Red Dwarf frames with threatening auras

[Moonlight]

We were pulling all those frames of Kryten looking ominous a couple weeks ago, and hey, it’s not like we ever post Smegadrive images on here.

Topic

[Technopeasant]

well he was in the body of a mere 40 year old 

Thanks, that helps.

[Nick R]

High Rimmer’s mouth appears worryingly wide in this frame:

[Ben Saunders]

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

This unused Remastered design looks rather spooky with this limited lighting. 

[Moonlight]

Hey look, yet another version of Red Dwarf that’s more interesting than the Remastered ship.

[Ben Paddon]

Ooh, love that. Beautiful.

[maslo]

Stop it, I’m in a train right now. This is way too funny I look like an idiot smiling like this :D

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

Hey look, yet another version of Red Dwarf that’s more interesting than the Remastered ship.

Anything would look bad with the quality of CGI they were working with.

Ooh, love that. Beautiful.

You can see it in all its glory here –

https://youtu.be/C-FD_hGEAUE?si=a2i24WPPjRy_rLOD

That sort of lighting would have been great in some of the spookier episodes. Old school sci-fi shows and films did have a tendency to over light everything, even scenes in caves or set a night. Nowadays film makers tend to think more holistically, factoring in elements like music and lighting as a concious way to establish mood, sometimes even playing music during filming to help the actors capture the spirit of the scene.

Red Dwarf wasn’t too bad when it came to lighting. I think by then cinema was going in a darker direction with films like Alien to make sci-fi seem more plausible, less Captain Kirks and more world weary truckers thinking about their bonus. With that you got grimy ships with darker interiors. That said some model shots were still very bright irrespective of the ship being nowhere near a light source. 

[Technopeasant]

Why would a ship need exterior lights in space at all though? Those don’t all look like windows.

[Dave]

So the other spaceships don’t crash into it.

[Unrumble]

[Technopeasant]

If you navigating something the size of a city by sight I am deeply concerned. Note that navigational officer Kochanski sat at an instruments pannel.

[Moonlight]

Anything would look bad with the quality of CGI they were working with.

I don’t like the design of the Remastered ship in general. I think aside from the details copied off the original model it looks really generic sci-fi in comparison.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

If you navigating something the size of a city by sight I am deeply concerned. Note that navigational officer Kochanski sat at an instruments pannel.

Visual conformation while maneuvering would still be done, albeit by computer. The lights would also make it easier for returning shuttle craft, particularly if they were having navigational difficulties which, while I love Starbug, they probably were. Starfleet ships have running lights too and their tech is more sophisticated in a lot of ways.

Anything would look bad with the quality of CGI they were working with.
I don’t like the design of the Remastered ship in general. I think aside from the details copied off the original model it looks really generic sci-fi in comparison.

I understand that. The OG was very unique. Unfortunately, at the same time, some of the elements that contributed to that made it less realistic. The writers believed that such a large ship would be built in separate sections and assembled in space and so would have a more uniform design which would lead to a longer rather than fatter shape, but they weren’t consulted when the OG model was designed and built. My only issue with the OG model was the one big rocket thruster… and maybe that raspberry looking bit with the mushrooms. I love the remastered model too but for different reasons – like the asteroids on the underside being clearly there on purpose and finally confirming what “mining ship” means, as opposed to it being a mega freighter as in the US pilot intro. Of course on the Dave model the asteroid is clearly there as a result of an impact which throws the name into question once again lol.

[Warbodog]

I love the remastered model too but for different reasons – like the asteroids on the underside being clearly there on purpose and finally confirming what “mining ship” means, as opposed to it being a mega freighter as in the US pilot intro. Of course on the Dave model the asteroid is clearly there as a result of an impact which throws the name into question once again lol.

They kept changing their minds anyway. When writing the then-definitive take in the novel, their 1989 minds described “a small moon, torn out of orbit, had flung itself into the ship’s solar plexus and was now embedded in the hull, hanging there like a giant stone leech.” They describe the “asteroid bay” idea in one of the launching documentaries after the fact (maybe on the Bodysnatcher set), so maybe they did intend it originally, but dialogue just suggests they go and mine somewhere, then fetch it back.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

I love the remastered model too but for different reasons – like the asteroids on the underside being clearly there on purpose and finally confirming what “mining ship” means, as opposed to it being a mega freighter as in the US pilot intro. Of course on the Dave model the asteroid is clearly there as a result of an impact which throws the name into question once again lol.

