Ben Saunders

[Ben Saunders]

Those are very nice

[Ben Saunders]

You’re all absolute slags

[Ben Saunders]

Ooh, somebody guessed right for M-Corp. Interesting.

Also there was an interview with N*r**n *o**t* in which he confirmed which episode he’s in. I won’t say in cast it breaks the SPOILER POLICY. But it’s obvious, isn’t it?

[Ben Saunders]

>how is having an existential crisis joy
Well in Better Than Life, Rimmer’s mind wouldn’t let him experience joy for very long at all before it started self sabotaging. I assume it’s a similar situation to that. He did quite enjoy offing Katerina. And Lister could have enjoyed finally having Kochanski. Maybe it’s a shit joy squid.

[Ben Saunders]

>the best scene in the entirety of Only Fools And Horses

Del Boy.
Falling through the bar.
On Only Fools and Horses.

Is it as good as that?

[Ben Saunders]

I don’t think I’ve seen that one – for better or for worse

[Ben Saunders]

Is A Royal Flush the one that ends with [SPOILER!!!] another two pairs?

I fucking love that gag, saw it when I was young and never forgot it. And if Miami Twice is the one with two David Jason’s, I really enjoyed that, too. But I was young.

[Ben Saunders]

Back to Earth works irrespective of you seeing Bladerunner.

Source: I have seen and enjoyed Back to Earth four or so times and watched Bladerunner zero times. I fully understood the plot all four times.

[Ben Saunders]

I liked it. But I like a lot of things.

[Ben Saunders]

I’ve always wondered if Steven Moffat is a fan of Red Dwarf, or took inspiration from it. Some of his Who stuff could fit into Dwarf quite nicely.

[Ben Saunders]

Just re-watched Camille. Wonder if people who are upset about BtE being a Bladerunner homage are also upset about Camille being a beat-for-beat remake of Cassablanca at points.

I didn’t like Noddy, but Kryten’s mask did look fantastic – why haven’t they been able to just do it that well again?!

[Ben Saunders]

You can already see all the split screen lines and the bit where the Kryten mask ends and Robert’s skin around his eyes begins, I think we’ve gone far enough

[Ben Saunders]

Oh, the northern stuff is worthy of a giggle or two surely. Just the way Barrie says “qualiteh”

[Ben Saunders]

>Why did Doug decide Pete was the story which needed to become a two-parter
They spent a lot of money on that fucking dinosaur and wanted/needed to make the most of it

>Were there script issues on this one?
Big time. Not the biggest of times, if I remember correctly, but quite a few brown trousers moments. Specifically needing to stretch out Pete and BitR, and ditching Earth.

I’m kind of glad they never went through with Earth – the crash probably would have been done with terrible CGI and it would have ended the show for good. No Dave era. I think the idea was that Doug was going to end the series then and there and do a sort of reboot for the ill-fated movie.

I THINK.

[Ben Saunders]

To be honest, I can understand people hating the Corrie stuff – it’s meta, it’s self-referential, it is literally only in there because of budget, etc – but I thought it was quite well done, and don’t have a problem with it myself. Some people just don’t like meta stuff.

[Ben Saunders]

Nothing wrong with shagging a computer.

If it’s cute why not.

[Ben Saunders]

>I’d like to think Lister would quickly put on a spacesuit and do his best to save Irene, not give up the second the airlock door reseals.

Wouldn’t do much good mate, you’ve got about 15 seconds before death if you’re out in space without a suit. She was a goner as soon as she tripped over the box.

[Ben Saunders]

I’m not quite sure how old I was when I first watched Red Dwarf – old enough to remember my first viewing, but young enough for the details to be lost to time (it was Series I or II on VHS before school.)

It’s difficult to quantify. It will have affected my vocabulary/the way I talk (especially when I was young, imitating lines like Lister’s “smart arse” to the toaster and “Santa Claus! What a bastard!”), but I’ve never really stopped to think about it. It was probably one of the first science fiction things I saw alongside Doctor Who and Star Wars, so all those helped to shape my tastes, and my sense of humour definitely. Perhaps it made me smarter, or more interested in science, and more capable of understanding the timey wimey plots that Dwarf and Who can throw at you.

I, like a lot of other people, grew up thinking I was a Lister, but over time, realised I was much more of a Rimmer. I’m still a slob who tries to be a nice guy, but a lot of the neuroses and the bleak outlook and the failures I see in Rimmer, I also see in myself. I have quoted “who’s together by then? You can still taste the toothpaste!” several times, even into my adult life.

I also go to art school and don’t consider it much of an education, so the line “No education?”; “I went to art college” also resonates with me.

