Thoughts on the Series XII Flipside Cover?

[Renegade Rob]

Over this past weekend, I’ve been processing the reveal of the Series XII flipside cover. As someone who likes consistency but also wants each series to have their own identity, I’ve been trying to figure out how I feel about the color. The pale red bunkroom and pale blue Starbug cockpit made perfect sense for X and XI, but the fact that the Science Room for XII, despite being an obvious choice, still nags at me a bit, so I’ve created this post more as a sounding board to help me work out how I come down on this very important issue.

I really want each series to feel like it’s own distinct entity with its own identity, and up until now, they have. But let’s face it: the military blue Science Room XII cover is a little close to the ocean blue of the Starbug cockpit XI cover, so that’s 2 pale-blues in a row. Granted, they’re slightly different shades, with XII having more than a dash of light purple. But it’s the equivalent of making Series IV the officers Bunkroom and Series V the old III-V Science Room: same color scheme because of similar production design. If they had made XII yellow with the new Science Room at Yellow Alert, that would’ve been great. Or they could have, as I thought they might do, made XII pale-green with the Starbug 19 interior and echo the pattern of the original 6, so that a Series XIII cover would be even paler beige and so on.
As it is, two light blues in a row, leaves me a little cold.

But then I did some more thinking about the cover (What better way is there to spend a Sarurday night?), and the thought occurred that part of XII’s identity is the fact that it’s of a pair with XI. Thet were commissioned together, written together, share sets and even moved scenes, and were basically filmed together. This sort of was one long series split over two, more than possible any pair of series before. Now true, XII is, give or take a Timewave, way better than XI overall, as almost certainly it built off the momentum established by XI to be more bold and confident.

In that light, it makes some deal of sense to have XI and XII be similar colors, because much of their identity is the fact that they’re intrinsically linked. Like those weird quasi-two-parters from Series 9 of Doctor Who. So I think I’m coming down on the side of “I get it and can live with it” but would have preferred something a little more distinct.

Thoughts?

Topic

[si]

Reading all these ‘three into one’ jokes is tiring me out. Whatever happened to the glory days of the Foaming Twat?

[cwickham]

Should ‘three into one’ jokes have continued after being combined?

[Moonlight]

Foaming Cloche butter pun ***man Lov***.

[pfm]

But is that an ‘I’ or a ‘1’ ??

[pfm]

> Oh, and the VHS releases of the original unremastered series are labelled ‘Red Dwarf I’ etc., although not ‘Red Dwarf Series I’.

But is that an ‘I’ or a ‘1’ ?? grrr

[bloodteller]

it’s a I.

[Me Own Stunts]

I keep my Red Dwarf DVDs in one of those album-style cases that hold around 60 discs. They currently share that space with my Quantum Leap DVDs.

In other news, none of the reversible covers have ever done anything for me. They lack a silvered logo, for example.

[Toxteth O-Grady]

This marvelous opus of pedantry must be kept alive, and so I’ll offer this:

>… since, unless anyone wants to correct me, the first time “Series [Numeral]” was officially used to designate the series was on the DVD releases.

Didn’t the BBC’s own adverts for the show use the roman numerals?

I seem to recall a clip advertising the then-upcoming episode ‘Holoship’ using the “Sirs, they’ve taken Mr. Rimmer!” scene with the onscreen caption:
Thursday 9.00 RED DWARF V

[GlenTokyo]

Roman numerals were on the videos, I, II, III etc

The only series without a numeral applied in an official capacity is Back To Earth which strangely given that it’s called Back to Earth is referred to as Back to Earth.

[Dave]

The VHS used ‘Red Dwarf I’, rather than ‘Red Dwarf Series I’ – I think that was the distinction Seb was making.

As far as I can make out, the only time the VHSs used ‘Series I’ was the remastered boxset of all three series.

The only series without a numeral applied in an official capacity is Back To Earth

*QI Siren*

(French DVD)

[GlenTokyo]

In France Jaws is called ‘The Teeth From The Sea’. I’ll stick to native language releases.

[Ben Saunders]

That’s a bit xenophobic.

[GlenTokyo]

Not really. Just think the releases in English are the ones to look at considering origin.

[(deleted)]

Back To Earth was called series 9 on BBC Store as well. It is frigging well Red Dwarf IX for BBC Worldwide purposes and they pay for the show to exist. That is why the 2012 series was called ‘Red Dwarf X’.

And it is a series of three episodes, not a special.

[Ben Paddon]

[Ben Paddon]

That’s on BritBox, by the way.

[bloodteller]

i don’t remember lister screaming directly into the camera being in Back To Earth- Part 3

[International Debris]

Give it a few years and everywhere will be calling it Red Dwarf Series IX, including the re-released DVD (in time for the Just the Daves boxset), then everybody can eat their IX-hating hats.

[GlenTokyo]

Why doesn’t someone Twitter at Doug. Get it straight from the horse’s mouth like.

