Chris Barrie has updated his website

[Bargain Bin Holly]

http://www.chrisbarrie.co.uk/

He mentions the weather, tanks, and his dislike of people requesting his appearance on podcasts; but he also included this tidbit on future Red Dwarf and Brittas Empire:

“At the risk of repeating something I seem to have said many times over the last umpteen years, I simply do not know if/when we will be doing more Red Dwarf. Over the winter of 2015/16 when we made series 11 and 12, some common sense momentum seemed to be building, but, since then, the project seems to have juddered to a halt. In the desert of silence I do encounter the occasional droplet of positivity but that’s it. If the droplet ever becomes a trickle, I shall of course leap to the keyboard and let you know.

The Brittas position is not dissimilar. Since the promising newspaper articles of a couple of years ago and the enthusiasm of the Reunion last year, it all seems to have gone all quiet on the Whitbury front. All I can do is continue to express my desire to recreate the chainsaw voiced ogre and that is something I shall certainly keep doing.”

Thanks to Chris Barrie Fans for making this known on Twitter.

Topic

[International Debris]

[Rudolph]

[Captain Bollocks]

Not really newsworthy, but I figure this is the best place to mention the latest She’s a Rec, which features a quick anecdote from Tim Key about going for a drink with Steve Coogan, and Coogan offering up thoughts about his and Chris Barrie’s varying impressions of Neil Kinnock on Spitting Image. 

“His was really good, but mine was better” was the gist of it. “He pitched it in the wrong octave.” 

See? Told you it wasn’t really newsworthy. 

[Rushy]

See? Told you it wasn’t really newsworthy. 

[Dave]

A nice tribute to Rob but these segues back into the event schedule always feel a bit like tonal whiplash.

[Jenuall]

“it’s just a pity he didn’t stay naturally healthy”

[Frank Smeghammer]

A nice tribute to Rob but these segues back into the event schedule always feel a bit like tonal whiplash.

…

…

[Ben Saunders]

A nice tribute to Rob but these segues back into the event schedule always feel a bit like tonal whiplash.

[Dave]

The new bit:

[Dave]

[Rushy]

I like how everyone always uses a Dave era Rimmer gif to make fun of Chris. There’s such a specific snootiness to that version. 

[Ben Saunders]

He’s right, modern trains are pretty shit. The toilets are tiny, the sinks never work, the plugs never work, the wi-fi never works, the seats hurt my back, they’re hot and stuffy. And tickets are extortionate. I’m with him on this one. 

[Renegade Rob]

[Technopeasant]

He’s right, modern trains are pretty shit. The toilets are tiny, the sinks never work, the plugs never work, the wi-fi never works, the seats hurt my back, they’re hot and stuffy. And tickets are extortionate. I’m with him on this one. 

The mid-century ones however had excellent wi-fi.

[International Debris]

I’d be with him if I he were talking about Mark 3 coaches, the ones used on old HSTs/125s, which are super comfy and very spacious. Mark 1s are the equivalent of a car without suspension driving along a gravelly track.

[Jenuall]

I find it varies hugely by region/franchise.

Most of my train travel is either in and around South Wales or travelling to London for work. In Wales it’s predominantly using relatively new Transport for Wales trains which are really nice comfy seats, working power sockets and generally a very smooth ride! When I’m going to London it’s GWR Class 800 trains which are also really good (even if they do have the tendency to put the heating on too high for my liking!)

But on the odd occasions where I’ve made other trips around the country the quality of train has varied much more – I went on a Cross Country train to Birmingham recently and it was absolutely trash – dirty, slow, uncomfortable and generally felt like being back in about 1982! 

[International Debris]

The 80x series are considerably better than the previous generation, pendolinos, meridians and voyagers being the worst long distance trains this country has ever used.

[Dave]

I went on a Cross Country train to Birmingham recently and it was absolutely trash – dirty, slow, uncomfortable and generally felt like being back in about 1982! 

And how was the train etc.

[Jonathan Capps]

tbf, I’d quite like to be in Birmingham in 1982.

[Rushy]

Cappsy is either dead or he’s gone to Birmingham

[Dave]

[Jonathan Capps]

[Technopeasant]

You lot should just be happy to have accessible passenger rail at all.

[Moonlight]

What the fuck is passenger rail?

[Technopeasant]

My understanding is Amtrack is still better than Via Rail.

I sometimes take the LRT in Edmonton or Calgary though.

[Moonlight]

I think the last time America did anything with trains we were crashing them into each other in the 30s as spectator events that killed many onlookers.

[International Debris]

What the fuck is passenger rail?

Railway infrastructure designed to convey passengers rather than freight.

Unless I’ve missed an obscure joke.

