Revisiting Series I with fresh eyes

[Captain No-Name]

Howdy-doodly-doo

I’m one of those forum pervs who watches but never joins in. Been enjoying visiting G&T for years and never intended to make an account. However…

With Series XII having recently preached to us all about the value of criticism, and with Skipper promising to having a very Series I flavour, it seemed like the time was right for me to share the following link with you all.

Basically, I haven’t watched any 20th century Red Dwarf in a very long time (well over a decade in most cases) which puts me in a prime situation to re-evaluate those old episodes which the rest of you will know inside out.

So, while everyone is enjoying Series XII, I’m going back to 1988 and scrutinising those first 6 episodes as a self-contained entity.

You’re welcome to tell me why my opinions are wrong, or otherwise chip in, if you can do so without being a total arse.

DISCLAIMER: Blog posts will be subjective and waffly, with a tone that probably leans more towards analysis than trying to be especially funny myself. Red Dwarf is a comedy, my blog posts not so much.

Anyway, for those who might be interested…

Red Dwarf I – The End

Topic

[McAleeCh]

Very interesting read – glad “Waiting For God” really worked for you as I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for that one. Looking forward to reading your take on the remainder of Series I, and hoping you’ll consider continuing into subsequent series once you’re finished with the first! = )

[Dave]

I’ve never understood why Waiting For God is so maligned. I think it has some of the most fun and clever ideas of the early era of the show.

I think the image of Lister dressed in a golden doughnut with a golden sausage in his hand just kills the whole thing for some people.

[Captain No-Name]

If my blog only achieves one thing, let it be that lovers of Waiting For God no longer feel the need to hide in the shadows, but can find the courage to speak out against the oppressive consensus, come out of the closet, and say with pride:

“I think on balance I might prefer this to Future Echoes.”

[bloodteller]

honestly i really like Waiting For God, though maybe that’s just because i find the scene with Lister and the cat priest really heartwarming.

[Captain No-Name]

I think the image of Lister dressed in a golden doughnut with a golden sausage in his hand just kills the whole thing for some people.

What strange reasoning these people must have. Religion in the real world is full of strange stuff about specific foodstuffs and plenty of outlandish costumes. Wine turns into the blood of Christ you know, I was once confidently told this by a Priest in an unlikely hat.

[Dave]

If my blog only achieves one thing, let it be that lovers of Waiting For God no longer feel the need to hide in the shadows, but can find the courage to speak out against the oppressive consensus, come out of the closet, and say with pride:
“I think on balance I might prefer this to Future Echoes.”

Now steady on, that might be going a bit far.

[bloodteller]

something i noticed when rewatching Series I recently was that in Me2 when we see the vid of Rimmer’s death, one of the last things he says is “I take full responsibility for ANY consquences”. in The End, the first thing he does when he’s brought back as a hologram is blame Lister for the accident.

nothing noteworthy i guess, but its a nice detail i hadn’t picked up on before.

[Ben Saunders]

That’s just Rimmer trying to suck up to the captain and talk down to Lister, respectively

[Captain No-Name]

Yeah, I think Ben is right.

[Captain No-Name]

With just under 2 hours to go until I watch M-Corp for the first time (and on the evening some of you will be watching Skipper) I thought I’d fill the gap with this…

CONFIDENCE AND PARANOIA

Red Dwarf I – Confidence and Paranoia

[Moonlight]

It’s telling that vegetarian hot dogs taste EXACTLY like real ones.

Beef hot dogs are the real ones and with chili and cheese and cayenne they are orgamsically good. Everything else is the rubbery crap you speak of, particularly the hospital-grade kind made of chicken.

[Moonlight]

It’s telling that vegetarian hot dogs taste EXACTLY like real ones.

Beef hot dogs are the real ones and with chili and cheese and cayenne they are orgamsically good. Everything else is the rubbery crap you speak of, particularly the hospital-grade kind made of chicken.

[Moonlight]

Also you _have_ to fry them. Preferably with butter. If you boil them, you’re a fucking idiot and I refuse to speak to you.

[Moonlight]

Quadruple post?

Shame mode.

[Captain No-Name]

People boil hotdogs!? I had no idea.

[Captain No-Name]

At long last I feel like this is a proper G&T thread!

It’s been running for days and I haven’t yet had a single person ask me why I combined three separate cloches into one though. Finally people are doing the decent thing and derailing the thread to talk about hotdogs.

All is well with the world.

[flanl3]

Why did you combine your opinion into four separate posts though?

[Captain No-Name]

Well done flanI3

[International Debris]

Still really enjoying these, some of the most interesting and entertaining reviews of Red Dwarf I’ve read in ages. I’ll be genuinely disappointed if you don’t continue with the remaining series.

My only niggling criticism is I wonder if you’re maybe picking up on things that are vaguely signposted that you know aren’t going to happen a bit more than a viewer at the time would.

[Captain No-Name]

Thank you very much International Debris!

It is of course entirely impossible to tell whether or not I would have reacted this way in 1988 without the foreknowledge I now have. But it’s a fun game to play.

That said, I genuinely do think the impending return of Kochanski feels seeded. And from what others have recently told me in the comments, Kochanski was possibly going to appear in one of the drafts of Episode 6 (which I didn’t know) so it’s feasible I’m picking up on some kind of faint trace of what Rob & Doug were actually planning at some point.

[International Debris]

When Bodysnatcher was penned in for episode 2, Confidence & Paranoia was the last episode and was due to end on a cliffhanger of Kochanski coming back.

I have absolutely no idea what the hell that would have done to the show (I’d love to skip to another universe and find out), but it feels bloody surreal in hindsight. But yes, you’re right on that.

