102 comments on “Let’s Talk About Stellar Rescue”

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  • Seriously though – Humour-wise for an advert it was good, seems like standard latter-day Red Dwarf fare. Still amazed they went all out on it though, it looks like a genuine episode of the show. I wasn’t expecting this to be how it happened but there you go – new Red Dwarf in 2019.

  • Also, I hope they now call the next full series “Series XIV”, thus leaving us to endlessly debate BTE-style whether this ad is the true Series XIII.

  • It’s a bit weird seeing the guys in character doing a genuine bonified advert for the fucking AA of all things. Assume the AA threw a bit of money at GNP to make it worth their while.

    Darrell will be pleased to see the gang on TV keeping that Red Dwarf brand awareness going in the downtime between series.

    I’m quite impressed with the effort that’s gone into this. It’s been scripted by someone that knows the characters fairly well, so presumably Dougs had some involvement in the stuff to Craig doing the actual AA/app stuff. They’ve dragged the Starbug sets out of storage and got the cast all kitted up for it, which probably took a bit of planning in and of itself.

    Also, I think thats the first time in the Dave era we’ve seen from the cockpit into the midsection, so that’s pretty cool in and of itself.

  • Also, I hope they now call the next full series “Series XIV”, thus leaving us to endlessly debate BTE-style whether this ad is the true Series XIII.

    I just said the same thing over on the Discord channel more or less, this is the XIII content we’ve been hearing about.

  • Seeing new Red Dwarf, even if it’s just an AA advert really made my day, I really liked this! And they really went all out on it too, they got the whole cast in costume and the sets and everything, wrote a script that’s at least moderately funny, and the special effects look better than pretty much anything in XI-XII. Really impressed with this, good stuff

  • Also, I hope they now call the next full series “Series XIV”, thus leaving us to endlessly debate BTE-style whether this ad is the true Series XIII.

    Personally I’d vote for Series XII.V just to confuse quick readers! But think if we had a whole series based around adverts? Kryten discovering the wonders of a Dyson vacuum! Lister drinking Irn-Bru instead of Lager! Cat going shopping at an H&M! Rimmer…driving a Bentley or something.

  • Presumably there will be radio ads to follow at some point, which would explain the boys in the recording booth a little while ago. Wonder if they’ll have a similar scripting and gags or whether it’ll just get straight to the AA stuff.

  • Glad the AA bloke was female. Would have had to cancel my membership otherwise.

  • Hopefully in the next one the AA lady will jump-start the second Big Bang with jump leads from Starbug.

  • Craig delivering the app line reminded me of “because the ident computer says they do”
    In fact the whole thing is so well produced that when I clicked on the link not fully understanding what it was
    I thought it might have been a deleted scene I had forgotten about from XII for a second, that maybe a fan had cut to mock the recent lay-by photo, until the van arrived.

  • Can we talk about how this is the best Red Dwarf has looked since the mid 1990’s?

    Great lighting in the cockpit (seems like it’s not as overwhelmingly blue).
    Lovely shot passing through Starbug’s dirty window.
    INTERACTIVE LIGHTING – actually lit for or placed in the environment, not comped from a generically lit blue screen model shot.
    A well made take off, captures the essence of the old ones, any recent takeoffs or landings have been too horizontal and fast.

    Shame about the tiny legged Dave Starbug, but shot right even that looks better.

    It’ll be interesting to see the BTS, whoever did this and however they did it that’s the way forward budget allowing because this looked great.

  • Darrell will be pleased to see the gang on TV keeping that Red Dwarf brand awareness going in the downtime between series.

    Seeing I’ve been summoned without someone calling me a cunt for a change I can confirm that this is absolutely, 100% what I meant, and on a bigger scale than I might have imagined. Red Dwarf as a public presence, in the real world, with its tackle out. This is what we need. I genuinely didn’t think Doug had it in him to let go of his ball like this. Good man, I underestimated him, clearly.