[Jenuall]

[Flap Jack]

Railway infrastructure designed to convey passengers rather than freight.

Unless I’ve missed an obscure joke.

The joke was that Moonlight was exaggerating how bad passenger rail is in the US by pretending that she’d never even encountered it. 😉

[International Debris]

Ah. I’ve had so many Discord conversations in which she genuinely didn’t know the British terminology of something that it could have gone either way.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

I have very little to add to any of this other than to say that whilst I drive I don’t own a car so use public transport a lot 

From London, I live in Leeds so get trains down south (and to other areas of the country) quite a bit, and I rather like our trains. I recently did Leeds -Cheltenham-Liverpool-Runcorn-Liverpool-Leeds and had no issue with any of the trains other than one small delay on the Runcorn-Liverpool leg coming home. The trains themselves are fine and comfortable. And you can relax, read, watch shows and movies etc.

I’ve only been to the US twice and whilst public transport isn’t a core function of their infrastructure, I got trains on both occasions through Miami and Illinois. They were less enjoyable journeys but also much much cheaper. 

Which is the only downside of UK trains is the cost. But weighed against the cost of running a car I’m probably coming out on top economically (I appreciate that consideration only makes sense for a single person. As a family a car is cheaper)

ok maybe I did have something to say 

[Ben Saunders]

If you use ScotRail trains with any regularity you quickly realise how common problems are and how shit the general experience can be, yes we have it better than the States but I surmise that getting stung by 1000 bees is a better experience than relying on public transport in the US

[Moonlight]

The joke was that Moonlight was exaggerating how bad passenger rail is in the US by pretending that she’d never even encountered it.

I don’t think I’ve ever used passenger rail in my life besides the DC Metro. And I guess when I was 4 I got to ride that train done up like Thomas the Tank Engine.

[International Debris]

As someone who doesn’t drive and gets sick on coaches, I’ve used a lot of trains in my life. 

[Jonathan Capps]

I love trains, but they need more invested in them and cheaper tickets, but I guess that’s considered communism at this point.

[Podey]

I also love trains, provided there are no football fans and I can comfortably just stick headphones on and watch the landscapes go by. 

[Ben Saunders]

I was getting a train on a match day last week and holy moly are football fans loud and numerous. Only the second busiest train I’ve ever been on though, I was getting the last train home at the same time as a bunch of concertgoers who had just seen I think Bruce Springsteen, and the train was so unbelievably packed that they had to actually remove a few people for safety reasons. God knows how they made it home in the end. But Springsteen fans are a lot more polite and not as unbearably in-your-face as footy fans. 

The number one thing that would improve public transport is banning playing shit off your phone on speaker. The removal of the headphone jack and the general degradation of the way people act in public since Covid has been a double edged sword of annoying cuntage. They should hand out free earphones like they do on planes. Or have a quiet carriage for me and me only.

[Technopeasant]

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

I think the last time America did anything with trains we were crashing them into each other in the 30s as spectator events that killed many onlookers.

Hah, this reminds me of a piece I wrote of one of these very events, but from the late 1800s. A different time!

https://kriscarter.co.uk/2017/11/12/crush/

[Moonlight]

Another awesome thing from America, the best country in the universe.

(I think these kinds of train crashes were staged occasionally into the 30s but I’m pretty sure that’s the specific one I was thinking of.)

[Asclepius]

I think the last time America did anything with trains we were crashing them into each other in the 30s as spectator events that killed many onlookers.

Hah, this reminds me of a piece I wrote of one of these very events, but from the late 1800s. A different time!
https://kriscarter.co.uk/2017/11/12/crush/

I loved reading that. Thank you!

[Warbodog]

I think the last time America did anything with trains we were crashing them into each other in the 30s as spectator events that killed many onlookers.

Hah, this reminds me of a piece I wrote of one of these very events, but from the late 1800s. A different time!
https://kriscarter.co.uk/2017/11/12/crush/

[Dave]

The latest update is fairly light on updates.

[Renegade Rob]

[Ben Saunders]

Once again he’s right about the trains, they do keep them bizarrely hot and if you can open the windows I’ve never been able to figure out how. Especially in winter they love to cook the insides of the train like an oven despite the fact that everybody is obviously dressed for very cold weather so you just end up roasting. But they do this everywhere — shops, schools, workplaces, and it might be an autistic thing. But god damn cool it down a little why is it 30C in Matalan

[Unrumble]

[Dave]

[International Debris]

[Nick R]

I wonder if Chris Barrie’s next website update will include his thoughts on the recently-announced electric Ferrari?

Apparently it’s been a bit controversial among motoring enthusiasts.

[Rushy]

Silicon Hell indeed!

[Author]

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