They kept changing their minds anyway. When writing the then-definitive take in the novel, their 1989 minds described “a small moon, torn out of orbit, had flung itself into the ship’s solar plexus and was now embedded in the hull, hanging there like a giant stone leech.” They describe the “asteroid bay” idea in one of the launching documentaries after the fact (maybe on the Bodysnatcher set), so maybe they did intend it originally, but dialogue just suggests they go and mine somewhere, then fetch it back.

I remember reading on the wiki, not the best source I know, that the docking feet, like that thing they used to attach to the DNA ship were used to pull in asteroids for mining. It just makes no sense to me to call it a mining ship if what it does is transport things between Earth and the gas giants. That would just be a freighter. 

The OG model looked like an impact that couldn’t be removed so they sealed the gaps and put a sort of bracket on it to keep it stable. Nothing about it looks as though it could have been deliberately pulled in to an open bay.

The Dave one is definitely an impact but not sealed around the edges.

The remastered one is the only one where it definitively looks like an asteroid mine.

BtE is too low res to really form an opinion. 

[Warbodog]

It just makes no sense to me to call it a mining ship if what it does is transport things between Earth and the gas giants.

The book says they spend a year mining stuff down on the moons before they bring it back.

“Red Dwarf was a mining ship — it had all the equipment: the earth-moving vehicles, the processing plants, the whole enchilada!”

[Dave]

I always liked the idea of it being an asteroid embedded in the side of the ship – but realistically, if the ship was hit by an asteroid that size, presumably it would just be obliterated. 

[International Debris]

Yeah, that was always my thought, there’s no way the ship would have survived an asteroid (or moon!) impact. 

[Unrumble]

[Dave]

Yeah, that was always my thought, there’s no way the ship would have survived an asteroid (or moon!) impact. 

Maybe if Red Dwarf had slowly crashed into the moonsteroid though, it could happen. I could imagine the ship getting stuck on the rock and the crew deciding not to bother with dislodging it, instead just puttering on with it stuck to the side.

[Nick R]

It would be interesting to have an episode that shows us where the interior of Red Dwarf meets the embedded asteroid.

If it was intentionally there to be mined, I’m thinking something as large scale as the water tank/dimensional portal shots in BTE, with the asteroid’s surface stretching from floor to ceiling.

However, if it was there because it collided with the ship, there’d probably just be a lot of dead-end corridors, sealed to keep the air in.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

It would be interesting to have an episode that shows us where the interior of Red Dwarf meets the embedded asteroid.

If it was intentionally there to be mined, I’m thinking something as large scale as the water tank/dimensional portal shots in BTE, with the asteroid’s surface stretching from floor to ceiling.
However, if it was there because it collided with the ship, there’d probably just be a lot of dead-end corridors, sealed to keep the air in.

That would be good. They could even explore mine shafts into the asteroid. 

[Technopeasant]

High Rimmer’s mouth appears worryingly wide in this frame:

Sorry, this thread was not cursed enough anymore, carry on.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

It would be interesting to have an episode that shows us where the interior of Red Dwarf meets the embedded asteroid.

If it was intentionally there to be mined, I’m thinking something as large scale as the water tank/dimensional portal shots in BTE, with the asteroid’s surface stretching from floor to ceiling.
However, if it was there because it collided with the ship, there’d probably just be a lot of dead-end corridors, sealed to keep the air in.

I’ve just thought… what a great place to hide…

I’ve never really bought that Kochanski just buggered off in a Blue Midget. Alone, on a ship that small, her chances of survival in such a hostile galaxy are slim to the point of anorexia. She wasn’t stupid, she’d know that. So why not stay? On a ship that vast she might never be found, especially if she hid somewhere the crew have never been, have no reason to go to and is beyond the supervision field of the ship’s mainframe. Make it look like you’ve gone, come back in via another landing bay and hide. She’s camping in the asteroid!

I know it’s a silly theory but it would make for an interesting reveal if they ever did have to go down there.

[Dave]

camping in the asteroid!

My mind is singing this to Angel Is The Centerfold.

