Core Cast

[Asclepius]

Boys from the Dwarf! It’s Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and Cat, isn’t it?

Not always, it’s not. And it was a *long* time before they were the core.

Series 1, Episode 1 brings us Lister, Rimmer, Cat and Holly all together for the first time. Well it would, wouldn’t it? It’s the first episode. They’re the core cast for the next 12 episodes, excluding the ‘one off’ Kryten first appearance, at which point he’s just ‘new character of the week’.

Those 12 episodes with that cast of four remains the ‘core’ of the show throughout Series 3 and 4, where the ‘new’ cast (adding Kryten, and replacing Norman’s Holly with Hattie’s) start to wrack up a good episode count. By Series 4 Episode 6, the two ‘core’ casts are tied. Throughout Series 5, despite Hattie’s fewer appearances, that ‘core’ cast edges ahead.

Series 6 is the first time we get the four ‘Boys from the Dwarf’ but they only wrack up six episodes – the lowest episode count for any of the three ‘core’ casts of the ‘Classic’ series.

Episode count:

Lister, Rimmer, Cat, Kryten, Hattie’s Holly: 18

Lister, Rimmer, Cat, Holly: 12 episodes

Lister, Rimmer, Cat, Kryten: 6 episodes.

The four Boys from the Dwarf continues until early Series 7, but then the ‘new’ core of Lister, Cat, Kryten and Kochanski picks up speed, totalling six episodes – to Lister/Rimmer/Cat/Kryten’s eight episodes – by the end of the series.

Series Eight brings us our ‘new’ core of…deep breath…Rimmer, Lister, Cat, Kryten, Kochanski and Norman’s Holly. Eight episodes. That’s the same count as the canon core of the four male leads.

And then, from “Series 9” (aka Back to Earth) onwards, finally those four ‘Boys from the Dwarf’ start to stack up episodes, going from being the third longest serving core cast to the second longest serving in Series 10 Episode 2, when they displace the Lister/Rimmer/Cat/Kryten/Hattie’s Holly group, and finally – with Series 11 Episode 2 – they replace the original group of Rimmer/Lister/Cat/Norman’s Holly to become the ‘main’ cast.

And by the end of ‘Promised Land’…

Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Kryten: 30 episodes (41% of total)

Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Kryten, Hattie’s Holly: 18 episodes (24% of total)

Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Norman’s Holly: 12 episodes (16% of total)

Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Kryten, Kochanski, Norman’s Holly: 8 episodes (11% of total)

Lister, Cat, Kryten, Kochanski: 6 episodes. (8% of total)

That’s all. No other analysis. The person next to me on our hot desks is today is VERY FUCKING LOUD and I had to do something to turn my mind off it for a bit…

Topic

[Dave]

Series Eight brings us our ‘new’ core of…deep breath…Rimmer, Lister, Cat, Kryten, Kochanski and Norman’s Holly. Eight episodes. That’s the same count as the canon core of the four male leads.

Could you argue that Hollister is just as much a part of the core cast in VIII as Holly?

[Rushy]

I still think the crew of Rimmer, Lister, Cat and Norman’s Holly is unmatched. It’s like two bickering brothers, their much younger sibling and the dad who tries to be hip with the kids. Everyone has a very specific role in that dynamic and there’s always that hilarious vibe that they’d like to be somewhere else but have to put up with the others, but also they really do love each other deep down. 

I especially adore the role of Holly, because the kids know their dad is thick, but also he’s still their dad and they’re still scared and clueless without him. 

[Jenuall]

I guess you could argue that the “Core Core” of Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Kryten is a significant part of 3 of those breakdowns which totals up at over three quarters of the entire run, so probably fair to say that the “boys from the Dwarf” have earned their status as “Core Cast”.

Additionally I think its important to consider the impact or involvement of those “beyond the core” in each setup. Hattie’s Holly remains my favourite iteration, but she was so poorly served for stretches of her run – there’s episodes where you could argue removing her and transferring the dialogue elsewhere would have negligible impact and therefore question whether she was truly “Core” to those experiences. I mean I haven’t looked into it but there’s probably episodes of VIII where someone like fucking Baxter or Kill Crazy has more lines in an episode than Hattie’s Holly does in some of her outings! 😢 (side note – looking at the TOS cast list of Series VIII has Baxter listed twice as Ricky Grover and Ricki Grover – I’ve never noticed before, was that a genuine fuck up in the show credits that they’ve maintained for authenticity or just a TOS fuck up?) You could say the same for other breakdowns too – Cat does fuck all in VIII, Kochanski is often on the periphery as well – you could argue that they aren’t “Core” at times

[Nick R]

(side note – looking at the TOS cast list of Series VIII has Baxter listed twice as Ricky Grover and Ricki Grover – I’ve never noticed before, was that a genuine fuck up in the show credits that they’ve maintained for authenticity or just a TOS fuck up?)

