Your Unpopular Red Dwarf Opinions

[Piplup2003]

The title says it all. What opinions do you have about Red Dwarf that no-one else seems to agree on?

For me, it’s that VIII is my second favourite series (behind V) and that I prefer Chloë over Claire as Kochanski (this may be partially influenced by the fact that I’ve met Chloë).

And please, no arguing.

Topic

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

S5 is definitely my favourite. It’s quite dark throughout but the humour and the sci-fi are great, the model and fx work seemed to step up a notch and the incidental music seemed more varied and has aged well too. Not sure I could pick a single episode as my favourite though.

[Warbodog]

V > IV > I > II > III/VI

[Ben Saunders]

I like Red Dwarf.

[Jenuall]

V > VI > II > IV > III > I

None of them are anything less than great though. I’d struggle to give any “bubble” episode less than an 8/10 personally

[Rushy]

II > V > VI > IV > I > III

[Dave]

V>II>IV>VI>III>I

[International Debris]

V > 2 > IV > 1 > III > VI

[Nick R]

VVVVVV

[MANI506]

I ripped off the plot of Demons & Angels for a creative writing thing when I was 9 & I still feel guilty when I watch it

I ripped off Richard Herring’s Twatty Harris teacher from Fist Of Fun series two and on a separate occasion ripped off Fry and Laurie’s From Here To Just Over There/get your ass in here/nobody likes a Smart Alec sketch. They should be standard texts anyway.

[Android 72264Y]

VI>V>II>III>IV>I

[Ben Saunders]

None of you can count. VI > V > IV > III > II > I, this is first-grade stuff.

[Technopeasant]

[Technopeasant]

VVVVVV

Might be waiting awhile for that series. I’d settle for XIV.

[Android 72264Y]

I’d sample a Dolphin Sweetmeat and Baby Seal Heart stuffed with Dove Pâté out of sheer morbid curiosity.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

Doesn’t sweet meat tend to refer to an animals bollocks?

[Moonlight]

It’s like Rocky Mountain oysters. If you have to change the name of the food to trick people into eating it, maybe you shouldn’t have made it.

[Android 72264Y]

Doesn’t sweet meat tend to refer to an animals bollocks?

It’s an archaic term for confectionery…?

[Moonlight]

I thought it was an archaic term for confectionery.

That’s exactly how people trick you into eating testicles. By time you realize, it’s too late.

[Android 72264Y]

At least it’s not ultra processed gunk like Pot Noodle. Black pudding is a thing here.

[Nick R]

That’s exactly how people trick you into eating testicles. By time you realize, it’s too late.

At least the testicles take away the taste of the Pot Noodle you just had.

(There! I tied this conversational tangent back to Red Dwarf so smoothly, you didn’t even notice.)

[Rushy]

I just thought he meant really delicious steak lol

[Ben Saunders]

Doesn’t sweet meat tend to refer to an animals bollocks?

Your meat is your schlong, more accurately. The two veg are the bollocks.

[Warbodog]

I thought it was a synonym for sweetbreads, which is a euphemism for guts and other bits, including balls. They’re emphasising the inhumane decadence of their delicacies, as opposed to less important animal flesh that’s totally normal to eat.

[Cardinal_Hordriss]

I thought it was a synonym for sweetbreads, which is a euphemism for guts and other bits, including balls. They’re emphasising the inhumane decadence of their delicacies, as opposed to less important animal flesh that’s totally normal to eat.

Yeah, it’s a posh term for offal basically. 

[Android 72264Y]

I’m not ashamed of my culinary palate :P

[Podey]

V > IV > I > II > III/VI

I’m surprised you rate V and VI so differently as they’ve always felt like very similar series to me, and both are my favourites (VI then V).

[Podey]

Oh wait, I thought I was in ‘Popular Red Dwarf Opinions’. My bad.

[International Debris]

I thought it was a synonym for sweetbreads, which is a euphemism for guts and other bits, including balls. They’re emphasising the inhumane decadence of their delicacies, as opposed to less important animal flesh that’s totally normal to eat.

Yeah, it’s a posh term for offal basically. 

I’ve never heard of this. Dictionaries suggest it’s just an archaic term for sweet, sugarry food. 

