“Pete” was meant to go before “Krytie TV”

[Antipodean]

I’ve only recently realised this. I understand why they switched them — so they could separate the 3-parter from the 2-parter by two standalones (Cassandra & Krytie TV) rather than just one — but Series VIII really does flow better if “Pete” goes first.

Two reasons why:
1. At the end of Krytie TV, Lister is horrified to discover he’s trashed Mr Ackerman’s quarters and not Tim’s — but at this point Ackerman has only been named in the credits, not in the actual show. When I first watched that episode, I was left thinking “Um… who’s Mr Ackerman?” Ackerman is first identified by that name at the beginning of Pete part 1.
2. At the end of Pete part 2, Hollister “says” he’s going to the Hole for twelve months… but appears in the very next episode. However, Hollister does not appear at all in Krytie TV.

Topic

[Jonathan Capps]

Papering over cracks, there.

[Stephen R. Fletcher]

I would’ve preferred more stand-alone eps in that series really. I understand the extra parts for BitR and Pete couldn’t be helped and weren’t planned but it does still bug me that there’s only 3 stand-alone eps in Series VIII.

[hummingbird]

It has to be said that, for those particular eps, the order in which they were broadcast was one of the least of their problems.

[Ian Symes]

Pete could have easily been named as two standalones that follow on from one another, rather than a two-parter. Captain’s Office for Part One, and just Pete for Part Two.

[Jonsmad]

>but it does still bug me that there’s only 3 stand-alone eps in Series VIII.

And one of them has a cliffhanger.

[Antipodean]

TOS says that “Pete” was filmed before “Krytie TV”, for what it’s worth…

> Pete could have easily been named as two standalones that follow on from one another, rather than a two-parter.

Multi-parters with separate names for each episode tend to be more like separate episodes linked together, though (“Confidence and Paranoia”/”Me^2”, “Out of Time”/”Tikka to Ride”, “Epideme”/”Nanarchy”) while “Pete” is more like all one story. It’s possible to edit about fifteen to twenty minutes out of “Pete” to get a decent single episode (I’ve actually tried it — yes, I’m a saddo) and the end result holds together quite well; I’d imagine that trying to do the same with one of the other examples above, however, would result in a confusing mess which undergoes a sudden plot change halfway through (hmm… sounds like “Only the Good”).

[Rad]

Not sure about Krytie TV and Pete but we should probably watch Meltdown first in Series IV because it makes more sense to have an episode where Kryten has to obey humans to an episode, Camille, where he refuses to go through with Rimmer’s orders. Not that continuity matters in RD really but it does go against the character development for Kryten in Series IV if it comes at the end.

[ori-STUDFARM]

Camille was moved to coincide with a Valentines day airing (if I remember right)

[Pete Part Three]

There were supposed to be some jokes in Back in the Red Part 3.

[hummingbird]

> There were supposed to be some jokes in Back in the Red Part 3.

In an attempt to appear less negative about VIII in general, I shall refrain from commenting on that statement.

[Plastic Percy]

Also, ‘Blue’ works better if you watch it before ‘Duct Soup’.

In ‘Blue’ it is clear that Kochanski has only been on the ship a short time – she is still looking for a way back to her Dave and Kryten has yet to inform her of his ship rules.
By ‘Duct Soup’ enough time has passed for her to work out a detailed time table of the noises the pipes next to her bed make and for the crew to have raided a derelict in order for Lister to find the dress and makeup for Kochanski.

[Ben Paddon]

That depends on how much time you think passes between episodes, especially when you consider that Series I and II, despite being a total of 12 episodes, apparently comprises at least a year and a half of time (according to Rimmer, at least).

[Jonathan Capps]

> Camille was moved to coincide with a Valentines day airing (if I remember right)

That was a coincidence, I think. It was moved because Meltdown and Dimension Jump were postponed due to the Gulf War.

[ori-STUDFARM]

^ Wikipedia lied to me again!

[Plastic Percy]

With the timeline of series I, I put it that the events of ‘The End’ up until ‘Thanks for the Memory’ take place over the period of one year, if they’re counting Rimmer’s Death Day as being the day Lister was revived from stasis.

Also, a year or so must logically pass between ‘Parallel Universe’ and ‘Backwards’ (to accomodate Lister’s pregnancy and the rebuild of Kryten) and Lister states that ‘D.N.A.’ takes place exactly one year after the events of ‘Polymorph’.

I’ve tried working out a Red Dwarf timeline of sorts, will post it eventually. Or not.

[Seb Patrick]

>^ Wikipedia lied to me again!

