Things you like about Series VIII

[Rushy]

aside from Cassandra. XD

*I really like the visual style. III – VI had this shadowy murky look to it that I never quite gelled with. VIII has a nice saturated colour scheme that’s easy on the eyes. 

*Chloe Annett seems to be much more relaxed (and looks nicer with her natural hair). I like the way they play up Kochanski’s eccentricities. Even though she’s isolated from the cast a lot of the time, she still feels like more of a member of the posse than she did in series 7. When I was rewatching Only the Good and saw her going around with a kettle on her head, I actually felt sad at the prospect of losing her. 

*The alternate ending to Only the Good, where they do a conga dance and smoke cigars. It felt like a nice coda to all the crap they’d gone through since Back to Reality. 

*Lister and Rimmer being chummy. I don’t think it really makes sense from Rimmer’s POV (it’s supposed to be series 1 Rimmer, so you’d think he’d absolutely loathe what’s happening), but Charles and Barrie’s energy is infectious. If it was holo-Rimmer, I’d find it really wholesome. I’m glad the bunkroom scenes came back too. 

*Mac McDonald and Norman Lovett. Not their material, per se, but just the comforting familiarity of the actors. Lovett’s Holly was always my favourite character on Red Dwarf, so I can’t help appreciate him when he’s there. 

Topic

[Dax101]

Series 8 has such a weird series ending. Many thought it was a cliffhanger, while im convinced Doug thought of it as series final before moving onto making movies. Which makes it even more weird that this was how red dwarf could have ended.

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

[Warbodog]

[Rushy]

Mum finished Back to Earth. It was a bit rough.

*(points at the Creator) “Is that Doug Naylor?”

*”What does Blade Runner have to do with this?”

*(re: Lister/Kochanski scene) “Why is this show so eclectic in tone??”

*”What was the actual story? It just felt like bits and pieces.”

Hopefully series 10 will return some of her series 7 era enthusiasm… 

[clem]

Hopefully series 10 will return some of her series 7 era enthusiasm… 

I think she might have a problem with the favoured shuttlecraft in Series X.

[Asclepius]

Mum finished Back to Earth. It was a bit rough.
*(points at the Creator) “Is that Doug Naylor?”
*”What does Blade Runner have to do with this?”
*(re: Lister/Kochanski scene) “Why is this show so eclectic in tone??”
*”What was the actual story? It just felt like bits and pieces.”
Hopefully series 10 will return some of her series 7 era enthusiasm… 

Tbf her journey through Red Dwarf is like an epic “Let’s Listen to all the Beatles records” marathon where you start on the first LP, turn it off after Side A, and then fly straight to the late 1970s for Ringo’s disco-theme solo records.

It’s not that there isn’t some good stuff still to come – there is (but not from Ringo) – but you’ve landed in an area that fans struggle to justify, and you’ve also missed about 95% of the really massive moments that are a huge part of fandom.

So many iconic scenes and phrases, anything that it’ll be calling back to etc. I don’t know how you’d watch Back to Earth without having watched Back to Reality, for example.

[Warbodog]

Along with Rimmerworld itself having the most explicit callbacks of its series with the return to the Simulant ship and kicking off the incestuous streak running into VII that’s being specifically shown to a family member, it was really the perfect choice for the worst decision ever / well thought-out joke borderland.

[Nick R]

It’s not that there isn’t some good stuff still to come – there is (but not from Ringo)

I will not stand for this unfair dismissal of Don’t Hang Up!

[Rushy]

I don’t know how you’d watch Back to Earth without having watched Back to Reality, for example.

I got lucky. She thought it was a callback to Hollister’s VR machine. 

[Dave]

[Rushy]

We started series X with Fathers and Suns! She definitely enjoyed that more than the last few.

*”Predictive Pree. Clever, that. Wish we had a Pree.”

*(points at Lister in the shopping trolley) “Oh, look, it’s your dad.”

*”I keep expecting the Cat to die.”

*Rimmer’s Victory South TV show elicits a loud snort. 

*”So Rimmer is not racist, just sexist. Ok cool.”

[Dave]

We started series X with Fathers and Suns!

[Flap Jack]

They had no choice. She skipped all of the episodes which establish or reference that Rimmer had brothers.

Scoff all you like, but do any of you really think that Rimmer’s family history is more important to Red Dwarf than Medi-Bot and Taiwan Tony? Be honest. No, even more honest than that.

[Rushy]

I just like Fathers and Suns an awful lot, I felt it would be a more exciting opener than Trojan

[Ian Symes]

Skip straight to Entangled and Dear Dave, then try her on Red Christmas Part 2.

[Flap Jack]

OK, I know you said Back to Earth was a bit rough, but are things really so precarious that you need to show her Series X in a custom order? She did watch Series VIII in its entirety and still wanted to continue, it’s hard to imagine anyone who’s done that saying “fuck it, I’m out” after Trojan.

This is like ‘Goodbye, Lenin!’, except instead of worrying about your mother being shocked to death by the fall of the Soviet Union, you’re worried she might be killed by having too much of a coherent understanding of the plot of Red Dwarf.

[Warbodog]

[Dave]

[Asclepius]

…a bit rough…so precarious…you need to show her…she did watch….in its entirety…still wanted to continue…it’s hard…. imagine anyone who’s done that…. “fuck it, I’m out” after…. 

I think you owe a serious fucking apology to Rushy’s Mum. This is slander. And filth.

[Rushy]

Did I miss something?

[Flap Jack]

Well I hope not. Missing things is the worst.

[Rushy]

[Moonlight]

[Technopeasant]

Though it is indeed probably a war crime to have seen 100% more Kerry Shale than Tony Hawks.

[Rushy]

I wonder why they didn’t bring Tony back for the Dave era

[Technopeasant]

Because Daniel Barker was cheaper.

[Future Producer of Series IX – aaaaany day now]

[Author]

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