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]

I really want to watch the entirety of Coronation Street from the beginning.

[Flap Jack]

I once went to Todaycon, the convention for fans of the Today programme, but I accidentally let slip that I’d only listened to all the episodes going back to 12 years before I was born, and I got thrown out for being a filthy casual.

[tombow]

I remember them repeating the first ever episode of Corrie for the 30th anniversary in the 90s. IIRC, it had quite a dark “kitchen sink drama” look, and Ken was in it, having some kind of conflict with his parents and a girlfriend.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

I remember them repeating the first ever episode of Corrie for the 30th anniversary in the 90s. IIRC, it had quite a dark “kitchen sink drama” look, and Ken was in it, having some kind of conflict with his parents and a girlfriend.

They also repeated it for the 60th. A few people bicker in the cabin, and yeah Ken has a Barney with his parents. 

The most interesting thing to me is the production. It’s all on a stage (obviously?). But still wot a “outside” The street is just set of doors and windows people walk past. To look like they’re wandering down a street

[clem]

I really want to watch the entirety of Coronation Street from the beginning. It all exists in the archives, and the vast majority of episodes are easily found online, so it’s technically doable. But I once figured out that if I paced it like my successful one-episode-per-day runthrough of the entirety of Doctor Who, it would take me just over 32 years to catch up to the present day, by which time a further 10,000 odd episodes will have been made. 

It’d still be a huge undertaking but could you maybe just watch it up to the point at which you became a regular viewer, assuming you are one? It got much less airtime in the early days, so that might not be totally unachievable, and you’d still have seen all of Corrie, just not in the right order. I’ve been watching since around the time Des Barnes set fire to his boat, which I’ve just looked up and it’s longer than I thought – 1991!

Interestingly there’s going to be less new Corrie as of January next year, with 30-minute installments Monday to Friday instead of the current three hour-long episodes per week.

[Technopeasant]

Oh, it will. And William Roache will still be there.

[Ian Symes]

It’d still be a huge undertaking but could you maybe just watch it up to the point at which you became a regular viewer, assuming you are one?

I’ve just drifted in and out so much over the years. My mum always watched it, so I’d catch bits and bobs, then I became an ardent viewer around the mid 90s – the Battersbys arriving, Kevin’s affair with Natalie, Free The Weatherfield One and all that. Then just stopped as I moved into my teens, before picking it up again years later for the 50th anniversary tram crash. Stuck with it for ages, but just got behind at some point in about 2021 and gave up.

So yeah, because of that and also because of how my brain works, it would have to be all or nothing.

[Rushy]

Ena Stubbs was easily the best character and it should’ve ended with her 

[Warbodog]

My mum always watched it, so I’d catch bits and bobs, then I became an ardent viewer around the mid 90s

Same for me, but probably a couple of years on. The Platt teen pregnancy, Roy and Hayley, and less controversial plots about and for the oldies.

I looked up their fates years later and it was like reading dark fanfic.

[Technopeasant]

I have just learned never to load up a Corrie related article on Wikipedia…

[RunawayTrain]

My mum always watched it, so I’d catch bits and bobs, then I became an ardent viewer around the mid 90s       Same for me, but probably a couple of years on. The Platt teen pregnancy, Roy and Hayley, and less controversial plots about and for the oldies.

I looked up their fates years later and it was like reading dark fanfic.

Similar for me too.  When it started feeling more like Eastenders (‘affectionately’ called ShoutShout in our house, we didn’t watch it) with all the conflict, and the plots became more unbelievable, I stopped watching.  Since we didn’t have a TV until 2000 or 2001 I guess I must have watched it for around a decade, give or take a couple of years.

It is an interesting thought about going back to the start.  One thing about soaps is they are good time capsules of the mundane aspects of daily life, especially technology, home decor, fashion, etc.  The historical aspect appeals to me. 

[Moonlight]

This might be a very cold take but I’ve arrived at VII watching through the show with a friend who’s never seen it and, maybe because I’m watching on a computer monitor, I’m really noticing how much the “film” effect has damaged the video quality. There’s this jagged pixelated look to the fine detail for basically the whole series and on occasion there are random shots that look absolutely awful for no apparent reason, mainly in Stoke.