Looks like WP cites the Howarth/Lyons guide. Annoyingly, this probably means that if you changed it, someone would complain that you were removing a cited reference, even though said reference was wrong ;-)

Andrew can probably tell us whether the Virgin book is wrong, though…

[Dave]

>I put it that the events of ‘The End’ up until ‘Thanks for the Memory’ take place over the period of one year, if they’re counting Rimmer’s Death Day as being the day Lister was revived from stasis

Surely Rimmer’s Death Day is the anniversary of the Cadmium II accident and nothing to do with Lister’s release.

[Plastic Percy]

Possibly, we don’t know. Holly might have released Lister EXACTLY three million years to the date of the accident.

[Ben Paddon]

One also has to consider the possibility that “Thanks For The Memory” may not be not the first celebration of Rimmer’s Death Day.

[redhead85]

There’s lots of time shifts you don’t notice in the show until you pay closer attention…Lister’s pregnancy with the twins was supposed to have happened very swiftly before being born and living with their ‘father’. Yet nine months pass to allow baby Lister to be born is series VII – a period we don’t see at all.

There’s mentions of Christmases and Easter too (doesn’t Lister refer to the time difference between the Mutton Vindaloo Beast and the Polymorph as being a year previously?)

But…you know…time isn’t necessarily linear. It’s all bendy and strange and…timey wimey…

[Ben Paddon]

It’s possible we do see the period between Kochanski’s arrival and the birth of baby Lister – after all, who says that the events at the end of “Ouroboros” take place after the events of the episode but before the others? They could easily have taken place any time before “Epideme”.

[ChrisM]

Yeah, that’s how I saw it. I figured utero-Lister was cooking away in a container somewhere while the events of the other episodes were taking place.

Lister’s pregnancy with the twins was supposed to have happened very swiftly before being born and living with their ‘father’.

I remember they grew at an accelerated rate once they were born (something to do with the disparity between universes. (Bit of a contradiction in the ‘when in universe, we’re under their rules’ which led to the pregnancy in the first place but never mind.), but was it stated that the pregnancy was fast too? It might have been, and it would certainly make sense. I forget as I haven’t seen Backwards in a while. I always thought there were a few months between series 2 and 3 to accommodate all those in between events though but it may not have been a full 9 months.

[hummingbird]

Continuity and RD. You do realise that the two are mutually exclusive?

[redhead85]

> It’s possible we do see the period between Kochanski’s arrival and the birth of baby Lister – after all, who says that the events at the end of “Ouroboros” take place after the events of the episode but before the others? They could easily have taken place any time before “Epideme”.

OHMYGOSHMYBRAINJUSTASPLODED

> Continuity and RD. You do realise that the two are mutually exclusive?

The pair divorced in 1989. They no longer speak.

[Plastic Percy]

After a bit of thought:

The End – Parallel Universe: Year One
Backwards – The Last Day: Year Two
Camille – Back to Reality: Year Three
Psirens – Tikka to Ride: Year Four
Stoke Me a Clipper – Pete: Year Five
Only the Good…: Year Six
Back to Earth: Year Fifteen

This is based on Rimmer’s comment of being in effective command of Red Dwarf for nearly four years in ‘Holoship’, Lister turning 28 around ‘Tikka to Ride’ and there being a twelve month gap between ‘Pete (Part 2)’ and ‘Only the Good…’, seeing as Hollister has spent a year in the Hole to get away from Rimmer and Lister, plus they’ve been in prison long enough to earn parole.

Additional: I reckon it’s the first anniversay of Rimmer’s death in ‘Thanks for the Memory’ due to there being only one candle on the cake Lister baked for Rimmer.

[Ben Paddon]

That additional wasn’t as funny as the ones from Series I.

[Fluffy Wok]

> Additional: I reckon it’s the first anniversay of Rimmer’s death in ‘Thanks for the Memory’ due to there being only one candle on the cake Lister baked for Rimmer.

Either that or the Cat civilization found wax a precious commodity for beauty treatments and melted all they could find, making that last candle found a sacred item, the last of its kind in the universe.

[redhead85]

> Additional: I reckon it’s the first anniversay of Rimmer’s death in ‘Thanks for the Memory’ due to there being only one candle on the cake Lister baked for Rimmer.

> Either that or the Cat civilization found wax a precious commodity for beauty treatments and melted all they could find, making that last candle found a sacred item, the last of its kind in the universe.

…..I like cake.

[hummingbird]

Did somebody mention cake?

[Danodin]

Had some Yorkshire Tea cake today.

[Ben Paddon]

If Robert Webb offers you some cake, politely decline.

[cliff]

Have you actually slowed down the Star Wars esque stream at the start of series 3? I think that explains the twin thing.

[Author]

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