    Really didn’t expect a TV ad though. Once the clues drew me away from the tour idea I’d got to thinking the Danny stuff was sone kind of extracurricular RD ‘content’, but I was thinking links for something or a sketch/cameo for another show. It’s funny as well! I watched Timewave last night and the dialogue is absolutely leaden, so it’s lovely to see the cast being snappy and funny.

    Also agree that it looks beautiful – and if a XIII really is going to happen (and I am *still* not convinced the XIII talk isn’t all some Bowfinger style hustle, even now), I am now conclusively on the side of preferring an audienceless, single camera, Ed Moore style series (with the production values of XI/XII as opposed to BtE) rather than jamming that uneasily into a multicamera format. I’ve spoken before about recent Dave RD having too many aesthetic ingredients and this ad is a perfect proof of concept that it would work stripped down.

  • well we now have 1 minute more of New Red Dwarf than i expected to see in 2019 !!

    and i liked it !!!

    massive surprise to be honest! i saw some bits and pieces about the AA and them all having been together recently but did not put 2 and 2 together!

    looking forward to a 50 thousand word breakdown now and a 3 hour podcast!!

  • That radio ad’s just as good, isn’t it? Very witty, and not just an attempt to make an audio version of the TV ad. A very well done campaign, and good work by GNP.

  • Additional: This and the Dave ad from a couple of months a go now means potentially that the last time we will ever see Starbug on screen will not be in Timewave, this is a win.

  • Seeing I’ve been summoned without someone calling me a cunt for a change I can confirm that this is absolutely, 100% what I meant, and on a bigger scale than I might have imagined. Red Dwarf as a public presence, in the real world, with its tackle out. This is what we need. I genuinely didn’t think Doug had it in him to let go of his ball like this. Good man, I underestimated him, clearly.

    I don’t think anyone here thinks you’re a cunt. I think it’s just a case of having different views of the treatment of Red Dwarf based on differing interpretations of the available evidence.

    I’m glad we’re starting to see the fruits of what has obviously been some successfully secretive work in recent months and years. I can understand why some fans felt frustrated there was nothing visibly happening for a while, but like you say, it seems like that underestimated the fact that there could be all kinds of stuff going on that we didn’t know about.

    It’s partly what I meant in those other threads when I talked about being happy with nothing more from Red Dwarf but also happy to be pleasantly surprised when new stuff did come along. This is one of those pleasant surprises.

  • Funny gags. Well made. Well performed. Boosting the show’s signal to the general public. Can’t see any downside to any of this. Good work Doug and all involved.

  • I don’t think anyone here thinks you’re a cunt.

    ‘Course they do. This is G&T, everyone’s a cunt. That’s a requirement.

  • Oh wow – pretty impressive that they’ve dug so much out of storage in terms of sets/costumes etc. given that there’s no series actively in production at the moment. Bit weird that they’re using a slightly off version of the theme tune at the end, but it’s still clearly recognisable – I’m guessing a vocal-less version with instrumentation matching either of the versions used in-series probably doesn’t exist any more.

    I know it’s been observed that this is the first time since the XI/XII Starbug set was introduced that we’ve seen the midsection through the cockpit door like back in the BBC era – it’s a nice detail to see in such a short side-production, particularly as the mid-section set isn’t actually used in the ad outside of this background appearance. It’s amazing how just seeing from one set to the other helps the ship feel more like an actual place with its own internal geography – hopefully they can sort the studio layouts so that these sets connect like this if there are any further series produced.

    One thing I’ve not seen commented on yet – since the introduction of Starbug’s rear-angled legs in “Back to Reality” and subsequent use in VII onwards, is this the first time we’ve actually seen the legs transition from “landing mode” to “flight mode” on-screen?

  • Also, just noticed on rewatching that the cockpit door itself has been modified – the locking wheel has been removed, and it now functions as a sliding door like the (rarely-seen) cockpit door in the BBC era, rather than a swing-door as in XI/XII. Interesting to see tweaks and upgrades to the set for an out-of-series appearance like this – wonder if they’ve made these changes with one eye on a potential future series…?

