Back to Earth isn't Shit

[Ben Paddon]

Seb tweeted his disappointment the other day about how it’s become generally accepted that Back to Earth was shit, which is a real pity because I believe now, just as much as I did at broadcast, that it’s not. It’s flawed – certainly the broadcast version is atrociously paced – but not only is it a cracking story it also has some fantastic jokes and some lovely character moments.

The press seems to have forgotten that some of them rather liked it when it broadcast, and quite a few places are starting their Red Dwarf X coverage with comments to the effect of, “Well, Back to Earth was rubbish, but this looks like a return to form!” Which is, y’know, bollocks, and they know it’s bollocks because three and a half years ago they wrote about how not-rubbish it was.

When BtE hit Bluray over here I picked up a copy from Best Buy. My then-girlfriend and I got home and wanting something to watch while we ate lunch I suggested popping it on. She agreed, mostly because she just wanted something in the background rather than something to watch. She wasn’t, and still isn’t, a fan of Red Dwarf, but she actually sat and watched BtE and, whats more, she loved it.

And y’know what? So do I. Since getting it on DVD (and later on Bluray) I’ve watched it about a dozen times. And of my own free will, too. I might watch it again later today, actually.

It’s also a shame that the tone around here has gradually shifted from “It was quite good, better than VIII, not as good as I-VI” to “It’s crap, son.” I remember reaction round these parts being much more positive than its been in recent weeks. Not everybody liked it, obviously, but not everybody hated it either. It’s strange how the tone has shifted as RDX approaches.

Topic

[Pete Part Three]

Well, I’m sorry that it was obvious to me that this was all a hallucination a la Back to Reality. As soon as the word “squid” was mentioned in the synopsis prior to screening, it seemed like a fairly obvious nod, especially considering how controversial it would have been had the effects of the episode “stuck”. And, um, it looked like squid ink to me.

>And that happened about ten-to-fifteen minutes into the episode.

You’ve clearly watched it more times that me. When I watch it again, I’ll be sure to jot down the exact timecode.

>I win at debating.

That’s debatable.

[Ben Paddon]

That’s debatable.

Probably, but I’d win that one too.

[Tarka Dal]

I think I’m experiencing some form of Dimension Squid, but I tend to agree with PP3 more often than not reading this through. Outside to G&T mob (I always think of you as a mob, maybe we should start leaving replica Spare Head Three’s in people’s beds) I only know two others who watched BTE, one enjoyed the Corrie bits, the other whenever I bring up RDX asks “It’s better than that other thing they did then? Because that was awful”.

BTE will for me always be about that ridiculous Bank Holiday weekend at the House of Dwarf, which I remain very honoured to have been part off. I remember sharing some very knowing looks during certain scenes some ginger goit who used to be part of the G&T team essentially because we were bigger Blade Runner fans than the rest. However, whilst it all looks lovely in terms of Blade Runner recreation the execution in terms of story felt rather leaden. The dramatic bits with Lister and Kochanski I preferred to almost all of the gags.

I agree with this “Without wanting to sound like a stuck record, this is something Hi-De-Hi! does perfectly.”

It’s also something Dwarf in earlier episodes does damn well too (and hopefully will again in RDX).

I think I enjoyed the Lister story within BTE more because I took it in the context of the overall Red Dwarf “arc” rather than within an isolated three episode story. A story that overall I rate below bits of VII. That said I really like some bits of VII.

[locusceruleus]

I think I enjoyed the Lister story within BTE more because I took it in the context of the overall Red Dwarf “arc” rather than within an isolated three episode story.

That’s exactly the way I feel, except you somehow managed to express it coherently. Neat trick!

[Seb Patrick]

I’m not ginger, you twat.

[Tarka Dal]

Strawberry blonde?

[genericnerdyusername]

If it makes you feel any better, Seb, I had no idea it was a reference to yourself.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

When BtE first aired over that Easter weekend of 2009, I did enjoy it overall but I think I did feel a slight bit underwhelmed at the same time. I didn’t love it or hate it. Not having seen Blade Runner did ruin it/ confuse me and I still need to watch it.

Over the past few years, it has grown on me much more and I would rank it up there as some of the best that Red Dwarf has ever done. Strangely, my opinions on each part has changed too. Part 3 was my favourite when it first aired – mostly because of the emotional impact the Lister/ Fake Kochanski moment had on me. But now I would say that I probably prefer Part 1. It does get to me when I see or hear people dismiss it as “crap”. I think it deserves better than that.

