Hopes, Dreams, Predictions and Fears: RD XI and XII Speculation

[George Kaplan]

Hello everyone. I don’t post much on here, but I’ve been a very faithful lurker for many years. Decided to crawl out of the shadows to start a thread where we can share our expectations/predictions etc for what’s to come in the two new series. I know some elements of this have been covered elsewhere but it’ll be good to have these in one place.

Please note, I have not attended, and will not be attending any recordings so this is complete speculation.

No spoilers from people who’ve seen anything, obviously.

Here’s a few speculations to begin…

1. The ensemble feel that came to the fore towards the middle-latter part of Series X will become more prominent. It has already been stated that the first episode recorded was an ensemble piece with no particular lead, which I like the sound of, as that really would evoke the feel of the III-VI era. My favourite scenes in X had the four dwarfers together, bouncing off each other, particularly in the cockpit scenes of The Beginning, and to a slightly lesser extent in Lemons and Entangled. Obviously I don’t know whether the recording/broadcast order of X fully matches the writing order, but it definitely seems like something Doug was getting more to grips with as the series progressed.

2. Following his well received appearance in Series X, Philip Labey will make a return as the Young Rimmer in some form or another.

3. The new Starbug set will be green, in keeping with Red Dwarf’s red interior and Blue Midget Blue-ish interior. The series III-V mid section was a greenish colour anyway, so that wouldn’t be a huge departure.

4. They will have (hopefully) got rid of the very 2011 flatscreen TVs and replaced them with more retro monitors, Series III style. (Hopefully they won’t have replaced them with Curved 4K Smart TVs).

I hope…

1. There will be a greater sense of realism in the performances. Some of the performances in X (particularly Chris Barrie’s) were a little too played to the audience. Obviously nowhere near the atrocious levels of Series VIII but there was still a hint of it there. I hope that with a stricter production regime, and a more confident cast, following the success of the last series, this will be clamped down on.

2. There will be a range of new music cues, and less reliance on the Series I-II style beauty passes with the sombre early series incidental music, like we saw in Series VIII, BTE and X. As much as I love that aspect of the early series, these were largely absent from Series III-VI and seem out of place in the faster paced Dwarf that I’m hop[ing these new series will deliver.

I wonder if…

1. Rimmer’s H will be sans-serif to match the new logo.

2. There will be any changes to Rimmer and Lister’s costumes.

3. Any cast members will wear wigs.

4. They will say smeg.

Topic

[Paul Muller]

I have it on reliable authority that Kryten sports a wig throughout the series.

I’m with you on a lot of those points, going by what we’ve heard so far.

[Ridley]

2. Following his well received appearance in Series X, Philip Labey will make a return as the Young Rimmer in some form or another.

Considering that Howard Goodall Quartet-of-Rimmers tweet, it might happen. I do wonder if the Rimmer brothers is too obvious for that track title though. Like, “They all become Rimmer.™” instead.

Steve Coogan for adult John plz. Or Alison.

[srmcd1]

One thing I’m a bit concerned with is they’re going to undo Rimmer’s character development in Series X for the sake of “keeping him funny”, which I don’t think is necessary.

[International Debris]

Yes, the end of The Beginning really does warrant some serious development for Rimmer, I hope Doug’s up to the task of incorporating it into the show seamlessly.

[Smeg4Brains]

I would be surprised if Rimmer’s character is changed massively. While he might have a slightly different outlook on life it’s not a simple thing to suddenly change who you have been for the last 50 years.

[Taiwan Tony]

3,000,050 years…

I agree. He might have an internal weight removed from his shoulders but he’d still be a git.

[srmcd1]

I don’t think he has to be changed massively. I mean, he still would have the same likes and dislikes, quirky habits, etc. I just mean, maybe less obsessed with being better than everyone. I just like the idea that after ten series of being obsessed with something, he’s finally got a chance to relax a little.

[Ridley]

I don’t think the working class hero will be checking his privilege anytime soon.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

All this talk of the new Bug cockpit intrigues me. Looking forward to seeing it.

[George Kaplan]

Yes I’m very intrigued too. What do we think the new (some have said ‘distracting’) feature might be?

There’s a part of me that wishes it was going to be an exact replica of the VI/VII Starbug sets, which have to be my favourite ever Dwarf sets. While I can always buy the explanation that the crew have for some reason moved to a different part of Red Dwarf – the move from the I-II quarters to those in III-V being slightly more logical than the move from BTE’s quarters to X’s – and therefore the quarters set doesn’t need to look the same, the Starbug cockpit is the Starbug cockpit and can’t really change in a logical in universe way. I know the cockpit was gently upgraded with each series from III-VI, but still. Oh, and I guess the mid section changes without explanation, with a staircase and a kitchen being added (before said kitchen was knocked through in series VII to make a more open plan kitchen-diner – perfect for the late 90s).

