How did did you discover Red Dwarf?

[FutureEchoes]

I’m convinced there must already be a thread like this, but I can’t for the life of me find one, so instead of post necromancy, I’ll start afresh. 

I imagine the most average G&T response is “I grew up watching Red Dwarf on VHS while playing Sonic 2 on Megadrive”, but there has to be some mileage, right? 

I’m probably one of the younger members here (I’m used to being an oldie in most communities these days) because I’m from a time between VI and VII. I absolutely grew up with VHS tapes, but it wasn’t until I was eleven-turning-twelve that I was introduced to Red Dwarf. I’m not sure if my dad thought it wouldn’t have been suitable for me before then, or if he concluded I wouldn’t have been engaged at a younger age because it wasn’t animated (though he did show me 80s Hitchhikers when I was 8.) Either way, I found it the only thing he introduced me to at that age that I actually think fondly about. Most adult animation is complete dross.

I was around my Dad’s friend’s house, and my first episode was Backwards on UKTV G2. I was hooked. Over the next few weeks, I got to see the rest of Series III and some of IV, and then I was gradually introduced to the other series.

I remember sneaking down at nights when I couldn’t sleep to watch Series I and II using Telewest On Demand. There was a weird glitch where they all had the titles and descriptions of Series VIII, but choosing Krytie TV and getting Queeg is obviously a blessing. 

Discovering Red Dwarf did explain a lot of things my parents come out with over the years. Before then, I had no idea why Mum would over-react to minor inconveniences with a full on “Someone please, shoot me in the heeead!”

I was quite lucky in that it was only a couple of years after first finding Red Dwarf that Back to Earth came out and I got to experience the entirity of the Dave era live with everyone else. Reading the XI and XII set reports was around the time I first started lurking around here too. 

So, go on. How did you lot first experience Dwarf, and what was your first episode? With detailed descriptions of the Sonic 2 sessions, please ;)

Topic

[RunawayTrain]

Tomato purée and/or garlic granules (or purée) are always a good call.  Nutritional yeast too (although the upfront cost of it in bulk to make it economical probably puts it out of reach for broke students* – and obviously wasn’t an option when Grant & Naylor were students).  Umami without the saltiness.

*so stock up on it before becoming a student and broke, if possible.

[Ian Symes]

Beef and Tomato Pot Noodle with a generous dollop of brown sauce mixed in. You’re welcome.

[Ben Saunders]

I’ve never liked brown sauce, every now and then I give it another try just in case I’ve suddenly developed the taste for it, but that never happens. Maybe in a couple of years.

Garlic granules you say……… I’ll get back to you on that one

[Warbodog]

Pot Noodle alternated with Asda lasagne and chicken curry ready meals as our dinners when my mum was out and I was a can’t-smeg, won’t-smeg teenager, so it somehow sustained me. I haven’t fancied them much since though.

[Crisps]

Some Nando’s sweet chilli jam sauce normally does the job for giving a Pot Noodle some life.

[Podey]

To bring this back on topic, there are three foodstuffs I can confidently say I only tried because of Red Dwarf:

Curry Sauce.

Pot Noodle.

Brown Sauce.

[Warbodog]

I’ve never tasted dog food (or dog testicles), but I once nibbled at a long dog treat thing, just to see what it was like. Surely every child would be curious.

[Moonlight]

I’ve been eating crappy microwave burritos for the past week because I started buying them for an easy breakfast when I have work bullshit early and can’t be bothered to so much as make a sandwich, and I am still in the honeymoon stage where they are very good.

[International Debris]

I quite like the curry pot noodle, but I tend to go for the Itsu miso rice noodles if I’m getting one of those things these days. 

[Flap Jack]

I’ve always liked pot noodles, and they were – in stereotypical fashion – a university staple for me. So all the jokes at their expense made me think that they must have improved the recipe in the 90s or 00s. Or they just occupied The Disgusting Food Chair because they were so cheap and basic.

Super Noodles and other packet based instant noodles are still better in every way, though.

Loosely related at best, but this reminds me I came up with a TV advert concept for Pot Noodle once.