  • Kryten’s mask is the best it’s been in a decade..

    I get everyone is overly excited about new Red Dwarf material. even if its just a 1-minute ad. but Isn’t it just the same mask from XI and XII? I imagine they didn’t put that much effort into a redesign for this advert.

    is this the first time we’ve actually seen the legs transition from “landing mode” to “flight mode” on-screen?

    Do you count the remastered? in the remastered episode of Marooned you see Starbug do it i believe.

    Presumably its easier to do with CGI.

  • top 5 model shots of the Dave era #3: Stellar Rescue

    Also surprisingly didn’t feel awkward without an audience – the quickfire rate of both the gags and the editing covered for this, whereas in Back to Earth we had drawn out reaction shots of characters after jokes, where the laughter WOULD go if there were any.

    Overall this looks great, and makes me smile, and I’m happy that Red Dwarf is in the public consciousness enough to be worth making an AA advert out of.

  • I love the idea that Cat has a big red ejector seat button, but only for Rimmer.

  • Kryten’s mask is the best it’s been in a decade..

    I get everyone is overly excited about new Red Dwarf material. even if its just a 1-minute ad. but Isn’t it just the same mask from XI and XII? I imagine they didn’t put that much effort into a redesign for this advert.
    is this the first time we’ve actually seen the legs transition from “landing mode” to “flight mode” on-screen?
    Do you count the remastered? in the remastered episode of Marooned you see Starbug do it i believe.
    Presumably its easier to do with CGI.

    There’s some attempts at the model doing it on the Raw FX footbage I think. I seem to remember it looking janky.

  • Also, just noticed on rewatching that the cockpit door itself has been modified – the locking wheel has been removed, and it now functions as a sliding door like the (rarely-seen) cockpit door in the BBC era, rather than a swing-door as in XI/XII. Interesting to see tweaks and upgrades to the set for an out-of-series appearance like this – wonder if they’ve made these changes with one eye on a potential future series…?

    I noticed this too. I think it’s just a product on needing to see the AA Lady walk into the cockpit easily without having to faff with doors. And in doing so, means they needed something behind her because that area would be see from the cockpit for the first time.

    Also help that, whereever they shot this, they only had to erect the Starbug set, and not try to squeeze it round the back of a larger Red Dwarf set, so they could put both cockpit and mid-section together for the first time.

  • It doesn’t look like a midsection, as it does more a corridor. presumably, one of the Red Dwarf ones recycled.

    Saves money.

  • I get everyone is overly excited about new Red Dwarf material. even if its just a 1-minute ad. but Isn’t it just the same mask from XI and XII? I imagine they didn’t put that much effort into a redesign for this advert.

    It definitely looks like there’s more definition. The face looks less flat. I mean, it’s not a dramatic redesign, but it looks different preferable to me. And obviously it’s better than the X mask.

  • I’ve only just realised the very real probability that we’re not going to be able to own this on DVD or Blu-ray.
    MY LIFE IS RUINED.

  • It doesn’t look like a midsection, as it does more a corridor. presumably, one of the Red Dwarf ones recycled.

    Saves money.

    That’s clearly the midsection from XI/XII

  • There was a midsection for XI and XII? I always assumed that set wasn’t meant to be the midsection.

  • I’ve only just realised the very real probability that we’re not going to be able to own this on DVD or Blu-ray.

    MY LIFE IS RUINED.

    Imagine the continuation of the BBC DVD covers… a nice yellow colour theme, the AA responder on the spine…

    Red DwAArf logo with typeface issue to get upset about…

  • I’ve only just realised the very real probability that we’re not going to be able to own this on DVD or Blu-ray.
    MY LIFE IS RUINED.

    Ha, who would pay for a Blu-Ray of a 60-second TV ad?

    (ALL OF US, obviously…)

  • Well, the ad itself isn’t amazing. What IS amazing is its existence.This would have been faintly ridiculous in 1999. The fact that it’s materialised in 2019 is preposterous. I can only assume that someone in charge is a big Red Dwarf fan.

