How Series VII should have started

[gerrydelasel]

I never liked how at the beginning of series VII they just wave away the previous cliffhanger. “Yeah they killed us but we’re alive again now” is lazy writing. Not just that, they also added an extra clip of future Starbug shooting present Starbug, which didn’t actually add anything to the narrative. Then when I learned they filmed an alternate ending that could have been borrowed, I got even more ticked off! So I made my own edit: How Series VII should have started. Now, you’ll have to excuse me, I’ve already said too much.

 

Topic

[Turk Thrust]

Thanks to everyone for mentioning the Series VIII commentaries because I’ve gone back to listen to the first 3. 

I think it’s only the second time I’ve listened and they’re a lot of fun. Especially Norman, of course.

[Dax101]

Well they didn’t need to find Red Dwarf, they could just have found Holly. He has no memory of what happened to red dwarf until the last episode.

[Podey]

[Warbodog]

Why does Ace’s “return” in that scene get cheers and applause when the (non-studio) audience already saw him a few minutes earlier in the episode?

Fans fucking loved Ace, I guess.

[Rushy]

Why does Ace’s “return” in that scene get cheers and applause when the (non-studio) audience already saw him a few minutes earlier in the episode?
Fans fucking loved Ace, I guess.

They probably cheered at his first appearance in the plane. Maybe Doug thought it was distracting and moved the audio to his more dramatic reveal later in the episode. 

[Podey]

Or could it be that they were shown that scene later, which would explain the more subdued reaction to him?

Also, was anyone here at the series 7 audience viewings? I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about those sessions.

[Warbodog]

[srmcd1]

It actually might’ve been a pretty good plot twist for Series VI if it turned out the future crew stole Red Dwarf and set up clues throughout all six episodes to lead them to the Time Drive. 

Only downside of this is that Rimmer destroying the Time Drive means he loses his hard-light drive because the events of Legion become undone.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

Also, was anyone here at the series 7 audience viewings? I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about those sessions.

Yup, I went to the first session at Teddington Studios, which showed mostly finished cuts of Stoke Me A Clipper, Ouroboros, and Blue.

Stoke’s teaser was shown as is. First reaction to Ace was more subdued because we were all expecting to see the first episode and the resolution to the cliffhanger, not jump straight to episode 2… So when the ep started proper and we’d adjusted a bit, that’s why Ace gets more response second time around in the ep.

[Turk Thrust]

Also, was anyone here at the series 7 audience viewings? I don’t think I’ve ever read anything about those sessions.

Yup, I went to the first session at Teddington Studios, which showed mostly finished cuts of Stoke Me A Clipper, Ouroboros, and Blue.
Stoke’s teaser was shown as is. First reaction to Ace was more subdued because we were all expecting to see the first episode and the resolution to the cliffhanger, not jump straight to episode 2… So when the ep started proper and we’d adjusted a bit, that’s why Ace gets more response second time around in the ep.

What was the reaction to Rimmer leaving and then only making cameo appearances in the next two eps? Did it seem like it was expected by most people?

[Warbodog]

So when the ep started proper and we’d adjusted a bit, that’s why Ace gets more response second time around in the ep.

It’s amazing to get such a detailed answer to something I figured was lost in the mists of time, thanks.

[International Debris]

Well they didn’t need to find Red Dwarf, they could just have found Holly. He has no memory of what happened to red dwarf until the last episode.

Yeah, but finding Red Dwarf also negates the need for STARDISbug and the existence of VIII, so let’s have it anyway.

Lovely post Kris – what on Earth must have the next lot thought going from Tikka to Duct Soup?!

[Rushy]

what on Earth must have the next lot thought going from Tikka to Duct Soup?!

Doug emerges from the shadows in front of the audience, clasps his hands and drones in an apologetic monotone: “Now, unfortunately, due to some unforeseen circumstances, we’ve lost Chris Barrie along the way…”

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

It’s amazing to get such a detailed answer to something I figured was lost in the mists of time, thanks.

I’ll have to try and write up something about it – I took notes at the time in my scrapbook, hahah, I still have the ticket somewhere!

what on Earth must have the next lot thought going from Tikka to Duct Soup?!

I was curious about that too! I did wonder why we got the episodes in the order we did. The opening titles were reused from series VI, pretty sure there were no end credits, just music. There was no CGI Starbug, but the model shots we saw were on the series VII dvd extras. Ouroboros had no tunnel effects, it was just on bluescreen. I think the only CGI was the Rimmer planet. We saw the full length Rimmer Munchkin song, with mostly completed effects. All the material from Ouroboros Extended was in there too. Ed, Doug, Chloe, Danny and Robert introduced each episode I seem to recall (I’m a bit fuzzy on that). There were no breaks, they just played them all back to back with slight pauses in between to set up the recordings and double check if they needed to re-record any laughs (which I feel like they did for part of Blue, but I might be misremembering that, like they literally just did a quick pick up by reshowing a bit at the close of the session).

