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]

Well, that’s where fair use comes into play. There’s an interesting video on that, actually:

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

They had Phil Manzanera and Anita Dobson booked for Psirens and they didn’t take the opportunity to do a one-off version of the theme song specific to that episode like they did with Meltdown? They could’ve even gone the whole hog and asked her if Brian was free for a quick solo.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Anita sings the Red Dwarf theme – Anyone can fall in a black hole

[clem]

They had Phil Manzanera and Anita Dobson booked for Psirens and they didn’t take the opportunity to do a one-off version of the theme song specific to that episode like they did with Meltdown? They could’ve even gone the whole hog and asked her if Brian was free for a quick solo.

Clayton Mark was playing Elvis though. There’s no clear reason for his performance of the song to exist diegetically, but still, it’d be a bit out of left field to have the theme sung by Captain Tau. I suppose she could have done a duet with Clare Grogan.

[clem]

Anita sings the Red Dwarf theme – Anyone can fall in a black hole

Any woman can fall out of an airlock 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Any polymorph can suck out love 

[clem]

Speaking of Phil Manzanera, Lister being deluded about his guitar playing talent is only really a thing in Psirens isn’t it. Or at least it’s massively exaggerated in that episode, as per Series VI flanderization I suppose. Previously we get the impression that he thinks he’s better than he is, but in Psirens he really believes he’s as good as Jimi Hendrix (or at least as good as Phil Manzanera) but is shown tunelessly strumming. In fact he even admits to “not exactly [being] a wizard” in Marooned, and jokes that he’s now “only half crap” in Nanarchy, having lost an arm. Then in Timewave he says he’s gotten better and is no longer the “tone-deaf plucker” he used to be. 

[clem]

Any polymorph can suck out love 

Anyone can roll in smeg 

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Speaking of Phil Manzanera, Lister being deluded about his guitar playing talent is only really a thing in Psirens isn’t it. Or at least it’s massively exaggerated in that episode, as per Series VI flanderization I suppose. Previously we get the impression that he thinks he’s better than he is, but in Psirens he really believes he’s as good as Jimi Hendrix (or at least as good as Phil Manzanera) but is shown tunelessly strumming. In fact he even admits to “not exactly [being] a wizard” in Marooned, and jokes that he’s now “only half crap” in Nanarchy, having lost an arm. Then in Timewave he says he’s gotten better and is no longer the “tone-deaf plucker” he used to be. 

In fairness to him, he did hold his own against Hitler in that jam.

[Ian Symes]

The phrase “stasis leak” is a bootstrap paradox.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

What is it?

[Moonlight]

How long had Lister left the shower running by time Meltdown begins?

[International Debris]

Shouldn’t that be in unanswered questions rather than mundane observation dome?

[Moonlight]

It’s a pretty mundane question.

[Unrumble]

[Warbodog]

Humourlessly, I assume the space shower was automatic or they knocked the nozzle.

How does Kryten bend his knees and switch from holding the device with one hand to two, while dematerialised?

Perhaps it has a ‘wrap body’ function.

[Nick R]

Shouldn’t that be in unanswered questions rather than mundane observation dome?

[Ian Symes]

They didn’t turn the shower off when they left either, did they? They’ll come back from Waxworld to find the sleeping quarters flooded.

[International Debris]

How does Kryten bend his knees and switch from holding the device with one hand to two, while dematerialised? 

Also, why is Chris so much better than holding his position than the other two? 

[Rushy]

Grant and Naylor forgot that the book version of Red Dwarf only had one Starbug, one Blue Midget and one White Giant. It’s explicitly mentioned in the text.

Starbug melted on Garbage World and Blue Midget is detonated to try and kill the Polymorph. From that point on, the crew only use White Giant.

Until Last Human/Backwards, when they magically have Starbug again.

(On a similar note, what happened to the Nova 5?)

[Rushy]

Update (nearly finished rereading BTL): at one point, they also forget they blew up Blue Midget and refer to it as the one remaining shuttlecraft, despite using White Giant in a later chapter. 

[Rushy]

It also occurs to me that the writers cleverly explained the rundown grungy look of the ship in series 3-5 with the time skip that occurs while the crew are in BTL and Holly compresses his IQ. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Rushy once you’re done with the books catch up on the book club dearfcasts and associated threads for them. You’ll love the discussions 

[RunawayTrain]

Also, why is Chris so much better than holding his position than the other two? 

This reminds me, I seem to recall someone in the cast or crew complimenting Chris’ ability to replicate his performance perfectly in Future Echoes, each time in the echo and in the present experiencing of each echo.  

(I don’t know if the answer is him being better at it then the other two, or whether there was supposed to be a continuity person ensuring they were all in the same positions, just your comment jogged my memory.)

[Unrumble]

This reminds me, I seem to recall someone in the cast or crew complimenting Chris’ ability to replicate his performance perfectly in Future Echoes, each time in the echo and in the present experiencing of each echo. 

Something I noticed years ago, is that in the drive room it’s not perfect, as he points on the initial future echo “Shut up!” but not in the real-time version.

[Ian Symes]

And there’s “you’re space crazy” in one and “you are space crazy” in t’other.

