Thoughts on Rob Grant

[Millions]

All this positivity surrounding Red Dwarf, especially in the last couple of weeks, got me thinking a little……….

I really feel for Rob Grant. Watching the debacles of Series 7, 8 and 9 must have been, in a strange way at least, quite reassuring for him. He was the talent. He brought ‘the funny.’

So Series 7, 8 and 9 must, for him, have been the equivalent of having a girl break up with you, and then having a sneaky look at her profile on Facebook a few months later, to find she’s put on a load of weight since the split and is miserable and unfulfilled. It must have felt pretty good.

BUT…..

Then what happened? The Strangerers series?!? It was a dog. A couple of novels – not bad, but not great either. Interestingly, the official line from Rob and Doug on the split was that Rob wanted to pursue other things. So if this is true, why is one of his novels an almost blatant rip-off of Red Dwarf – guys lost in space, etc……..?

And now what is he doing? Stand up comedy in some run-down, shabby bars, I believe. Teaching writing classes? Really?!?!?

I really feel for the guy. Surely he must, at some points at least, regret the way things have turned out? Surely he has had some ideas percolating in his head over the last 15 years which would benefit the show?

So what I would like to see is this : Rob and Doug obviously don’t want to work together any more. But they don’t have to. Give Rob an episode from series 11 to write. Just one episode where what he says goes. He created this show we love so much. He deserves that much, surely?????

What do you think?

Topic

[Jonsmad]

They could form a cross over group with his novel and call themselves Take Fat.

[pfm]

> Bodysnatcher wasn’t very good imho, so don’t think that a Rob / Doug reunion would necessarily be the boon it once seemed.

I thought it was alright considering it was spruced up old script, performed by Chris with storyboards, and would have made for a better episode than Waiting For God or Balance Of Power if it had been done in 1988.

[Ben Paddon]

Bodysnatcher would’ve been great if it’d been a Series I story we got in the show’s first year, but releasing it in 2008 means it gets compared to the rest of the show’s run… which means it has to hold up against Back to Reality, Gunmen of the Apocalypse, et al. That the script was cannibalized for other Series I episodes doesn’t exactly do it any favours, either.

Personally, I think it had the potential to be one of the better stories of Series I. It’s a pity we never got to see it produced.

[John Hoare]

I love Bodysnatcher with every fibre of my being. Need to do a proper review of it, actually – the site doesn’t really have one. (Mind you, it doesn’t have a Back To Earth review either!)

I did do this podcast on it, though. Nothing here that people don’t already know in there – but I wanted to try and get it out there to a wider audience.

[Ben Paddon]

What did we think of “Identity Within”, or whatever the unproduced Series VII story was called? I remember liking it if only because it was a Cat story, and we’ve had precious few of those, but I think I only watched it the once.

[John Hoare]

It’s odd. Rating both Bodysnatcher and Identity Within in terms of the actual quality of the shows is peverse, really – a bit like rating deleted scenes on how good they are. It’s not really the point – the point is how interesting they are, as a glimpse into Dwarf that could have been. In that respect, they both succeed superbly.

Oddly, though, Bodysnatcher does go beyond that for me – into a fantastic episode of Red Dwarf. I didn’t actually expect that. Identity Within… doesn’t, shall we say. But that’s the luck of what comes out of the dusty drawer.

[Jimboid]

Identity Within is fucking awful in my opinion.

You’re right, Ben…it is difficult and probably unfair to judge Bodysnatcher against the rest of the series…but just going from the script – it pales in comparison next to the rest of Series 1. Just my tuppence worth. Differing opinions made de world go round.

Looking back, it’s a fascinating little insight into a lost corner of Dwarf. Naming the whole boxset after it was a little on the eccentric side, though.

[Danny Stephenson]

But that’s the luck of what comes out of the dusty drawer.

You have very, dusty, drawers…

[Tarka Dal]

Wait a minute I thought Rob left because he sha…

[pfm]

*passes Jimboid a spliff*

[locusceruleus]

Naming the whole boxset after it was a little on the eccentric side, though.

I like to think that’s so fans can gladly display it on their DVD shelves with the spine facing outward. Had it just been titled ‘Red Dwarf Remastered – The DVD Boxset’…

[Pete Part Three]

Well, that. Exactly that.

[John Hoare]

I believe the reason given at the time was that it also referred to the “grave-robbing the archives” nature of the boxset. You may or may not buy that.

To be honest, I love Bodysnatcher so much I’m pleased it got pride of place. I remember thinking that it would probably be an interesting curio, but I was looking forward to the other stuff on the disc more – the documentaries especially. I was astounded at how much I loved it.

[MANI506]

Identity Within is something I rewatched again recently and it does get better with each watch I find. Nothing hilarious happens but it’s a fascinating curio and a pretty decent story as well.

Bodysnatcher is such a lovely thing to have considering all we’d heard about it for years was one or two throwaway comments in old Rob and Doug interviews. The real joy of the Bodysnatcher Collection though is having Rob and Doug back together again for hopefully not the last time.

[Author]

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