Alternate Episode Titles

[Pete Part Three]

Somewhere near the middle of my list of things I hate about Series VIII (yeah, deal with it), is the fact there’s only 5 titles for 8 episodes.

And the 5 episode titles are all pretty ropey. Certainly not to the standard of, say, Terraform, Thanks for the Memory or Out of Time. There’s no real reason that every part of the opening “trilogy” has to be called Back in the Red, and the working titles (Captain’s Office, Mirror\rorriM etc) were certainly more interesting.

(On a similar note, Natural Born Rimmers is a much better title than Stoke me a Clipper…)

Thoughts?

And while you’re typing “No, not really”, I’m going to try and think of some alternatives.

Topic

[Smeg4Brains]

Cassandra – Future Echoes Part II

[Danny Stephenson]

Terraform

it’s “Terrorform” and is therefore a very clever title for the episode.

Natural Born Rimmers

As for this one, I think it was in the DVD booklet that said it had sexual connotations and was scrapped.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Part II

Part POO, more like.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Terraform, Thanks for the Memory or Out of Time

Sometimes, Pete, you can be so wrong it gives me cancer.

[Smeg4Brains]

> Part POO, more like.

With pun skills like that you could work for The Sun

[Danny Stephenson]

God I hate ‘The Sun’.

[Pete Part Three]

> Terraform

I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.

I want to edit it, but I think I should have to look at it as punishment for the rest of eternity (or until this thread dies a death in a day or two).

>It?s ?Terrorform? and is therefore a very clever title for the episode.

That was kind of my point though. It’s a great title.

Anyway,

Pete Part One: “Silly Willy” (focusing on the “highlight” of the episode ; Archie. DYSWIDT?) or, alternatively, “The Little Penis that Could”.

[Danny Stephenson]

That was kind of my point though. It?s a great title.

Sorry, i misread the statement. I shall learn my lesson too.

[Danny Stephenson]

Was Archie a Penis?!

[Pete Part Three]

Only the Good – When Chameleonic Microbes Attack

[Phil]

>Was Archie a Penis?!

Not as much as Smeg4Brains.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Sorry, i misread the statement. I shall learn my lesson too.

Ah. So did I.

I blame Danny.

[Smeg4Brains]

“Back in the Red: Part I” – “The Begining of the End”

[Phil]

> Natural Born Rimmers
> As for this one, I think it was in the DVD booklet that said it had sexual connotations and was scrapped.

Yeah, you’re right, I remember reading that too. But it IS the better title. Besides, anyone who doesn’t know the term isn’t going to be offended by it. And, hell, it’s not a “proper” term anyway so anyone familiar with it will probably find it funny.

It should have been called Stoke Me a Blowjob.

[Smeg4Brains]

>Not as much as Smeg4Brains.

What have I done wrong?

[Phil]

You registered at G+T. In related news, Cappsy’s a twat and Pete gives handjobs to hobos.

[Pete Part Three]

>Pete gives handjobs to hobos.

Hey, that’s a half-truth!

(They give me the handjobs)

[Smeg4Brains]

> Pete gives handjobs to hobos.

and now you’re calling me a hobo!!!

[Pete Part Three]

Future Echoes – Future Echoes…Echoes

[Andrew]

VII certainly went a little heavier on the puns – Tikka to Ride, Duct Soup, Nanarchy – but I like Back in the Red as a title (and as the ‘pilot’ for VIII, I like keeping it for the multi-parts).

‘Pete’ not so much, mostly because it tries for the lovely literal Dwarf title style (Polymorph, Camille, Holoship) but takes the name from something that arguably less ‘significant’ to the story. (Because Pete kinda struggles to BE a full story.) I’d have gone for something related to the main gadget, maybe. Time After Time, Replay (Re-Replay?), Driven By Time…I dunno.

[Andrew]

> and now you?re calling me a hobo!!!

Hobophobe.

[Danny Stephenson]

Tempus? TimeWand?

[Jonathan Capps]

Tempus Fuckwit.

[Phil]

I remember way back before VIII had aired, and TOS posted up episode titles. When I saw Captain’s Office I got so excited. I don’t know why, but I imagined it would be an episode of intrigue, bringing us back to a location the boys hadn’t visited in a very, very long time…I imagined the secrets they would find…the answers to questions we didn’t even know we had…

Oh boy was I suckered.