It looks bad. This is a bad filter. They shouldn’t have done it.

[Warbodog]

random shots that look absolutely awful for no apparent reason, mainly in Stoke.

[Moonlight]

These are scattered throughout the episode and I don’t understand why. It happens briefly in Tikka but I can’t recall it elsewhere. And that’s not even addressing when they decide to zoom in on shots, which also happens in Tikka.

VII frustrates me because I really like what it’s trying to do with blending serious drama and cartoon absurdity in a live action sci-fi show, but it really doesn’t stick the landing at all. I could see some ideal version of VII being my favorite series in another timeline.

[Warbodog]

[Moonlight]

I got caught off-guard by how much I was enjoying the episode. Then they got back to Starbug.

[tombow]

does anyone remember the corrie episode where Curly got a makeover and some friends gave him spiky hair and baggy, checked trousers, and he looked cool? Like a “baggy” pop star or similar. And he went to a party and everyone treated him like he was cool.

[Rudolph]

On the subject of longest-running shows, wasn’t there a bit of a to-do a few years ago, where the Guinness Book of Records awared Stargate SG-1 with the longest running sci-fi show award? It ran for ten years, but then some clever clogs pointed out that Doctor Who had ran for more-or-less twenty-six years straight.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Apparently yes. 

https://www.slashfilm.com/1675307/stargate-sg1-sci-fi-guiness-world-record-broken-superman-smallville/

[Ian Symes]

does anyone remember the corrie episode where Curly got a makeover and some friends gave him spiky hair and baggy, checked trousers, and he looked cool? Like a “baggy” pop star or similar. And he went to a party and everyone treated him like he was cool.

Yes! Just after Raquel fucked off to Kuala Lumpur. I really distinctly remember his main indicator of coolness was that he switched to bottled beers rather than draft. 

[Warbodog]

Fred Elliott said he was popping out for “a fresh of breath air” in about 1999 and I’ve exclusively used that phrasing since.

[Dave]

Coronation Street is starting to challenge Sonic and Doctor Who in the G&T-secondary-fandom stakes.

[Ian Symes]

[clem]

Snacky’s just been upstairs in his room all this time, playing his tapes. 

[tombow]

does anyone remember the corrie episode where Curly got a makeover and some friends gave him spiky hair and baggy, checked trousers, and he looked cool? Like a “baggy” pop star or similar. And he went to a party and everyone treated him like he was cool.

Yes! Just after Raquel fucked off to Kuala Lumpur. I really distinctly remember his main indicator of coolness was that he switched to bottled beers rather than draft. 

and he arrived at the doorway of the party house, and the camera started at his new shoes and panned up past the cool checked trousers, the cool new shirt, and the new round glasses and spiky hair, and he swaggered in.

remember a storyline with an evil young businesswoman who tries to take over the company of Mike Baldwin or someone? And she froze to death in a freezer? Edit – Anne Malone | Coronation Street Wiki | Fandom

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

On the subject of Corrie

Has anyone ever considered why Lister and the crews subconscious hallucinated a perfect version of the the Coronation Street set pre-rebuild. 

None of them recognise it as an (old) TV show that aired in the 20th and 21st century.

So they have independently conjured up a version of Manchester that looks exactly like a TV show in our universe that doesn’t exist in theirs. Along with cast members.

Make it make sense. 

[Moonlight]

I mean there’s no reason to believe a form of Coronation Street exists in their universe and we already know the squid hallucinations are shared somehow.

[Warbodog]

Make it make sense. 

I don’t know, Kryten saw it once thousands of years ago when watching a documentary on the history of soap operas for Androids mentions and he forgot he perfectly remembered it.

[Technopeasant]

random shots that look absolutely awful for no apparent reason

New thread concept.

Coronation Street is starting to challenge Sonic and Doctor Who in the G&T-secondary-fandom stakes.

Arguably a logical one really.

Make it make sense. 

They also hallucinated a perfect replica of Craig Charles.

