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

[Dave]

Big fan of Star Trek Star Trek Insurrection Insurrection Special Collector’s Edition Edition Spéciale De Collection.

They had to translate it or it would have been utterly indecipherable. 

[Moonlight]

 

My Red Dwarf shelf is a clashing mess of DVD and Blu-ray, NTSC and PAL releases, but what really annoys me is the American XI and XII spines don’t match. Also, the NTSC conversions on X-XII are all dogshit which is why TPL has a 12 on it.

At least the XI promo photo is a really good promo photo. Rushy singling out XI and XII’s covers as really bad is odd to me when X is obviously the worst cover a Red Dwarf DVD ever had.

Unless you count that fake one I made in 2009.

Why is this shit I posted on TOS over 15 years ago still high in the image results for “Red Dwarf Series X DVD”? This is a terrible legacy to have. Chris’s hair still looks better than the actual Series X though.

[Moonlight]

re: the sideways movies stacked on top

[Unrumble]

[Ridley]

Gee, after all that, I was kind of hoping somebody would Beat the Geek. All right, I’ll play something.

[Warbodog]

The Region 1 spines look like it’s Rimmer and the seven red dwarfs.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Did the US publisher not believer they’d make it to series viii so left the logo off the spin?

All my DVDs. I can’t be arsed to dig out the VHS tapes 

[Flap Jack]

Could use more copies of Series X.

[Ridley]

Copied Moonlight moar liek.

[clem]

Danny and Hattie tied on three for most DVD spine appearances thanks to Beat the Geek, Bodysnatcher, and Danny’s hand on XI.

This doesn’t annoy me enough to replace it with the re-release of Series 1 with the standardised design. (I do have Series 9 as well.)

[Flap Jack]

OK, 2 people posting their Red Dwarf DVD shelves officially makes it a trend, so I’m going to get in on the action.

I was satisfyingly able to fill a shelf with just Red Dwarf media, without overflowing onto other shelves.

The addition of a new series or special would screw this display up, so I was hoping that by doing this I would tempt fate hard enough for more Red Dwarf to be made, but alas.

And yes, I do consider you apostate if you don’t reverse your UK Series X-TPL DVD covers.

[Technopeasant]

Also, the NTSC conversions on X-XII are all dogshit

Which is why all my HD Dwarf is imported. And I had to import Bodysnatcher anyway. The Smeg Ups tape I actually found at ValuVillage. Our childhood IV and VI tapes, and KCTS/Showcase VHS off-airs are at my parent’s place. As well as a library copy of part of VII.

[clem]

I do consider you apostate if you don’t reverse your UK Series X-TPL DVD covers.

I didn’t know TPL had a reversible cover. (I’ve only got the Dave era on Blu-ray.) Bit of a shame they just slapped Kryten on the spine when there were plenty of guest cast to pick from, Rodon seeming like the obvious choice. Same goes for Holly on XII even though I suppose he arguably was a guest that series, but still. I’d have picked Hitler. 

[Warbodog]

I had most of that stuff in the past (plus VHS and Smegazines, minus post-VI DVDs), now culled to the few novels and reference books I’ll actually read or flick through again (but still tempted by Chris Barrie narration to YouTube).

[Moonlight]

They’re stacked in my closet which is currently not very accessible but I bought I-VII (and Smeg-Ups / Outs) on VHS around 2018, with a couple duplicates included. Not that I’m too young for VHS, but the DVDs were my original exposure to the show.

[Flap Jack]

Bit of a shame they just slapped Kryten on the spine when there were
plenty of guest cast to pick from, Rodon seeming like the obvious
choice. Same goes for Holly on XII even though I suppose he arguably was
a guest that series, but still. I’d have picked Hitler. 

Having both Jesus and Hitler would certainly be a bold choice.

But yeah, it is disappointing they ended up repeating characters, even if they couldn’t properly continue the trend because there were no more regulars that hadn’t been featured.

I personally would have gone with a “guest crew” selection. Characters who are canonically on the ship even if we don’t see them in multiple episodes, or are friendly enough that they could plausibly visit sometimes:

X     – Hogey

XI    – Snacky (or Butler)

XII   – Talkie

TPL – Luna / Peanut (or Sol, but probably better to take the chance to feature a woman if all else is equal)

[Moonlight]

Put Indira Joshi’s character on the X spine. She’s one of the best bits of Lemons.