[Moonlight]

Sweet Sweetbread’s Offaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal Testicles

[Ben Saunders]

Awful testicles

[Moonlight]

Your Unpopular Testicle Opinions

[Technopeasant]

[tombow]

this might be controversial and I wouldn’t say it here much but I haven’t really liked any of the Dave era that much outside of Skipper and Promised Land. I mean, I enjoyed them and was entertained watching them, but I’ve never wanted to re-watch them and when I have I’ve mostly found them a bit flat. And BTE really wasn’t good to me. I respect it – and I should have liked it, because it was everything I’d always wanted from RD (bigger budget, ambitious ideas), but it just felt like an experiment that didn’t work.

[Warbodog]

I feel similar, but swapping Skipper (which I didn’t think was especially noteworthy) with M Corp. I don’t think anything needs to be revived or carry on past its prime when there’s enough good stuff to enjoy already, but glad they do for those that wanted more. I was excited for Series X at the time, but wasn’t experienced/jaded with revivals yet.

Red Dwarf’s immaculate legacy was already damaged by VII & VIII, so continuing after that does no harm anyway. If I’d found the Dave series more annoying than good, I would have stopped watching, but they were fine. I’m not one of those people who sticks with a franchise they’re not enjoying out of loyalty or whatever.

[Dave]

And BTE really wasn’t good to me. I respect it

[International Debris]

I genuinely find the last four episodes fully bubble-worthy, and a few others (Give & Take, Lemons) pretty much there too, but I agree that the bulk of the Dave era still feels a few drafts (or more) away from something I want to watch outside of a full Red Dwarf rewatch. It’s mostly VII quality for me, ie an interesting but heavily flawed take on a show I like. IX is a weird one that I mostly dislike, but respect for being so much more Dwarf-like than VIII that it feels like a sign Doug has learned. The final part has some great scenes, but I recall my overall feeling from that 2009 weekend was that Doug had had a decade to find some good jokes and somehow still failed. 

[Rushy]

I have very complicated feelings about the Dave era. Most of the scripts do have a first draft feeling to them and the acting can be a little weird, but I also truly love the return of daily life on ship. Seeing Rimmer take his exams again in Trojan was a moment of pure elation for me. That’s the ‘Red Dwarf is back, baby!’ scene as far as I’m concerned. 
To me, the heart and soul of the show is watching them just wander around the ship with nothing to do, finding more and more ingenious ways to waste time.

So even though the Dave era is objectively less better written than the bubble years of IV-VI, it somehow captures what I love about the show more. 

[Rushy]

As for what fits the most into the bubble era in terms of script cohesion and formula, I would say Krysis. You could tell me Rob Grant did uncredited rewrites for that one and I’d believe you. 

[International Debris]

Funny enough, I remember cringing at Rimmer taking his exams again, because it’s something he’d not really seemed bothered with since the very early serious. Felt like a very self-conscious attempt at copying an earlier element, rather than a natural ‘picked up where it left off’ moment.

[Rushy]

Funny enough, I remember cringing at Rimmer taking his exams again, because it’s something he’d not really seemed bothered with since the very early serious. Felt like a very self-conscious attempt at copying an earlier element, rather than a natural ‘picked up where it left off’ moment.

I can understand that, but for me, Rimmer is always more interesting and engaging when he’s obsessing over petty bureaucracy. In my mind, he’d never give up wanting to be an officer. 

Plus, the idea that the crew still vaguely adhere to the social structure of the old world is one of the things I find so fascinating about Red Dwarf. It’s a believable coping mechanism. 

[Quinn: Clochebusters World Champion]

Rimmer should have taken a leaf out of Lister’s book and trained to be a chef

[International Debris]

I can understand that, but for me, Rimmer is always more interesting and engaging when he’s obsessing over petty bureaucracy. In my mind, he’d never give up wanting to be an officer. 
Plus, the idea that the crew still vaguely adhere to the social structure of the old world is one of the things I find so fascinating about Red Dwarf. It’s a believable coping mechanism. 

All totally fair. I think I have a real aversion to stuff that tries to recapture the past, even if it does it well. While I don’t like VI or VII all that much, I admire them going in different directions and would love to see those picked up on, but written better, for example. Or, indeed, just a new direction overall. It’s why I think I like those final few episodes of the Dave era which, despite having a few nostalgia-bait moments (which are typically my least favourite bits), don’t remotely feel like retreads of older episodes. 

