Mundane observation dome

[Warbodog]

Do you have any miscellaneous insights on the series that may be worth contemplating for a few seconds before moving on with our lives? Here are some of mine.

1. The four regulars have names that can work any way around, though this would have been more obvious if David Ross had stayed and wouldn’t work if Chris Barrie used his real name.

2. The series’ lax attitude to continuity extends to the setting. Outside of Holly’s distress calls, I don’t think three million years is mentioned all that much after series I and before VI (not sure about later years). Instead, we get the extremely fudged “dead for centuries” and “travelling for thousands of years” – not actual retcons, but suggesting a more conventional setting for casual viewers tuning in and the sort of stories they’re telling. It’s only millions when they need it to be.

3. 200 years of stasis between series V and VI means that the earlier series took place in their equivalent of the early 19th century by comparison (e.g. Blackadder the Third). Since they didn’t run into a long-lived Camille or one of her great-great-etc grandchildren, it didn’t come up.

4. Although Lister is routinely slagged off in the series, he’s spared the level of seemingly authoritative character assassination that Rimmer gets, because the audience is aligned with Lister’s viewpoint most of the time. For example, we see Kochanski Camille belittling Rimmer’s interests, but we don’t get the equivalent of Hologram Camille reacting to Lister’s pickup lines, we’re left to form our own opinions on those. This flimsy point has not been considered much beyond this single example.

5. Cat’s costumes are overwhelmingly referenced more than anyone else’s in the series, but the least discussed by fans.

6. Ace Rimmer and Duane Dibbley were so seemingly ubiquitous in canon and tie-in merchandise through the 90s (Smegazine strips, T-shirts) that they still feel overused today, even though it’s been over 20 years since they appeared. Maybe they’re allowed back after all.

7. Only series III & V and maybe XI & XII (not as familiar with those) don’t have any sense of an arc whatsoever (though IV’s minor Kryten disobedience arc was already fucked up by episode shuffling). Series III is just about the only series where no episode directly references any previous episode, but it still has the Backwards scrolling text and general references to Rimmer having died and stuff.

8. One of the series’ most famous and quoted scenes – everybody’s dead, Dave – is a straight-up 2001: A Space Odyssey homage and would have been received that way at the time, but doesn’t work like that for most people coming to the episode later on or new viewers who are young or don’t watch old films.

9. Sometimes dismissed as lightweight and gimmicky today, Backwards was designed as an innovative interactive experience to reward extracurricular effort. As well as inviting fans to work out the backwards events and filming logistics, Arthur Smith’s eugolonom is teasingly long and “you scoundrels” is clearly a cleaned-up translation gag even before you’ve heard it. Unfortunately, by the time technology caught up with the intent and the ability to reverse media files properly on home computers became commonplace, Backwards Forwards came out and everyone just cheated with the walkthrough.

Imagine the quality of the musings I left out!

Topic

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

[Nick R]

[Moonlight]

[clem]

[Starbugger]

I wonder why Captain Hollister’s name was a portmanteau of two other characters’ names? Was the ship’s first officer Commander Catrimmer?

[Ian Symes]

[Flap Jack]

Little known fact: the lowest ranking technician on Y-Shift is called Darren Hunter, and Red Dwarf’s backup computer is called Toddy.

[Frank Smeghammer]

On the subject of Todhunter, the way Chloe Annett pronounces it to sound like “Todd Hunter” makes my teeth itch. I don’t know why, it’s just absolutely fucking diabolical

[RainbowGazelle]

Oh man, I thought it was “Todd Hunter”. Shit, I’m not a true fan.

[tombow]

I’ve just been to Duct Soup to check…and its not as bad as I was expecting. Sounds like his normal name to me, with an ambiguous split second breath in the middle that could be “Todd Hunter” spoken fast or just his name spoken in a precise accent.

I think it’s the intonation as well because she emphasises the “Todd” due to the tension of shocking Lister with the revelation of his sexuality. 

[loadoftottnumb]

It’s best to just assume a characters name is Frank then you can’t go far wrong. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

It’s best to just assume a characters name is Frank then you can’t go far wrong. 

Frankhunter?

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

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[si]

Frankhunter?

Fran Cunter.

[loadoftottnumb]

More a mundane point than an observation but yesterday I was flicking through the channels and came across an episode of The Upper Hand with Angela Bruce in it, I watched for a minute, got bored and turned the telly off. Just turned it on now again, same channel, and it’s an episode of Shine on Harvey Moon with Suzanne Bertish. 

[Jonathan Capps]

[Frank Smeghammer]

[Dave]

[Dave]

Ha, great minds.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

I believe we’ve experienced this meme thread before, sirs.

[Nick R]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[cwickham]

In the Re-Re-Mastered version of Stasis Leak, the line about buying a Topic bar without a single hazelnut will be cut. #dwarffacts

[Moonlight]

[Formica]

[Rudolph]

[Dave]

[Jenuall]

[Dave]

Skipper was released six years ago today.