[Pete Part Three]

>?Pete? not so much, mostly because it tries for the lovely literal Dwarf title style (Polymorph, Camille, Holoship) but takes the name from something that arguably less ?significant? to the story.

I can kind of see what the intention is; a humble, nondescript title for something that, in retrospect, is much more extraordinary (like, say, “Rose”) but, as you say, it’s not all that important to the story. And we only meet Pete about 5 minutes before the end of part one.

I rather like Replay. And Time After Time would be nice (but is a bit too prominent as a sci-fi title already).

Pete Part One – Tempus Flare
Pete Part Two – 3 Million Years AD

[genericnerdyusername]

Back in the Red – Cack in the Head (DYSWIDT? Although I like the first episode alot…)

I’m full of meaningful posts tonight.

[locusceruleus]

Pete Part 2: Jurassic Shite.

[genericnerdyusername]

If Terrorform had a lot of worms in it, it could be called Terrorworm.

But it doesn’t.

So it can’t.

I think we’ve all learnt something tonight.

[Pete Part Three]

Strange how the puns didn’t kick in until VII. I can only think of Psirens (and it’s not exactly a pun, more like a malapropism)

[genericnerdyusername]

Does “Waiting for God” count as a pun?

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Back in the Red Part 3: The Bottom of the Barrel
Pete Part 1: Return to the Bottom of the Barrel
Pete Part 2: Beneath the Bottom of the Barrel
Cassandra: Escape from the Bottom of the Barrel

[Pete Part Three]

>Does ?Waiting for God? count as a pun?

I don’t think so. I can see where you are coming from, but the phrase doesn’t really have a different meaning within the context of the episode (unless you want to argue that the God that’s usually indicated by that phrase is not Dave Lister, but since it’s a metaphysical concept anyway, it’s I’VE GONE CROSS-EYED.

[Pete Part Three]

Discarded stories for VIII, expanding the Back in the Red story:

Back in the Red Part 2 – Lost in New York
(Lister gets lost in New York where time is running backwards. A character mentions that this is very similar to a previous episode. This supposedly excuses a previously used plot)

Back in the Red Part 3 – The Final Conflict
Back in the Red Part 4 – Live Free or Back in the Red
Back in the Red Part 5 – A New Beginning (Nearly)

Back in the Red Part 6 – The Final Nightmare
(Ackerman, Kill Crazy and all the other over-acting supporting characters finally bugger off)

Back in the Red Part 7 – Mission to Moscow
(The Canaries go on a mission to…you know)

Back in the Red Part 8 – Resurrection
(Red Dwarf is resurrected on a Digital channel, 10 years later)

[Zombie Jim Undead]

> Ackerman, Kill Crazy and all the other over-acting supporting characters finally bugger off

Yeah, they were pretty awful. Reminded me of the minor characters in Fawlty Towers (excluding Cribbins and the Major).

Here’s some other suggestions from me:

“Krytie TV” – “Christ’s Wounds Bleed Aspic”

“Beyond a Joke” – “Pennywhistle Gammon Steak Misunderstanding”

“Confidence and Paranoia” – “Stop that Church Eater!”

“Epideme” – “Fiddling Pipes in the Wet Patch”

[Pete Part Three]

>Yeah, they were pretty awful. Reminded me of the minor characters in Fawlty Towers (excluding Cribbins and the Major).

I don’t like the chips!

[Zombie Jim Undead]

THUR CHIPS URRR AWWWFUL.

[genericnerdyusername]

Pete Part Two: Actually never mind it’s been done to death now…

[Phil]

>>Does ?Waiting for God? count as a pun?

If it’s a reference to Waiting for Godot, then yes…except that Godot within the play is a kind of pun on God, so by extension the play’s title is itself a pun on Waiting for God.

[genericnerdyusername]

> If it?s a reference to Waiting for Godot, then yes?except that Godot within the play is a kind of pun on God, so by extension the play?s title is itself a pun on Waiting for God.

So… yes? Or was that a no? I’m so confused I can’t even find my trousers with my legs.

