Lee Bee

[Lee Bee]

OK, despite the thread topic, I sincerely don’t wish to cause any bad feelings here, but I have to state that I believe feminism to be unscientific, irrational, harmful to women, and truly sexist.

Beyond the wacky fantasy world of the media, the majority of real women love being housewives, raising kids, and supporting their family. To deride this vocation is to deride womankind, which is true sexism.

The differences between male and female physiology (particularly brains) are vast, so the idea that men and women have identical interests and aptitudes is untenable. Gender roles are not a social construction, but a completely natural phenomenon, which is why animals have them, just the same.

The reason women grow their hair longer is not because of some fashion that’s miraculously pervaded every culture from the beginning of history, but because women have different minds (a fact which transsexualism hinges on entirely, leaving liberals in a state of ambivalence). Aside from being naturally submissive, women are emotionally fragile and delicate, and there is something wrong with a society which encourages men to verbally lay into women as they would other men.

Sincere apologies if my views offend anyone, but my values represent those of normal British culture (and indeed all historical cultures) up until just a few years ago before everything went potty. I would like to hope that G&T is not a place of narrow-minded bigots with an irrational hatred of anything different to themselves. Hopefully you can accept the “weird and alien-esque” ways of other life forms! :D

[Lee Bee]

LOL, thanks for the responses, especially Warbodog for the summary.

I wonder why the date was changed? It’s not the kind of detail you just ‘forget about’. Any writer knows what century his show is set in.

[Lee Bee]

LOL, thank you sir!

[Lee Bee]

Hi folks, new member here. I’ve been watching Red Dwarf well over 30 years so it’s probably time I signed up here. :-) And here are my brutally honest thoughts on the series as a whole…

Overall, I’m a Series 3–8 fan, through-and-through.

Boys vs girls

I do like Norman, but much prefer Hattie, and sorely miss her! If I were writing the show, Hattie would be back as the computer, with Norman popping up now and again for special appearances.

I loved Chloë Annett being a regular castmember. It was great to have a totally unobtainable posh bird for Lister (and Rimmer) to drool over, and ‘Cassandra’ is possibly my favourite episode ever, a perfect blend of sci-fi and humour.

If I were writing Red Dwarf, it would still essentially be about the four boys, but I’d definitely have Kochanski as a secondary/recurring character, perhaps stationed on Red Dwarf while the boys go off on missions. Oh, I also love Professor Edgington (Entangled) and want her back too!

Scripts

Script-wise, I think the quality of the scripts has been generally very consistent across the entire run of the series with some excellent episodes in just about every series.

I did miss Rob Grant, but I think Mr Naylor carried the show very well on his own and I have no objection to series 7 or 8, or Back To Earth. Enjoyed it all, as well as most of the new series. ‘Dear Dave’ was OK.

One I find difficult to re-watch is ‘Lemons’, which left a bad taste in my mouth, blending questionable taste with naive commentary of the Biblical faith.

Like many, I hated Mechochracy. M-Corp, too. I am sick of the ‘bitchy female computer takes over Red Dwarf’ cliché. I just want Hattie back now, though Norman is better than nothing. Red Dwarf is a big, empty place without a friendly computer presiding over it.

Timewave kind of sucks, but isn’t that kind of the point? In an age of beloved franchises being hijacked by absurd politics, Timewave is a much-needed finger up to political correctness and ‘speech police’. I can almost imagine Mr Naylor wanting people to tear Timewave to shreds, because expressing our opinion is a right we should all have. (Sadly no longer a liberty in large parts of the internet now, as the world becomes more intolerant of anyone who is different.)

Visual design

Scripts aside, I’m actually someone who places the highest importance on visual design (sets, lighting, etc). I’d honestly rather have mediocre episodes set in an attractive world, than great episodes in an ugly world!

I love (and desperately miss) the cream-coloured Officers’ Quarters. I abhor the infamous “Ocean Grey” of the first two series, and the return to grey in Back To Earth. I hate the new red quarters, and, especially, the various new incarnations of Starbug interior. I hate all the CGI of 7, 8 and the Remasters.