[Android 72264Y]

but I recall my overall feeling from that 2009 weekend was that Doug had had a decade to find some good jokes and somehow still failed. 

Doug’s under the delusion RD isn’t fundamentally a ‘no hugging, no learning’ sitcom, and the more he tries circumventing that edict the worse it becomes.

[Flap Jack]

Rimmer should have taken a leaf out of Lister’s book and trained to be a chef

Well, we saw an attempt in Better Than Life. Fully believable that he’d repeatedly fail at that too.

Although Rimmer does specifically want to be an officer, not just to take any job that technically outranks his current one. He’s already the highest ranking crew member, so he doesn’t have the motivation that Lister has.

Though it is weird that Lister never re-attempts the chef exam (just like it’s weird that they never again try going into stasis waiting to get back to Earth, or enabling 2 holograms at once after showing it works perfectly with the 2 Rimmers, or using the matter paddle, or the time traveling photographs etc. etc.). Even if Lister is habitually lazy, you’d think the ability to order Rimmer to reveal the location of Kochanski’s disc would overpower that.

[Warbodog]

Even if Lister is habitually lazy, you’d think the ability to order Rimmer to reveal the location of Kochanski’s disc would overpower that.

He probably should have for that specific reason. But generally, Balance of Power into Waiting for God shows Rimmer realising he’s lost his power over him.

[Rushy]

While I don’t like VI or VII all that much, I admire them going in different directions and would love to see those picked up on, but written better, for example. Or, indeed, just a new direction overall. It’s why I think I like those final few episodes of the Dave era which, despite having a few nostalgia-bait moments (which are typically my least favourite bits), don’t remotely feel like retreads of older episodes. 

I would agree with that. 

One of the things that is so exciting about series III-VI is that each episode is crackling with creative energy. Even without an overall plot, you’re constantly being bombarded with new ideas and tonal shifts. All accompanied by the Rock Guitar Instrumental, music that just screams crazed 1980s anarchism. 

Obviously the Dave era cannot duplicate that – and shouldn’t – but it doesn’t accurately reflect the characters’ ages either. 

Maybe what’s needed is the crew facing more complex existential threats like M-Corp, or maybe a villain like the Shade from Doctor Who’s Heaven Sent that keeps killing and resuscitating them, forcing them to face mortality. Basically the kind of threats that would have them wistfully thinking back to the simpler days when you could just throw curry in the mouth of the Vindaloo Monster. 

[Rushy]

I would also really like a story that starts with all of them barely acknowledging each other, showing they’ve grown apart over time and spend weeks or even months without interacting. Some villain takes advantage of that to brainwash them all against one another, keeping them distracted long enough to do whatever villainous scheme he has in mind.

So it’s like a four-sided Die Hard, with each of them running around the ship, using Red Dwarf’s resources against the other three. And more importantly, their knowledge of each other’s skills. Rimmer can predict that the Cat would seek safety in the lower levels where he grew up, Lister broke Kryten’s programming so he knows how to shut him off remotely etc.

But the more they think about what the others would do, the closer they come to realising that they’re all far too selfish to ever turn against each other, because they all want backup. 

[Ian Symes]

Doug’s under the delusion RD isn’t fundamentally a ‘no hugging, no learning’ sitcom, and the more he tries circumventing that edict the worse it becomes.

This would be true if not for the fact that every single character grows and learns throughout the first six series as well. In fact, way more than they do in the Doug solo era. We literally see Kryten learning how to break his programming to become more human-like. The Rimmer in, say, Balance of Power is a thousand miles away from the one in Thanks For The Memory, and that’s just six episodes apart. 

[Dax101]

It seems more believable that Rimmer would grow out of the desire to be an officer because whats the point when there is no one else around? Although there is Holoship where you can see that desire still exists. While Series 10 to Officer Rimmer suggests he wants it just for bragging rights and that the ship privilages will give him more power to make listers life miserable. I suppose its a little like Balance of Power but stretched out.

[Rushy]

Counter-argument: the Cat goes from a clothes/stupidity/mis-smelling punchline in Series III-VIII to a fully fleshed out antihero in the Dave era. 

[Author]

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