[Pete Part Three]

>If it?s a reference to Waiting for Godot, then yes?except that Godot within the play is a kind of pun on God, so by extension the play?s title is itself a pun on Waiting for God.

Red Dwarf was so revolutionary, Samuel Beckett was referencing it before it even existed.

It’s Bad Wolf all over again.

[John Hoare]

YOU’RE BEGINNING TO GET MY GANDER UP, YOU GROTTY LITTLE MAN.

[Pete Part Three]

A gin and orange, a lemon squash and a Scotch and water PLEASE!

(Actually, he’s quite good)

[James]

Poor old VII and VIII, all they did was appear, and norw the titles are getting a bashing. I like Back in the Red, it’s title was perfect for the situation they were in, and I suppose the continued storyline you get parts. I don’t have a problem with them at all, it’s a bit late to change them now anyway.

[Pete Part Three]

>I don?t have a problem with them at all, it?s a bit late to change them now anyway.

What, you mean discussing something in a forum doesn’t overwrite history? Silly me.

>continued storyline you get parts.

But it’s not exactly a given that each episode needs the same title plus a “part” suffix. Lost is the only show I can think of that does this nowadays for multi-parters. Buffy, Doctor Who, The X-Files all came up with different titles.

And Back in the Red has a pretty loose “story”. There are at times when it feels like a sketch show with a vague arc; you might as well call it Epideme parts 3-5.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

A SEMI-TONE?

Fun fact: That big pink woman was my Dad’s history teacher. She was also Jabba’s fat belly dancer in Return of the Jedi…and a complete nutter, apparently.

[James]

>What, you mean discussing something in a forum doesn?t overwrite history? Silly me.

I wasn’t being serious.

>But it?s not exactly a given that each episode needs the same title plus a ?part? suffix. Lost is the only show I can think of that does this nowadays for multi-parters. Buffy, Doctor Who, The X-Files all came up with different titles.

But this one 10 years ago, you could say that Red Dwarf had it first, and the rest followed. I agree, they could have been given seperate names, but to down what we’ve got already really isn’t worth it, except to bash the hell out of VII & VIII for yet another reason, and I’m sure the point of this thread wasn’t what it meant at the start. Yeah it’s fun to think of another title to replace the original, I’m sure Doug just couldn’t be arsed and thought I’ll upset everyone with gerenic titles.

[Pete Part Three]

>But this one 10 years ago, you could say that Red Dwarf had it first, and the rest followed.

I’m not sure what you mean. I picked 4 shows which have aired episodes since Red Dwarf ended and said that only Lost uses “Part 2” etc.

(Although, *shame mode*, I’ve since realised that The X-Files used the “part” suffix towards the end of its run. When no one was watching)

>to down what we?ve got already really isn?t worth it

Sigh. I’ll rip into VII and VIII if I want to because I think they’re ropey and I’d rather they didn’t exist.

I find it hard to pick holes in most of I-VI because I find it pretty faultless. Do you want me to start a thread pointing out faults in the Remastered episodes? Will that annoy you, or it just VII or VIII?

HOWEVER this thread has very little to do with feelings on the episodes themselves. If The Last Day had been called “Bob”, I’d be similarly perplexed.

>I?m sure the point of this thread wasn?t what it meant at the start

Correct. Just a light-hearted bit of fun.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

> If The Last Day had been called ?Bob?, I?d be similarly perplexed.

Or “Marilyn”.

[James]

I knew you wouldn’t let me down!

I’m not going to get into a tight discussion here, I just feel it’s easy to target something like VII & VIII, they have good and bad points, but it’s not all bad. Everyone has an opinion, and I respect your right to do so, but what started as a light-hearted chat about alternate titles turned into blah VIII titles crap syndrome again.

It doesn’t annoy Pete, you can post anything you like, your opinion.

[Andrew]

> Buffy, Doctor Who, The X-Files all came up with different titles.

Woh, hold on their, spanky – Buffy did a bit of both. What’s My Line?, Becoming and Graduation Day were all two-parters.

You hear a lot of fans who’d prefer Who to be done the old way (myself included, given that the two-parters are so distinct).

And you were partially wrong about the X-Files, too.

So, y’know, THERE.

[Author]

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