I don’t like the cold, hostile, dystopian look of the newer series. I liked Red Dwarf when it looked warm and comfortable, like somewhere you could actually live. I also liked the cosiness of them living on Starbug in series 6 & 7 (Red Dwarf was always a bit too big, really).

One of the things I hate the most about the new series is all the vivid blue lights everywhere. To me, that really spoils the show. Vivid blue is a really unpleasant colour.

They lost Red Dwarf after series 5, and in some ways I feel as though they never really found it again. Not the real Red Dwarf, anyway. Just a series of imposter ships!

Characters

One of the reasons I love series 3–8 is that Dave, Arnold and the Cat were true BUDDIES.

Rimmer was still neurotic and back-stabbing, but he had mellowed and become far less severe and more likeable. More of a hopeless dork than an outright arsehole.

Cat, too, had evolved. He was still shallow and simple-minded, but had become sufficiently intelligent that he was now a true friend to Lister. (A shift in dynamics I felt was truly cemented with the ‘Wilma Flintstone’ conversation.)

Cat has never been intellectually clever, but in the 3–8 era, he had a strong social perception that made his character feel very ‘switched-on’, and therefore genuinely ‘cool’. (In contrast, a total idiot cannot be cool.)

Unfortunately, both these characters have been reverted in recent years, and I’m really not too happy about that. Rimmer is back to being antagonistic, and Cat is back to being moronic. It’s like Dave has lost his two best friends, and that’s actually sad.

As for Dave himself, my only regret is that he has never really evolved. I never liked him being a slob and always wished they would leave the ‘slob’ joke behind – at least the physical hygiene side of it (he can still be an underachieving drifter).

The romantic part of me hopes that one day, Dave will find the girl of his dreams, and they’ll live happily ever after. And, call me pretentious if you like, but to me, a truly great love story doesn’t involve curry-stained t-shirts and belching.

Unpopular opinion: I actually loved the American Lister in the pilot! A tall, rugged, handsome, clean-cut guy. Everything Lister is not. Yes, I liked him! LOL

Oh and Kryten’s always been a truly great character (apart from his unfortunate ‘jealous wife’ phase when Kochanski came aboard).

Music

Oh and in case I haven’t done enough to piss people off, I’ll leave you with one final unpopular opinion… (this should really get a few backs up). I don’t like Howard Goodall’s music! OK, obviously, I acknowledge that Howard Goodall is very talented and I do like a lot of his work on other shows. And of course, who doesn’t love the Red Dwarf theme tune?

But I just really don’t like most of the in-show music cues, especially that god-awful depressing Red Dwarf signature trumpet fanfare, and pretty much everything from the first series (which has been inexplicably resurrected in recent series).

I just find all that music a bit severe, morbid and depressing. I loved Back To Earth but felt the music (and lack of laughter) really dragged it down. If it had laughter and more uplifting music, I think it could be one of the best episodes (a few other things I’d change but that’s another thread).

My favourite music cue by far is the series 3 opening text crawl – it fills me with excitement and optimism, and I would have liked to have heard that piece (and music like it) used more often in the series.

Sorry this was so long… I’m making up for 30 years! :-D

[Lee Bee]

When Lister changes the past, he, the, Cat, and Kryten disappear […] Rimmer should have disappeared too, because, without Lister, Holly would have had no reason to activate him.

Could have been that someone else went into stasis (eg Hollister), Rimmer was still brought back as a hologram, then Hollister died somehow.

And Holly should have had no memories of the Dwarfers, since they never existed in this timeline.

I think it’s best to take it as a given in Red Dwarf that the crew can remember ‘erased’ timelines.

That’s really the only explanation why the crew consistently remember Rimmer’s original death (radiation leak) when he was actually killed by dynamite.

It also explains why the crew can remember the events of White Hole (an episode which never actually happened) and can remember meeting their future selves from Out of Time, another event which never happened.

I’d be willing to bet the crew can also remember their encounter with the Inquisitor (another episode which never happened). :-)

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