Refresh For The Memory: Series 1 Byte 2

[Flap Jack]

Doesn’t Doug say in that commentary that Rob ordered Gazpacho soup but didn’t send it back?

That’s what Rob himself says in interviews from the mid-90s.

Well, he says like “Rob said he’d had gazpacho soup before”, but that just seemed to be a way of saying they knew what it was before they wrote about it. Ed laughs in reaction.

Although now I think about it, I’m not sure if Rob did he say he sent it back. But they were at least confused by the cold soup and were murmuring about it, and had to be informed that gazpacho was served cold.

I’m always a bit annoyed how the window in Mr and Mr Rimmer’s quarters couldn’t possibly work, as it backs onto the corridor Lister walks down to get to it.

Oh, wow, I never twigged that. I guess that means it’s a fake window in-universe, or the corridor is shaped weirdly so it curves round to avoid where the window would be or something.

[Warbodog]

I’ve never got around to listening to any of those commentaries, but the old, old story from the Programme Guide or wherever was that they were served the soup in some kind of important TV meeting, momentarily worried that there’d been a mistake, then remembered they’d heard about a soup that was supposed to be served cold. A classic tale, possibly bullshit.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

It’s this shape. The room juts out the side of the ship. Admittedly you ought to be able to see the ship from the window but you can’t have everything. And the same could be said for the window in Rimmer and Lister’s bunk.

[Flap Jack]

I’ve never got around to listening to any of those commentaries, but the
old, old story from the Programme Guide or wherever was that they were
served the soup in some kind of important TV meeting, momentarily
worried that there’d been a mistake, then remembered they’d heard about a
soup that was supposed to be served cold. A classic tale, possibly
bullshit.

That does more or less match what Rob said in the Quarantine commentary, key details being that Rob and Doug were both there and that it was a TV execs type meal. He said at the time they just called it “melon soup”, not gazpacho.

Though I only watched it the other day and I already feel like I need to watch it again to remind myself of the details.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Maybe it’s a reverse-fish eye window?

[International Debris]

It’s this shape. The room juts out the side of the ship. Admittedly you ought to be able to see the ship from the window but you can’t have everything. And the same could be said for the window in Rimmer and Lister’s bunk.

It’s a nice try, but the ‘LEVEL / NIVELO’ sign is definitely at (pretty much) right angles to the wall with their door.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

It’s this shape. The room juts out the side of the ship. Admittedly you ought to be able to see the ship from the window but you can’t have everything. And the same could be said for the window in Rimmer and Lister’s bunk.

It’s a nice try, but the ‘LEVEL / NIVELO’ sign is definitely at (pretty much) right angles to the wall with their door.

That’s Rimmer and Rimmer’s door.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Dave]

[clem]

> Confidence carries around a lightbulb just so he can hover it over Lister’s head when he has an idea.                                                                                                       I always like to imagine he conjures the bulb from nowhere, like The Mask or Harpo Marx. Solid hallucinations have access to Hammerspace. Come to think of it, they’re kind of *from* Hammerspace? 

Hm, unfortunately you can see that he’s got it in his hand when he walks into the room. He should definitely just produce it from behind his back or something. Episode ruined.

Don’t think I’ve ever clocked Titan Hilton on Lister’s blanket before. Nicely prefigures his hotel room theft story in Justice.

[Unrumble]

[Jenuall]

Just playing catch up on the refresh now, finally done with series 1 now.

I keep meaning to makes notes on things that stand out to me during this re-watch and always forget so when I come to contribute on here I’ve forgotten half of the things I wanted to say!

One thing which has caught my eye is some observations about Rimmer’s uniform:

* Why on his short sleeved version does he lose his rank label “Second Technician” which normally sits on the left under his ticks? They move the red label over from the right on the short sleeved version (which I think is the name tag?) Do the JMC just not care enough about people in short sleeves to allow them to display their position on ship!?

* And yet, apparently his role as Second Tech is important enough that it needs to be shown on his pyjamas! (I think come series 2 he even gets it on his bloody dressing gown!) Do JMC personnel regularly need to go to work in their night garments?!

* Also, I think it’s ironic that Holly brings Rimmer back in the “classic” outfit that we see him in for most of the first two series, when in (I think at least) every single flashback we get to his time before the accident he never actually wears this core outfit – he’s either in overalls or he’s got a jacket or gillet/bodywarmer over the top

[Jenuall]

Also I always find that Chris slightly tripping over his lines toward the end with “I didn’t know gazpacho soup was-smeant to be served cold.” feels quite unusual for him – it’s normally Robert who gets away with a bit of a fumble.

