Red Dwarf: The Movie Storyboards (4 Sequences)

[Niki Hutchinson]

Well, unless nobody else hasn’t already said this… There are now 4 full Storyboard Sequences from the never-made Red Dwarf Movie. Courtesy of Stasis Leak.org (Seriously this site is becoming the holy grail of RD scans archives) 

Here’s the link, enjoy smeggers !!!

https://stasis-leak.org/2025/03/27/red-dwarf-the-movie-content-2001/

Topic

[Rushy]

I know they’re just storyboards, but I found it vaguely interesting in a nerdy sort of way that the bunkroom seems to be based on the series 1/2 version, and Rimmer is clearly dressed in his series 6/7 puffer jacket. 

[International Debris]

So at this point, the film was planned to start with the Hogey sequence, which is interesting. What’s more interesting is that they’re clearly 3 million years into deep space, which isn’t necessarily a given from all the stuff around the film. The idea that Hollister would be in it, for a start. 

“In space, no one can hear you clean.” Yes, it’s obvious VIII was so bad because Doug was saving the good gags for the movie.

[Technopeasant]

[Rushy]

So at this point, the film was planned to start with the Hogey sequence, which is interesting. 

I think Doug said at one point that he’s got a folder with about 900 Red Dwarf sketches that he’s written over the years, ready to be used at his convenience. Now I feel like the inclusion of Hogey in The Beginning was just him randomly pulling that scene out because he needed something to fill time. 

Because Hogey really adds nothing to The Beginning’s storyline outside of reminding the audience of who the Simulants are. Which is not even necessary to begin with, because they’re self-explanatory. 

[Moonlight]

He’s a mechanism for the simulants to show up without it just being a totally random occurrence. You also want some stuff at the beginning of the episode before that happens, a purpose Hogey serves as well. Debate all you want how good those opening bits are, but I fail to see how they’re inherently structurally unnecessary. 

[Warbodog]

[Warbodog]

[Unrumble]

[Moonlight]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Ben Saunders]

[Unrumble]

[Nick R]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Nick R]

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Dave]

[Rushy]

[Technopeasant]

I think Doug said at one point that he’s got a folder with about 900 Red Dwarf sketches that he’s written over the years, ready to be used at his convenience. 

And forgot to put any of them in Timewave.

In the event the show does definitively end he should publish that folder as Potluck Soup.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[clem]

[Rushy]

And forgot to put any of them in Timewave.

Why don’t you spit on his wrist?

[Technopeasant]

I hope that was at the very back of the folder….

[Flap Jack]

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

[Rushy]

Tbf, I’ve never really been a huge fan of opening skits like that. If it’s a “just another day on Red Dwarf” type episode, that’s all fine and dandy, but episodes that are mostly tightly written except for that ONE random skit at the start are a bit of a pet peeve. Polymorph and Justice come to mind. 

[International Debris]

There are, I’m sure, a lot of exceptions, but those kinds of scenes are extremely common in sitcoms in general. They help with the whole ‘sit’ part of things.

[Ian Symes]

Still, good news about those storyboards, eh?

[Jonathan Capps]

[Nick R]

[Dave]

[Dave]

Still, good news about those storyboards, eh?

Nowadays G&T discussions just skip the main topic and go straight for the thread derailment.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Still, good news about those storyboards, eh?

Nowadays G&T discussions just skip the main topic and go straight for the thread derailment.

Somewhat an inevitable conclusion to the Smegadrive

Idea for an Episode was derided, but it least it kept this stuff contained 

[Niki Hutchinson]

Still, good news about those storyboards, eh?

Well, at least someone else noticed 😄

[Dave]

The storyboards are genuinely interesting, I think. The opening rice gag feels like it anticipates this Star Wars moment by almost twenty years.

[Unrumble]

Somewhat an inevitable conclusion to the Smegadrive

Idea for an Episode was derided, but it least it kept this stuff contained 

[Nick R]

The storyboards are genuinely interesting, I think. The opening rice gag feels like it anticipates this Star Wars moment by almost twenty years.

Yes, I thought of the same thing.

Who’s the woman with the spear in the Rimmer/Rimmer fight scene?