  • Well, there was a Red Dwarf bit in the TV licence ad from 1999, so not that faintly ridiculous!

  • The performances are abit broad. but then its a TV advert so you can probably give it leeway for that.

  • But wait. There’s no roadside scenario/Angel of the North moment. Could this actually be a series?

  • The performances are abit broad. but then its a TV advert so you can probably give it leeway for that.

    Dunno man. Feels pretty authentically Dwarfy to me.

  • I presumed that was just side promotion.

    But it wasn’t officially put on Twitter or anything. Someone just snapped that in passing, right?

  • Some sort of viral marketing, perhaps. And a guaranteed, possibly pre-arranged writeup in that paper. The whole screen-accurate Starbug thing is a little extra if that’s just the case, though

  • Whether it’s going to be part of a larger campaign will be interesting to see e.g. if we’ll now get banner ads and billboards with a picture of Cat going ‘these deals are AA-meowzing!” and the like.

  • This is brilliant! The guys all look great, the jokes work pretty well, especially the ejector seat gag, it’s really nicely lit and shot and the VFX are, as others have mentioned, probably superior to the bulk of XI and XII. Lovely to see the guys back on screen.

  • these deals are AA-meowzing!

    I haven’t seen anything so laboured since my wife gave birth to triplets

  • looking forward to a 50 thousand word breakdown now and a 3 hour podcast!!

    I want the podcast to be in the style of the one foot in the grave episode the beast in the cage where John and Ian and Tanya and Cappsy are trapped in a layby together waiting for an AA person to arrive, while nothing happens, and then they discuss the advert for a couple of minutes at the end.

  • I do like how Starbug has a Big Red House Phone, to be honest. You know, just in case anybody rings them.

  • Also, just noticed on rewatching that the cockpit door itself has been modified – the locking wheel has been removed, and it now functions as a sliding door like the (rarely-seen) cockpit door in the BBC era, rather than a swing-door as in XI/XII. Interesting to see tweaks and upgrades to the set for an out-of-series appearance like this – wonder if they’ve made these changes with one eye on a potential future series…?

    I see it as working for a reveal moment when the AA representative arrives, stops that being clunky and mirrors like the doors in star trek more.

  • You can tell this advert is set in the Dave era, because the universe is populated enough for an AA van to turn up. If this were the early BBC era, then no help would’ve come, and Kryten and Rimmer would have had to watch Lister and Cat slowly die of dehydration, then Kryten would have had to watch Rimmer die as his power supply ran out, and then Kryten would commit suicide due to the overwhelming grief. Then there’d be a caption reading “10,000 years later” and you’d see an automated AA van arrive to excavate the decomposed remains of Starbug. Then they’d show the logo.

    The spirit of loneliness. That’s the true Red Dwarf we all know and love.

  • Sadly there is probably more truth to that then there should be. in the early days they probably would have been totally fucked and had to figure it out for themselves. nowadays the episode Marooned probably would involve trying to contact the space station AA who luckily happens to be near by to send over an AA droid, but its take all episode to fix starbug while Rimmer complains he is late for something. :P

    Social commentary on modern real life scenarios… IN SPACE!

  • >Social commentary on modern real life scenarios… IN SPACE!

    They get a tax bill through the post in Series II.

  • I demand for this to be released on a two disc blueray along with a doug director commentary.

  • Imagine if a high art classic Red Dwarf episode such as Marooned had a plot point involving a popular brand name from the real world! Truly unfathomable.

  • They get a tax bill through the post in Series II.

    That was fairly mild compared to lets say a subplot with Lister being on a shopping hotline with a bunch of droids, who also put him on hold even though there really shouldn’t be any other calls, but then Lister couldn’t do the shopping hotline routine unless you ignore that stuff.

    You could say i am exaggerating, but can anyone really say i am wrong about the Dave era being abit more open to those tropes?

  • > This would have been faintly ridiculous in 1999. The fact that it’s materialised in 2019 is preposterous.