[Unrumble]

 And yet, apparently his role as Second Tech is important enough that it needs to be shown on his pyjamas! (I think come series 2 he even gets it on his bloody dressing gown!) Do JMC personnel regularly need to go to work in their night garments?!

I think I always assumed that having them on his pyjamas was a personal affectation of Rimmer’s. He’s so obsessed with rank and hierarchy (“you ARE your job”), not to mention military history, that I can easily see him stitching on/asking Holly to simulate official badges on clothing that doesn’t require them.

[Jenuall]

True, he probably put his rank on his ship issue condoms as well.

I guess that just makes it more surprising when he’s shown wearing things that don’t include it like his short sleeve shirt or some of his other outer wear we see from the pre-accident era

[Jonathan Capps]

it’s normally Robert who gets away with a bit of a fumble.

All scandalous rumour

[Jenuall]

[Unrumble]

it’s normally Robert who gets away with a bit of a fumble.

All scandalous rumour 

[Jenuall]

Apparently he calls it “Mr Guitar” and strums it constantly…

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Ohhhhh Mister Guitarrrrrrr

[Rudolph]

I think I always assumed that having them on his pyjamas was a
personal affectation of Rimmer’s. He’s so obsessed with rank and
hierarchy (“you ARE your job”), not to mention military history, that I
can easily see him stitching on/asking Holly to simulate official badges
on clothing that doesn’t require them.

It ties in with a neat little observation about Rimmer, that he’s the only crew member who seems to adhere to uniform standards. Even senior officers like Hollister, Todhunter and Kochanski dress a lot more relaxed – no tie, open collar, sleeves rolled up etc. – and nobody seems to care that Lister’s only concession to a uniform is wearing his technician’s shirt over a London Jets t-shirt.

[Stabbim]

one of those ways in which it is never quite clear where the Jupiter Mining Corporation ends and the Space Corps begins, or what the difference between the two even is. (and of course the line shifts from series to series).

Presumably Capt. Hollister would be the one setting local policy in practice either way, as the the most direct local authority aboard the Red Dwarf.  And he does seem to exude a more pragmatic “I don’t care as long as you get the work done” attitude.  i.e. more JMC/corporate style, where Rimmer wishes things were run more military/Space Corps style

[Ewing]

I’ve never understood the flack Waiting For God gets from people. It’s nearly a perfect episode in my eyes because the Cat God stuff truly fascinates me and the Quagaars bit is absolute gold.

[Warbodog]

I’ve never understood the flack Waiting For God gets from people.

Most of series 1 probably blurs into a grey fog for people who haven’t watched those episodes too often, so I’d guess the Cat priest scene would be the only thing that came to mind, with its stumbling actor and tacky props (not that those are even necessarily drawbacks).

Most (old) episodes don’t have a secondary plot as prominent as the garbage pod, so that could easily be forgotten, along with all the great dialogue and character scenes generally, which if they are remembered might not be easily pinned to a specific episode.

Still, it is annoying that it comes bottom of the bubble all the time. The Dave era presumably has it much worse though.

[Ewing]

I have no idea what other people’s rewatches are like but I’ve always leaned towards Series 1 and 2 because I prefer the music cues and Norman Lovett. Thus, I’ve always dug Waiting For God. There’s no way it’s the worst of the original 36. The stuff with the Quagaars is top 10 funniest shit they’ve ever done.

[Jonathan Capps]

I’ve never understood the flack Waiting For God gets from people. It’s nearly a perfect episode in my eyes because the Cat God stuff truly fascinates me and the Quagaars bit is absolute gold.

Totally with you on this one. For me, it’s madness that anyone could think a non-bubble episode could be better.

[desbug]

(I agree with them)

[Rudolph]

I quite like Waiting for God as it’s the earliest point where, in my opinion, Rimmer and Lister fall into the routine of life that’ll carry on for the rest of the series. After Balance of Power, Rimmer has eased off on his ‘business as usual’ attitude towards running the ship and both are now engaging in their own little projects to occupy their time instead. Rimmer with going through the captain’s files and the Quagaar investigation, and Lister with learning to read Cat books and discovering more about them.