[Captain Bollocks]

A while back, I actually watched the entire run with someone who had never even heard of Red Dwarf (she’s American, and hadn’t seen it on PBS or whatever station carries it there).

Vicariously watching it “for the first time” through her eyes was a lot of fun, but although this thread makes me wish I’d kept a record of her reactions to it, she’s a handful of years younger than me, and of the generation that exclusively reads fan-fiction where every male character is suddenly a sexual deviant who ravenously bangs every other male character.

Consequently, her main takeaway from the show was that Rimmer and Lister are, definitely, positively, absolutely, you can’t tell me otherwise, ner ner ner, “space husbands” who should immediately commence to fucking each other at every waking moment because they are clearly soulmates, not to mention that one anxiety dream Lister had when Rimmer left providing three million times more concrete proof of their totes gay desires for one another than any actual documented interaction between Lister and Kochanski, or his protracted longing for her.

She also thought Tongue Tied was so side-splittingly hilarious that she actually started hyperventilating and asked me to stop it so she could watch it again from the beginning, and it was only about halfway through.

[Captain No-Name]

That’s wonderful, Captain Bollocks.

I bet you sighed before you stuck “Blue” in the DVD player, knowing what was coming.

Just goes to show there are as many ways to view a programme as there are people in the audience. More in fact.

P.S. As a fellow Captain we really should be discussing this in some sort of Officers’ Lounge away from hoi polloi.

[Captain No-Name]

We’ve reached the final episode already.

So if you’re in the mood for more of my long-winded & subjective ramblings, be my guest and click below…

ME²

Red Dwarf I – Me²

[bloodteller]

i’d love to see you do one of these on Series II

[Captain No-Name]

Thank you bloodteller. And thank you everybody else further up the thread who have said similarly.

It was my intention only to do a close reading of Series I. My reasoning being that it is the only series where the audience has to completely learn everything about what the programme is from scratch. Whereas everything from Series II onwards acts as a kind of sequel series, and there is much less to learn.

That said, the unexpectedly positive reaction these reviews have received has been very encouraging. I only expected one or two people to have a look, so this has been a really nice surprise. It’s inspired me to think about carrying it on further.

The thought of doing all 12 series is a bit daunting at this stage. But I’m open to cautiously extending the project further, so long as it maintains interest among people.

I can well imagine that Series III would be well-suited to my blog’s approach, due to it being an effective reimagining of the show. So I ought to do Series II just to bridge the gap really.

So that’s my announcement tonight: I’m thinking of taking a “Re-mastered” kind of approach to my blog – by which I mean pouring a needlessly large amount of energy into a niche marmite project that probably won’t get as far as Camille!

Cheers for the encouragement guys. It’s much appreciated.

[International Debris]

The thing that makes Red Dwarf so suited to an ongoing project like this is the amount of changes it has. While some series are bigger changes than others, each one manages to redefine the show in a way that very few shows – Blackadder being a rare exception – have ever done. III, VI, VII, VIII, BtE and X are all massive jumps in their own right, each of which has confounded expectations – for better or worse – and brought surprises. I’d absolutely love to revisit the show anew, and your blog is probably the closest thing to being able to do that, which is why I’d love to see it expand as far as it can.

[Captain No-Name]

You’re right that Red Dwarf regularly experiments, and this is part of the reason for its longevity. Although I think (from what I remember; not having seen it in years) that Series VI is only superficially different from Series V. Losing Red Dwarf and Holly look like a huge shift, but in terms of the format of the show I’m not sure it had that big an impact. Maybe I’d feel differently if I watched it again now.

I suspect there’s not much for the audience to learn during Series IV-VI. From what I remember the show takes a “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach during that period, and not much changes after Series III really.

VII, VIII and BtE are three distinct experiments.

But there’s a reason the main Dave era (X-XII) becomes an exercise in recreating that middle period of BBC Dwarf.

[International Debris]

My girlfriend thought Rob Grant left after V, so great was the difference between it and VI for her on first watch. I do think the tone of the show alters quite a bit, with catchphrases and running jokes.

That said, I agree that, plot-wise, most episodes of IV-VI wouldn’t feel too out of place if shifted around a bit.

[Captain No-Name]

Intriguing. I remember thinking VI was really good when I was a kid. Maybe it will shine less brightly when viewed through adult eye.

I’ve only just bought VI on DVD actually (doing this blog brought it home to me that I only owned 3 classic Red Dwarf DVDs!) but I shan’t be watching it just yet, as obviously I’ve got Series II lined up next.

[International Debris]

A lot of people rate VI as one of the best series, but there are a few who find it feels a little like the show is running out of steam. Personally it doesn’t surprise me that Rob left when he did.

[Ben Saunders]

VI is just as good now as it was when I was a kid, but V is better.

[MANI506]

VI was the first series that I got hyped about for over a year, devouring every bit of info I could from the smegazines, fan club magazine and of course Primordial Soup. For me it doesn’t hit the high mark of 2 & V, but it is the most excited I ever was on first broadcast.

[Ben Saunders]

The most excited I ever got watching Dwarf on broadcast (bearing in mind I could only watch from BtE onwards) was Rimmer changing to softlight in Entangled, then suddenly realising midway though Officer Rimmer that I was watching a new episode of Dave Dwarf that was ACTUALLY good on its own terms and could stand up to the old stuff without any degree of fudging or saying “oh but we have to forgive it for [x].”

I got the same feeling during Krysis, Siliconia and Mechocracy – note I say “during”, no comment on whether or not I still thought that as the credits rolled ;)

[Author]

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