All that said, and I’m not sure what I actually am saying, each series of Red Dwarf has always brought us something new design-wise and I’m looking forward to seeing this new version. Overall, I’m just glad Starbug is going to be playing a more major role in the upcoming series.

[George Kaplan]

Ha! Tried to do a block quote and ending up block quoting my own post instead of the previous one. Someone needs to teach me how to work this.

…

…How do you switch this off then?

[Somebody]

(blockquote)quote(/blockquote)
Your post

Obviously, replacing round brackets with angled ones.

[si]

Not strictly what this thread’s about, but I’d like to see some new RDXI/XII merch.
I mean, some new t-shirts might be nice, or some toys.Talking vending machines or something…

What I’d *really* like, though, is a new Making Of/BTS book. Script books and new/updated programme guides would be nice too, obviously, but a shiny new BTS book, with new photos and whatnot…that’d be good.

[MANI506]

I associate merchandise with the shallow Dwarf years specifically 98 – 2000. Good merchandise would be welcome but those series VII and VIII T shirts were rubbish apart from ‘Just call me badass!’.
Have any fans designed their own BTE/X T shirts? Two suggestions might be Not Mark Benton drinking coffee (Dimension Skids Happen This Time Of Year) and Hougey the Rougey with his Mollie-D (Not If It’s A Schue Pastry You Won’t).

[MANI506]

A big Dwarf coffee table book like The Beatles Anthology would be amazing.

[si]

The 91-93 merch was amazing. The original t-shirt, that amazing jacket, plus the great books and Smegazines. The Sevans Kryten model… That was a thing of beauty. They had it in the Sheffield Space Centre for years, and I never managed to buy it. Or those other models in the tubes. :/
The posters were always very well designed. And the books. Whether you liked the content or not, the Manual, Log 1996 and the RDVIII scriptbook all looked amazing.

Just saying that I’d like something new and pretty to put on my shelves.

[Ridley]

with the phrase Voight-Camp test on the front and an explanation of the joke on the back.

You’re welcome, Redbubble.

[Ridley]

Hn, hope that image displays or I’m at a risk of being misconstrued…

[Taiwan Tony]

I dream there will be 2 new Red Dwarf novels to tie-in with the launch of series XI and XII.

I hope there will be a new script book that includes almost but not quite final drafts, the same as Graham and Arthur did with the Father Ted script book a few years ago. Replete with black and white pictures and unnecessary explanations of technical jargon.

I fear there will be a T-shirt.

I predict it will be shit.

[peas_and_corn]

>with the phrase Voight-Camp test on the front and an explanation of the joke on the back.

I’m not sure if Blade Runner references should be applied to Red Dwarf.

[Taiwan Tony]

Oop. Missed out a word in my last comment so it may have sounded slightly more spikey than intended.

Apologies to anyone still reading this.

[Paul Muller]

https://mobile.twitter.com/bobbyllew/status/686913732514021377

Robert Llewellyn has tweeted a photo of a Kryten chest piece labeled ‘Very Old Kryten’ and mentioned he was going in for a costume fitting for series XII. As the photo seems to be his costume from series X, which in theory should just be ‘Old Kryten’ – perhaps he’s getting a new one for XII.

Or perhaps not.

Just to confuse matters he then goes on to refer to the suit in the photo as being from Series 7, which it clearly isn’t.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t this anal about things, it’s exhausting.

[pfm]

It would be good to see at least some changes between XI and XII. Especially with something like the Kryten suit, which most people seemed less than impressed with in the set reports…(as opposed to the head which was universally praised)

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

I’d fully endorse an amended Kryten torso for XII. The one for XI looked like a serious step backwards in my opinion, which is gutting cos the the limbs and mask are really good.

[Paul Muller]

It’s really odd that they changed it – as the X costume, mask aside, was fine, apart from the weird open neck. Perhaps Robert requested something more comfortable.

[Ridley]

I sincerely hope Lister doesn’t “Awooga!” again. They’re really driving it into the ground at this point. It’s practically all he says now.

[peepingsignal]

In line with that, I hope Kryten doesn’t shit out a wrench and talk about the Roman Empire again. The humour of that bit peaked in Series V (1994).

[peas_and_corn]

I read two titles somewhere- “Lister Finally Fucks Kochanski” and “Dibbleyworld”

[Squeaky Gibson]

Holly/Pree returns as a recurring character, ala Dr Pulaski in ST:TNG season 2. So ony there when needed or not mentioned when off ship in Starbug, as say for plot and budget, Holly/Preems confined to Red Dwarf.

Exploring more of the ship and addressing how Lister feels after nearly 20 years with just this group, ala Timeslides/Dear Dave and his realisation that this core team (all 4) is his family and that a return to Earth or reuniting with Kochanski would sadden him, as he’d loose his now established Family.

[Author]

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