Rudolph

[Rudolph]

Am just glad justice has been done and he’s got his comeuppance.

[Rudolph]

I thought it was as much of an extrapolation as his one about Sebastian Doyle being a philandering, bank robbing killer on the run.

[Rudolph]

I think there’d be an issue that even if Holly had switched on Kochanski’s hologram, and she and Lister had managed to work out their differences, it would be quite frustrating for both of them that they wouldn’t be able to consummate their love. That Lister would still have the love of his life, or a reasonable facsimile, but wouldn’t be able to so much as hold her hand, would drive him bonkers.

[Rudolph]

What I always think, when I see the the Aigburth Arms scene in Ouroboros, is that it feels like the only time they’ve bothered to make the future look, well, futuristic.

The pub has a very industrial look, and what brief glimpses we have outside of it show twinkling lights, indicating that Liverpool has grown into something like Mega-City One from Judge Dredd. Even Frank and the barmaid are wearing leather outfits similar to what Lister wears in later years.

Previous to that, the future appeared to be just now but with better gadgets. People still wore shirts, ties, t-shirts, baseball caps, bomber jackets etc. All clothing that wouldn’t be out of place in the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries.

[Rudolph]

Starbug basically becomes not-Red Dwarf in VII. It’s suddenly got all the corridors, cargo bays, science room etc. that the Dwarf does, and we only get the odd reference to the supply situation being rough (the curry situation, no pineapple chunks and cottage cheese etc.), but it’s not much different than what they had pre-VI.

I think Lister’s curry obsession lands in Waiting for God, when he orders a chicken vindaloo and beer milkshake for breakfast.

Funny, really, as when we first meet Lister in The End he’s tucking into a steak and kidney pie.

[Rudolph]

Just my really boring observation: I like the subtle updates to Lister’s outfit from XI onwards.

Adding the Punkish Hawaiian shirts and the Mod inspired silk scarf is a nice touch, and a bit more flattering for a man Craig’s age than the same ratty shirt and t-shirt he’s been wearing since 1989.

[Rudolph]

With the Babylon 5 pilot movie, I really don’t think it’s essential to watch. All the important stuff it brings up is brought up in the series proper done a lot better.

Watch it as a curio, but it doesn’t really add anything.

[Rudolph]

I think the early stupidity with Lister was maybe a holdover from Grant Naylor’s original concept of Lister being a bit more like Reverend Jim from Taxi: An older man who’s a bit brain-fried from years as a hippie dropout. I think they flag it up on the commentary for The End that his “bye, George” comment at McIntyre’s funeral was meant to reflect this as well.

[Rudolph]

I always thought of it as JMC owned Red Dwarf and were basically something like BP or Exxon Mobil. But the crew were all Space Corps, who are like the Merchant Navy.

[Rudolph]

If they ever bring Kochanski back, I’d hope they just ditch the whole will they/won’t they thing they had going in VII and VIII. Kochanski having such contempt for Lister just made him look a little pathetic as all indications we’d seen up to that point was that it would work out alright for them. It’s one aspect I like about Last Human, that they settled into Lister and Kochanski being in love without any tedious “urgh, what did I ever see in him?” nonsense.

[Rudolph]

I’ve always wondered if Lister describing himself as an “enlightened, twenty-third century guy” was just him trying to express some maturity. Like someone in 1999 saying they’re an “enlightened, twenty-first century guy”.

[Rudolph]

The introduction of Geldof as a month wasn’t the only change to the calendar. This neatly explains how Lister was born in 2155, went into stasis in 2077 and was also an enlightened 23rd Century guy.

[Rudolph]

The Gang Are All Kryten.

[Rudolph]

I still don’t really get reaction videos, just seems like a bizarre form of content to me. But I guess enough people must be into it as lots of “content creators” seem to be making a good deal out of putting them up.

I quite like them, as there’s a sense of living vicariously through them or rediscovering enjoyment from things.

There’s a girl on YouTube who’s been watching old Doctor Who, and who avoided any information about the tenth anniversary story before watching (to the point of covering her eyes when the opening titles came up) and it really made me feel warm when she burst into tears of joy upon seeing Patrick Troughton turn up – having no idea he was coming back.

[Rudolph]

People always go on about space, but people forget you can get lost in space.

[Author]

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