No Sodding News News Posted by John Hoare on 3rd June 2003, 00:00 Still a news drought, I’m afraid. Back In The Red have posted what they say is the “first, well.. er…. kinda look at Chris Barrie in the latest Lara Croft adventure”, and given a link to a picture – a picture that The Red Dwarf Zone mentioned ages ago. Still, the difficult to spell Matt Drzymala has reminded us that Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life is due out in the UK on 22nd August. No doubt the film will have it’s knoc… oh, fuck it. After two days of launching new sections, it’s a relatively quiet day here at G&T – just some brief info on the entry in the Penguin TV Companion about Red Dwarf. Expect a review of the book to be added soon. A more substantial update tomorrow.
Cunt Times News Posted by John Hoare on 2nd June 2003, 00:00 Just one update today to the site. The Schedule section has been added, giving details of Red Dwarf related broadcasts for TV and Radio for the next few days. Similar to the Dwarf Tracker on the official site; but that only gives Red Dwarfschedule details. We aim to give details on programmes that members of the cast are involved in as well. We intend to cover cable/digital channels; but for the UK only I’m afraid. Sorry to our worldwide readers, but we just don’t have the time for anything else. We’ll do our best to keep this section as updated and complete as possible, but we’ll obviously miss things from time to time; it’s certainly incomplete as it stands at the moment, but there will be daily updates. It’ll soon get up to speed. Oh, and if you don’t get the title of this news update, believe me – it’s not worth it.
Eeeeeeeeexcellent News Posted by John Hoare on 1st June 2003, 00:00 Yes, I’m back rather earlier than expected – my net access difficulties have all been sorted. Which means regular updates for the site – and rather better regular updates than the last few days, thank fuck. Finally, and despite an earlier news item claiming this had been launched (ahem), The Brittas Empire section is now online. Contained within is the existing Episode Guide, and the new DVD FAQ – containing all the latest information on the DVDs. Expect it to be updated regularly. More Brittasstuff to follow soon, including an in-depth review of the DVDs when they are released. And last month’s news/updates items have been archived in the May 2003 section. More updates tomorrow, on some actual Dwarf stuff. Yay! And let’s hope some news appears at some point…
We’re rubbish News Posted by John Hoare on 30th May 2003, 00:00 A very, very minor update today. The Cast Listhas had yet another revision; detailing Graham Chapman’s planned appearance in the show, and yet more uncredited actors from Series I. A companion Crew List is in preparation. Expect changes to more existing material in the next few weeks. In fact, a lot of changes are due over Summer, including some improvements to page layout and accessibility, and even some – gasp – more pictures. We do spoil you. With all this self-indulgent look at our site, you might be forgiven for thinking that bugger all is happening in the outside world. Well, you’re right. www.reddwarf.co.uk has had it’s usual Friday update, so head on over there if you haven’t already – but there’s really not much happening at the moment. Ian will have his usual newsround tomorrow. It’s possible I may have to take a break from the news roundups for a while, as I may have sporadic net access over the next couple of weeks – although I’ll still be contributing articles. In which case, I’m leaving you in Ian’s safe hands. God help you.
Goooooooooooogle News Posted by John Hoare on 29th May 2003, 00:00 It’s not news (which seems to be rather thin on the ground at the moment), but I’ve been doing some investigating. Take a look at this – the first mention of Red DwarfI can find on Google’s Usenet archive. Pity the quoted line: “In fact, we’re going so fast that controlling the ship is a real brown-trouser job.” is actually correctly: “Look, we’re travelling faster than the speed of light. That means, by the time we see something, we’ve already passed through it. Even with an IQ of 6000, it’s still brown trousers time.” I cuss you bad, Kev Holmes. Still, well done. For the record, it was posted on 20th October, 1988 – and the episode in question (Future Echoes) was broadcast 22nd February 1988. Have a look at some more early Red Dwarf posts – go backwards through them to get them in order. I’ve searched all the way to the end of 1989, so if you want to go further than that, you’ll need to change it. In site updates, I’ve uploaded my reviews of Future Echoes and Balance Of Power. If you disagree with them, why not write a review yourself and send it in? The Edit News article has also been updated, to include a cut to Demons and Angels (see section 9). I only saw the episode recently on UK Gold, and realised I’d been watching the cut episode for years, and never heard the line before. Odd.