(Which means we’ve now had only one new episode of Red Dwarf in the past six years, slightly depressingly. And obviously nothing in the past three.)

[clem]

Yeah I think that’s partly why I’m not particularly enthused by the announcement about Rob’s project. Wondering whether we’re gonna get this not-even-really-a-prequel from Rob, Doug’s Out Of The Red thing the cast are apparently mad keen to make, and no more proper Red Dwarf. 

[Flap Jack]

(Which means we’ve now had only one new episode of Red Dwarf in the past
six years, slightly depressingly. And obviously nothing in the past
three.)

[International Debris]

Into the Gloop would like a word.

[Dave]

Looking forward to the Into The Gloop/AA adverts/First Three Million Years boxset. I now consider this to be Series XIV.

[International Debris]

I think it’s series 9 (comes between BtE and Series IX). 

[Jenuall]

Ah, the 1:03 version of Smart Breakdown – must be the Re-Mastered edition

[Flap Jack]

Into the Gloop would like a word.

Sorry Gloop fans, you’ve got to be on TV to get into this club.

[RunawayTrain]

Skipper was released six years ago today.
(Which means we’ve now had only one new episode of Red Dwarf in the past six years, slightly depressingly. And obviously nothing in the past three.)

Wut.  How was TPL more than three years ago???

(Yes yes, I know what IMDB says.  I just can’t get my head around it being over three and a half years ago.)

Although now I’m even more boggled that apparently The First Three Million Years was also more than three years ago!

In terms of the timeline though, don’t forget that one of those years, if not longer, was totally wiped out being unable to physically film or produce anything and not even really able to plan anything with all the uncertainty and changing rules.  RD has always been tight on budget, a whole extra chunk for covid safety would not have been a realistic hope.

[Rudolph]

To be honest, if The Promised Land was the final ever episode of Red Dwarf, I’d be alright with that. Obviously I’d want more, but it was a nice enough place to leave it on. It’s a far preferable situation to the cliffhanger ending of VIII that was the end of it all for the best part of a decade.

[International Debris]

Yeah, while I love Skipper, I think The Promised Land is probably the best potential Last Episode Ever we’ve had. Certainly of the post-bubble years.

[RunawayTrain]

When TPL aired I was fully prepared for it to potentially be the last one – well, as prepared as one can be. 

Of course I hope it’s not, but if it were to be I feel it was a good ending.  We’ve left our characters in almost a new chapter of life, emotionally, they’ll be off having new adventures still, and as a bonus they may even have potential allies in the cats.

[Moonlight]

I’m only torn because I’ve never more genuinely expected the current production block to be followed by another in the future than I was with TPL. I think I’d be way more OK with it as a finale otherwise.

[Dave]

While looking up a Smegadrive image I found this bizarre shot that makes Cat look like someone has entered the NBA Jam big-head cheat code.

[Stabbim]

When TPL aired I was fully prepared for it to potentially be the last one – well, as prepared as one can be. 
Of course I hope it’s not, but if it were to be I feel it was a good ending.  We’ve left our characters in almost a new chapter of life, emotionally, they’ll be off having new adventures still, and as a bonus they may even have potential allies in the cats.

I’ve long been very big on Red Dwarf ending with Lister technically fulfilling the promise of “Cloister The Stupid” and thus making the cats’ religion essentially true.  And while he hasn’t actually gotten a portion of the cat species back to Earth/Fiji/Fuschal yet, TPL does scratch the itch.  Returning in time of great need, inspiring rebellion and liberation.  He’s fulfilled a promise, he has in some ways made it up to them like he was so concerned about doing in “Waiting For God”, and Felis Sapiens is being left in a better place at the end of TPL than it was found at the start of TPL.  Lister has done his divine duty to his “creation”.

it’s close enough for me.

[tombow]

remember when Cat talked about his dick with a drill on the end being faster than a Jerd? Did anyone as a kid think that meant sex was really fast or that you had to be super fast to please women?

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

I think that’s just you buddy.

[Dave]

remember when Cat talked about his dick with a drill on the end

[Stabbim]

remember when Cat talked about his dick with a drill on the end

[tombow]

well, maybe he couldn’t really make it through walls. But we don’t really know his physiology. Maybe climbing round the ship evolved such a power

[Moonlight]

I don’t know if this fits the thread, but I was like 11 when I discovered Red Dwarf and I thought P2P Productions’ Red Dwarf Movie opening credits were real. I didn’t think there was a movie that I hadn’t seen, I just thought they made opening credits for the movie that didn’t get made.

I was a dumb child.

[tombow]

If Norm was Holly in White Hole, how would they have visually changed him for the clever version? I was thinking little glasses or something.

[Author]

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