get it, Titan? LISTER- Yeah… Tonight, on “Kit from Titan”, Derek Custer’s cat helps a small boy who’s fallen down a well.
>I want a prequel about how the chicken carcass got into the garbage pod. There’s got to be an amazing story to tell there. Yes, it’s a galaxy spanning epic which ends with a never-before-mentioned Red Dwarf crew member throwing a perfectly edible roast chicken away, just as CGI-recreated versions of Craig and Chris wander down a corridor pushing a trolley.
I think Red Dwarf has been one of the luckiest shows just in regards to being able to resurrect itself time and time again. Sure it was never able to produce a movie, but that’s only cause Doug refused to have the core cast replaced with more bankable stars like Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson for the American production companies.
Seems from Robert’s comments on Talksport today that this was all preparation for Series XIII after all. What a twist.
Latest Danny tweet shows Chris, Craig and Robert in a recording studio: https://twitter.com/DannyJohnJules/status/1138021406413938689 The copy seems to say that this is *not* Red Dwarf, although it’s pretty hard to interpret that mess of handles and hashtags.
I was really banking on it being Story Makers as well. Announcements for Dave? Big Finish couldn’t get the rights to “Red Dwarf” so they just got the actors to do a suspicious knockoff? A podcast about different brands of baked beans?
They’re clearly recording something for the live Red Dwarf stage show, so that when you go to see it for a second time you can watch it with the audio commentary on.
My guess would be continuity announcements for Dave also … it’s the only thing that I can think of that would involve all 4 of them and not be related to any of their other projects. Unless Doug has started a podcast and he has blown 4 episodes worth of guests in the first episode.
Well Danny excluded it from being related to Red Dwarf in the hastags. It might be for another traveling show Danny is doing. Danny did get Craig,Chris and Robert to work on it last time.
On the subject of commentaries, what ever happened to Doug’s brilliant idea for making up for the lack of them on the DVDs? I was sure he was going to release them like podcasts so we could listen along like with G&T and other fan ones.
Danny’s teasing/treating us again. https://twitter.com/DannyJohnJules/status/1138386763460861952?s=19
Danny is at it again … mention of a competition today https://twitter.com/DannyJohnJules/status/1139076883151298561
Seems Danny’s been chatting with The Sun…https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/9371699/danny-john-jules-strictly-come-dancing. To get to the point this is what his meant to have said “Earlier this month Danny reunited with his Red Dwarf co-stars. He posted a video on Instagram to fans saying “we’re not allowed to say a damn word about what we’re doing”. After sparking rumours filming had begun on a new series, The Sun Online can reveal Red Dwarf will be returning to UK TV screens. But fans will have to wait a while longer to see Danny, Craig Charles, Chris Barrie and Robert Llewellyn back on-screen. “All we know is it’s going to be done by the end of the year,” said Danny, who plays Cat in the comedy series first broadcast in 1988. “We haven’t seen a script yet, it’s all in negotiation. “But I’m never worried about Red Dwarf. I’ve never been so comfortable in a gig.” “The fans are over the moon, spinning cartwheels because unless you’re watching Netflix, what are you going to watch as a sitcom in England.”
“After sparking rumours filming had begun on a new series” Of all the rumours that have circulated, I’m not sure that filming beginning without an announcement, audience, studio or crew was one of them.
https://twitter.com/DannyJohnJules/status/1144193192243453952 “All will be revealed live on @BBCSussex now. #ThatsShowbiz #IveGottaBeMe #RedDwarf ” So he is about to announce something right now?
That wasn’t very enlightening. “How long did Red Dwarf run for?” “31 years – and running” the only thing of slight note.
