DwarfCast 178 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VIII DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 9th January 2026, 11:49 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "Birds don't have balls" We may not be fast, but we get there in the end. Just shy of a year later, our voyage of Re-Disc-overy continues as we reach the mammoth collection that is the Series VIII DVD. And there is much to discuss, such as the inter-cast beef evident in the commentary track, the brilliance of the guest stars' contributions to the documentary, a reappraisal of Chris Veale's work on the series, the beginnings of the show's web presence, the moment that secured this fledgling fansite's future, and buffet car food. Oh, and there's always time to discuss the merits of the series itself, because we haven't done that enough over the last twenty-six years. All this, plus not one but two commentaries, on the Children In Need sketch and the collection of PBS idents. You lucky people. Read more →
DwarfCast 177 – Wafflemen Special #5 DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 29th August 2025, 09:37 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes The Least Used Scrotum in London After an enforced absence where it proved impossible to find an afternoon where all three of us were available and awake, we are back in your ears with a brand new DwarfCast! There was a lot to catch up on, including the new Bluray boxset, Doug's debut children's novel and the forthcoming audiobook releases of the TV soundtracks. Join us for a big old news round up, supplemented by a fresh stack of waffles, provided to us by you, the faithful listener/reader. Does Red Dwarf have a future on TV? What would feature in a modern day Smegazine? Are there any dream DVD extras that haven't yet been made? What's the best Best of the Beatles album? All this and more in our latest Wafflemen Special. Read more →
DwarfCast 176 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #14 DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 3rd April 2025, 14:49 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "Jane Killed Flick" It's the end of a relatively minor era, as we conclude our coverage of Volume 1 of the Red Dwarf Smegazine. Get ready for the cross-over event of the century, as one character from Back to Reality meets another character from Back to Reality, along with about fifty other comic strips of varying quality. We also uncover some scandalous censorship on the news pages, discuss Robert Llewellyn being sodomised by a rabbit, covet tiny cardboard models, deride one of the worst April Fools jokes of all time, and stalk a baby. It's quite the ride. We recommend reading along as you listen; you can find scans of the mag at archive.org or Stasis Leak. Read more →
DwarfCast 175 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VII DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 22nd January 2025, 08:43 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "A side-swipe at oven chips" As we enter the twentieth anniversary year of one of the most seminal short films of all time, it's an opportunity for us to reflect on our own pasts as we explore the The Movie: Yeah No Yeah No DVD, which features among its bonus material the entirety of Red Dwarf VII. It's the most personal trip down memory lane in our Re-Disc-overy series so far, as we not only commentate on the fan films, but also reveal all the behind the scenes details of the haphazard production processes, cringe at our past selves' incompetence, and consider how one simple film-making competition ultimately changed all three of our lives. But that's not all, as there's an awful lot to discuss in the rest of this three disc package too. Join us as we attempt to make amends for our past criticism of someone who really didn't deserve it, reminisce about the time Grant Naylor Productions threatened us with legal action, piece together Chris Barrie's whereabouts during the bits of Series VII he wasn't in, reveal the link between this DVD and the world of gardening, and begin to assemble our complete history of Red Dwarf via the medium of cancelling every single person involved. Read more →
DwarfCast 174 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #13 DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 14th December 2024, 15:50 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "Flicky Mint Cake" Welcome back to the Rack! The latest installment in our periodical drama takes us back to March 1993, a time when perhaps too much information about the forthcoming Series VI is being made public, Rob and Doug's relationship is definitely absolutely fine, and the elephant in Hattie Hayridge's room goes unaddressed. Join us as we witness a space monkey genocide, "enjoy" a double length Androids and contemplate life as a living fridge, a sentient armchair and a big fish-frog thing. Plus spend far too long indulging in nostalgia for analogue-based editing systems. Seriously, that's most of the podcast. In order for any of the above to make sense, you'll need a copy of the mag to refer to, which you can find via archive.org or Stasis Leak. Read more →
DwarfCast 173 – Bottom Parade – Commentary DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 18th September 2024, 14:59 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes U&UKTVPlayG2U&Dave&Knuckles Righty dokey matey bloke flap old salty seadog amigo skip-jack jockstrap piano tuners, we're back with another in our occasional series of Dwarf-adjacent commentaries, this time covering Bottom Series 2, Episode 4, Parade. Not only is the series produced and directed by Ed Bye, this particular episode guest stars both Robert Llewellyn and Lee Cornes, which is as good an excuse as any to rabbit on over this episode and tackle your Bottom-shaped waffles. We cover pretty much all the affiliated spin-offs - the live shows, the Fluff video, Guest House Paradiso - as well as discussing what happens when TV schedules are affected by real life events, how Rik and Ade could have fitted in to Red Dwarf and trying to figure out if there's any modern equivalents to this madness. Read more →
DwarfCast 172 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #12 DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 21st August 2024, 11:35 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "Clifford the Big Bastard of a Dog" With apologies for the delay, it's finally time to get back on the rack! Our Smegazine odyssey reaches February 1993, a very interesting time in Red Dwarf history, as the magazine's news page documents. In this episode, we uncover the origins of Entangled, some foreshadowing of The Promised Land and the first ever use of the smeg hammer. Other super relevant and definitely on-topic discussion points include the Bottom Exposed documentary, various 1990s adventure game shows, and the state of the Hitchhikers franchise after Douglas Adams's death. Oh, and the results of a caption competition from two years ago. We may not be fast... Read more →
DwarfCast 171 – Re-Disc-overy: Series VI DwarfCasts Posted by Jonathan Capps on 28th April 2024, 14:51 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "Nic Farey is why we have to take off our shoes in airports" Even by the standards of the Red Dwarf DVDs, the series VI release was special and probably represents the arguable pinnacle of the original set of releases. As such, Cappsy, Danny and Ian had a marvellous time reliving an absolutely packed release of musical insight, more SFX behind the scenes goodies, plus a very amusing and previously unknown tale regarding Craig and horses! Read more →
DwarfCast 170 – The Smegazine Rack – Issue #11 DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 15th February 2024, 11:58 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "There's two scythes to every story." In this very exciting instalment of our journey through all things Smegazine, Cappsy, Danny and Ian are joined by two very special guests - Chris Barrie's nipples. Listen along as the five of us discuss neural networks, yuppies, Kochanski's giant forehead, Norman Wisdom's popularity in Albania, whether or not Back To Reality was actually any good, and how The Inquisitor is accidentally responsible for the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein. It's best to have the magazine in front of you as you listen. If you don't have an actual copy, scans are available on archive.org or Stasis Leak, you freeloading bastard. Read more →
DwarfCast 169 – Christmas Wafflemen Special DwarfCasts Posted by Ian Symes on 23rd December 2023, 16:28 Subscribe to DwarfCasts: RSS • iTunes "If it wasn't shit, it would be perfect." We thought we ought to do something slightly out of the ordinary for our landmark 169th episode, so here's two specials in one - it's time for some Christmas Waffles. Once again our lovely listeners slash readers provided us with a veritable smorgasbord of tasty topics, which we gobbled up whilst writing fan-fiction about the ship's Secret Santa, sharing our ultimate Red Dwarf Christmas wishes, pondering the best box sets of all time, weighing up the current state of the fandom, and coming up with a really good idea for a Christmas special. Plus, like all great festive episodes, we end on a good old sing-song. We apologise for nothing. Read more →