What was the reaction to Rimmer leaving and then only making cameo appearances in the next two eps? Did it seem like it was expected by most people?

Everyone knew going in that Chris was leaving. We knew he was going to be in four shows, and that was it. But we all expected him to be in four shows fully, so seeing him leave in the second and then flashbacks after that was a genuine surprise to most of us at the time. But I remember the response from the crowd afterwards was very positive overall – there was a high that after a three year draught we were getting new Dwarf, so everyone was absolutely buzzing. 

[clem]

All the material from Ouroboros Extended was in there too.

In that case I wonder why it has no laugh track. 

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

In that case I wonder why it has no laugh track. 

I wondered the same thing! Really odd.

[Turk Thrust]

All the material from Ouroboros Extended was in there too.

In that case I wonder why it has no laugh track. 

I guess maybe they had a 28 minute version with a laugh track that had gone through the full editing process.

And they had a 31 minute version with no laugh track, so went with that instead.

I seem to recall that one of the crew members in the documentary mentioned that it was a really tricky edit to balance the audience laughs with the performances.

[Technopeasant]

Having not logged in for a few days coming to this winding thread was a bit of a trip.

[clem]

Series VI ended exactly the way it should have. The cliffhanger itself is perfect. Was it Rob or Doug who didn’t want the cliffhanger ending? Or have I made that up altogether?

Realised this convention panel video is where I got that from. Rob is asked about the Series VI ending at 38:30 and says he wasn’t in favour of doing a cliffhanger.

[cwickham]

This dislodged some memories of going through alt.tv.red-dwarf to find reports of people who’d been at the VII recordings, so I tried to do it again just now:

https://groups.google.com/g/alt.tv.red-dwarf/c/TVlN4ryjuZw/m/enbvrWDNNHgJ

“All the eps have been shown to audiences, but different audiences. There were three screenings on the Friday, and three on the Saturday, and three episodes were shown at each. Odd really, as six times 3 is 18, and 18 doesn’t divide by 8, the number of shows that actually exist.” (comment from Thursday, 31st October, 1996)

EDIT: Also a report here from someone who saw Duct Soup, Beyond a Joke and Nanarchy https://groups.google.com/g/alt.tv.red-dwarf/c/Qxl_cryXtRk/m/GETA3Ur8x3cJ

[cwickham]

THE MOTHERLOAD: https://groups.google.com/g/alt.tv.red-dwarf/c/hl4ppcrYDII/m/plraeCWrkkEJ

(Seems like a separate thread for this would be a good idea at this point?)

[Professor Flibble]

[Dave]

[Professor Flibble]

[Warbodog]

I didn’t notice until waiting for gifs to load how the overlaid sparks go over the edge of the frame at the top.

[Professor Flibble]

I didn’t notice until waiting for gifs to load how the overlaid sparks go over the edge of the frame at the top.

I’ve always wondered where each element of the explosion came from, especially the bits of debris in the centre. Also I like how you can see the crossfade to the “credits” space background

[Nick R]

I didn’t notice until waiting for gifs to load how the overlaid sparks go over the edge of the frame at the top.

Red Dwarf beat Ang Lee to it!

[Moonlight]

[Professor Flibble]

I’ve only just figured out how to actually make GIFs with the Smega Drive. I’m a bit slow.

[Dave]

[Warbodog]

[International Debris]

[clem]

[clem]

[Professor Flibble]

[Warbodog]

[Asclepius]

I have an issue with the whole S6 cliffhanger into S7 resolution.

Cat, Lister and Kryten are dead. Killed by the Future Selves. Right?

Rimmer ‘saves the day’ by destroying the time drive…*just* as the ship is about to be destroyed by the Future Selves.

But if the Future Selves were going to destroy the whole ship anyway…including the time drive…then why did Rimmer even need to intervene? Could he not have sat back and just waited for it to happen anyway?

[Ian Symes]

I mean, what you’ve just outlined is the canonical version. “We were no match, they killed us and destroyed everything on board the ship, including the time drive”. Rimmer’s intervention is indeed irrelevant, according to Lister’s explanation. One of the many reasons the opening of Tikka rankles. 

[Dave]

[gerrydelasel]

[Dave]

[Professor Flibble]

[Professor Flibble]

I mean, what you’ve just outlined is the canonical version. “We were no match, they killed us and destroyed everything on board the ship, including the time drive”. Rimmer’s intervention is indeed irrelevant, according to Lister’s explanation. One of the many reasons the opening of Tikka rankles. 

I’d have gone with “Rimmer was actually successful and him destroying the Time Drive reversed the explosion.” Pretty much what Gerry pitched. Even with the Back to Reality music.

I mean, it wouldn’t have had the main episode’s premise fuck itself over.

[Author]

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