[RunawayTrain]

Unfortunately mine are all in a cardboard box which takes up less room when placed perpendicular to the shelf, it was the only way I could fit my DVDs in.  Like this, but fully packed into the box, and multiple adjacent boxes ↓

Off the top of my head I only have UK DVD releases of 1 to XI, Just the Smegs, and Bodysnatcher.

[International Debris]

And yes, I do consider you apostate if you don’t reverse your UK Series X-TPL DVD covers.

I did that originally, then realised they don’t quite match up properly, and just weirdly extend it, and require BtE to be moved to the end, so realised it was actually neater to keep them with their original spines and swapped them back.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

And yes, I do consider you apostate if you don’t reverse your UK Series X-TPL DVD covers.

I did that originally, then realised they don’t quite match up properly, and just weirdly extend it, and require BtE to be moved to the end, so realised it was actually neater to keep them with their original spines and swapped them back.

Ditto

[Ian Symes]

Due to a combination of multiple rearrangings of the house since become a parent, and plans to move within the next year or two, I don’t currently have a Dwarf shelf. Almost all of my collectables are in storage, and I just have a few bags full of DVDs, books, magazines etc, all within grabbing distance of my desk for quick reference.

[Jonathan Capps]

Oh whoops, you accidentally left your award in the picture! Silly billy.

[Ian Symes]

I think it would be best on that wall, sort of dominating the room.

[Ian Symes]

I think it would be best on that wall, sort of dominating the room.

[Jonathan Capps]

[Warbodog]

Why does Holly switch to using the name they decided was official in a hallucination she wasn’t privy to?

[Flap Jack]

[Dave]

Why does Holly switch to using the name they decided was official in a hallucination she wasn’t privy to?

There were actually two of them: the first one, the main one, was the Suicide Squid, and that one should usually be enough to get the job done on its own.

But the second one, just in case it was needed, was Despair Squid.

[Ben Saunders]

Holly is also the only person to utter the word “Polymorph” in Polymorph, a single time. It is after she looks it up in the computer records, but nobody else calls it that and she just says it as if that’s always been what they called it.

[Nick R]

Why does Holly switch to using the name they decided was official in a hallucination she wasn’t privy to?

Explanation 1: The crew talk aloud during their hallucination, and Holly overhears them using that phrase.

Now admittedly, in the scenes we see, only Andy says the term, not any of the crew. But it’s possible one of them could have been mentioned it in an unseen moment between them finding their clothes, and walking out to the car park?

Alternatively, perhaps when hallucination-induced characters are talking, one of the crew is compelled to say that person’s lines aloud, as a way of reinforcing the hallucination by ensuring that all “dialogue” is heard by everyone?

(If so, this would mean that in Back to Earth, all of the guest cast’s lines – from Katerina to the kids on the bus to the Creator – were actually being spoken aloud by one of the crew. Which means that when Lister is the only one remaining in there with Hallucination!Kochanski, he’s saying her lines too…?)

Explanation 2: Holly started using the phrase “Despair Squid” when she was calling out to the crew to break them out of the dream, and her words were translated into the hallucination by being put into Andy’s mouth.

[Flap Jack]

(If so, this would mean that in Back to Earth, all of the guest cast’s lines – from Katerina to the kids on the bus to the Creator – were actually being spoken aloud by one of the crew. Which means that when Lister is the only one remaining in there with Hallucination!Kochanski, he’s saying her lines too…?)

Sadly not, because we see that in the case of the Joy Squid the victims are effectively just asleep. Maybe they mutter to themselves, but they’re looking right at Lister and he’s doing and saying nothing, even though he probably is speaking in the fantasy.

[Rushy]

It’s established in both Me2 and Back in the Red that Captain Hollister only invites promising officers to dinner. Aside from Rimmer, all of them are women. If you ignore all the series 8-ness around it, it’s nice to think of Red Dwarf being one of the most feminist-friendly ships in the Space Corps. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

It’s established in both Me2 and Back in the Red that Captain Hollister only invites promising officers to dinner. Aside from Rimmer, all of them are women. If you ignore all the series 8-ness around it, it’s nice to think of Red Dwarf being one of the most feminist-friendly ships in the Space Corps. 

