Dave asks: Should there be another series?

[SkyAndSun]

Check out Dave’s front page and http://dave.uktv.co.uk/library/red-dwarf/red-dwarf-live-chat/

They’re asking a question. Reckon we should go and answer?

Topic

[Dessie]

Yes! A thousand times yes! I really think we’re going to get one if they’re putting stuff like that on their site.

[SkyAndSun]

Even if they’re smaller than the BBC, I love the fact that they’re really BACKING the show. Treating it with so much more respect than before – even down to little things like not talking over the closing credits.

[TheLeen]

Done. Nearly 2000 comments, too.

[NoFro]

I answered. Great to see so many positive comments.
When was this thread started? After all three had been shown?

[NoFro]

Oh, says the 14th at the top.

[TheLeen]

I don’t QUITE know how, but although the dave article displays today as the posting date, people have been commenting it since april 9th.

Edit: Also. Should this be frontpaged… hmmm… yes imo :D

[SkyAndSun]

It’s the same forum as the one online when each episode was broadcast.

[hummingbird]

Well, there’s nothing to stop us petitioning Dave en masse.

*writes* Dear Dave, please oh please oh please make more Dwarf. Plzthx.

[Mister E]

Darling Fascist Bullyboy Dave Executives,

Give us more Red Dwarf you bastards.

May the seed of your loins be fruitful in the belly of your woman,

Mister E.

[thomasaevans]

I e-mailde UKTV directly about another series. Here’s the reply:

Dear Thomas

Thank you for your email.

We will pass your suggestion on to the relevant department who will look into it.

It is always useful for us to know what our viewers like about our programmes, and it’s great to hear that you’ve enjoyed Red Dwarf recently.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us, we will pass your comments on to the relevant department.
Kind regards

The UKTV Team

uktv.co.uk

[si]

Hmm.

http://www.ganymede.tv/forum/2009/03/dave-on-youtube

I is beginin 2 fink they as standard emale tho, innit?

[pfm]

It doesn’t help when there’s comments like “How can anyone have enjoyed such liberal urination on the grave on a once great tv show? I hope in years to come Doug Naylor looks back on what he’s done to the show since Rob Grant left and feels shame. “

Doug should feel EXTREMELY proud with himself after delivering something as great as BtE. Should there be another series? Too fucking right. BRING IT ON!

[Nakrophile]

> Doug should feel EXTREMELY proud with himself after delivering something as great as BtE. Should there be another series? Too fucking right. BRING IT ON!

^This x10.

[si]

Our Grace has just shown me this – apolgies if it’s mentioned elsewhere:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a152666/should-red-dwarf-return-again.html

[NoFro]

That review was poor. I don’t understand how people didn’t find the new stuff funny. As I’ve mentioned in other threads, there were moments in the script that were character based, well written and could’ve been from the series I-VI era.

[Nick R]

From that Digitalspy review:

Strangely enough, the Dave channel foray succeeded far more as an intriguing sci-fi drama than as an actual comedy. Naylor, for all his flaws, structured the ‘meeting the maker’ plot very cleverly and Craig Charles engendered Lister with genuine pathos. It was not hard to care for the fate of the Boys from the Dwarf and urge Lister to keep bashing away on the typewriter to keep them alive, especially as the cast still have that special camaraderie. Still, the moment compares unfavourably to Lister’s previous Red Dwarf typing endeavour when he was accosted by a ‘taranshula’ (Kryten’s severed hand and eyeball) making a nest in his loins. It’s hard not to long for the glorious old days, especially as ‘Back To Earth’ is so self-referential.

I agree with this. Dramatically the emotional conclusion of the Lister-Kochanski plot was satisfying, I liked the metafictional mindbendery, the cast had still got it, and as a Red Dwarf geek I appreciated the self-indulgent fanservice (which I think stems from the fact “Back to Earth” began life as 21st anniversary tribute shows). Overall, I’m glad it was made. But purely in terms of comedy: even though it had its moments, the humour was definitely not a patch on series I to VII.*

* (Not a typo.)

I agree with the Digitalspy reviewer’s point that many of the jokes paled next to similar ones from the classic run: the initial recognition of part 2’s twist on a Bunk Scene was much funnier than its actual content. Likewise, Rimmer volunteering his crewmates for the expedition into the tank and then backing out wasn’t a patch on some of his similarly-structured jokes in the past (such as “I’ve devised a fair and equitable system of choosing who should survive…”). Having said that, even though it wasn’t particularly witty I still appreciated that line because of its familiarity – as I mentioned in the part 1 comments thread, it was a nice reminder that we were back with the same characters we know so well.

The reviewer points out that the typing scene compares unfavourably to taranshula. Actually, that didn’t come to mind for me – they both involve typing, but that’s about it. No, that scene merely had to contend with Futurama! ;)

Possibly my favourite joke in “Back to Earth” was the ultra-high-tech image enhancement in part 2. Having forgotten most of Blade Runner, I hadn’t realised it was yet another parody of something specific from that film – I just interpreted it as a sharp (and rather geeky) dig at the “enhance button” trope in general. But I think it’s telling that in this new spin on Dwarf such a visual joke was my favourite, whereas in all the classic episodes many of my favourite jokes involved elaborate, meticulously-worded sentences (preferably involving something character-based, preferably Rimmer-character-based). Maybe in order to give those wordier jokes the funniest rhythm and phrasing you really need two writers to hone them to perfection.

One gag I really liked which people haven’t mentioned much is Katerina’s deadpan description of the over-the-top manner in which Rimmer’s hologram data would be destroyed – “erased, fired from the ship, then detonated with a thermonuclear device”. However, I felt it could have gone further in its OTT-ness – much like Hitchhiker‘s classic “beware of the leopard” dialogue. Again, perhaps that’s the sort of joke that benefits from being written by two people – bouncing phrases off each other in an attempt to outdo each other?

[Author]

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