We say good things about the Dave-era

[Bargain Bin Holly]

Here’s one, I like Lister’s custom vest he sometimes wears that has all the four main character’s faces on it in Series XI and XII.

Topic

[flanl3]

It brought us the incredible “spit on her wrist” joke. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder.

[Piplup2003]

Mark Dexter. Ryan Gage. Need I say more about these two?

[Ben Saunders]

Some of the model shots are quite nice

[bloodteller]

i liked The Beginning and Give & Take and Cured, those were quite good.

the sets are lovely too, especially in XI and XII.

[Flap Jack]

There’s not much I can say here, because while I like the Dave era a lot, the things I like about it aren’t unique to it, so I’d just be saying “I like this episode”, “Oh, and that episode”, “This bit was funny” etc.

[Ben Saunders]

The time loop revelation in Give & Take is really rather good, as is all of the time travel stuff in it really, and is definitely some of the strongest writing we’ve seen from the Dave era, and would put up a good fight against some of the more beloved episodes of the original six series. Lister’s kidneys aside.

[Ben Saunders]

The Dave era, while mediocre in (quite a lot of) places, every now and then affirms itself as worthy of being made, imo. The only episode I’ve ever finished and thought “I did not enjoy that” was Timewave.

[International Debris]

Skipper made me laugh on first watch more than any other episode of Red Dwarf.

[Dax101]

Series XI and XII look visually nice.

Some of the ideas in X,XI and XII are ambitious and unique, but not always executed as well as they could be.

XI and XII feels more energized and youthful after BTE and X felt abit tired.

[Pete Part Three]

Series XI and Series XII were better than Series X which was better than Back to Earth, so I guess we’re getting somewhere.

Were it not for the Dave era, I’d never have seen the show recorded live.

It’s better than Over to Bill.

Even if you hate Red Dwarf VIII, the BBC’s disinterest in the show is utterly baffling, and the success of the show on Dave shows how dumb this was.

Seeing Red Dwarf advertised on the tube and on billboards is surreal but nice.

It’s in HD and looks a lot better than the picture quality of BBC Dwarf.

This website had something substantial to report on beyond the first 52 episodes, DVDs and Merchandise and it does so very well indeed, The live Dwarfcasts are great.

The scene with Kryten’s showing invisible stuff to Lister in M-Corp is premium Dwarf and up there with some of the show’s best moments,

Snacky!

Anything’s better than Series VIII.

[(deleted)]

Trojan, Lemons, The Beginning, Krysis, Cured, M-Corp and Skipper are for me as good as any episodes of Red Dwarf ever made, and Back To Earth, Fathers And Suns, Officer Rimmer and Can Of Worms aren’t far off.

(Btw, I have no interest in debating or arguing about this. I am saying I like some TV episodes. End of.)

[Warbodog]

I can’t credit the cast’s natural ageing to the Dave era, but I like when it’s addressed in the stories a lot, more of that would be great. Rimmer and Binks made gibes about the state of Lister’s health in the old days, but it’s not until Give & Take that he’s convincingly fucked.

[Hamish]

> but it’s not until Give & Take that he’s convincingly fucked.

Were we watching the same show?

[Warbodog]

Maybe it’s only in retrospect, but smoking and drinking “20s” Lister seems sprightly now, he’ll be fine. Maybe they should have gone with an older actor from the start like they’d intended, except now he’d be in his 70s and might not be up to it any more, or dead.

[MANI506]

Ten years ago the show was dead, thanks to Dave there are 21 new episodes which hold up very well to the previous 52. I was pumped for Back To Earth, X and XI (which was bigger, better and smeggier for at least half the episodes) and by the time of XII I settled down and just enjoyed (mostly) six new episodes. Mr Rat made me giggle for a week. I still get a laugh out of ‘sometimes they sleep with me’ followed by ‘mmmmmmmmm!’

[Ben Saunders]

The reveal of Mr. Rat just about broke me, Jesus Christ. The way it’s set up so you’re intently expecting -something- funny to appear, but then you get hit with Mr. Fucking Rat and you fall off your chair. Brilliant.

[Ridley]

I like that simply because Kryten is the only one to say the character’s name, Mr. Rat is given an undue level of formality from fandom.

[Dave]

Well, I mean, the others presumably just call him Rat.

[Ben Saunders]

Lister doesn’t name him, at all? Odd.

[Pete Part Three]

We got rid of the pencil.

[GlenTokyo]

Didn’t get rid of it, just sharpened it.

[bloodteller]

the Dave era is new Red Dwarf, which is better than no Red Dwarf. obviously the show can’t go on forever (it’s a miracle it’s lasted as long as it has) and while i personally would like to see the show come to an end one day, it is nice that we’re still getting new episodes and more adventures of the posse as they continue to drift directionless through space. the Dave era has been a bit hit-and-miss with some episodes being amazing and then some others being mediocre and then one of them being awful, but i think it’s definitely better to have a new series with a couple of dodgy eps than no new series at all. though if the show goes on much longer i will no longer be able to fit all the DVDs in my shelf. maybe i need a bigger shelf

also- the poker face punchline of Cured was excellent.