[Podey]

[Warbodog]

I’ve just thought… what a great place to hide…

I’d thought about this for Birdman and Pete, if they’d just settled down and been getting on with life unbeknowst to the crew. Wouldn’t work for any of the more violent prisoners who’d want to take over the ship, unless they were too incompetent and got lost (so fingers crossed for Kill Crazy).

[Technopeasant]

I know it’s a silly theory but it would make for an interesting reveal if they ever did have to go down there.

And maybe she noticed when they went into stasis in Krysis and also popped in a booth too (does Red Dwarf have more than the two mentioned in Stasis Leak? It’s possible since we do not really know what repaired Red Dwarf after the chameleonic microbe, and if the booths were part of the JMC’s cutbacks).

[Moonlight]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

I know it’s a silly theory but it would make for an interesting reveal if they ever did have to go down there.

And maybe she noticed when they went into stasis in Krysis and also popped in a booth too (does Red Dwarf have more than the two mentioned in Stasis Leak? It’s possible since we do not really know what repaired Red Dwarf after the chameleonic microbe, and if the booths were part of the JMC’s cutbacks).

Ah, I forgot about that… apparently so did the crew. That’s it for Kochanski then.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

The books have loads for interstellar travel, but Red Dwarf (originally) only went up and down the galaxy and Stasis Leak implies it only has three stasis booths, Lister, the one with the leak and the one they I tend to use.

The one with the leak is presumably never repaired, that leaves two. Both would have had to have been used by Lister and Cat in Krysis. 

[Hamish]

I was wondering for a minute why people were interrupting the discussion with seemingly random Smegadrive images until I read back the thread title again.

[Technopeasant]

I was wondering for a minute why people were interrupting the discussion with seemingly random Smegadrive images until I read back the thread title again.

I know, it was rude.

Ah, I forgot about that… apparently so did the crew.

And so did Doug, hopefully.

[Moonlight]

[Moonlight]

The books have loads for interstellar travel, but Red Dwarf (originally) only went up and down the galaxy and Stasis Leak implies it only has three stasis booths, Lister, the one with the leak and the one they I tend to use.

No matter how many times a line of dialogue contradicts it, I choose to accept the novel canon that interstellar travel died out by the show’s “present” due to being hideously impractical.

[Dave]

[Unrumble]

[Warbodog]

[Ben Saunders]

@warbodog

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

The books have loads for interstellar travel, but Red Dwarf (originally) only went up and down the galaxy and Stasis Leak implies it only has three stasis booths, Lister, the one with the leak and the one they I tend to use.
No matter how many times a line of dialogue contradicts it, I choose to accept the novel canon that interstellar travel died out by the show’s “present” due to being hideously impractical.

The problem is there are so many examples of that not working – colonies, space stations, bases, detelicts, all light years from Earth. Plus the introduction of the Quantum Twister made hopping from one system to another as easy as stepping between rooms.

The speed of Red Dwarf itself is extremely inconsistent though. As a sublight ship running between Earth and the outer planets over 18 months (?) it works fine but that soon gets blown completely out of the water. By season 6 it makes even less sense – having gone from using shuttles instead of diverting Red Dwarf itself, or because the shuttles are faster, suddenly Red Dwarf can completely outrun a starbug and change course on a dime.

I remember talking to Hattie and asking if fans ever come to cast members with these highly technical questions like you see with Star Trek and she said the advantage of it being a comedy is you can just shrug it off and say it doesn’t really matter lol.

[Technopeasant]

They were not actually chasing Red Dwarf as we know it, as the vapour trail was from the miniature nano version, so that might explain it somewhat. Why this doesn’t make Kryten ask questions I couldn’t tell you.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

They were not actually chasing Red Dwarf as we know it, as the vapour trail was from the miniature nano version, so that might explain it somewhat. Why this doesn’t make Kryten ask questions I couldn’t tell you.

That’s tricky. A smaller Red Dwarf should be even slower. If you think of its speed in terms of how long it takes to travel its own length then to travel faster than Starbug it would have to travel hundreds of times faster than the full sized one would to maintain a lead. Unless the nanos upgraded the engines. The really weird thing is how Starbug was able to detect the vapour expelled from a microscopic Red Dwarf but I don’t think much thought went into the whys and wherefores. 

[Unrumble]

[Unrumble]

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

Hattie should just say that lol. 

[Dave]

[Dave]

[Moonlight]

[Author]

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