Dax101

[Dax101]

When a show has gone on for so long, certain things become nostalgic even to the creators.

[Dax101]

Yeah, Rob had never Back in the Red part 2, let alone making fun of it. 

I don’t think anyone ever said that Rob wouldn’t do referential stuff in his own work. its just in 30 years its only been Doug doing it. And i don’t like back references; they feel cheap. The Dibbley Family is embarrassing.

But another way of looking at it is that, Rob potentially always had this idea in mind that he wanted titan to be some kind of tv show. And in that case he likely thought about it like if for whatever reason he had to recast the fans may feel a disconnection from it unless its got fan-pleasing references they recognise *shrug*

[Dax101]

I doubt Doug even read Backwards tbh. Writers tend to be very protective of their vision

[Dax101]

Well it kinda is a throwback since it’s set in the past. It just makes more sense being a throwback than it would if it was set after all the other series.

[Dax101]

I think Panel shows are just much cheaper to produce than Red Dwarf was.

But Doug has always been very persistent in trying to get the show to continue, so even when fans lose faith and think well thats probably it, you know Doug is messaging Youtube Originals saying Hey guys, so about new red dwarf?

[Dax101]

I assume it was just Pyle that was after him. And she had authority. 

[Dax101]

I like the idea that Rimmers attraction to Pyle confused him just as much as the reader. 

[Dax101]

I’m only halfway through it, but so far I’d say Rimmer’s characterisation is in the same league as Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers. As the novels went on, he kinda lost that characterisation. But he is very much the same flawed, pathetic Rimmer whose brain couldn’t allow him to enjoy Better than Life without sabotaging him in Infinity and BTL. 

[Dax101]

[Dax101]

Id guess Rob may have been worried fans wouldn’t like it if Kryten and Cat were not involved.

[Dax101]

The writing feels very Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers. And that’s good. But it doesn’t feel as committed to being a novel as Infinity did. A lot less character exploration through narration.

[Dax101]

I just noticed behind the red dwarf model photo you can see a large F on a board. Looks like that was what was used for the opening with lister painting the ship.

[Dax101]

Oops wrong thread. Ignore that previous post.

[Dax101]

I just noticed behind the red dwarf model photo you can see a large F on a board. Looks like that was what was used for the opening with lister painting the ship.

[Dax101]

Well, I’m only on to this part of the book. So maybe I’m missing something that comes later on. But it seems like it implys Frankenstein is a male cat and is, in fact, the Cat? Which isn’t what Frankenstein is meant to be.

[Dax101]

I think Rob might have messed up with the Cat evolution. Which is a little disappointing. Bit of a retcon going on that feels a little wrong.

[Dax101]

I imagine people still wouldn’t see that as a satisfying ending, though, even with its ambiguity 

[Dax101]

Ah what a total disappointment ending. 
Lorraine Kelly telling me about Kids who can’t read. I mean that’s a total curve ball. Get the kids to read Infinity for gods sake thats what we all did growing up! How can you end an audio book like that. 

Well when you think about it. Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers ends with Lister seeing the doorway back to reality and deciding to stay in better than life. The place the book made a point that his body would waste away while he was there. Can you imagine if suddenly something happened and Rob and Doug didn’t make Better than life? And this was the only book? They obviously went in expecting they would make a sequel. And they got to actually make it.

They obviously expected Titan might have a sequel. While Andrew could have changed the ending (i assume,but maybe he couldn’t by then). They probably wanted to keep the vision Rob left on it.

[Dax101]

Originals.

[Dax101]

I also believed for years that the cow wasn’t meant to be a real cow and was just bait.

[Dax101]

I continue to hope that the cow was meant to be as fake as it looked.

[Dax101]

Yeah, it was a Mel Bibby idea.

I dunno, I think you are meant to look at Red Dwarf as a ship that’s so big they find unusual things all the time that people had or things that were used for various reasons.

[Dax101]

 there are presumably unused scalpels still available 

Everyone knows only a certain number of scalpels were ever made. They probably went extinct long ago.

[Dax101]

No one said Lister was a hygienic or classy guy when it came to decisions.

[Dax101]

Presumably it wasn’t built it and listen brought it in to use it.

[Dax101]

The audiobook is also available to buy on 
https://xigxag.co.uk/audiobook/red-dwarf-titan-9781399636124/

Infact there is a 3 min sample of the audiobook up on there now. Nothing particularly spoilery. 

[Dax101]

We got our first review of Red Dwarf: Titan
https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/2224698/i-read-new-red-dwarf-book

[Dax101]

I don’t mind the idea of a prequel. In some way id prefer that to get other characters involved then maybe how modern Red Dwarf has done it where it wants to do the lonelyness angle but it also wants the crew to find living human characters to interact with. So lets just do both.

[Dax101]

Well, yeah, it’s the suicide squid. The point is to make them feel at their most depressed so they don’t want to live anymore. I think what makes it stand out so much is that the story itself sets quite a high standard for science fiction. And it’s also funny. 