[Warbodog]

I quite like Waiting for God as it’s the earliest point where, in my opinion, Rimmer and Lister fall into the routine of life that’ll carry on for the rest of the series.

I used to see The End – Balance of Power – Waiting for God as a kind of mini-series setting up and tying off the series’ premise before things could get episodic. But this rewatch convinced me that Future Echoes is better where it is after all for the (comparative) softening of Rimmer across the run.

[Ewing]

Totally with you on this one. For me, it’s madness that anyone could think a non-bubble episode could be better.

People say Waiting For God is smug about the way it goes about treating religion but as someone raised in God fearing America I think it’s dead on. To rank it below anything from S7 onwards is insane to me.

[Warbodog]

Totally with you on this one. For me, it’s madness that anyone could think a non-bubble episode could be better.

[Ewing]

That was the first article I ever read on this website. My intelligence circuits melted.

[Rudolph]

Totally with you on this one. For me, it’s madness that anyone could think a non-bubble episode could be better.

People say Waiting For God is smug about the way it goes about treating religion but as someone raised in God fearing America I think it’s dead on. To rank it below anything from S7 onwards is insane to me.

I think it’s quite sweet, really, in that Lister is uneasy over accidentally becoming the deity of an entire civilisation. He spends a lot of the episode feeling guilty over the jihad committed in his name, and that he could never measure up to their expectations of godhood. Then, in the Cat Priest’s dying moments, he acts just like how you’d expect God to behave – he’s comforting and caring, reassuring him that his years of belief were not in vain and that he has earned his place in Fuchal.

[Ewing]

I think you nailed why I love it. Lister ends up as a more merciful (and better) God than the myths the Cats developed. I grew up around cats, the hook of Lister accidentally breeding a cat human species is what made me watch this show in the first place way back in the mid 90s. This episode answers a billion questions I had after the pilot and I probably overrate it for that but I really think it’s a solid commentary on religion as well as answering my questions and providing maybe the best b-plot in the shows entire run with the Quagaars. If this finishes as the lowest of the 36 bubble again something is wrong.

[Warbodog]

I grew up around cats, the hook of Lister accidentally breeding a cat human species is what made me watch this show in the first place way back in the mid 90s.

I still deal with a cat every day, Series 1 Cat’s always been my favourite Cat for nailing the essence of a cat. Though it still comes up later with stuff like “hell no, I don’t even care about you” in Backwards.

[Jonathan Capps]

Yeah, but seriously, I have no memory of doing that. What the fuck was I thinking.

[Ian Symes]

I blame Seb. He put it in our heads that Cassandra was actually a good episode, rather than just the least bad episode from a run of terrible episodes, but still pretty bad in its own right.

[Dave]

I blame Seb. He put it in our heads that Cassandra was actually a good episode, rather than just the least bad episode from a run of terrible episodes, but still pretty bad in its own right.

By its own low standards, it acquitted itself.

[Warbodog]

Cassandra’s mint.

Not better than Waiting for God though, that’s just silly.

[Flap Jack]

I’m hoping that the Coral Canvass will put the record straight – Waiting for God and Parallel Universe aren’t even the worst episodes of their respective series, let alone the whole of the Grant/Naylor era.

[Unrumble]

I blame Seb. He put it in our heads that Cassandra was actually a good episode, rather than just the least bad episode from a run of terrible episodes, but still pretty bad in its own right.

Please don’t besmirch his legacy by having ‘Cassandra-defender’ added to his bench plaque.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

[Unrumble]

 Waiting for God and Parallel Universe aren’t even the worst episodes of their respective series, let alone the whole of the Grant/Naylor era.

[Ewing]

Waiting for God and Parallel Universe aren’t even the worst episodes of their respective series, let alone the whole of the Grant/Naylor era.

I think Emohawk is the worst of the first 36. It suffers greatly from being in a jampacked season with all-time great episodes like Legion and Gunmen, but it’s nothing special to me at all.

[Moonlight]

Cassandra’s mint.

Cassandra is like the epitome of a “Diet Red Dwarf” episode, and I say this with disdain.

I’m being a little facetious in saying this, but it’s basically just Future Echoes if Rimmer were a sexual predator.

[Ewing]

Cassandra is the least bad episode in a season full of disposable junk.

[Formica]

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

         

[Ewing]

Beyond gutted that Waiting For God dropped in the poll and remains the worst of the original 36. You’re all smegging insane.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

Nice to see you again Ewing, after just missing you on Discord lol.

[Author]

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