Looks like a mistake on the website, because the on screen credits are consistent: 

[Jenuall]

Maybe the cast listings are always this bad and I’ve just not be paying attention but there’s all kinds of fuck ups in there – Shend gets a double mention as Knot and Ackerman is so good he’s listed three times!

[Asclepius]

Series Eight brings us our ‘new’ core of…deep breath…Rimmer, Lister, Cat, Kryten, Kochanski and Norman’s Holly. Eight episodes. That’s the same count as the canon core of the four male leads.
Could you argue that Hollister is just as much a part of the core cast in VIII as Holly?

Absolutely. I was thinking that. But he’s an antagonist, isn’t he? He’s working against them. You wouldn’t include Servalan in a list of Blake’s best Seven or anything, would you?

[Asclepius]

I guess you could argue that the “Core Core” of Lister, Cat, Rimmer, Kryten is a significant part of 3 of those breakdowns which totals up at over three quarters of the entire run, so probably fair to say that the “boys from the Dwarf” have earned their status as “Core Cast”.

Additionally I think its important to consider the impact or involvement of those “beyond the core” in each setup. Hattie’s Holly remains my favourite iteration, but she was so poorly served for stretches of her run – there’s episodes where you could argue removing her and transferring the dialogue elsewhere would have negligible impact and therefore question whether she was truly “Core” to those experiences. I mean I haven’t looked into it but there’s probably episodes of VIII where someone like fucking Baxter or Kill Crazy has more lines in an episode than Hattie’s Holly does in some of her outings! (side note – looking at the TOS cast list of Series VIII has Baxter listed twice as Ricky Grover and Ricki Grover – I’ve never noticed before, was that a genuine fuck up in the show credits that they’ve maintained for authenticity or just a TOS fuck up?) You could say the same for other breakdowns too – Cat does fuck all in VIII, Kochanski is often on the periphery as well – you could argue that they aren’t “Core” at times

Yes. On rewatching the series with my own kids, you realise that Series 1 and 2 have a real magic to them. And a cohesiveness. Once the Fast Music starts in Backwards, and suddenly Kryten’s there…it’s all a bit different. My kids went from wanting an episode a night with S1 and S2 to having lost interest altogether somewhere in early Series 4.

[Rushy]

 in a list of Blake’s best Seven

1. Blake

2. Avon

3. Vila

4. Soolin

5. Cally

6. Orac

7. Zen

[Warbodog]

Boys from the Dwarf! It’s Lister, Rimmer, Kryten and Cat, isn’t it?

The saying within the show never includes Holly (it doesn’t include Rimmer the first time either). Even in The Promised Land, after Holly’s back and a boy again (but not being friendly), Lister follows up by calling them the Four Musketeers.

Lister also courteously doesn’t use the phrase while Kochanski’s around.

Additionally, Demons & Angels was recorded before Quarantine, so that was presumably the context where it originated.

[Captain Bollocks]

I really enjoyed this. 

Could you argue that Hollister is just as much a part of the core cast in VIII as Holly?

Given his frequent antagonist status, there are points where Ackerman flirts with almost feeling like part of the main cast to me.

Or maybe I just like how much they all seemed to love Graham McTavish. 

[Flap Jack]

Hollister isn’t in the core cast for Series VIII, as much as it feels like he is. He wasn’t in Krytie TV!

Ackerman has even less of a case. He wasn’t in Back in the Red Parts I and II, or Pete Part II.

[Dave]

Jack
Hollister isn’t in the core cast for Series VIII, as much as it feels like he is. He wasn’t in Krytie TV!

I’d know this if I’d watched Krytie TV more than a couple of times. 

[Flap Jack]

Needed a scene where Lister and Rimmer are marched into Hollister’s office.

“Seriously? You sat and watched as all of the female prisoners were sexually violated by Kill Crazy and Kryten? That’s it, you’ve gone too far this time! I sentence you to a men versus women baseball game!”

[tombow]

it’s just occured to me that Dwarf and Star Wars had a similar path

Special Editions/Remastered Series

followed by new instalments which were more epic, more ambitious than before, but very divisive and often considered weak (prequels/ VII-VIII-BTE)

followed by classic nostalgia (The Force Awakens/SX)

[Asclepius]

 in a list of Blake’s best Seven
1. Blake
2. Avon
3. Vila
4. Soolin
5. Cally
6. Orac
7. Zen

Two men. Two women. Two computers. One psychopath.

Good list. No notes.

[Technopeasant]

Absolutely. I was thinking that. But he’s an antagonist, isn’t he? He’s working against them. You wouldn’t include Servalan in a list of Blake’s best Seven or anything, would you?

If its FarScape, or Dragonball, you should expect them to move in shortly.

[Author]

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