Refresh For The Memory: Series VIII Byte 2

[Ian Symes]

You asked for it. Ahead of the forthcoming 35th anniversary poll, the G&T community is embarking on a big old rewatch, tackling half a series (or one feature length special) per week. This is your designated thread to make notes, share observations and start pondering your rankings.

This week, we’re watching KRYTIE TV, PETE (PART ONE), PETE (PART TWO) and ONLY THE GOOD. Have at it!

Previous threads:

Series 1 Byte 1
Series 1 Byte 2
Series 2 Byte 1
Series 2 Byte 2
Series III Byte 1
Series III Byte 2
Series IV Byte 1
Series IV Byte 2
Series V Byte 1
Series V Byte 2
Series VI Byte 1
Series VI Byte 2
Series VII Byte 1
Series VII Byte 2
Series VIII Byte 1

Topic

[Jenuall]

[Jonathan Capps]

mimic octopus

You’ve just made that up

[Jenuall]

One of the better Metal Gear bosses I think

[Jonathan Capps]

I prefer Telekinesis Badger

[Flap Jack]

So, I rewatched the deleted scenes.

OK, in fairness there were a few noteworthy things:

– The original version of the opening of Back in the Red Part II had Rimmer restoring Holly’s IQ by essentially typing in a cheat code (which manages to be both stupid and pointless, because they already had an in-built explanation for there being a ‘factory settings’ Holly, and the non-senile Holly did sweet FA across the whole series anyway).

– In Cassandra they say what the benefits Canaries receive are, but it includes “gourmet food”, which would have hugely contradicted Pete.

– In Krytie TV they actually acknowledge that Lister ought to have found it difficult to crawl through the vent into Ackerman’s quarters due to his claustrophobia (except arguably it shouldn’t have been an issue, because in Duct Soup he says it only affects him when he doesn’t know how to get out).

– Lister being randomly selected to be rescued in Only the Good… but turning it down to stay behind with the others. It’s actually kind of sweet, shame it wasn’t included really.

– The original ending to Only the Good…, of course, which is somehow so much worse than the already bad cliffhanger ending, so it’s pretty clear why they changed it.

—> The others fix the portal machine at the exact time that Rimmer returns, which is awfully convenient.

—> Rimmer has to keep going back and forth between universes until he’s fully memorised the name of the antidote, when he obviously could have just relayed it syllable by syllable, or better yet just got Kryten to come through once and memorise it instantly, because he’s a robot.

—> Rimmer unbelievably takes 2 hours to relay the antidote name and everything is still fine, which completely undermines the threat of the microbes.

—> Everybody (except for Cat) already being familiar with cesiumfrancolithicmixialibidiumrixydixydoxydexydroxide isn’t funny and doesn’t make any sense.

—> The antidote not only destroys the microbes but undoes all the damage they’ve done, implicitly just from a single test tube too. It seems like the antidote is essentially organic nanobots.

—> Our victorious heroes seem to be ignoring the elephant in the room: the hundreds of prisoners they’re now in charge of.

—> Abandoning the whole rest of the crew to die on their shuttles seems out-of-character cruel, even for nano-Rimmer – and Kryten shouldn’t be leaving the decision to Rimmer anyway (Kochanski is the highest ranking, right?). Then again, maybe those were Series VII shuttlecrafts, and therefore they each contain a Red Dwarf worth of supplies.

[Warbodog]

November 28, 2022 at 12:01 am

There’s going to have to be some kind of punishment for dragging Series VIII discussion into another week.

[Unrumble]

November 28, 2022 at 12:01 am. There’s going to have to be some kind of punishment for dragging Series VIII discussion into another week.

[Flap Jack]

There’s going to have to be some kind of punishment for dragging Series VIII discussion into another week.

The idea that we could ever limit discussion of Series VIII to a 2 week period is funnier than Series VIII.

And be fair, I had to give myself a few days break after finishing the episodes before moving onto the special features. Think of my mental health!

I’ve just watched the behind the scenes doc, and some of the remarks made about Krytie TV are so baffling. Craig says it’s like a classic half hour episode (nope), Paul says it’s a Kryten-focused episode all about him learning his lesson for being a Del Boy (it isn’t and he doesn’t), Chloe suggests that Kryten starts Krytie TV out of revenge for being misclassified as a woman for so long (he doesn’t, and if he did it would make even less sense and be even more messed up). Nobody should ever be embarrassed about their Red Dwarf fan theories or headcanons, when this is the stuff the cast and crew are coming up with to rationalise Series VIII.

Although in Chloe’s case, you can tell that she’s fully aware of how badly the episode treated her character. She describes the men having to hide their pretend erections in Pete as karma for Krytie TV.

– The original ending to Only the Good…, of course, which is somehow so
much worse than the already bad cliffhanger ending, so it’s pretty clear
why they changed it.