My two younger brothers, who have never seen Red Dwarf, absolutely love ‘Back To Earth’. They’ve watched my BtE DVD quite a few times, and recently been watching the recording I did on Sky+ of the Directors Cut on Dave a few week back. They’ve also been watching some of the recent DAVE recordings of The Original Series. They’ve been enjoying them and laughing a lot. There’s still more episodes they need to watch, but they still say that BtE is the “best”. It’s nice though because they’re are just as excited as I am for the new series. Over the past few weeks they’ve been getting into the show properly – watching episodes for the first time from the DAVE Countdown weekends, and today, I got to see them watch ‘Thanks For The Memory’ and ‘Stasis Leak’ for their first time ever. They loved them :o)

[clem]

It’s great that your little brothers are getting into Dwarf, but don’t let them watch the butchered Dave repeats. Show them the DVDs complete with all the bastards, retards and rude gestures – I don’t care if they’re only 8. :-)

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

I’ve been trying to get them to watch the DVDs, but they’re too lazy to bother going through the rigmarole of getting the DVDs from the shelf, turning the Xbox on, putting the disc in, etc. For them, it’s easier just putting the Sky+ recordings of the Dave repeats on. But I’m hoping that at some point in the future they’ll ask me if they can watch the DVDs, like with the BtE DVD. Though the eldest of the two did actually watch ‘Polymorph’ and ‘Bodyswap’ on DVD with me, during my DVD marathon in anticipation for Series X :o)

Oh, and they’re 13 and 14 – so just the right age for bastards, retards, and rude gestures, I’d say.

[NoFro]

My take:

I’m always surprised at how much I enjoy Back to Earth. Not because I always think of it as bad but because I always seem to forget about how many good scenes and moments there are. I always seem to forget that most of part 1 exists. I just watched it again for the third time since upgrading to the Blu Ray in April (so I’ve watched it quite a few times recently) and I’m always surprised at how the 70 minutes flies by. It’s not perfect and there are a few things that I’d change if I could (an opening scene that starts with Rimmer walking in on Lister watching Blade Runner? Even if the film doesn’t become the topic of conversation it would provide some explanation for the hallucination) but I see most of the problems with Back to Earth as being a result of the production situation. As we know it changed from being a two parter to a three parter and the manic production is what I’d blame for the whole thing feeling like a bit of a rough draft. As if maybe a few things from the beginning could have been changed to make the end work a bit better and vice versa. Like when I write essays for Uni I often start off with one plan and throughout the writing process my argument generally mutates into something quite different and so I go back and change some things at the beginning to make my argument stronger and more cohesive. It feels like Doug maybe didn’t get a chance to do this with Back to Earth so Blade Runner homages, Multiverse 101 theories and other things don’t work in the way they could.

All in all though I enjoy Back to Earth and would rather have the general vibe of it and it’s not-so-gag-a-minute style rather than the joke-a-minute/cringe-a-minute of VII and VIII. Not to say those series didn’t have some great jokes in, it’s just for every good joke there is one that makes me cringe. Doesn’t really happen that way in BTE, couple of jokes fall flat (banks anyone?) but it’s nowhere near as bad in my humble opinion.

It’s a crazy and enjoyable experiment and it annoys me that some people bag on it with such blind hatred.

[Karnie]

I’m actually going through BtE now for the Encyclopedia; watching it again after re-watching Blade Runner, I happen to think the Nose World scene and final confrontation with the creator were absolutely brilliant, and the revelation at the end justified the entire 3-part series in my opinion. I do think they should have at least used a laugh-track for the ship-board scenes, then removed it while they were on “Earth”. I think this would have worked on several levels; one, it would have made the ship-board scenes more Dwarfy, and wouldn’t have instantly put off so many people; it would have also strengthened the contrast between their reality and the ‘real world’, and finally, I don’t think the Earth-bound scenes needed it, as the focus on humor switched from situational comedy to sci-fi parody. Unfortunately so much of the latter scenes’ humor relies on an in-depth knowledge of Blade Runner (The character of “Swallow”, for example, being modeled and named after Hannibal “Chew”!, or pretty much everything having to do with the Creator, from his look, to his ‘munchkin’ minions, to his death) with dialog taken practically word-for-word from the movie.

[NoFro]

I still love “We want more life… smegger”.

[Ben Paddon]

I think you’d be ahrd-pressed to find someone who disagrees about the shipboard laugh track idea. It’s just a shame the budget precluded it.

[Karnie]

OK, I actually have a serious question regarding BtE… during the Coronation Street bit, what’s the general consensus: was it meant to be a “Real Life” location, or were they supposed to actually be on the set of Coronation Street? In other words, according to their perception, did they actually drive through the town of Weatherfield, or were they, either knowingly or unknowingly, really on the set of the television show? There’s evidence to support both, but I want to know what the general population believes to be the case.

[Ben Paddon]

As far as I’m concerned, it’s a TV set, though the show bends the rules by having the pub and shop interiors inside the actual locations (which doesn’t match what we know to be reality, of course). That said, the “reality” they experience is already established to be a fiction of its own, so we can forgive that particular piece of creative license.

So, yes. Set.

[Seb Patrick]

Exactly. They’re on the set, but they’re also on a fictionalised version of the set where you can just drive up to it from the street, and where the shop/pub/house interiors are actually on-location.