[flanl3]

The opening scene paying off has become one of the best parts of the Dave era, hasn’t it? A lot of the earlier bantery dialogue that seems like filler turns out to have actually meant something, and there’s something more satisfying about the show when it feels like more of the things they’ve done were done for a reason.

[Hamish]

> there’s something more satisfying about the show when it feels like more of the things they’ve done were done for a reason.

We all know that Dear Dave and the ending of Entangled “were done for a reason”.

Sorry, sorry, we are supposed to be nice. I like Cured.

[flanl3]

I’m not sure if you’ve deliberately missed my point or if I’m bad at explaining, but I suppose I’m more getting at the ‘XI beginning’ phenomenon, where, for example, Lister wakes up hungover only remembering having two beers in Give & Take, or in Samsara with the whole seemingly pointless dice scene that ends up having been caused by Samsara’s karma field.

I guess maybe it is just more of an XI thing.

Maybe that’s part of why XI is easily my favorite of the Dave ones and among my favorites of all of them.

[Hamish]

> I’m not sure if you’ve deliberately missed my point or if I’m bad at explaining.

No, no, I am just being a idiot for the sake of a weak joke. Like always.

[Moonlight]

I really have to insist large swathes of Series XII and more so Series XI are classic-era quality in terms of the enjoyment and rewatchability they have in my eyes. A bit different of a writing style, as you’d expect from one writer taking over the work of two, but I find myself going back to my XI/XII favorites incredibly often in a way I just don’t for Series VII-X. They also have that newness that Series I-VI obviously don’t, as I’ve been watching them since tweenhood. I haven’t regularly watched VIII in many years, but I watched so much Red Dwarf then I still feel like I remember it word for word in a way I’m only starting to for the new eps.

[Moonlight]

For the record I’m abnormally good at memorizing TV quotes, in case it sounded like I’m pouring over the episodes repeatedly in a deliberate attempt to memorize them.

I don’t need no idiot boards noways, you scaly old piscines.

[bloodteller]

>pouring over the episodes

pouring what over them?

[Bargain Bin Holly]

>pouring what over them?

Maple syrup and taramasalata

[Moonlight]

Literally every time I use that phrase people make that joke.

I never learn, do I?

[flanl3]

Yes, it might help if you talked about poring over things instead.

[bloodteller]

yeah it’s spelt “poring” which is why everyone makes that joke

[Dave]

By the way, you spell it ‘poring’.

[International Debris]

pouring over the episodes

I think you mean ‘poring’.

[bloodteller]

it’s also spelt “poring”. did anyone mention that yet?

[Dave]

This joke is getting poring.

[Plastic Percy]

I’m just glad the show now doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.

[Hamish]

American gets in trouble for forgetting to drop the letter “u” in lingual shocker.

[Moonlight]

Yeah, well, we saved your ass in World War II.

[Dave]

Yeah, well, we saved your arse in World War III.

[flanl3]

>Yeah, well, we saved your ass in World War II.

As an American, I know this isn’t actually true.

[bloodteller]

i wasn’t in World War II

[GlenTokyo]

I saved an ass during WWI

That donkey was in a bad way before I got there in the summer of ’14.

[bloodteller]

you must be very old, glen

[Dave]

Five long years, he wore this watch, up his ass.

[Stabbim the Skutter]

The Beginning is an amazing episode and one of my favourites. I’m happy we got XI and XII, but I would be totally satisfied if The Beginning were the grand series finale.

[Dax101]

I am one of those people who don’t get all the fuss made over The Beginning. Yes it probably feels like one of the more stronger character-driven episodes of the dave era but it still suffers from a fair amount of issues IMO.

The Rimmers dad stuff i still think it was a huge mistake. after years and many series of hearing about Rimmers father and the sort of person he was and how alot of that could contribute to how Rimmer turned out Doug throws this gardener father thing into the mix like it has some strong relevance to who Rimmer is and that just feels like taking years of gradual development and resolving it as quickly as possible with one shock reveal

The simulants got very goofy and were definitely weak villains.

And sorry Doug the writing at the end with Rimmer being all heroic was probably supposed to be cool and Rimmers best moment… but somehow it felt very awkward.

[Plastic Percy]

Mr. Rimmer still made him what he was. Dungo was his father, but Mr. Rimmer was his dad. And he still does the prickish thing of “you’re a success now, but fuck off”.

[Dax101]

See thats where things get abit twisted though with the revelation. not only did Doug throw in some jokes to almost state that Rimmers shortcomings are hereditary, but many fans have since asked the question whether Dungo was also howards father… and why? well because Howard was shock revealed to be just like Rimmer and the message of the episode obvious came out to many as Father was a loser because he was his fathers son.

Maybe Doug didn’t mean it to come out that way but that was the way it was executed.

[Author]

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