[International Debris]

On the subject of Corrie
Has anyone ever considered why Lister and the crews subconscious hallucinated a perfect version of the the Coronation Street set pre-rebuild. 
None of them recognise it as an (old) TV show that aired in the 20th and 21st century.
So they have independently conjured up a version of Manchester that looks exactly like a TV show in our universe that doesn’t exist in theirs. Along with cast members.
Make it make sense. 

They hallucinated a show in a fictional world and as a result, the fictional world where that show exists came into being. Corrie was invented by the minds of the Red Dwarf crew, as were we all.

[Moonlight]

So that time I took too much Nyquil and saw a writhing, pulsating mass of bowtie spaghetti when I closed my eyes, that’s now an alternate universe according to Back to Earth?

[Rushy]

I don’t mind that they hallucinated Coronation Street, but I do find it odd that they hallucinated 2009 and not 1989. Or, you know, their own time period. 

[International Debris]

1989 wouldn’t have worked because they’re many series in and about to do their last episode. 

[Rushy]

1989 wouldn’t have worked because they’re many series in and about to do their last episode. 

Most of their cultural references revolved around the 80s and 90s, so I would think they have some sort of affection for that era. 

None of this makes any real sense anyway, but of all versions of fantasy Earth to land on, the 2000s has the least amount of precedent. 

[Flap Jack]

I’m happy just to take it as a coincidence. As issues with Back to Earth go, “why do they hallucinate locations that are currently available for filming in real life?” is low down on the list for me.

[Unrumble]

random shots that look absolutely awful for no apparent reason, mainly in Stoke.

I’d always noticed this shot had an odd quality to it, but never really thought too much about it!

[Dave]

None of this makes any real sense anyway

This line should be included in multiple episodes to excuse plot holes.

[Dave]

[Dave]

[Dave]

[Rushy]

The show always gives the impression that humanity died out ages ago, but it actually had to be fairly recent, given how many wrecks and stations they find in deep space. 

Unless the light speed in Future Echoes brought them like halfway across the galaxy (I don’t know physics enough to judge). 

[Warbodog]

Unless the light speed in Future Echoes brought them like halfway across the galaxy (I don’t know physics enough to judge). 

From the line about it taking 4,000 years to turn around, it sounds like they’re still travelling away from Earth during the light speed shenanigans, until they start to slow down later in the episode. Then at some point, they probably decided to stop and turn around properly rather than trying to maintain momentum, since they’re always parking and orbiting from Series 2 on.

[Warbodog]

[Ridley]

So yeah, because of that and also because of how my brain works, it would have to be all or nothing.

Perhaps you could learn to love The Bill?

[Technopeasant]

This is also a universe where a DNA machine turned a mechanoid into a human and back, and Lister into a (female) chicken and back.

[Rushy]

I want to hear way more about Silicon Hell. It’s only mentioned in a handful episodes (versus the more popular Silicon Heaven), but I feel like there’s a really funny bit they could make out of it. 

“It just seems so unfair that all Blackberrys should burn in Silicon Hell” was one of my favourite XI gags

[Warbodog]

Stuck with it for ages, but just got behind at some point in about 2021 and gave up.
So yeah, because of that and also because of how my brain works, it would have to be all or nothing.

This might not help your brain, but with soaps supposedly being designed for passive viewing while women did the housework, you could have it on as ambient wallpaper whenever’s suitable. That’s what I’ve been doing with Dark Shadows and I’m 50 episodes in (only another 160 or so until it’s supposed to get good and might be worth actually watching. Admittedly, only about 5 of those episodes were backed by actual housework and the rest pissing about).

[International Debris]

Honestly I don’t think Dark Shadows would work well in the background, it’s mostly about the atmosphere, especially early on. It’s all tense and gloomy and spooky, you lose that if you’re not absorbed. I’d also say it starts getting good around the 100-110 mark.

[Warbodog]

It also means I miss some of the boom and crew shadows and bits of the set falling off, but I still catch some. It’s Sapphire and Steel tempo all over again, I’m sadly not capable of giving it my full attention.

[Technopeasant]

This might not help your brain, but with soaps supposedly being designed for passive viewing while women did the housework, you could have it on as ambient wallpaper whenever’s suitable. 

Or ABC in this case, apparently.

[Author]

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