    I suppose because I primarily think of Red Dwarf from a fandom point of view, as a show we read about and discuss and make stupid arcane jokes about on here, I sort of forget that it’s legitimately a piece of popular culture, and am often surprised when it crops up in the wild so to speak. Which is daft really, but yes, this being on the telly in the Corrie ad break is quite extraordinary. Anyway, I agree this has been very well done and is funny and looks great.

  • I wonder how many people watching the ad will be totally out the loop with Dwarf and think this is the first thing they’ve done in 20 years

  • I’ve now witness both the TV and radio ads in the wild today, and for someone who doesn’t purposefully watch TV or listen to the radio, that suggests they’re very much out there.

  • >They get a tax bill through the post in Series II.

    The first thing this ad brought to mind was the Inland Revenue thing – I know it’s not going to be considered canon, but it seems entirely in character that Rimmer would be unlikely to believe in good (albeit far-fetched) things happening to him but would be worrying all the time about the (similarly far-fetched) bad ones.

    Also didn’t they actually have to call out the AA to retrieve the keys from Carbug during Back to Earth filming?

  • <

    Also didn’t they actually have to call out the AA to retrieve the keys from Carbug during Back to Earth filming?

    They just smashed the back window

  • They just smashed the back window

    Sometimes the old ways are the best ways!

    Also, I did mean Outland Revenue of course… (shame overload}

  • Brilliant, this has made my day. How many times is to many times to watch it. Think I might top my start wars trailer replete viewing record on this. Roll on season 13!

  • Well this is a nice surprise. Wonder if it’s too much to hope for that they have already been greenlit for series 13 and decided to hold off on announcing until after this campaign so Dave can spin it as bringing back the show after public interest demanded it.

    It might be sacrilege, but I like this without the laugh track. Don’t necessarily think it’s a good idea to try and do for a 13th series of a 30 year old show, but I’d love to see an alternate universe take on Red Dwarf where series 13 (I’m just going to hope it into existence) is a single cam no laugh track show. Less spaces left for audience laughter means you can fit in more lines, and you could even get Holly to act as narrator Ron Howard Arrested Development style.

  • OOOOOOOooooooohhhhhhhhh, Holly as narrator, interesting idea. An episode-long S.O.S. distress cal

  • That was awesome! Let’s hope it’s built up enough for Dave to go ahead with XIII. I was worried they have given up on them in favour of exhausted panel shows.

  • I’m sure I heard a new radio ad last night – I was half asleep when it came on so I don’t have the exact wording to hand, but the Cat says he wants to join AA, Rimmer says cats can’t join, Cat replies saying he wants one of those fluorescent jackets.

  • I loved that shot where they were looking out the door, I’m so glad there’s a high-res photo of it. My new phone wallpaper

  • Kryten…the mask is lovely, but I just wish it was more angular. It’s a bit of a cliche, but the series V mask was great as far as nice, sharp, flat, clearly defined amgles go. The last couple of series (sX nose aside) have been nice enough, but it’s looking too rounded and less clearly defined.

  • I think it does too but it could just be because I’m a mindless sheep who is just going along with the intelligent and attractive members of this forum

  • The Dave masks aren’t 3D printed. They’re hand sculpted and hand-run just like every other Kryten mask there’s ever been, just based on a 3D printed lifecast. The only difference is that they’re now run in silicone rather than foam latex or polyfoam like the previous ones were.

  • That kind of silicone reacts to light differently, it might actually be as sharp, but it has flesh like properties, subsurface scattering and such, whereas the old masks were totally opaque, which could be masking some angles.

  • I just heard another radio ad with Kryten worrying about drifting into a nearby sun because the engines were dead, and Cat saying the AA app was the best thing he’d seen since he looked in the mirror. I hadn’t heard it before. Is this another new one?

  • I only have a sample of the one radio station I listen to, but both adverts seem to be getting played significantly more often in the last week.

  • There’s a new Red Dwarf radio commercial I’m sure I heard it today on absolute radio. It’s got more Rimmer talking.

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