The last sequence on the page talks about “Paradroids”. (Like the game?) I couldn’t remember if they’d been mentioned here before; turns out they had, along with a few other pieces of concept art: https://www.ganymede.tv/forums/topic/pre-production-art/#post-226943

For comparison: the storyboard frames that were released on the official site in 2001: https://www.reddwarf.info/news/2001/03/30/movie-storyboards/

And the storyboard artists’ IMDb pages: Jim Cornish: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0180427/ and Denis Rich: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0723633/

It’s annoying that the image slide feature on the Stasis Leak site doesn’t allow right click Save As. But surely someone here is backing up these images, aren’t they?

[Dave]

Who’s the woman with the spear in the Rimmer/Rimmer fight scene?

Not sure. I wondered the same thing.

[Jenuall]

Who’s the woman with the spear in the Rimmer/Rimmer fight scene?

Dona DiStefano

[Renegade Rob]

Who’s the woman with the spear in the Rimmer/Rimmer fight scene? 

[Ian Symes]

It’s annoying that the image slide feature on the Stasis Leak site doesn’t allow right click Save As. But surely someone here is backing up these images, aren’t they?

They don’t call us the potty-mouthed archivists for nothing, you cunting bastard.

[clem]

The opening rice gag feels like it anticipates this Star Wars moment by almost twenty years.

It feels like this is a bit of a trope but the only other example I can think of is the opening shot of the One Foot in the Grave Christmas special ‘Starbound’, where what looks like a celestial body of some kind turns out to be Victor’s head.

[Dave]

It feels like this is a bit of a trope

Yeah I agree, I’m sure there are other examples that are right on the tip of my brain.

[Ben Saunders]

I’ve seen it described as “a Spaceballs gag” but can’t remember any gags in Spaceballs like that. Sounds about right, though.

[loadoftottnumb]

[Paul Muller]

This is very interesting. I’ve always been fascinated by the movie and what might have been, although from what we’ve seen over the years, I still can’t fathom how it would all string together. We’ve got pre-accident scenes on Earth (or Mimas or somewhere) with Lister signing up for JMC and Red Dwarf leaving dock, an opening that clearly happens in the series’ present day, what looks to be some sort of Mad Max style Cat colony, some ancient Egyptian styled ‘Sphinxian’ baddies, assisted by ‘Paradroids’ – that whole bit of blurb about ‘Homo Sapienoids’ taking over the solar system and hunting humans, the Hoguey sequence that was parachuted into The Beginning, some sort of double Rimmer scenario etc etc. I’d guess that these are taken from various different versions of the script, so it might be that they’re mutually exclusive, but it all seems very disparate. 

I’d be surprised if more than a chunk of the rest hasn’t showed up in the interim series between VIII and The Promised Land. Fascinating stuff though, and it’s a shame to think it may never see the light of day when so much work has clearly gone into it. 

[Ian Symes]

Surely the time is right for the script(s) to be published in a lovely coffee table book, illustrated with all the storyboards, with introductions and footnotes by Doug?

[Paul Muller]

I was going to say that, but aware that I’ve said it about 10 times already on here. 

[Asclepius]

Surely the time is right for the script(s) to be published in a lovely coffee table book, illustrated with all the storyboards, with introductions and footnotes by Doug?

All of the movie talk fell in my lengthy Dwarf-gap between turning off at Series VIII and pretty much forgetting about the series until Back to Earth. I didn’t follow discussions online etc.

So how much does exist? Are there more storyboards? What sequences were used in RD? I gather from your commentaries that bits were pinched and stuck into over-running episodes etc. Could there be a G&T article wringed out of it while we wait for Doug to either a) publish the script or b) give it to Big Finish?

[International Debris]

I’m sure Doug has said something about publishing the script along the lines of there not being one script but many, and it’s obvious that there are a lot of different elements. It’s been suggested the operation done on Jesus in Lemons was taken from one of the movie scripts where they were operating on Hollister (which feels very VIII). 

A script book would have to contain either a full script and various other scenes from earlier / later drafts, or a collection of different script extracts plus plot summaries of the various versions, neither of which would be completely satisfying in terms of completism, but both would still be very welcome. Doug said he wouldn’t do something like that until after the film was definitely never going to happen, which feels like a moment that’s long gone. 

[Author]

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