The BBC smell of poo News Posted by John Hoare on 28th May 2003, 00:00 A new article for G&T today – a review of the Red Dwarf section of The Sitcom Story, BBC ONE’s version of the history of the sitcom. Bearing in mind the title of this news update, and the title of the article, you may be able to guess that we weren’t entirely convinced by the show. In smaller updates to the site, the Cast List has undergone a major revision, with the uncredited cast being vastly expanded. The ATVRD Birthday List has also had an update. Finally, although Groovetown has been fairly slow with the updates recently, it has an interesting story on Ruby Wax’s new Radio 2 show on Saturday afternoons. Let’s hope the comic clips contained therein are better selected than The Sitcom Story…
‘Back In The Red’ Relaunches News Posted by John Hoare on 27th May 2003, 00:00 Well, I’m back from my dirty weekend, and ready to kick bottom. Sort of. First up, Matt’s Red Dwarf site Back In The Redhas relaunched after a short absence. Gone are the episode guides and character profiles, which you can find elsewhere anyway, and in place is some new, unique content. Hooray! Friend of the website Karl Eisenhauer has also e-mailed us this interesting report on Danny John-Jules’s new sitcom, The Crouches. It’s set to premiere on BBC ONE this Autumn. Let’s hope it’s good – BBC ONE could really do with a decent sitcom… Not much in the way of site updates today, although I’ve slightly updated the Links page. Expect something good tomorrow. In the meantime, take a look at the Red Dwarf section of Fingertip Fabrications – modelmaker Steve Howarth’s site. It gives you some real insights into the production of Series VIII, including some great stuff on the time wand. And it has a wonderful picture of the Loading Bay that just begs to be used as a wallpaper. Made to 1:25 scale, and it looks beautiful – and the Starbug crash was the best special effect Series VIII had by a long way. I’ll tell you what – the Wormholes section on www.reddwarf.co.uk is severely underrated… Oh, and I saw an old Smith & Jones video over the weekend. Not only was it hilarious (I’d forgotten how good they were), but Robert Llewellyn turned up in a song about an Italian restaurant. Which, sadly enough, made my day.
Bad References News Posted by John Hoare on 23rd May 2003, 00:00 Before the update, I just have to bring your attention to this on the Red Dwarf Shop (UK). It’s absolutely beautiful. I tend to moan when I think the merchandise is crap; it’s only fair to enthuse when something lovely is produced. It’s wonderful, and I’ll definitely be buying one. Or seven. Oh, and for any of you watching State Of Play on BBC ONE, did you notice the Producer was Hilary Bevan-Jones, who also produced Red Dwarf V? And Sunbury Pumphouse, the location which doubled for Justice World, was used on a sex education show shown on the Learning Zone on BBC TWO a couple of nights ago. I’m not sure which aspect of that anecdote is more worrying, though. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’d call it an “anecdote”. Anyway, two quick updates for you today – both Red Dwarf References Lists (Book and TV) are online. Written by the prolific Annette McIntosh, they were last updated in 1996 – we plan to produce addendum documents (especially for the TV list, as it only covers up to Series VI), but that can wait until we have the PIP Addendum up and running. Incidentally, the lists aren’t fully HTMLized – it’s a bloody nightmare of a job, but I’ll try and sort it next week. I’m just left reeling at how comprehensive they are. I expect the official site will be updated later today – Ian will report on this tomorrow. I’m off to have some employment of time in a profitless and non-practical way. Yay!
Crime Traveller II News Posted by John Hoare on 20th May 2003, 00:00 Here’s a few quick links to details of the Crime Traveller IIDVD (which contains the second half of the first and only series), which is to be released on the 26th May: BBFC Entry – Sins of the Father BBFC Entry – Death Minister BBFC Entry – The Lottery Experiment BBFC Entry – The Broken Crystal Blackstar listing Play listing The extras just aren’t worth bothering with – biographies of Michael French, Chloe Annett, Sue Johnston, Paul Trussell, and creator Anthony Horowitz, episode synopsis, and the ultimate in pointlessness – a trailer for the Crime Traveller One DVD. Are you seriously telling me the BBC didn’t trail this series, and they couldn’t have dug up a couple of original broadcast ones? Anyway, we’ll have a review of this at some point – meanwhile, you can read our review of the first Crime Traveller DVD. Both releases are also avaliable on VHS. In actual Dwarf news, Jonathan Capps has got in contact with us to mention that Red Dwarf will feature in The Sitcom Story (Dawn French’s series detailing the history of the sitcom), also on Monday 26th May, at 10:55pm on BBC ONE. Apparently, it will feature a new interview with Craig Charles, so it’ll be well worth watching. Many thanks to Jonathan for this, and we’ll bring you all a report on it when it’s broadcast. Not a major update today – just a Scene Summary for Balance of Power. Ian will have his review of the Norman Lovett gig tomorrow, the bastard.