The premise is simple – a visibly hungry person is perched at their kitchen counter, Pot Noodle cup open and kettle mid-boil. They’re fidgeting because of how excited they are, reflexively putting their hand out at every random noise the kettle makes in the hope that it’s finished boiling. Then when the kettle is done, they shriek “YESSSSS!” and grab the kettle lightning fast. They immediately pour the water into the noodles, and without even bothering to put the kettle down and in the span of 1 second, they grab the cup with their other hand, crane their neck back, open their mouth, and throw the whole contents of the cup directly into their face. Boiled water and fragments of unmixed noodles go all over their face and onto the floor as well as in their mouth. The kettle drops onto the floor with a crash but their other arm still holds the empty cup rigid. They’re now screaming at the top of the lungs in an equal mixture of agony and ecstacy, as their face is scalded bright red, their skin peels and their eyes bleed. Then, we cut to a new shot behind them as the noise becomes muffled, but the screaming is still audible. The logo and tagline appear, and a narrator reads them out in a lightly admonishing but bemused tone:

“Pot Noodle – Wait for the broth to cool… !”

Unfortunately I have no connection to the company or the world of advertising so was not able to pitch this idea that they definitely would have said yes to.

[Dave]

Green pot noodles used to be a staple part of my hangover recovery kit as a student. Along with salt-and-vinegar McCoys and cans of Lilt.

[clem]

I used to bloody love Lilt. It was renamed Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit a few years ago but the recipe was changed long before that. I recommend Levi Roots Carribean Crush if you want something similar to the taste of the Lilt of old.

[Moonlight]

I’m still convinced nobody actually enjoys eating grapefruit.

[Ben Saunders]

I’ve been eating crappy microwave burritos for the past week because I started buying them for an easy breakfast when I have work bullshit early and can’t be bothered to so much as make a sandwich, and I am still in the honeymoon stage where they are very good.

I used to eat these things like they were crack but I’m pretty sure they just straight up stopped doing them. They weren’t high quality food by any means but man oh man did they hit the spot. They also did burgers which were shit.

[Technopeasant]

I’ve been eating crappy microwave burritos for the past week because I started buying them for an easy breakfast when I have work bullshit early and can’t be bothered to so much as make a sandwich, and I am still in the honeymoon stage where they are very good.

There was a period of like three years recently where you simply couldn’t find frozen burritos in any Western Canadian grocery store, save for overpriced vegan ones (often these things are packaged out east or in the States and then shipped here).

The worst was a Reddit thread of someone desperatly trying to find some as it was all his father with dementia would reliably eat. A little over a year ago they started appearing again. My favourite frozen snack is generic store branded panzerotti though.

Mr. Noodles are better than Pot Noodles, which I have tried from the British section of Safeway (and no, no longer related to the American chain). The best were the Bowlfull from Dollarama a decade ago, but they aren’t the same anymore.

[Dave]

I used to bloody love Lilt. It was renamed Fanta Pineapple & Grapefruit a few years ago but the recipe was changed long before that. I recommend Levi Roots Carribean Crush if you want something similar to the taste of the Lilt of old.

I might have to check that out.

There’s a beer called Neon Dream which tastes like Lilt if it had alcohol in it. Dangerous.

[Warbodog]

Tried to find the least irrelevant place to share this. My mum was visiting and my daughter asked her if she liked Red Dwarf, while randomly browsing the Companion book from the bookshelf. She told the six year old she didn’t, because she didn’t like him (pointing at Craig Charles on the cover), because of his Liverpool accent.

Could have been a slightly worse reason, I guess? Could have been better too. We are also northern.

[Technopeasant]

[Dave]

She told the six year old she didn’t, because she didn’t like him (pointing at Craig Charles on the cover), because of his Liverpool accent.

She’s the perfect audience for this:

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

Mum and dad used to let me watch it with them when I was little. The earliest episode I remember with any clarity is Camille. I didn’t become a full Red Dwarf Geek until around Season 7. Then I started recording the reruns on Gold.

[Author]

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