Or, ya know, the Captain is a creep.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Is Chris nearly corpsing there? Or is that Chris playing Rimmer trying to keep a straight face?

[Rushy]

I miss baby-faced Chris. Rimmer doesn’t feel right without his big cheeks. 

[Unrumble]

Is Chris nearly corpsing there? Or is that Chris playing Rimmer trying to keep a straight face?

I thought it was the latter. 

[Technopeasant]

Sadly not, because we see that in the case of the Joy Squid the victims are effectively just asleep.

Also kind of foreshadowed their seating arrangements in VI.

I always just found it jarring that she said Suicide Squid to begin with.

[Moonlight]

Through a confluence of questionable purchases I now am equipped to put Dave era Red Dwarf on VHS. Will keep you posted when / if I actually bother to attempt it.

I’m debating cropping it into 4:3 because a shitty pan-and-scan would be very accurate to 90s VHS.

[Rushy]

I know Lister’s in his longjohns this episode, but the splash of red really suits Craig Charles. It might be my favourite look for him. 

[Ian Symes]

The script calls them red longjohns, but Doug didn’t expect them to be actually red.

[Rushy]

Also, now that I’m looking at that vending machine, didn’t Lister say one of the duties of Z-Shift was keeping them full?

Who’s filling the vending machines nowadays then? Kryten? And why do they even need vending machines?

[Dave]

The script calls them red longjohns, but Doug didn’t expect them to be actually red.

[Unrumble]

Also, now that I’m looking at that vending machine, didn’t Lister say one of the duties of Z-Shift was keeping them full?
Who’s filling the vending machines nowadays then? Kryten? And why do they even need vending machines?

In ‘The End’, they’re specifically doing maintenance, and in ‘Kryten’ it’s “the bloke who used to clean the gunk out of the chicken soup machine” but yes, there is that line in ‘Justice’ about “running out of fun-size Crunchie bars.”

Maybe it can be squared by suggesting that malfunctioning machines not providing the desired product could be considered them ‘running out’?

[Dave]

Z-shift had to handle refilling the snack machines on top of their other duties as the previous guy who did it, Dennis, mysteriously went missing midway through filling up a Krispy Kreme cabinet.

[clem]

In ‘The End’, they’re specifically doing maintenance, and in ‘Kryten’ it’s “the bloke who used to clean the gunk out of the chicken soup machine” but yes, there is that line in ‘Justice’ about “running out of fun-size Crunchie bars.”

Maybe Kryten coached Lister to say that to make Rimmer’s job sound even more menial than actually mending the machines, but then you’d think the justice computer would know if he was lying. There’s also this 

but I suppose that doesn’t necessarily mean they had to do the restocking, and anyway it’s a different universe.

[International Debris]

Although it is strongly suggested that the cat moment in that scene is the point of divergence between the two universes.

My guess would by Kryten, anyway. He does everything else on board.

[Moonlight]

Let’s be real though, if Lister is restocking the vending machines he’s probably swiping Crunchie Bars left and right while Rimmer isn’t looking. I know I would.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Rushy]

Every time I revisit the commentaries on the Bodysnatcher DVD, I’m left asking what smegging bee does Rob have in his bonnet. He seems to get along great with Doug, why not just chill and write something? 

Obviously I don’t know the guy and I’m not saying he has any obligation to write more, but it just seems a bit surreal to me that they still have this natural camaraderie and love for their past work, and seem to have no issue writing new material for Bodysnatcher.

But somehow, a new script is completely out of the question. That just doesn’t compute with my brain lol. 

I think Doug’s even said that he has no idea why Rob won’t work with him. Is Doug really that difficult that Rob cannot bear the thought of doing more than a few scenes with him? 

[Technopeasant]

Z-shift had to handle refilling the snack machines on top of their other duties as the previous guy who did it, Dennis, mysteriously went missing midway through filling up a Krispy Kreme cabinet.

The only way into the machines requires a special screwdriver only maintenance has access to.

[Author]

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