As far as actual outlook is concerned, I don’t know. Maybe it taught me that some negative personality traits like slobbiness and jealousy are okay in moderation, as long as you try to be a decent guy. Maybe it helped me realise the value of true friendship, bravery, helped me cope with the ultimate loneliness and futility of existence, or some other Star Trek crap.

[Ben Saunders]

Charles Augins’ choreography is sorely missed.

There was something else slapsticky in an episode I watched recently where I thought “I appreciate the joke, but they could have done a retake or something because that fall (or whatever) was incredibly unconvincing”

[Ben Saunders]

The Admirable Kryten

[Ben Saunders]

Legacy is a weird idea to me because like, those old shows still exist. They’re exactly the same. They still have exactly the same impact, historically and to a modern audience. Yeah The Simpsons have twenty shite seasons, but that doesn’t mean people remember the good ones any less fondly, or that they’re retroactively shit. They’re still held in just as high – if not higher – regard.

[Ben Saunders]

Hamish mate I was joking with the Timeslides thing, just having a bit of fun. I wasn’t trying to make any sort of point, really. I don’t think Irene’s death does anything as grand or important as “bring with it unpleasant connotations about the treatment of women”, it’s just a bit naff. If Irene had been male she would have been dealt with in much, if not exactly, the same way. You can get away with Snacky fucking off to some other part of the ship never to be seen again, but Irene had to go.

[Ben Saunders]

What, immediately after?

[Ben Saunders]

Considering he decided to leave BEFORE Series VII and was only coaxed into doing a couple episodes with the prospect of Ed Bye returning, I’d say that’s completely accurate.

Also, I watched two episodes of The Strangerers and laughed maybe one and a half times.

[Ben Saunders]

Red Dwarf jumped the shark when they brought Rimmer back to life in Timeslides, only to kill him off again immediately. How can you play with someone’s life like that, for a cheap gag – imagine ending an episode with the death of a character. As a gag.. Like if someone fell out of an airlock. A woman, for example. Possibly named Irene.

It’s shocking, really.

[Ben Saunders]

It’s the tone of it as well – it’s not as good as it used to be, so kill it. Gloss over the fact that it’s still one of the most entertaining shows going, and is experiencing what is very nearly a renaissance. Fucking kill it. Now.

[Ben Saunders]

>If it’d been posted on here and not The Guardian, would the author still be called a cunt and told to fuck off?

You’d get that kind of response from this site if you started a thread with “I really like Red Dwarf”

[Ben Saunders]

I get really cheesed off when people spew the received wisdom that recent Doctor Who series’ have been shit, when it is an INDISPUTABLE FACT OF LIFE that Series 8 is the best series of New Who and the recent finale was fabulous.

Other opinions are available.

And also WRONG.

[Ben Saunders]

The problem with that article is that there isn’t an original thought in it, it’s superfluous and unnecessary, and it makes false claims.

“Wobbly staging” – as with Classic Doctor Who, the sets probably wobbled a grand total of two times
“Seemingly exposed as the straight man… drought of comic invention…” – contentious
“Navel-gazing that strove for poignancy but palled into dullness” – debatable
“It killed the franchise for a decade” – it didn’t
“Utter smegging ineptitude” – unfair
The writer – a cunt

[Ben Saunders]

I can’t believe I forgot to list the one time it actually DID jump the shark – Emohawk

So many things I read on that page upset me – “a drought of comic invention”, “navel-gazing… palled into dullness”, “it killed the franchise for a decade”, “utter smegging ineptitude”, someone praising Lemons and someone shitting on Doctor Who.

[my three comments would be one if the edit button worked, apologies]

[Ben Saunders]

I thought for a moment that claiming Red Dwarf was “running” in the 00s is a bit rich, but then I realised I fully accept the idea that Doctor Who has been “running” since 1963, despite both of them being off-air for a decade at a time.

[Ben Saunders]

I hope not, I love the wrong number punchline

[Ben Saunders]

I -genuinely- feel like I’ve read this article before. Not deja vu, not reading a -similar- article, but -this- article.

[Ben Saunders]

I love received wisdom.

Red Dwarf jumped the shark with Backwards. Then it jumped the shark with Polymorph. Then it jumped the shark with Dimension Jump. Then it jumped the shark with Tikka to Ride. Then it jumped the shark with Ouroboros. Then it jumped the shark with Back in the Red. Then it jumped the shark with Krytie TV. Then it jumped the shark with Only the Good…. Then it jumped the shark with Back to Earth. Then it jumped the shark with Lemons. Then it jumped the shark with Kyrsis.