[Dax101]

Looks like some of them got at least an article. 
https://stasis-leak.org/2022/09/26/radio-times/

[Dax101]

Red Dwarf only got 2 radio times covers. For the 7th series and the 10th anniversary

[Dax101]

Well the novels came about because Rob and Doug were thinking about turning their episodes into novels to expand on their ideas. Similar to what Doctor Who did. But then they decided to do an alternative Novel universe. And as time went on you can see it evolved beyond their original idea. 

Infinity is best novel, BTL still has some of that charm even if you can see it starting to evolve beyond the original concept. And the 2 solo novels i find them both to have their issues. they both kinda lack something thats missing.

[Dax101]

Colony feels very similar to Red Dwarf in many ways. But I remember enjoying Colony.

[Dax101]

Would you prefer he set it after all Dougs work and have the same ending? I dunno i think that would be seen even more so as a dig at Doug. If Rob really wanted to be spiteful im sure be could have. Claiming that everything since 6 was just a fainted memory and then they all turn to gloop.

Rob had never watched Dougs material. And to him, they aint his work so why continue? We were never likely to get a alternative timeline of events in continuation of 6 from Robs perspective. So Rob going a silly ending skit was him having a laugh. This wasnt the equivalent of one parent tripping their child up during a sports game to spite all the training the other parent did. This was never meant to he seen as canon.

[Dax101]

If the whole thing aint funny because of a line thats interpreted as a dig at doug then its probably not being judged fairly. 

I think if Rob wanted to take a dig at Doug he could have done better. But considering it ends with them being turned into a gloop i aint sure this was ever meant to he Rob stating his own canon as much as it is Rob just having a bit of fun.

I compare it to Red Christmas because id rather not believe Doug would ever make an episode where Santa visits Red Dwarf. I give him the benefit of the doubt because its to zany. Same with Into the Gloop which was a project for fans to voice the roles for a little skit. This wasnt a real continuation of Series 6.

[Dax101]

To judge Robs work by Into the Gloop is about the same as judging Dougs work with Red Christmas. Neither were written to be taken seriously and were part of novalty projects.

Since Rob has been away for a long time i am expecting his writing for Red Dwarf to be a bit different, aswell as having a Marshall co-writing it. So the result will be interesting. 

[Dax101]

I’m expecting something similar to Star Trek 09. Where it’s like a timeline-break off reboot with some connection to the future. Since the synopsis mentions a message from the future.

In terms of the alternate reality thing. Well its no different from the novels.They are also a separate continuity.

[Dax101]

I thought “Unless the chick with the really calm voice starts talking it ain’t serious” from Skipper from pretty damn obvious. As well as “May I suggest, we don’t stay here and we don’t discuss”

Both practically told the audience what joke was about to happen.

[Dax101]

I imagined he would have if he had been asked. But why would you when you can just use the nostalgic ones.

[Dax101]

I remember that being speculated at the time to be the case. But its possible Doug just went for someone else because they were cheaper. Making the most out of the budget.

[Dax101]

The bunkroom in BITR looks more silver and less grey.

[Dax101]

Wasn’t there something where Doug didn’t use a lot of Howard’s music for XI and XII.

[Dax101]

I don’t mind the nostalgia for Skipper. I feel it has a purpose for that episode, at least. It often feels a little forced at other times

[Dax101]

Can of Worms can be thrown out for its dumb assery on the Cat

[Dax101]

Yeah, he says they were not meant to be a replacement, but i ain’t sure if that was the thought process at the time. Remember, things change. Doug would say today that he always planned to make a new series after Series 8, when in an interview in 2002 he claimed he wanted to move away from the show and concentrate on movies. having time to reflect helps change someone’s perspective. The remastered wasn’t loved by fans, and I wonder if, at the time they remastered the shows, did they think the fans would love the remastered? or did they always know it might not go down well with them? If they didn’t know that, why did they make such an ambitious change to them as if they really were fixing them?

Plus, for a few years, they stopped showing the original versions, and anytime footage was used in another show, it was always the remastered stuff.

I kinda feel bad for the people in other countries who got the remastered 1,2 and 3 and the original 4,5,6,7 because there is a really weird inconsistency there for them now. They set out to fix it for other countries, and they left it weirdly messy.

[Dax101]

Wasn’t it said they were aiming for series 5 lighting for Series XI and XII. I remember someone complimenting them on that and they said it was intentional

[Dax101]

Isn’t he still writing his 2nd Sin Bin Island novel?

[Dax101]

Id imagine the likely scenario is more along the lines of, ah Robert will get through it for the team.

After all, whats the point doing it if you are just going to half ass it. If creatively you are unable to fully commit then why bother?

[Dax101]

If I remember right in the past Doug described the stage show as a brand new story that integrates the cast recreating moments from the shows. Which sounded a bit meta. Which might mean this is strictly more a stage show concept than anything that could be adapted into a book.

[Dax101]

The last thing Doug said about the stage play was:

”Discussions have taken place about doing a stage show at the O2 [in London] – probably about 10-12 shows,” he said. Naylor continued: “But they want it to coincide with our 40th anniversary, which is in 2028. So I’m not saying it can’t be done before then, but there’s very much interest for us to do that.”

https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/2121212/bbc-red-dwarf-stage-show-2028

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