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

[Rudolph]

The phrase “is that a quagaar you’re smoking, Lister?” has me in fits of giggles every time I read it. Thanks, Rudolph.

You’re very welcome, a good start to the new year!

[Hamish]

while not giving a shit about the fascinating new species under his nose (even though they have the specific number of breasts he desires)

They hide them well.

[Moonlight]

I have six breasts but you don’t see me flaunting them around.

[Jenuall]

[Technopeasant]

[Technopeasant]

For further reference:

So we literally have no examples for female cats prior to the Doug solo era?
And of course the reference to the six nipples is from Doug as well.
Have we ever considered that the Cripple was actually crippled because she had six breasts rather than two, and that she passed on this nipple mutation to her son?

[Dave]

And of course the reference to the six nipples is from Doug as well.

First mentioned in Series 2, wasn’t it?

[clem]

So we literally have no examples for female cats prior to the Doug solo era?

I don’t think any are depicted in the Cat bible pictures, except for Frankenstein of course. There’s the female Cat in the second USA pilot. And is “Genny Mutant” meant to be a cat?

[Warbodog]

Mother cats have more prominent jugs when nursing, but they’re more subdued otherwise, maybe it’s a similar thing. Frankenstein’s descendants could have sexually selected just two prominent ones to attract the males whose sexuality was being influenced by the ship’s human-centric media of Wilma Flintstone etc.

[Dave]

[Technopeasant]

Given the whole basis is that they evolved into humanoids to fit a ship that was built for humans, that does track (a bit like Full Circle and Adric from Doctor Who really). The rest of the nipples being more subdued would also make Cat’s “especially if you play the piano” remark make a fair bit of sense too. Right, that’s their barbed dicks and multi-jugs dealt with, so we can move back to the immortal question of if holograms have jizz. We are all so very mature.

[Unrumble]

[Dave]

Can’t remember if this has been mentioned before, but rewatching Emohawk there are definitely some scenes where Danny lapses into Duane’s voice before the transformation.

Particularly this scene:

But also here:

[Technopeasant]

I mean, in both examples he’s visibly dismayed, so that may just be his dismayed voice.

[Ben Saunders]

The reason Dwayne Dibbley sounds like that is because he’s constantly dismayed on account of being Dwayne Dibbley.

[Ian Symes]

He’d be dismayed at that spelling.

[Unrumble]

[Dave]

I mean, in both examples he’s visibly dismayed, so that may just be his dismayed voice.

It’s a bit more than that, there are little vocal inflections he does as Cat but not Duane and vice versa.

I guess it’s normal there would be some slippage as the two voices are similar but not the same and he’d be switching between them while shooting this episode. 

[Dave]

This is another little moment of Duane-y disappointment.

[Warbodog]

I do think you’re on to something, though my tired brain’s finding it hard to remember what Cat sounds like in any other episode without animated reminders.

[Ben Saunders]

My brain’s go-to Cat lines are “look, Stan and Ollie will be back soon with the supplies” and “you mean this ship’s carooming out of control through space with absolutely zero expertise at the helm?”, thanks to hearing them 500 times each in the smeg ups.

He’d be dismayed at that spelling.

I had it right at first and second-guessed myself. What a dibbler.

[Nick R]

He’d be dismayed at that spelling.

Dwayne “The Rock” Dibbley.

[Moonlight]

Unconvincing CGI spaceships chasing through a space cave made me think of Bodyswap Remastered.

[Technopeasant]

I do think you’re on to something, though my tired brain’s finding it hard to remember what Cat sounds like in any other episode without animated reminders.

I guess we will have to dig up the mobisodes then.

[Moonlight]

I guess we will have to dig up the mobisodes then.

You’re welcome.

[Technopeasant]

 You’re welcome.

[Technopeasant]

The reason Dwayne Dibbley sounds like that is because he’s constantly dismayed on account of being Dwayne Dibbley.

We had a nervous dog that used to randomly start whining to himself for no apparent reason. We used to joke that it was because he suddenly realized he was who he was. Miserable bugger lived to 13 years of age. I miss him.

[Unrumble]

We had a nervous dog that used to randomly start whining to himself for no apparent reason. We used to joke that it was because he suddenly realized he was who he was. Miserable bugger lived to 13 years of age. I miss him.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

So was he Descartes or Popeye the Sailor Man?

[Technopeasant]

[Moonlight]

Are we the first people to play Beat the Geek in the year of our Lord twenty hundred and twenty-five?

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Are we the first people to play Beat the Geek in the year of our Lord twenty hundred and twenty-five?

Possibly the first it in 15 years

[Moonlight]

VLC sure hates DVD games.

[Dave]

Not the most original observation, but Kryten’s Series X costume really was shit, wasn’t it?

I mean what the fuck is this?

[Unrumble]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Jenuall]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Moonlight]

[Technopeasant]

And NOW we have the replacement to melted Kryten…

[Moonlight]

You could easily find worse looking Series X Kryten faces to use, I was just out for one that was at the right angle for that specific shot.

[Rudolph]

I quite like the big tubes on his shoulder pads. Give him a pleasing, retro sci-fi look.

[RunawayTrain]

I quite like the big tubes on his shoulder pads. Give him a pleasing, retro sci-fi look.

They’ve flopped outwards with age.  (Compare the VI gif upthread)

[Renegade Rob]

Unless I’m mistaken, those are known in-universe as Jovian boogle hoops. 

[Technopeasant]

You could easily find worse looking Series X Kryten faces to use, I was just out for one that was at the right angle for that specific shot.

Him leaning over that mop at the start of Dear Dave comes to mind.

[Technopeasant]

I quite like the big tubes on his shoulder pads. Give him a pleasing, retro sci-fi look.

[Technopeasant]

They’ve flopped outwards with age.  (Compare the VI gif upthread)

Series VI is the best he ever looked.

[Moonlight]

Him leaning over that mop at the start of Dear Dave comes to mind.

This is actually the scene I pulled that frame from. 

[Ben Saunders]

I like the Series VII look. Crazy how they seemingly dropped the ball immediately after getting it right twice (VII – VIII, BtE – X).

[Moonlight]

Is this an argument for single-cam Dwarf or are you more focusing on other elements of the look?

FUCK MY ASS PAGE 69 etc. etc. etc.

[Author]

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