In retrospect, this should have been a <spall>blatant</spall> clue.

[Ian Symes]

If it was a real place, they’d have met Lloyd Mullaney instead of Craig Charles.

Mind you, according to a recent episode of Corrie, Lloyd Mullaney was in Ghostwatch.

[Karnie]

Thanks! I think I have a better grasp of what they were intending, I think the “On-location set” is the only thing that explains why there is mail in the mailbox, or why there’s a cashier working in the shop that’s supposed to be a set, selling magazines that actually mention Coronation Street. (mind you, this is not nitpicking, I’m just trying to get the entries straight for the Encyclopedia…)

[Carlito]

> Mind you, according to a recent episode of Corrie, Lloyd Mullaney was in Ghostwatch.

Do elaborate…

[HelloMabel]

I’m guessing it was probably not so much breaking the fourth wall as giving it a little nudge?

This is one of many conversations I missed out on by avoiding the site during Trojan spoiler season.

> the tomato scene

I’m with Mani on this one; I just can’t bring myself to enjoy that scene. But there are so many parts of BtE I love: Rimmer and Kryten talking out of the sides of their mouths. Lister grieving over Kochanski, then finding new hope from two kids who know everything about him. Rimmer grooving to awful music while his only friends are in mortal peril.

Looking at BtE as a thank-you to us fans also made me appreciate it in a whole new way.

[Seb Patrick]

>there’s a cashier working in the shop that’s supposed to be a set

I think in that instance, it’s just that the actress is hanging around that bit of the set between takes. Again, she’s playing Michelle Keegan, not whatever-the-heck her character’s called in the show.

[Jo]

there’s a cashier working in the shop that’s supposed to be a set

I think in that instance, it’s just that the actress is hanging around that bit of the set between takes. Again, she’s playing Michelle Keegan, not whatever-the-heck her character’s called in the show.

The character is Tina and I believe that in the Corrie storyline at the time, she was living with Rita in the flat above the shop, so that explains why the actress would have been in there. I seem to remember that there was a sign in the shop telling actors not to eat the sweets… or have I just made that up?

[Ian Symes]

Do elaborate…

Lloyd’s storyline at the moment involves him having discovered a long-lost daughter, so he shows her some old photos of himself so she can get to know him better. One of these photos is of him in the family’s kitchen in Ghostwatch.

[NoFro]

That’s like in Chronicle when there’s a childhood photo of Michael B Jordan’s character that I’m pretty certain is a promo shot from “The Wire”.

[Karnie]

I seem to remember that there was a sign in the shop telling actors not to eat the sweets… or have I just made that up?

There was; in fact, that was the first clue I had that they were on a set, and not on an “actual” street. The thing that threw me was the magazine cover mentioning Coronation Street in the same store. Why would that have been there if it was a set (even an on-location one) ?

[Ian Symes]

Same reason there’s no massive Tyrell building in the middle of London.

[Carlito]

The magazine must follow the same logic as the DVD stand in the store advertising a DVD for a show that hasn’t aired yet with the script not yet written. It’s some speedy publisher that manages to print and distribute a magazine featuring a cover photo of something that is happening in the present.

[clem]

“How can there be a cassette of Spaceballs: The Movie? We’re still in the middle of making it!”

[Pete Part Three]

>The magazine must follow the same logic as the DVD stand in the store advertising a DVD for a show that hasn’t aired yet with the script not yet written.

If you really want to pick holes in it, take a look at the scene in the department store where the “previews” of the show are actually “live” shots of the crew arriving. 20 seconds into the story and it makes bugger all sense, even from a meta point of view.

I think it would have been good if the story had just opened with the start of “an episode of Coronation Street”…then it pulls back when the scene ends and we realise that Lloyd is actually Craig….but then it twists again when Rimmer, Kryten and Cat show up looking for him and we realise that “Craig” is actually Lister suffering a weird delusion.

Hmm. I seem to have ripped off Gunmen of the Apocalypse. Oh well, makes a change from Back to Reality.

[pfm]

> One of these photos is of him in the family’s kitchen in Ghostwatch.

O.O

Mind = blown.

[Seb Patrick]

The magazine must follow the same logic as the DVD stand in the store advertising a DVD for a show that hasn’t aired yet with the script not yet written. It’s some speedy publisher that manages to print and distribute a magazine featuring a cover photo of something that is happening in the present.

It’s almost as if the whole thing’s some kind of crazy dream, or something.

[Carlito]

Of course it makes sense when you know the end reveal, but at this stage in the story you’re not supposed to realise this.

[Ben Paddon]

At this point in the story they’re a) hallucinating, and b) not really experts on the 20th century anyway (with the possible exception of Kryten who, as previously mentioned, is hallucinating). So it doesn’t make any difference one way or the other.

[Karnie]

Got it, thanks! Seems I have a bit of re-writing to do……

[Author]

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