[Ben Saunders]

Doug said something along the lines of “it’s not [really] Red Dwarf”, yes, but I doubt he writes it off completely – he seems very aware of fan reception and takes their criticisms on board, but it’s not like BtE was utterly incoherent, devastatingly shite trash. But then, people can’t “like” or “dislike” things anymore, they have to be the greatest or the worst shit of all time

[Ben Saunders]

When Back to Earth: Part One was broadcast, me, my brothers and my dad were in the middle of tearing my room/wardrobes/carpet apart and refurbishing my entire bedroom. We stopped to watch Back to Earth on a tiny grey television sitting atop a table on a naked wooden floor covered in splinters and nails. I enjoyed it, but the lack of audience laughter took a while to adjust to, and ironing sneezes, while mildly amusing, wasn’t a strong enough gag to open with after a decade long absence.

Good times.

[Ben Saunders]

I can’t wait until I reach Series VIII in my re-watch and either begin to agree with you people, or largely enjoy my experience and come here to call you all cunts

[Ben Saunders]

He stole a Mexican boy’s teeth and is haunted with regret, what’s not to get?

[Ben Saunders]

Having just heard it again after Polymorph, it isn’t THAT bad once you’re used to it – it’s the transition from Parallel Universe to Backwards that is really jarring and makes it sound pants

[Ben Saunders]

I’d totally buy that “servicing the song”, “more feel” shtick if it wasn’t, you know, a bit shit

[Ben Saunders]

Proof Red Dwarf isn’t set in our universe: This IS the universe where Ringo was a really good drummer

[Ben Saunders]

Die, die, senator

[Ben Saunders]

Yeah, some of them I was listening to and I was thinking hold on… IS this stereo? So it might have been the fake stereo version you’re talking about. I seriously cannot be bothered going into that much detail with its list, I’m sick of hearing “goldfish shoals, nibbling at my [slightly awkwardly too long pause) thoes” already.

[Ben Saunders]

>Yes it is. It’s music concrete.
I’ll fight you.

I’m all for non-musical sound art, but not on a Beatles album, not by John Lennon, and definitely not Revolution #9.

The White Album is great. Paul has some fantastic moments on it, Savoy Truffle is good. While My Guitar Gently Weeps. A couple tracks could be cut from it and it wouldn’t suffer, admittedly, but then there would be less Beatles songs – and THAT is a universe I don’t want to live in.

DON’T PASS ME BY DON’T MAKE ME CRY DON’T MAKE ME BLUE

[Ben Saunders]

Helter Skelter was just Paul McCartney trying to be as loud as he possibly could.

He read an interview with either The Who or The Rolling Stones where they said “we’re the loudest band on the planet”, and Sir Paul thought “Oh yeah? Fuck off, I can do one better.”

And he did.

Iirc it was originally a 20-minute jam session, heavily edited down to the little ditty it is today. It also fades out, and then back in again, features John Lennon farting (rather endearingly) on the bass, and Ringo genuinely being in pain when he screams about the blisters on his fingers at the end.

I have a Beatles-denier friend who gets really upset when I say Helter Skelter was proto-metal, but it sort of was. He likes to think Black Sabbath just shat metal out of their arses one day with no inspiration from anyone.

Helter Skelter is just some loud fun.

[Ben Saunders]

Alright, here’s the full list you smegheads. God knows why they kept switching between versions – ignorance?
Was the mix always in stereo, but TV was broadcast in mono before Series V?

ORIGINAL
Series I, Series II, Series IV (mono)
Holoship, Demons and Angels, Back to Reality (stereo)
Psirens, Rimmerworld, Out of Time (stereo)
Series VII, Series VIII (stereo)
Dave era (assumed; stereo also assumed)

ALTERNATE
Series III (mono)
The Inquisitor, Terrorform, Quarantine (stereo)
Legion, Emohawk (stereo)

[Ben Saunders]

>Personally I’m more likely to skip Helter Skelter
Heathen.
I bet you don’t like Tikka, or some equally abhorrent opinion.
Unbelievable.

[Ben Saunders]

Just doing Series VI.

Psirens – Original
Legion – Alternate
Gunmen – N/A
Emohawk – Alternate
Rimmerworld – Original
Outoftime – Original

I think the stereo mix sounds different on Out Of Time?? Aaaaa

[Ben Saunders]

Yeah I was immediately taken aback as well.

It gets more complicated, lads.

I was going to say “it sounds more spacious because it’s in stereo”, but in Series I and II, it ISN’T. It’s in stereo for Series VII, though. The same version/take of the song seems to be used in I, II and VII onwards, but in mono first, then stereo later.

It gets more complicated, lads.

Just checking Polymorph II, they use the shit series III take/version of the song – but now that’s in Stereo, too!

Am I going to have to listen to the credits of every episode to make some sort of list, or has somebody already done it for me?

The tambourine is loud as fuck in both stereo versions, it dominates the mix, I never liked that.

[Ben Saunders]

It isn’t music, though

[Author]

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