[Nick R]

Something I noticed years ago, is that in the drive room it’s not perfect, as he points on the initial future echo “Shut up!” but not in the real-time version.

Well that’s ruined the whole episode. Future Echoes’ fall down to 72nd place in the Ruby Reckoning is now assured.

[Flap Jack]

It means that Lister was right – the future can change. He just wasn’t paying close enough attention to realise he already had his proof.

[Unrumble]

Well that’s ruined the whole episode. Future Echoes’ fall down to 72nd place in the Ruby Reckoning is now assured.

Another contender enters the ‘is it better than everything in VIII except Cassandra?’ arena.

[Moonlight]

They didn’t turn the shower off when they left either, did they? They’ll come back from Waxworld to find the sleeping quarters flooded.

[Warbodog]

It means that Lister was right – the future can change. He just wasn’t paying close enough attention to realise he already had his proof.

Later time-based episodes confirm that they jumped to an overly fatalistic conclusion the first time. Except Cassandra, when for some reason they forget all of that and are still at Series 1 experience.

[Rushy]

It means that Lister was right – the future can change. He just wasn’t paying close enough attention to realise he already had his proof.

Later time-based episodes confirm that they jumped to an overly fatalistic conclusion the first time. Except Cassandra, when for some reason they forget all of that and are still at Series 1 experience.

Unless of course they were destined to change history.

That’s kind of the problem I have with some Doctor Who stories. Like Peter Capaldi showing up in Day of the Doctor implies that the events of Trenzalore are meant to change, and that time travel itself is part of historical fact.

[Rushy]

Of course the luck virus would still have been absurdly useful on so many occasions (LIKE WHEN THEY WERE TRYING TO FIND RED DWARF, WHICH IS WHY THE LUCK VIRUS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ON STARBUG, DOUG)

He says, knowing that the micro Red Dwarf literally flew into Starbug for no apparent reason. They did find it. They were just too daft to find it. 

EDIT: Responding to an ancient comment of one ‘Flap Jack’, because I was going through old pages and I felt compelled lol

[Dave]

Also, it would be awfully unsatisfying writing if they just used the luck virus every time they needed to overcome any peril or misfortune.

(Hope you’re looking forward to Last Human, Rushy.)

[Rushy]

 (Hope you’re looking forward to Last Human, Rushy.)

I’m actually rather enjoying it at the moment! Although that might just be leftover goodwill from Better than Life. I became deeply invested in the book-specific versions of Lister and Rimmer reading that. 

It helps that these early scenes are all taken from Psirens, too, as it’s one of my favourite episodes. 

[Rushy]

There are only six episodes where the word ‘smeg’ does not appear in any variation

Terrorform

Back to Reality

Emohawk: Polymorph II

Back in the Red part 2

Can of Worms

Cured

[Flap Jack]

He says, knowing that the micro Red Dwarf literally flew into Starbug
for no apparent reason. They did find it. They were just too daft to find it.

To me that’s a distinction without a difference. Whether they needed help finding Red Dwarf outside Starbug or inside it, the luck virus would have definitely given them an easier time of it.

[Ben Saunders]

with luck you just happen to come across things and get things right, but with the search for Red Dwarf, they’re actively looking for it. it’s not “luck” to find something you’re actively looking for, so the luck virus wouldn’t work in that situation. they would have to take the luck virus without any intent of finding Red Dwarf and then accidentally find it. 

[Dave]

it’s not “luck” to find something you’re actively looking for,

Like guessing the right keypad code to unlock a door?

[Ben Saunders]

Like guessing the right keypad code to unlock a door?

By my arbitrary standard, this is luck, because there are like a billion combinations. It makes sense in my head.

[Moonlight]

[Dave]

[Ben Saunders]

See, they haven’t actually began looking for it yet at that point, and so are able to accidentally stumble across it. Of course, it was always there.

[Dave]

[Dave]

Of course, it was always there.

Joking aside though, whether or not you go with the “it can only be found with the luck virus if you’re not actively searching for it” rule, there is clearly some degree of weird reality-rewriting power that the luck virus has at a high dose.

So if they had taken the luck virus when first searching for Red Dwarf, before the nano-Dwarf ended up inside Starbug, presumably the luck virus could have engineered some kind of set of circumstances that led to them eventually achieving their goal.

[Moonlight]

whether or not you go with the “it can only be found with the luck virus if you’re not actively searching for it” rule

But why are all those women attracted to Rimmer if he was looking for sex?

[Technopeasant]

 presumably the luck virus could have engineered some kind of set of circumstances that led to them eventually achieving their goal.

I mean, they did eventually.

[Technopeasant]

But why are all those women attracted to Rimmer if he was looking for sex?

That was a different virus. He clearly wasn’t looking for it by the end. Especially because at the captain’s dinner he says he merely wanted charisma, not to be gang banged.

[Warbodog]

A rusty cog finally turned in my brain and I realised Cat probably isn’t talking figuratively here, as they didn’t have en-suite bathrooms in the early series, did they? They had these:

Maybe the bathroom was the primary motivation for relocating once the Officers’ Quarters were decontaminated.

[Warbodog]

[Author]

Replies