Accidentally left off one point about this, which is that in the original ending, the dispensing machine takes his revenge on Rimmer after he does exactly what he wanted and pays him back. It’s a pay off that makes so little sense, you’d think that the broadcast ending was written first, and that this had to be awkawardly shoehorned into the new ‘no cliffhanger’ ending.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

– The original version of the opening of Back in the Red Part II had Rimmer restoring Holly’s IQ by essentially typing in a cheat code

That’s not what happened. He was restoring Egghead Holly by essentially typing in a cheat code after Starbug took his CPU bank out. How? Buggered if I know!

– In Cassandra they say what the benefits Canaries receive are, but it includes “gourmet food”, which would have hugely contradicted Pete.

They were on punishment detail, so presumably any privileges were revoked.

or better yet just got Kryten to come through once and memorise it instantly, because he’s a robot.

It was somehow only calibrated to Rimmer’s weight, so only Rimmer could pass through.

Wait, why am I defending this crap!?

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Wait, why am I defending this crap!?

You dirty series VIII defender.  Go take a seat next to John Hoare and Tiffany!

[Flap Jack]

That’s not what happened. He was restoring Egghead Holly by
essentially typing in a cheat code after Starbug took his CPU bank out.
How? Buggered if I know!

Haha, OK, so something equally or more nonsensical then.

They were on punishment detail, so presumably any privileges were revoked.

Ah, right, I missed the “punishment menu” line on the Pete rewatch.

One odd thing about their food situation, irrespective of deleted scenes – in Pete they’re eating only with the Canaries, but in Only the Good… they share a canteen with the regular prisoners. So not only does this “probation” require them to stay in prison, but they don’t even get to keep their Canary privileges. This JMC penal system, I tell you, the more I hear about it, the less I like it.

It was somehow only calibrated to Rimmer’s weight, so only Rimmer could pass through.

I don’t think so, because they were all about to go through the mirror before the portal generator broke down. There was no suggestion that it broke because someone other than Rimmer tried to use it. And of course in the prime timeline they do all go to the mirror universe once they’ve fixed the machine, and Rimmer can still get back.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

 I don’t think so, because they were all about to go through the mirror before the portal generator broke down. There was no suggestion that it broke because someone other than Rimmer tried to use it. And of course in the prime timeline they do all go to the mirror universe once they’ve fixed the machine, and Rimmer can still get back.

But that’s literally what Kryten said in the alternate ending. For some bullshit reason only Rimmer could go through, which was why they had to have him keep going back and forth reading it out. I get it, it’s completely stupid, but that’s what happened in that version of events.

[Flap Jack]

But that’s literally what Kryten said in the alternate ending. For
some bullshit reason only Rimmer could go through, which was why they
had to have him keep going back and forth reading it out. I get it, it’s
completely stupid, but that’s what happened in that version of events.

Ohhh, OK, sorry. It was just such a casually thrown out line that I guess I failed to absorb it. I should’ve known better than to think the alternate ending wouldn’t just directly contradict an earlier scene.

So I guess fixing the machine after it completely broke took like 15 minutes, but recalibrating it so Kryten could use it would have taken hours.

[Ewing]

My thoughts on VIII after a night of bar trivia:

This four episode stumble has to be the worst run of episodes the show ever had in its entire lifetime. 9 times out of 10 I’ll take a random Red Dwarf episode over anything else that’s ever been recorded. That 1 time out of 10 is if it’s some horseshit from VIII or the ones without Rimmer in VII.  

Mac McDonald is swinging for fences but almost none of the material is worth it. Always loved Captain Hollister and the rest of the crew, annoys me Petersen wasn’t part of the resurrection. Never cared for the Canaries or the characters trapped in prison, thought the warden could’ve been a very interesting character though. Love that actor in Rambo IV. 

Losing Grant for these two seasons (American terminology, deal with it) was a colossal blow but it doesn’t become outright horrendous until VIII with the dancing blue midget and the smegging T-Rex and I say that as a guy who grew up a dinosaur junkie. VII is a step down, VIII is a slip down the entire staircase. 

It kills me to this day we’ve never had a proper episode with Holly (Lovett version) and Kryten intertwined in a plot and 8 would’ve been the time to do it. The problem is that without Grant it probably wouldn’t have worked. 

[Rushy]

Krytie TV: revolting

Pete: I like the recurring gag of them walking into Hollister’s office, and him becoming increasingly deranged. Everything else is cobbled together bollocks. 

Only the Good: I’d be a lot more forgiving if they used the other ending. I actually genuinely love that scene, with them all dancing together and Rimmer saluting Hollister goodbye. “I see no ships” is fantastic. As is, it’s a bit crap, but more watchable than anything after Back in the Red. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Krytie TV: revolting
Pete: I like the recurring gag of them walking into Hollister’s office, and him becoming increasingly deranged. Everything else is cobbled together bollocks.

[Technopeasant]

Should have just been Captain’s Office, yeah.

[Technopeasant]

It kills me to this day we’ve never had a proper episode with Holly (Lovett version) and Kryten intertwined in a plot and 8 would’ve been the time to do it. The problem is that without Grant it probably wouldn’t have worked. 

TPL doesn’t count?

[Rushy]

I love this bit

[Technopeasant]

The Chocolate Dispenser is a good’un yeah.

[Author]

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