[flanl3]

I actually think they could still do Series IX once the show has found its footing again and do it well if Doug did it right. I fully expect the next comment to be “he wouldn’t do it right.”

[Seb Patrick]

If we’re taking word of the author, then Doug is adamant that BTE is not Series IX. So there.

[bloodteller]

hoorah

[(deleted)]

If we’re taking word of the author, ‘Liberation’ is the first Divine Comedy album, ‘Them’ is the first Jon Ronson book, and Star Wars is called ‘Episode IV: A New Hope’. Doesn’t make any of those things true either!

[bloodteller]

Star Wars is called “Episode IV: A New Hope” though

[Dave]

Well *now* it is.

[flanl3]

If we’re taking the word of the author, Timewave is an episode of Red Dwarf, unfortunately.

[bloodteller]

so’s Pete Part 2

[GlenTokyo]

If we’re taking word of the author, then Doug is adamant that BTE is not Series IX. So there.

The Lord hath spoke, BTE is not Series IX.

Now that’s sorted, what was this topic about again?

[bloodteller]

thoughts on the Series XII DVD’s reversible cover, i think?

[Ben Saunders]

It’s just absurd to have the Star Wars films go I, II, III, Star Wars, V, VI and THAT’S IT THEY NEVER MADE ANY MORE

[Ben Saunders]

Depending on how this December goes they might go I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VIII, though, and I’ll wonder why they skipped one

[Moonlight]

Considering how fucking confused online stores get over something as simple as the Roman numeral series numbering, I don’t think you could treat BtE as not being the ninth series without just muddying the waters even further. If you listed it as a separate entity in streaming services, you’d just end up with a bunch of new fans skipping from VIII and X without ever realizing there was something in between.

Regardless of what BtE is supposed to be, it’s the set of three episodes that comes between Series VIII and Series X, and it’s better for fans just discovering the series to make it as clear as possible that that’s where it goes.

[Dave]

The Lord hath spoke, BTE is not Series IX.

But it *is* the ninth series of Red Dwarf.

[RickLee84]

I hate the placement of the “Series…” text o the spine of the DVDs. There’s plenty of space above or below the cast photo o the bottom to place a simple Roman numeral to indicate the series number. Instead, someone thought it was a great idea to plaster the text over the logo and not even have them the same size or location depending on what cover they designed.

Those IX, Smeg Ups, Beat The Geek and USA custom covers look great though.

[GlenTokyo]

<But it *is* the ninth series of Red Dwarf.>

Not disputing that it’s the ninth outing of Red Dwarf, just the fact that it’s called Back to Earth not Red Dwarf IX.

KyoSo I get your point but it shouldn’t matter, Netflix or whoever will put it in the chronological right place regardless. Only really a problem if you’re trying to torrent it or something or you’re setting up a Plex server and you’ve never seen Red Dwarf.

[GlenTokyo]

*Not disputing that it’s the ninth outing of Red Dwarf, just stating the fact that it’s called Back to Earth not Red Dwarf IX.

Damned lack of editing function

[Jonsmad]

I’m gonna call it Back2Earth just to annoy more people.

My DVDs (reversed covers where possible) have always sat within a cardboard hard back slipcase for the Ronnie Barker dvd collection. Which previously housed complete porridge and open all hours etc sitcoms. All my pre 1980s comedy’s i removed from their packaging and keep in a wallet system for space. But kept this box as a handy container for dwarf and long before the irony of mr vegas or that Geordie Jesus being in a new open all hours it has kept my dwarf DVDs together, I always felt doug would have approved of the porridge link. 12 series now fills it. So come series 13 I’m fucked. As I don’t see a larger barker box being released. He’s not likely to do a new series.

[flanl3]

I’m gonna call it Back2Earth just to annoy more people.

Back9Earth

Or even

BaIX to Earth

Or even

Series Back Nine Earth.

Or even

Red Dwarf, Series VIXCIIVI: Back Too Earth

[Dave]

BAIX TO 9ARTH

[Jonsmad]

We’ll I know some who probably call it BoIx to earth. But I liked it.

[GlenTokyo]

Just call it Back 9 and you’ll get the gold crowd.

[flanl3]

NINE 9 SERIES

[Hamish]

Red Dwarf Deep Space IX

[flanl3]

Red Dwarf IX Kampf

[flanl3]

(Redolf Hidwarf, that is)

[Ben Saunders]

Red Dwarf 9 From Outer Space

[Pete Part Three]

PILE OF SHITE

(Huh, same number of letters!)

[(deleted)]

Easy way to solve this:

Why is Red Dwarf X not called Red Dwarf IX? Whatever the official answer is proves that Back To Earth is Red Dwarf IX. Because it’s clearly not “just as a joke”.

[Ridley]

Red Dwarf Ecks

[bloodteller]

Red Dwarf Ecks Vs. Sever

[Author]

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